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KOREA - You remember Ron Harvey Jr., right?

Well, things have changed slightly over the past year.

These days, Harvey is - get this - a Kindergarten-teaching rock star.

He's not exactly Ozzy Osbourne, but he has branched out.

He hasn't given up on his dream of one day reaching the PGA Tour, but for now he's a singer and rhythm guitarist with Rock as a Second Language - an all-Canadian band in Korea where he's teaching English to youngsters.

"It's a far cry from the battle fields of sweaty mini tours in the south, and though there are times where a reason for my presence here in the East escapes me, I think it was something I needed to do," Harvey said via e-mail. "I needed some time away from the pressure of it, and some time to re-focus."

He said if he wasn't going to be golfing, he wanted to do something completely different.

"This certainly qualifies," he said.

An academic All-American in his senior year at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Harvey graduated with a degree in advertising.

"Teaching, itself, is a very rewarding occupation," he said. "I am in love with my students. The kids are great to see each day. I'm lucky to be over here doing this but I know this isn't my calling. I've made a lot of good friends over here quickly, and I have a nice routine, but I miss the competition."

Earlier this month, Harvey strapped on a guitar and joined bandmates - three guys from Newfoundland and two women from Ontario - for their first live gig.

"I had a taste of the old competitive nerves when the band I'm in played our first gig. We pretty much rocked the show."

Like most everything Harvey throws himself into, he's become a fine guitar player in a very short time after having taken up the instrument a year ago.

"Odd that playing a live gig is what made me miss golf more than anything, even more than seeing U.S. Open scores. I used my mental practice for golf to get ready for the show, and I played the show pretty well and sang right on key the whole time."

As well as things are going musically, Harvey will gladly lay down his music career for another crack at the PGA Tour.

"No, there's no future for me as a rock star," he said. "Golf is my forte.

"Golf is in my future. I need to get to the point where I can give it my all, and have a fresh start."

Harvey made it further than any New Brunswick male when he reached the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School in 2005 and spent the following season on the second-tier Nationwide Tour. He ran out of money playing a number of mini tours last season after his two-year financial agreement with Bill Barrett of Woodstock expired.

"I don't want to ask for handouts," said Harvey. "I don't feel like I've earned anything, and doing it on my own dime seems much more dignified than anything else. I'm not saying I'd never put my hands out and gratefully accept a donation, but I just can't bring myself to ask people for money. Being here, I can save money that I can use to finance golf next year for a while."

While they haven't spoken in some time, Barrett is still a believer in Harvey and didn't rule out becoming involved again as a financial supporter.

"Ron has a gift as a golfer," said Barrett. "That gift won't go away if he pauses for a bit. He has a bit of time to find out other things about himself, what he wants his life to be. Sometimes we forget the commitment athletes make so early to their sport that denies them a broader view of the ocean of opportunities they might experience.

"Ron is a bright young man with character. I am sure whatever he chooses, it will be fulfilling for him."

Having just turned 25 on May 30, Harvey is hardly over the hill but he's serious about getting his ducks in a row before he takes another crack at the dream.

"Chasing a goal haphazardly isn't chasing a goal at all," he said.