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Kite soars along
Tournament veteran, 52, still has game
Posted: Saturday April 06, 2002 8:10 PM
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Tom Kite tees off on the fifth hole in the final round of the 2001 U.S. Open at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. He won the Open in 1992. AP |
By Scott Michaux
The Augusta Chronicle
A few favorite Masters trivia questions all have the same answer.
Who has the most top-five finishes at Augusta without a victory? (Hint: It's not Greg Norman.)
Who finished runner-up to Tiger Woods in his 1997 blowout? (Hint: Phil Mickelson and David Duval missed the cut.)
Who shares the record of 10 consecutive Masters tournaments at par or better with Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson? (Hint: It's not Tiger Woods.)
Who is the oldest professional, not otherwise exempt, to qualify himself into the Masters field? (Hint: He'll be 53 in December.)
The answer is Tom Kite. The then-51-year-old Kite posted a tie for fifth in the U.S. Open at Southern Hills to get himself back in the Masters for the first time in three years and the 26th time since 1971 - tying Gene Littler for another Masters record for most starts by a nonwinner.
"Somebody told me I was the oldest one to qualify," Kite said. "If that's the case, that's nice. But the nice thing is to get to go back. The Masters is neat. It's a lot of fun. And I get to go back to the U.S. Open again because of that nice finish. To have a chance at this point of my career to still play in a few major championships and have a chance to compete against all these great players is a lot of fun."
It's also a testament to Kite's competitiveness - particularly on a course that would hardly be considered the most suitable for his game.
"I've done OK there," Kite said of his Masters prowess despite his short-hitting ways that are supposed to be a handicap at Augusta National. "I've hit some pretty good wedges there from time to time on those par-5s. I love the golf course and I've always played hard golf courses well."
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| MOST TOP-5 MASTERS FINISHES |
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| Player |
Years |
Top 5 |
Wins |
| Jack Nicklaus |
42 |
15 |
6 |
| Arnold Palmer |
47 |
9 |
4 |
| Sam Snead |
44 |
9 |
3 |
| Tom Watson |
28 |
9 |
2 |
| Ben Hogan |
25 |
9 |
2 |
| Tom Kite |
25 |
9 |
0 |
| Gary Player |
44 |
8 |
3 |
| Ben Crenshaw |
30 |
8 |
2 |
| Greg Norman |
21 |
8 |
0 |
| Byron Nelson |
30 |
7 |
2 |
| Seve Ballesteros |
25 |
7 |
2 |
| Lloyd Mangrum |
20 |
7 |
0 |
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That Kite has the same number of runner-up finishes (three) and more top-5s (nine) than Greg Norman is significant. But it's Norman who is always the more heralded Masters foil and Norman who, by virtue of his Australian birth certificate, gets occasional special treatment with exemptions in 1992 and 2002.
Kite didn't get invited in 1992, and he went on to win the U.S. Open two months later. And Kite had to play his way in this year while Norman got another free pass despite diminishing results.
"Greg is an international player and he's very flamboyant and he's very charismatic and been a great star for the PGA Tour for many years," Kite said. "There have been some times that he's been able to take advantage of the fact he's not American-born. It's not Greg's fault. I certainly don't begrudge him. But it's kind of tough to understand some of the rankings systems. They're trying to find a fair way to do it, we're just not there yet."
That Kite is back at Augusta after a three-year hiatus surprises him, especially considering all the obstacles in a 52-year-old's way.
"I never thought I'd get back in," he said. "I missed getting back in by a shot or two in 1998. And the way they've changed their qualifications to use the world rankings, nothing on the Senior Tour do you get points for anything. I have a little trouble understanding that."
Kite said he wonders how the ranking system can weigh and measure varying tours from Europe to Asia to the minor-league Buy.com, yet it can't put any value on a Senior Tour event.
"Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and myself are not ranked among the top 1,000 players in the world," he said. "That obviously shows you a major flaw in the world rankings. But ever since the world ranking was designed by IMG, it's been nothing but a major flaw. It doesn't work. You can't compare apples to oranges to bananas to grapefruit."
Kite visited Augusta National in March to see the changes. It was an even bigger culture shock for him, considering he hasn't played in the Masters since the last wave of changes before the 1999 tournament.
"I went over and saw the golf course so I wouldn't be surprised," he said.
Kite might have winced at the sight of the 18th hole, where his shortest club into the green was a 3-iron, but he disagrees with the general consensus that the added length will rule out the shorter hitters.
"I think it's gonna help some of the average players," he said. "The par-5s are going to be more difficult to hit and some of the par-4s will be. When you start going at those greens, that's when you get in trouble. Obviously length is a huge advantage everywhere, but I think there will be some players of average length that are going to do very well this year."
| MOST RUNNER-UP FINISHES WITHOUT A VICTORY |
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| Player |
Finishes (years) |
| Tom Weiskopf |
4 (1969, '72, '74, '75) |
| Tom Kite |
3 (1983, '86, '97) |
| Greg Norman |
3 (1986, '87, '96) |
| Johnny Miller |
3 (1971, '75, '81) |
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This is the last year of Kite's exemption on the PGA Tour, stemming from his 10-year ride for winning the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He took full advantage of his limited schedule, making the cut in all six events he played in 2000, including the three majors he played in plus the Players Championship. He competed well again at the Players last month, finishing tied for 36th.
"The reason I'm still playing is I love to compete," he said. "I love coming out here and seeing if I can do something that's just close to the talent level of these guys right now."
His Senior Tour buddies certainly get a kick out of seeing Kite and a few others mix it up with the younger generation.
"It makes the Senior Tour look good," Kite said. "We all know that a 50-year-old guy is not as good as some of the 25- and 30-year-olds that are playing out here now. But we haven't got both feet in the coffin yet."
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