Uresti Inspired Early

Omar Uresti has not had much to write home about over the past year.  And that's putting it lightly.

After an awesome opening week on the PGA Tour in 2010 with a T8 at the Sony Open, Uresti struggled mightily the rest of the season.  He failed to register another top-10, and his only other top-25 of the season was a T25 on April 4 in Houston.

Uresti did make it through second stage of Q-School but fell way short at the finals, and it was back to the Nationwide Tour for the quintessential journeyman.  However, his veteran status allows him to play the occasional PGA event, which means he gets into the events that are opposite some of the bigger events.

This is one of those weeks, with the WGC holding court at Doral, and Uresti teed it up this morning in Puerto Rico.  He had yet to make a cut on either tour this year, still looking for a sub-70 round, and there was little room for optimism this week based on his past year's performance.

However, Uresti appears to have found something this morning.  Through 12 holes, he is bogey-free and 5-under par, only one shot back of co-leaders James Driscoll and Will MacKenzie.

Uresti's dad told me last year at Turning Stone that Omar still felt he could win out on the PGA Tour, and this early surge has put him in position to be high on the leaderboard at the end of Round 1.  Obviously, there are still three rounds to go, but maybe all Omar needs is one positive day to get his career back on track.

Uresti is 42 years old, and he has still never won on the PGA Tour.  When you consider that he does not have full status on the PGA Tour, there may not be many opportunities left.

Let's see if he can take advantage this week.