In my infinite wisdom, it wasn’t all that long ago that I projected Calgarian Wes Heffernan as the next Canuck to make the jump to the PGA Tour.

Right city. Wrong player, it appears.

It seems the best player from Cowtown –heck, maybe the best player from Canada not currently on the PGA Tour – is none other than Dustin Risdon, who isn’t exactly a household name in Canada.

If your first reaction was “Who?”, you’ve just proved my point for me.

Risdon has pretty well flown under the radar despite notching a pair of wins on the Canadian Tour in the past couple of years. Now taking his swings on the Nationwide Tour after making it to the final stage of the 2008 PGA Tour qualifying school, Risdon is beginning to attract plenty of attention.

A third-round 62 at the Stonebrae Classic this past weekend pushed Risdon into contention in San Francisco and, while he wasn’t able to close the deal and stumbled to a final-day 75 to place 15th, Risdon served notice that he has every intention of using the Nationwide Tour to earn a chance with the big boys in 2010.

In six starts, Risdon has missed just one cut and is currently 21st on the Nationwide money list.
I’ve spent enough time around Risdon to know this kid is the real deal. Like most players with unlimited potential, he just needed to learn how to win, and that took a little longer than he expected. Risdon, who won both the Canadian Junior and Juvenile crowns in 1997, was the 2003 Canadian Rookie of the Year, but didn’t break through until 2007 with a win in Edmonton.

In 2008, he prevailed in his hometown of Calgary and added another four top tens to wind up sixth on the Canadian Tour money list. Risdon also took home a cheque at last summer’s Canadian Open.

Common logic suggests that Risdon was going to take a little time to break in on the Nationwide Tour, but apparently he didn’t get that memo. There is an imposing hurdle to clear before one can make the jump to the PGA Tour, but Risdon seems to be in full stride early in this season.

Risdon is a young man of few words, at least when it comes to interviews. He is much more comfortable on the golf course than in a media centre with microphones stuck in his face. As his career continues to develop, he seems to be adjusting to the media. That, like winning, took a little time getting used to.

He may as well brush up his interview skills. If he keeps this up, his phone will be ringing non-stop with interview requests. Under the radar no more.

Then trying to carve out a career in relative obscurity will no longer be an option.