Paul Goydos' Act Never Gets Old

Paul Goydos showing up on a PGA Tour leaderboard is like finding loose change behind the sofa cushions. Both, although never expected, are always welcome.

And after one round of play in The Barclays -- the first of the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoff series -- at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J.. there is the man friends call "Sunshine'' with a share of the lead.

So why do they call him Sunshine?

"Because of my sunny disposition,'' Goydos will deadpan with emotion of a mounted moose head.

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There lies the inside joke. Goydos is golf's most endearing, self-deprecating good-guy. The extremely intelligent owner of soulful eyes, no shoulders and a dry wit.

First question after shooting 6-under 65 and making the customary media-center stop -- admittedly, maybe not the deepest of inquiries: "Do you like this place as a golf course?''

Goydos: "Versus being a polo field?''

If you can't pull for Goydos, you probably hoped Lassie would leave Timmy in the well.

All the same, few golf fans recall the 45-year-old's two career wins came at the 1996 Bay Hill Invitational and the 2007 Sony Open. Maybe a handful remember he lost the 2008 Players Championship to Sergio Garcia on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff by dunking his tee shot in the water on the 17th hole.

Still, Goydos keeps plodding, a role model of persistence and labor.

Before making it to the PGA Tour, he remembers being a substitute high-school teacher making $105 a day "mostly to baby sit." Now, after 17 years on the PGA Tour he can exceed $10 million in career earning this week by earning $56,049.

Goydos is a rich man. He has earned a lot of money, too.

Do the inventory for yourself.

Since 2004 Goydos has gone about raising two teenage daughters, a single dad granted custody in a divorce from ex-wife Wendy. Fathers, particularly ones making their living by spending 30 something weeks a year on the road, are rarely the court's first pick. So assumptions were made, but Goydos never said much of nothing about his personal life.

Then, in January, Wendy died. Goydos took a leave from the tour to be with daughters Chelsea and Courtney. A short time later he opened up in a Golf Digest piece penned by author John Feinstein.

Wendy's life had been pained my migraines and a blur of painkillers. Goydos spoke of her crystal meth use and 2001 pregnancy; he was not the father. Yet, there was no condemnation. He talked of sorrow for his wife, never pity for himself.

Now, who would have imagined? Goydos somehow is on the way to one of his best PGA Tour seasons ever.

Finishes this year include a second, third and fourth. He's among the top-50 money winners of the tour. And don't forget Thursday's good start.

Someone wondered if going through recent events might have changed his perspective on playing golf.
"I'd like to think I'd have a good perspective for more than a year,'' he said. "Life is short, and people in your family are really what's important. I would hope to God that I would have prior to this year, but those things are enforced and you miss them more.''

Chelsea recently turned 19; Courtney hits 17 next month. While on the road for tournaments, Goydos will call a couple of times a day and fire out continues text messages.

"We have gotten so good at technology, it's just crazy,'' he said. "I guess if you have young kids, you can GPS them. But yeah, and they are at the age now where they understand it and they both have jobs and they understand you are earning money and there's a responsibility there and they understand what I'm doing more now than maybe ten years ago.''

So do the rest of us.