Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (March 8, 2010)–About a year ago, Las Vegas Golf Region resident Alex Cejka pinched a nerve in his neck and left arm, requiring an epidural injection and the removal of a vertebra to correct the problem. But Cejka has been a fighter ever since he fled Communist Czechoslovakia with his father when he was 9 years old—and opened with a 6-under 66 a week after the operation at the Players Championship in 2009. He wasn’t about to let a little injury stop him from continuing to live a dream.–By Tom Collins.
At the 2010 Honda Classic, however, Cejka was still fighting. “I’m still only about 80%," Cejka said after his final round. "I feel like I’m striking the ball solidly, but the putts just aren’t dropping. The greens here are really hard to read. I was seeing everything going right to left and they were actually going left to right.” Cejka ended the Honda Classic in a tie for 26th, and stood 102nd on the 2010 PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings, having earned $178,873.
Cejka, who is one of more than 30 men and women tour golfers who have strong ties to Las Vegas golf courses, set himself up nicely for the weekend, starting the tournament with a pair of 68s. But a 3rd round 75 certainly made the 4th round all the more challenging, as the difficult pin locations and high winds dissuade players from playing aggressively, preventing sizeable moves on the leaderboard. But Cejka improved 10 spots during the final round with a solid round of 70. Cejka was the highest finisher among the other Las Vegas golfers playing the Honda.
Other Las Vegas golfers in the field making the cut included Alex Prugh (t35), Chris Riley (t40), and Scott Piercy (t56). Las Vegas golfers who missed the cut included John Mallinger, Rickie Fowler, Chad Campbell, and Bill Lunde. In stats compiled through the Honda Classic, there were no fewer than 10 golfers with strong ties to Las Vegas among the top 140 of the FedEx Cup standings, led by new resident and young gun Rickie Fowler at 15. Other Las Vegas golfers and rankings were Prugh (23), Nick Watney (28), Ryan Moore (38), Kevin Na (43), Chad Campbell (68), Scott Piercy (82), Cejka (102), Skip Kendall (119), Adam Scott (138), and Charley Hoffman (139).
But as a current Las Vegas resident, and one of more than a dozen that play and practice at TPC Las Vegas, there’s nothing like practice time at the TPC Courses in Las Vegas. “The TPC courses are really nice," said Cejka. "I especially like the practice facilities and the driving range at the TPC Las Vegas. Everybody uses Balata balls now on tour, and it’s nice that the driving range there uses Balata balls as well. It’s also close to my place.” TPC Las Vegas is a resort Las Vegas golf course which is open to all Las Vegas golfers. You can click now to view the official website of TPC Las Vegas and play where the pros play in Las Vegas. Article provided by GolfLasVegasNow.com contributor and onsite reporter Tom Collins, senior writer for Universal Golf, which can be found at .universalsportmags.com. Collins is scheduled to cover nearly every PGA Tour event in 2010, and will check in from time-to-time for this website.