CHARLOTTE
Webb Simpson admitted to feeling a little too excited about playing on the PGA Tour as a professional for the first time in his home state.
Simpson struggled to a 2-over-par 74 yesterday in the first round of the Quail Hollow Championship, but has the perfect attitude going into today's second round.
"I just have to play better," said Simpson, 23, in his rookie season on the PGA Tour after starring at Wake Forest.
Simpson, who had his father, Sam, and his mother, Debbie, along with other family members and friends following him, never got into the flow. He three-putted No. 5 from about five feet, and had trouble with his drives on the fast and firm fairways.
"There's a little added pressure, absolutely," Simpson said of playing in his home state. "I didn't do a good enough job of focusing on my first two holes. I drove it poorly all day and really didn't make anything on the greens."
Also following Simpson was his girlfriend, Dowd Keith, a Charlotte native who is also a Wake Forest graduate. They met each other in Webb's freshman year in 2004, but there were some rather unusual circumstances in them meeting.
Webb's father actually met her first.
"I met his girlfriend before he did," Sam Simpson said. "She was about to go into her sophomore year at Wake and I told her that I had a son who was going there and the only person he knew was the golf coach. So I just asked her if she would maybe take him out to get a Coke or something and she said she'd do it.'"
It was during his first semester at Wake Forest that he got to know Keith, but he needed a mutual friend to introduce them.
"The rest is history," Simpson said, "but my dad called and said, ‘You have to meet this girl.' So I did and it's worked out.… I've always liked my dad's taste and I trusted him."
Sam Simpson said: "I think I set him up pretty good and his mom and I are crazy about her."
As Sam Simpson walked outside the ropes yesterday he expressed pride in his son's accomplishments. Webb has a good chance of being in contention for the rookie of the year award at the end of the season.
"It's just great to see him fulfilling a dream he's had since was 10 years old," Sam said. "Just seeing him happy in the field he's chosen is very rewarding."
One thing that Simpson has been fighting is impatience. He's been trying not to go for every pin on every hole.
"He's been more patient," Sam said. "The pros out here have been wonderful and have tried to help him."
Simpson said that he'll have to adjust today in the second round to the fast fairways to make it to the weekend.
As for playing in his home state, "Just being close to home is a good feeling," Simpson said. "We're not too far from Raleigh and I know a lot of people here, so that's kind of nice."
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or jdell@wsjournal.com.
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