Shane Bacon

For Ricky Barnes, it was the same feeling most experience as they walk down the UA Mall on the first day of classes: being the little fish in the huge pond yet again.

Like most at this year's British Open, Barnes slashed, hacked and even threw his hands up into the sky at one point, wondering when it was ever going to stop. But unlike most others that day, it still hasn't for the newly initiated professional.

Barnes, the most decorated amateur in recent history, never seemed to have a problem with professional golf when he still wore the red "A" on his shoulder, but since his departure from Tucson, it's been a downhill slide without even a twig to grab hold of.

So what is his problem?

You could blame it on his unorthodox swing, but it's the same swing that made him the only player from Arizona to ever finish in the top-20 in every NCAA Championship, and the same swing that won him the U.S. Amateur ÷ something Tiger Woods called the toughest test in golf.

You could also argue that another Wildcat, Jim Furyk, has a swing that makes Barnes' pass look almost angelic, but Furyk's play on the PGA Tour has been stellar, with a U.S. Open win to go along with his eight other victories.

So if it isn't his swing, is it his aggressive nature on the course, which some would even go as far as calling sexy?

Since turning pro, Barnes would have had an easier time piecing the Hussein twins back together than finding a fairway ÷ a place he has to be to shoot at the flags he likes to shoot at.

Since turning pro, Barnes has yet to make a cut ÷ but that's putting it lightly.

He has yet to break the top 100 in any of his first three tournaments, finishing tied for 131st at the International (his professional debut), tied for 108th at the Reno-Tahoe Open and tied for 128th at the John Deere Classic.

The most disappointing thing about his lack of success is how well he played as an amateur on the big boys' tour.

In four PGA starts as an amateur in 2003, Barnes finished in an 18th-place tie at the Chrysler Classic, 21st at the Masters and tied for 59th at the U.S. Open.

The Masters finish, a tournament in which his name was in the runner-up position for a short period in the first and second rounds, was the place where his professional expectations were born.

With his last sponsor exemption coming this week at the Valero Texas Open, a win is the only way he'll slip past PGA Qualifying School ÷ one of the few places in sports that make grown men cry.

So what does Barnes have to do to not consider the Fall Finish a complete waste?

On paper, we could all say he'd have to go out and finish in the top 10 ÷ maybe even winning the thing in a playoff.

Realistically, however, I just hope he makes the cut and gets some money in his pocket so he can play for Q-School.

We can only hope and pray that his amateur success doesn't lead him down the same path of another decorated youngster, Ty Tryon, and that after his first few stumbles, Barnes can go out and do what we all know he can.