ShareThisNot quite six years ago, Arron Oberholser triumphantly strolled down the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach. Mike Weir graciously stepped aside to let Oberholser savor the applause -- a local guy making the Crosby-turned-AT&T his first PGA Tour victory.
It was a cool scene, with every reason to expect the win would vault Oberholser into another realm. He was 31, entering the prime of his career. The future looked bright.
Oberholser plans to play in the AT&T again next month -- for the first time since that victory in 2006.
He had his best year on tour in '06 (he finished 23rd on the money list), followed by another strong season (47th) in '07. Then his career turned into an exasperating and maddening medical odyssey, including four surgeries on his left hand and another on his right hip.
Oberholser hasn't made a PGA Tour start in nearly 27 months, since October 2009.
Now, finally, he's close to returning. Oberholser plans to play in three events on the West Coast swing, starting with the Phoenix Open (Feb. 2-5) and including the AT&T (Feb. 9-12).
"No doubt, this is my last shot to see if I can keep my career going," he said this week from Arizona, where he lives with his wife and two young sons. "If I have to have one more surgery anywhere on my body, I'm done."
He has been practicing at full strength since mid-October, experiencing only occasional "achiness" in his left hand. He played in the Callaway Invitational at Pebble Beach in November, a low-key event in which he tied for 17th among players from various pro tours.
That stirred optimism, but Oberholser still approaches his upcoming return with some anxiety.
"I'm worried, absolutely," he said. "I have worries it's going to hold up and I have worries about where my game is going to be. I don't know what to expect. ...
"I still have to make sure I have the desire to do this for a living. My life has done a complete 180 since I last played -- I have two kids and I've been out of the competitive arena for 2-1/2 years. I truly don't know where my head is going to be."
Oberholser, playing on a major medical extension, needs to earn about $350,000 in 14 events to reclaim his tour card.
TIGER TALK: Tiger Woods' impending return to the AT&T brings him back to a tournament in which he snatched one of his most memorable wins -- erasing a seven-shot deficit over the final nine holes to beat Matt Gogel in February 2000.
Woods' late surge included one of the signature shots of his career. On No. 15, the roadside par-4 at Pebble Beach, he holed a wedge shot for eagle. Replays of the ball spinning into the hole, and Woods delivering a roundhouse fist pump, became hard to miss.
His decision to come back to Pebble will raise the event's profile, no question. The more pressing question: Will he play as well as he did late in 2011, or as poorly as he did most of the previous two years?
"I really think Tiger is going to have a great year," said Oberholser, who has competed against Woods as far back as their college days. "He's probably going to win two or three times, including a major. We'll start seeing glimpses of the Tiger of old."
OLYMPIC MIGHT SUIT STRICKER: Steve Stricker's season-opening victory Monday sparked this thought: Stricker would seem to have the game to prosper on the tight, tree-lined fairways and small greens of the Olympic Club, where the U.S. Open begins in five months.
A quick trip into the archives offered tangible evidence. Stricker tied for fifth in the 1998 Open at Olympic, finishing six shots behind winner Lee Janzen. Stricker and Janzen played together in the final round, when Janzen shot 68 and Stricker struggled to 73.
This proves nothing, of course, but keep Stricker in mind come June. He's one of the best iron players and putters on tour, and the Lake Course will demand those skills in the Open.
(Email Ron Kroichick at rkroichick(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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