Round 2: Waste Management Phoenix Open

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Arron Oberholser enjoyed returning to competition this week, but hoped for better results.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The test Arron Oberholser expected came early during his first competitive round in more than two years.

Oberholser “overcooked” a draw off the 10th tee on Thursday that bounced about 4 yards off the fairway and settled down into the left rough. He knew he was going to have to dig it out of the thick grass and he wondered how his surgically-repaired hand would respond.

As soon as he made contact, Oberholser felt a tingling in his hands and his fingers were numb for the next seven or eight holes. There were times when the pain in his hand was so sharp he couldn’t grip the club properly, too.

"There’s some issues there for sure," Oberholser said.

With good reason. Oberholser has had four operations on his left hand since October 2007. Doctors removed a fragment of the hamate bone and later took part of the pisiform bone in his wrist, as well as cleaned up cartilage damage and excised bone spurs.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Oberholser, who had long been bothered by back problems, also underwent hip surgery along the way.

So until this week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Oberholser had not hit a shot in competition since the 2009 Frys.com Open where he tied for 33rd. He ended up shooting 1 over for two rounds at TPC Scottsdale, opening with a 72 and shooting even par on Friday.

While 30 players must return to complete their rounds on Saturday morning, Oberholser, who lives in Phoenix, will likely miss the cut by at least a shot. While he enjoyed seeing old friends and competing, he had mixed feelings about the result.

“This is a golf course I know like the back of my hand," he explained. "I putted terrible. I couldn’t get the ball up and down when I needed to. I didn’t take advantage of the par 5s. I can count five shots in the two days that I left out there that if I was back in 2007 I’d be in the house, at worst, 68-69 right now.

"That’s lack of play. It’s lack of being tournament sharp. I guess because of that I shouldn’t feel too bad. I’m playing on one-and-a-half hands while everybody else out here has two. I guess I could take away that (from the experience)."

Oberholser says he’s seen five different hand specialists. One told the San Jose State grad he’d be fine. But another told him he had a certain amount of shots left in that hand — "don’t waste them," Oberholser recalled the words of caution. "So I’m more apt to believe that guy at this point."

Oberholser plans to play in next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am where he picked up his lone TOUR victory in 2006 before the hand problems disrupted his career. After that, he’s not sure.

"It’s not like I can get it any stronger, that’s the problem. and the structure is not going to get any better because they don’t have a prosthesis they can put right here," Oberholser said wryly, pointing to his hand.

Oberholser has 13 more events in 2012 to earn $349,854, which coupled with his 2008 earnings of $454,881 and 2009 earnings of 48,017, would equal No. 125 from the 2008 money list and make him fully exempt for the rest of this year. That is, if he decides to continue to play professionally. Right now, he’s just not sure what will happen.

"I’m happy," Oberholser said after he finished his round on Friday. "I’m happy that I know if I had two good hands I could still play this game at a very high level. We’ll see what happens from here on out. It might get better but I don’t know."