On the tee: wild thing

Golf Digest, Sept, 2003 by Ryan Herrington

ON THE TEE

RICKY BARNES AGE: 22 HOME: STOCKTON, CALIF.

In the gallery at the U.S. Open in June, a young couple watched as Ricky Barnes launched moonshots on the Olympia Fields driving range. "Can you believe how hard he swings?" said the man, eyeing the 2002 U.S. Amateur champ. "It's not his swing I'm looking at," replied his companion. "He's a hottie!"

With a mix of raw power, overflowing charisma and good looks, the University of Arizona product has the ability to turn the heads of golf fans for more reasons than one. The potential is there, but the question remains: How good will he be? Though three of the past five Amateur winners (Matt Kuchar, Hank Kuehne and David Gossett) have status on the PGA Tour, none earned it in his first professional season--a fact Barnes was aware of as he prepared to turn professional after the British Open.

"I've got to start paying my dues," says Barnes, who will play a handful of PGA Tour events this year on sponsors' exemptions, including The International (Aug. 7-10), Reno-Tahoe Open (Aug. 21-24) and the John Deere Classic (Sept. 11-14). If he doesn't earn enough money to secure a tour card for 2004, he'll try PGA Tour Qualifying School. "Just because I made the cut at the Masters and U.S. Open," he says, "doesn't mean I don't have to prove myself anymore."

One thing he won't have to prove is his enthusiasm for the game. Sporting a Hawaiian shirt in the final of the 2002 U.S. Amateur, Barnes frequently tried to pump up the crowd by waving his arms after pulling off tough shots. The television cameras have been following him ever since. "With the fans I've attracted, I've got something to live up to," he says. "I don't want to let anyone down."