By Jon Levy - Staff Writer

February 25, 2010
-- Rio Verde, Ariz.

Process, process, process: The key to Nathan Tyler’s game.

He talked about the fact that staying with his mental process, (i.e. approach to playing the game of golf) and not concentrating too much on results, accounted for his first-career Gateway Tour win in Desert Winter Series No. 5, after having four runner-up finishes previously on the Tour since 2008.

Now, just two events later in the Desert Spring Series Sponsorship event -- the 36-hole sprint where the Tour offers up a free Spring Series membership, valued at $10,000 -- Tyler has won again. His rounds of 64/67-131 (13-under) pushed three strokes clear of runner-up Ben Kern (67/67-134).

“That just seems to be the key for me to play well every time I tee it up,” said Tyler of his improved mindset. “I said it when I won a few weeks ago, but I really just concentrated on the process of everything and tried not to get caught up in my results.

“And it just seems to work well when I do that.”

Making a field-leading 16 birdies, an eagle, just three bogeys and one double-bogey on a tough Vista Verde track where disaster can strike on any one shot, Tyler attributed pinpoint irons as the physical key to his good play this week.

“The first day I just hit my irons really well,” Tyler said of his 8-under 64. “I had a couple of misses (putting) in the beginning, but after that I got in rolling and hit it close and made every one.

“And (the second round) was kind of the same thing,” he added. “I was getting off to a slow start with the putter again, but once I made that eagle on No. 6, I made pretty much everything after that.”

Game, set, match.

But, this match means more than just a value of $10,000 to Tyler.

“This really does a lot for me,” he said. “I’ve been planning on going out and Monday Qualifying (for Nationwide and PGA TOUR events) quite a bit this spring, so this gives me somewhere to come back to and gives me the opportunity to play a lot more golf.

“I was planning on playing some (of the Desert Spring Series), but definitely wouldn’t be able to play as many tournaments as I’m able to now. Hopefully, I can take advantage of it.”

Which is exactly what The Gateway Tour’s Sponsorship events are all about.


Click here for full field results from Vista Verde…