KEY POINTS:
New Zealand golfer Tim Wilkinson crafted a career-best finish in the United States yesterday but even better results will follow, according to his coach Andre White.
The PGA Tour rookie finished third in the New Orleans Classic, a closing round of five-under 67 leaving him two behind Argentine
Andres Romero and one back of Australian Peter Lonard.
He banked US$421,000 ($536,305) for his efforts to rocket from 105th to 41st on the tour's moneylist, with income of US$632,708.
Wilkinson, 29, needs to finish inside the top 125 at season's end to keep his card for 2008 but he has adjusted so quickly to life on the tour that White predicts it is inevitable that he will win a PGA Tour title.
The only question remaining unanswered is when - and, again, White thinks it may come much sooner than most think.
"I would not be surprised if he won by the end of this year," said White.
"If he's in the hunt he is not there to finish third, fourth, 10th or 14th. He wants to win."
Just eight events into his fledging PGA Tour career, Wilkinson has made five cuts and his performance yesterday followed a tie for sixth at last week's Puerto Rico Open.
"He's had a huge start to the year, now all he needs is some good performances and try to finish as high up as he possibly can inside the top 125," White said.
That means a huge mind shift as he contemplates the remainder of the season.
"It is a completely different kettle of fish to think 'how far can I finish up' as opposed to 'have I got a job next year'."
White said in some ways the easy part of the season was over for Wilkinson as the year's four majors began with the Masters at Augusta on April 10-13.
Wilkinson is not in line to contest any of those tournaments but the PGA Tour fields will deepen considerably as the top players come out in force to manipulate their games before the majors.
"He's coming into a real hard period running from the Masters through to the PGA Championship [in early August].
"It's a difficult period because a lot of the top guys use the regular tour events to prepare themselves for the majors. The fields become fuller, the purses become bigger."
White has not been surprised by Wilkinson's almost seamless transition to the tour, after graduating from qualifying school following four seasons on the second tier Nationwide Tour.
"He genuinely believes that is where he deserves to be. He looks like he deserves to be there, too - by the way he holds and conducts himself, along with his game."
Wilkinson did not blot his copybook yesterday, his closing round featuring five birdies, the last of them at the 10th hole before he came home with eight successive pars, on a difficult stretch of the TPC Louisiana course.
He was understandably delighted with his form.
"To play well down the stretch when it mattered was good," Wilkinson told Radio Sport. "I've hit some good solid shots and made some putts. Not many bogeys makes a big difference."
"I thought I had a good chance today. Had a couple of putts dropped on the back nine, I would have probably been in a playoff."
He put his performances over the past two weeks down to a swing change he adopted to improve his long game.
"I wasn't hitting my irons very well, there was inconsistent flight.
"I was drawing too much and I straightened it out two weeks ago. It gives me more chances for birdies ... I've started to play really well again ... It's been a great two weeks really."
2008 PGA TOUR MONEY LIST
(US unless stated)
1. Tiger Woods US$3,615,000 ($4,605,000)
2. Phil Mickelson $2,161,320
3. Vijay Singh (Fiji) $1,957,417
4. K.J. Choi (South Korea) $1,641,882
5. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) $1,621,600
6. Justin Leonard $1,536,789
7. Stewart Cink $1,510,462
8. J.B. Holmes $1,481,351
9. Steve Stricker $1,389,239
10. Daniel Chopra (Sweden) $1,299,459
11. Sean O'Hair $1,295,500
12. Andres Romero (Argentina) $1,283,599
13. Ryuji Imada (Japan) $1,233,047
14. Steve Lowery $1,151,288
15. Luke Donald (Britain) $1,118,600
16. Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) $1,090,480
17. D.J. Trahan $1,079,388
18. Ernie Els (South Africa) $1,066,000
19. Jim Furyk $988,805
20. Steve Marino $884,403
Also:
41. TIM WILKINSON (NZ) $632,708
- NZPA