Chris Baryla smacks a Titleist Pro V1 an average 301.5 yards, topping the Nationwide Tour average by almost 11 yards.

He hits greens in regulation 71.5 per cent of the time which means he’s usually putting for a birdie when he finds the dance floor. Oh, and he only putts an average 29.3 times a round.

Stats say he can play with the world’s best. The Vernon product more than proved he belongs on the same stage as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson by earning a whopping $218,000 on the Nationwide Tour this season, placing him 19th overall.

An incredible comeback season, after being betrayed by back problems, saw him pocket his PGA Tour card for next year.

We were wondering out loud in the newsroom who he might choose for his dream threesome when he starts his first full-time PGA season.

Expecting Baryla, who turned 27 last week, to list some of the game’s heavyweights, he instead chuckled and replied: “Two guys that I beat.”

The VSS Panther golf star, who fine-tuned his game while playing at Hillview and Vernon Golf & Country Club, quietly celebrated his PGA Tour status by hanging out with friends and having a few drinks at his home in El Paso, Texas.

His buddy Jesse Crowe, a pro at Mabel Lake, calls him “a genius and school smart.” His confidence and sense of humour doesn’t let him get too high or too low.

“I think he’s going to be fine on the PGA Tour,” said Crowe. “It’s going to be exciting following him. I sent him a text today telling him he was my favourite PGA player.”

Baryla, who said he put a little more pressure on his career by not getting sponsors, will not be awestruck by the PGA superstars.

“I’m generally oblivious to that stuff, good or bad, but I’m really looking forward to it,” said the 6-foot, 180-pounder. “I’m the same as anybody. If you’re playing well, when you’re game’s on, you have a chance at winning.”

Crowe, 29, recalls working in the Vernon pro shop and getting daily reports from Baryla.

“He’d come in and say, ‘I hit 14 greens and shot 73, I hit 16 greens and shot 74.’ He wasn’t scoring really low because his putting wasn’t there. Then, all of a sudden inside that year, he was coming in and saying, ‘I hit 15 greens and shot 67.’ Once his putting caught fire, he was shooting under par all the time. He went to the long putter at El Paso (university golf) and his putting was dynamite.”

Baryla has always been an early learner. As an amateur, he qualified for the 2003 U.S. Open at the age of 20, eventually missing the cut with rounds of 72-74. Later that year, he made the cut at the Bell Canadian Open, becoming the first Canadian amateur in 20 years to do so. He went on to finish tied for 73rd.

A runner-up in the 2003 Canadian Amateur Championship, Baryla was also a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection in 2002 and 2003, where he was coached by former Canadian Tour champion Rick Todd with the University of Texas-El Paso Miners. He also earned one WAC Player-of-the-Year honour.

The 2008 season was basically a trainwreck as Baryla suffered with a nerve injury in his back. He endured numbness in his left leg, and his back would blow out when he went to hit balls.

He played hurt, in seven tournaments, and made a paltry $1,713. He shot 54 on the back nine, including a 10 on a par-3, in the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.

Nobody could have blamed him for giving up the game. He spent the winter rehabbing the back, avoided surgery, and pulled out a great year. He did lots of stretching and physio, while being monitored by Dr. Craig Davies, a Toronto native, based out of Orlando.

“I felt good going into this season, stronger than the year before. My back feels fantastic; it held up well.”

Myles Johnson, a pro at Spallumcheen who played high school golf with Baryla, expects his friend will find success on the Tour.

“His overall stats on the Nationwide Tour are huge. I think he’s second in so he’s not just scraping by. I knew he’d make it eventually. He had quite a setback last year, but it just shows what he does when faced with adversity.

“He won two B.C. juniors and as a freshmen (at El Paso), he did OK, and then he won six or seven tournaments in his second year. Once he gets a taste of it, once he feels comfortable, he does well.”

Johnson said Baryla was level-headed as a young player, a trait which separated him from the rest.

“He was really dedicated to the game. He was so far ahead of us in mental toughness and physical stuff. And he was really smart.”

Jim Atmore, an owner of Hillview, recalls Baryla showing his game face every time out.

“He was always a serious young golfer. He golfed a lot with his grandfather, George, and you could tell he was more focussed than the other kids who took up the game. It seemed like he knew what he wanted to do.”

Baryla, and his girlfriend of nine years, Amelie, will be in Vernon at Christmas to visit family and friends.