John Rollins

John Rollins learned his golf on the lush courses of central Virginia where the fairways are narrow and the greens are foreboding. He played on the Meadowbrook High School team and for Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned honorable mention All-American and majored in mass communications.

John had an outstanding amateur career, capped by back-to-back titles at the Virginia State Amateur Championships in 1996 and 1997.

John earned his first PGA Tour card in 1999 when he finished tied for 16th at the qualifying tournament. He posted his first top-10 finish the following year with a T9 at the Greater Milwaukee Open thanks to a final round 8-under 63.

John's game really clicked on the Nationwide Tour in 2001 when he made 13 consecutive cuts and won on the initial extra hole at the Hershey Open for his first career PGA victory. He kept working hard and it paid off in 2002 when John captured the Bell Canadian Open with a birdie on the first hole of a three-man playoff. He climbed from 408th in the world to tied for 67th that year.

The following season was just as exciting as John made cuts at his first Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. He had three top-5 finishes and ended the year 39th on the PGA Tour money list.

The next season will be remembered as the time John went head-to-head with Tiger Woods and extended him to 18 holes at the Accenture World Match Play. Tiger, the eventual winner, defeated John on the final hole but the Richmond, Va., native proved on national television that he could match shot-per-shot with one of the all-time greats.

John enjoyed another fine year in 2005 with a second-place finish at the BC Open and a 28 on the back nine of the Deutsche Bank Championship. He returned to the BC Open in 2006 and this time claimed the title when he rolled in a 6-foot pressure birdie putt to beat Bob May on national television. His final round of 64 again demonstrated his ability to finish strong. John also placed in the top 10 in three other tournaments.

Despite not winning, 2007 may have been John's finest year. He had his best season in earnings with more than $2.4 million on the strength of two runner-up finishes. He made cuts in 23 events and had 13 top-25 showings.

John is a talented shotmaker and has been working on his distance control with his wedges and putting speed. He said those are the two areas of his game he would like to improve.

In his spare time, John loves to play billiards and the guitar. He has an extensive guitar collection that includes a signed piece from rocker Dave Matthews.