The Clubhouse

THE DAN PLAN: In his book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become great at something. Dan McLaughlin of Portland, Ore. decided to see if that hypothesis was true.

So, on June 27, 2009, he quit his 9-to-5 job as a commercial photographer and invest the $100,000 he had managed to save for graduate school to try and become a professional golfer.

McLaughlin says he had virtually no experience and even less interest in the sport when he conceived of The Dan Plan.

For the first three years of the six year plan, McLaughlin has devoted six hours a day, six days a week towards becoming a professional golfer. More than 1,000 hours into the 10,000 hour experiment McLaughlin has certainly learned one thing - patience.

Instead of going out there and picking up a driver and swinging away endlessly for hours on end, McLaughlin has decided to learn the game from the hole out. As Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times writes:

“He couldn't putt from 3 feet until he was good enough at putting from 1 foot. He couldn't putt from 5 feet until he was good enough putting from 3 feet. He's working away from the hole. He didn't get off the green for five months. A putter was the only club in his bag.

Everybody asks him what he shoots for a round. He has no idea. His next drive will be his first.

In his month in Florida, he worked as far as 50 yards away from the hole. He might — might — have a full set of clubs a year from now.”

McLaughlin knows his chances of succeeding are slim. He admits there’s a 99 percent chance he won’t reach the PGA Tour but that is not the point. "Basically what I'm trying to do with this project is demonstrate how far you're able to go if you're willing to put in the time. I'm testing human potential."

You can follow Dan’s progress at his website, thedanplan.com.

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FIRST TIMERS: Of the 26 rookies who will make their debut on the 2012 PGA Tour, 18 are under the age of 30 while eight are under the age of 25. As well, eight have never played in a PGA Tour event.

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TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPA: Matt Kuchar never saw this perk coming after he and Gary Woodland won the World Cup.

Kuchar and his wife did not have a flight to California until the next night, so the World Cup hosts treated them to a day of spa treatment at Mission Hills until their flight.

“It's the first time I've ever done that,” Kuchar said. “It was a great way to celebrate.”

The big day began with a 90-minute session in the morning for aroma therapy, and then they broke for lunch. Upon returning, Kuchar described a two-hour session that consisted of a one-hour massage, a 30-minute foot rub and a 30-minute facial.

His first facial?

“First one that actually said, ‘facial,“’ Kuchar said. “I think in massages they've massaged my face. I don't know exactly what a real facial entails, but they put ... whatever, the mast on and cream and goop and gel and all the stuff. I didn't love all the stuff on my face. I enjoy the massaging part, but all the extra stuff I could have done without.

“I did feel like I looked completely refreshed afterward,” he said. “I felt like I had a real shine to my face.”

As the question moved on to golf, Kuchar interrupted a reporter.

“Do I look younger?” he said.

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FINAL WORD:

"This might be it for me. I have to sit down and think about it. As we sit here, I'm kind of down-and-out about golf. What I know for sure is that I love being home, I love being a husband, I love being a dad. When I was home, I didn't really miss playing. I love being a pro, I love being out there among the guys, I love competing. But I didn't miss the traveling and the hectic lifestyle. So I don't know." -- Jason Gore, who missed getting his 2012 PGA Tour card by one stroke.

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Files from the Associated Press were used in this report