HONOLULU — The PGA Tour has 22 rookies at the Sony Open. That doesn't include Jim McGovern.

He only feels like one.

McGovern is a 42-year-old father of four who first joined the PGA Tour when some of these rookies were still in diapers and wondered if he would ever make it back to place like Waialae Country Club, the first full-field event of the year.

Asked how long it had been since he had full status on the PGA Tour, McGovern rubbed the bottom of his goatee for a few seconds before his eyes brightened and he couldn't contain a smile.

"Today," he said. "It's a second life that a lot of people don't get."

McGovern returns to full status for the first time in 10 years when he tees off today in the Sony Open, the first full-field event of the year that is rife with optimism, not to mention introductions. The first few weeks are when veteran players spend most of their time glancing at the names on bags of players they don't know.

McGovern is a blast from the past.

In his third full year on tour, he beat John Huston in a playoff at the rain-shortened Shell Houston Open. That turned out to be a lone highlight in a career that soon became a grind as McGovern tried to balance expectations in golf with a growing family.

For the last 10 years, he has been grinding away on the Nationwide Tour, trying to make do with what starts he could as a past champion, sweating over the final two stages of Q-school and wondering whether he should get a real job.

A second life? You could say that.

"The first time around I was living the dream," he said. "Now I'm working the dream. I've put in a lot of time and effort. The biggest thing is my wife instilling confidence in me. And I've swallowed so much pride that I've probably put on 25 pounds."