It’s a rarity for a player to go from the Nationwide Tour Championship to the PGA Tour Championship in one year. John Rollins did it in 2001 and 2002. Since then, he has become a regular competitor in the game’s biggest events.

Rollins entered golf’s winner’s circle in 2002 with a signature win — his first PGA Tour victory — at the Bell Canadian Open, one of the oldest and most prestigious events on the Tour. Four years later, he added a B.C. Open victory to his resume. Although he didn’t win in 2007, he finished 24th on the money list and earned nearly $2.5 million.

The man known as Rocket to his friends on the PGA Tour moved several years ago from his home in Virginia to Dallas, where he lives with his wife and young daughters.

As he embarks on his eighth season, Rollins seems quite at home on the PGA Tour. The 32-year-old has narrowly missed qualifying for the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams the last two years. With a confidence that can only come from success against the game’s best, John “Rocket” Rollins seems ready for liftoff in 2008.

I caught up with him the week before he made his 2008 debut at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a tournament in which he came up just short in a play-off last year.

1. What’s the attraction in moving to Dallas?
There’s so much to do. The food is great and there’s lots of sports and nightlife. That was one attraction. Being centrally located in the country was another. I can get to most of the stops on Tour without changing planes, and that’s a big plus. The weather is good here, too. And there’s no state income tax in Texas.

2. There are quite a few guys from the Tour who live in the Big D or near there. Do you play much together?
Yeah, we play a little. Our schedules are so different that it’s tough to match up our time at home. But I play some with Hunter Mahan, Tag Ridings, Ben Crane, and Ryan Palmer. There are a bunch of guys that you constantly run into, and we tee it up from time to time.

3. One of the places where you all seem to be at the same time are Mavs games. Are they going to win the championship this year?
Well, I have to say yes. I’m a season ticket holder. That’s why you buy the tickets — to be there for the NBA Finals. We’ve come close. Actually, I should say that they’ve come close. I haven’t scored a point. But, like anything, success comes from a learning process. The Mavs have had two really good teams the last couple of years and come close. Maybe now they’ve learned enough to win the title.

4. With your travel schedule, do you get to many games?
It varies from year to year. A full home season is 44 games. We get to more than half of those. When we aren’t using our tickets, we give them to friends or sell them. But we try to get to 25 or 30 games throughout the year.

5. You went four years between your first and second victory. Obviously 2007 was a successful year although you didn’t push through and win. What will it take to win this year?
You have to have a little luck. You need to get that good bounce at the right time. But I also need to sharpen up my iron game. It’s let me down a little in some clutch situations. There’s always something to work on. If I can tidy up my iron game and continue to give myself opportunities, then I really don’t see why I can’t win several times this year. That’s my goal: not only to win, but to win multiple times in a year.

6. Is it difficult to balance your personal life with your Tour life? How do you handle that?
I’ve learned to practice more with a purpose. I know that there are other things that are more important than golf. Golf is my job and my career. It’s how I make my living and sustain my family. I think that perspective has actually helped my game. I have a great mix of friends around me. My wife and our friends are a constant support, and that has helped me to take the game a little less seriously. I’ve come to realize that being able to enjoy life away from the golf course is an important part of success on the course.

7. For the last two seasons you’ve been right on the bubble to make either the Ryder Cup Team or the Presidents Cup Team. Is there something positive to learn from that?
I have to chalk those up as learning experiences because I didn’t make either team. What I learned is that you have to somehow separate yourself from the thoughts of earning points and money and just go play. I just went out and played golf, and with a few weeks left to go, I found myself around eleventh or twelfth in points. I have to admit that both years I got really wrapped up in it. Who was going to get points? How many points was I ahead of this guy and behind that guy? It’s easy to let yourself get caught up in it. With that experience, I know I have the game to go out and make the Ryder Cup Team this year, and that’s one of my goals for 2008.

8. You made it to the Tour Championship in the inaugural year of the FedEx Cup playoffs. How much different was that than in years past?
It wasn’t that different for me because I wasn’t contending for the Cup. Obviously it’s an honor to be in the top thirty on Tour, and the tournament itself is incredible. The people at East Lake [Atlanta] treated us so well and it was one of the most elite fields of the year. I consider it a tremendous accomplishment just to qualify. But even if I had won the tournament I wasn’t going to win the Cup, so for me it was more of a reward for a good year rather than a play-off atmosphere. Had I been in contention for the FedEx Cup, that could have been a different story.

9. You’re headed into your eighth season — so tell us what’s the greatest thing about playing on the PGA Tour.
I think it’s knowing that you’ve reached the pinnacle of your sport. There are so many people in the world who would love to do what I do for a living. And it’s so hard to do it. To know that I’ve achieved that is a great feeling. I have accomplished a childhood dream.

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John Maginnes is a former PGA Tour player. He now covers live Tour events for XM Radio.