Persistence pays off for Na

Kevin Na had just bogeyed the par-3 14th hole at TPC Summerlin on Sunday, just flew his tee shot 150 yards into a greenside bunker, just two putted from 84 feet, and the Golf Channel announcers began their far-too-early evaluation.

The concern was about Na's ability to finish, about if the fact he didn't attend college had cost him the mental fortitude to overcome adversity at the most critical times of a tournament, about if he was playing out of his weight class when it came to moments such as this against an opponent such as Nick Watney.

1. Na now has earned more than $11 million in his career.

That he didn't choose to live in dorms and rush a fraternity and play for an NCAA individual title worked out just fine.

2. Watney has had a terrific season.

He is not Manny Pacquiao holding a driver.

Na is a first-time winner on the PGA Tour and champion of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open because he did exactly what some felt he couldn't. He finished.

Watney didn't lose the tournament. Na won it.

I have no idea how he did so without that diploma hanging on his wall at home …

People overthink the room in dissecting a professional athlete who hasn't yet captured a title in his particular sport, that there always must be some deep and profound reason someone with enough ability to win doesn't.

It's golf. Over the span of eight years and 210 PGA events, Na didn't make enough shots. On his 211th try, he did.

"I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind the whole round," Na said. "I pictured myself winning, pictured myself failing, but mostly pictured myself winning. ... I've told everybody, 'Once I get my first win, the wins are going to start rolling in.' I think it's like that for a lot of guys.

"The biggest heartbreak for me was losing in a playoff in 2005 (to Geoff Ogilvy) in Tucson. I was so young, just turned 21. I always think, 'Would I be in a different position had I won then?' The answer is, I don't know.

"But you know what? Eight years was worth the wait."

He might win again next week. Or next year. Or never again. The four-day journey to claim any PGA event is grueling, and success can be gone in one swing and a splash of water. There are that many great golfers now. The margin between finishing first and 10th on a given week is paper thin.

But for one event, a local tour pro who spent every day of the previous two weeks learning even better his home track in Summerlin proved such intimate knowledge ultimately can pay off with a tournament-record 261 and a paycheck for $792,000.

Na's birdie putt at 15 sort of made that weight-class issue a moot and laughable point, and his 42-footer for birdie at the par-3 17th all but assured he would hoist a trophy at day's end.

Which brings us to a few hours following Na's victory: He ran into the media room, still beaming from his memorable day, searching for his crystal award. He had forgotten the trophy.

Hey. It happens to those who haven't won before.

"Do I also keep the (trophy stand)?" Na asked an official.

I'm guessing he won't forget to check his bank account for a nice big deposit.

His tee shot on 18 was loose and had a bit of am-I-really-going-to-win-this-thing behind it, drifting 280 yards down the right side, where an ocean of space awaits wayward swings.

But the lead was two shots, meaning Na had to be a lot worse than that to be in any peril of not closing things out.

I never tire of genuine emotion from those who accomplish something they waited years to achieve. You can't fake the happiness Na showed immediately after winning or talking about it 30 minutes later. It's pretty difficult to make your voice crack on cue.

"You know, every time I'm in this position, I feel like I'm going to win," he said. "Did this week feel any different than any other week I fell short? Maybe a little bit, but nothing ridiculous. I think I was a little more comfortable, maybe because I was in my hometown, my home course. But I was definitely ready. I was mentally and physically ready.

"It was just time for me to win."

You don't need a college degree to know that.

Or, apparently, to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.