Triplett’s gamble paid dividends

It was back in July that PGA Tour veteran Kirk Triplett took what many thought was the biggest gamble of his professional golf career.

But now, some 10 months and more than $660,000 later, his decision to cut short his 2005 season to tend to an ailing elbow seems like nothing more than a calculated risk – one that just happened to pay off in a big way.

Triplett, who was born in Moses Lake and grew up in Pullman, has amassed $666,613 in official earnings and added a third title to his impressive PGA resume since returning to the Tour late last fall following surgery to repair tendon damage in right elbow.

His recent success, which included a stirring come-from-behind victory in the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Tucson (Ariz.) in late February, has allowed the 44-year-old Triplett to regain the fully exempt status he put at risk when he shut himself down last summer for medical repairs.

What he was unable to do, however, was climb back into the top 50 of the World Golf Rankings – a feat that would have secured him a spot in the prestigious Masters Tournament that is playing out to much fanfare this weekend in Augusta, Ga.

Still, Triplett has no regrets about the way the last 10 months have unfolded.

“Any time you’re dealing with an injury, you’re not sure how you’re going to come back,” he said during a recent telephone conversation from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he lives with his wife, Cathi, and their four children.

“But I’m feeling fine again, and I feel like I did the right thing by getting the elbow taken care of.”

Prior to having his surgery last summer, Triplett had earned $598,145 and was fully exempt from having to qualify for Tour events by virtue of his ranking in the top 125 of the PGA’s money list. But he slipped out of the top 125 after missing more than three months of the 2005 season to recover.

Still, he was able to regain his exempt status for the 2006 season under the Tour’s Major Medical Extension, which required him to earn $26,000 in the first 11 events of the year in order to match the $626,736 that Nick Price made as the 125th finisher on last year’s money list.

Triplett could have matched Price’s total last fall after returning to play in three events, but did not accumulate enough money and finished 128th on the Money List.

“I played in just an event or two at the end of the year, because I was close to keeping my card,” he explained. “If I had made the 125 then, I would have considered it a bonus. The more likely scenario, I figured, would be to start strong this year and get back into an exempt status.”

Triplett did just that, securing his card with the $36,140 he won for finishing in a tie for 27th in the FBR Open in early February.

Then he blew past Price three weeks later by winning the Chrysler Classic of Tucson and picking up a check for $540,000.

“I’m still surprised,” Triplett said of his early-season success this year. “My game has been very hit and miss – very, very rusty. I’ve been playing nice, but I’ve been making a lot of mistakes.

“I just kind of caught lightning in a bottle in Tucson, especially on Saturday and Sunday when I didn’t make much in the way of mistakes and took advantage of every birdie chance I had.”

When he looks back on his decision to undergo elbow surgery, Triplett admits he had some concerns. But they were based more on his ability to simply stay competitive than on keeping his exempt status on Tour.

“The bottom line was, I couldn’t play the way I felt like I should be playing,” he explained. “And I needed to find out if it was a physical thing, or if I was just at that point in my career where my skills were eroding.

“I just needed to know, and I wasn’t going to let finishing in the top 125 take precedence over what might be best for me in the long term.”

The tendon damage to his elbow was the result of normal wear and tear over a 21-year professional career that has produced just more than $13 million in earnings.

“It got to the point where it was affecting my technique, my practice time and my preparation,” he said. “And for me, over the years, it’s all been about preparation. The injury was keeping me from practicing the way I need to practice, and even hitting certain kinds of shots.

“It was something I needed to take care of. And I was a good patient. I listened to my doctor, did what he told me and rehabbed the elbow.”

So, is he playing pain-free again?

“I think the days of playing pain-free are long gone,” Triplett chuckled. “I think anybody that’s 44 years old understands that. But it’s nice to just be back competing again.”

If he hadn’t made it back, Triplett claims he could have also lived with that scenario.

“After five or six weeks of not making a cut, you might start to wonder,” he said. “And what I’ve always told myself is, ‘Listen, if you’re healthy and you can’t do it, that’s fine. Just be done with it.’ And I would have been fine with that.

“I’ve been around sports all my life. You watch guys, and their careers usually have a certain length to them. I’ve had a long one, and I’m very happy with it.

“But I’m not saying I’m ready to be done.”