Huber chips in an opinion
O'Meara favored to cap big season with Grand Slam win
Posted: Friday November 13, 1998 07:54 PM
TBS broadcaster Jim Huber, who will be the host for the 1998 Grand Slam of Golf, checked in with CNN/SI to answer some key questions about the special event and the closing of another golf season.
CNN/SI: Who do you think will win the 1998 Grand Slam of Golf?
Jim Huber: If all goes according to form, Mark O'Meara should win it for several reasons, not the least of which being he has had the best season of the four men involved. He beat Vijay unmercifully in the semifinals of the World Match Play Championships last month and then defeated Tiger in the finals. That may have set a very predictable tone.
CNN/SI: Do the players change their approach in match play?
JH: Match play is so much different than stroke play. It allows for great patience, knowing that one bad hole doesn't necessarily determine the match.
CNN/SI: Why is the Grand Slam a special event?
JH: This has always been a fun tournament since the days when they invited four golfers, not necessarily the major winners. Once, when Curtis Strange had a stomach ailment, they had to rummage through the closet for a replacement and added Mike Ditka, of all people. But since going to the major-winners format in 1991, it has taken on a very distinct class. The players feel that, as well, and it's something they obviously care very much about.
CNN/SI: Who is your player of the year?
JH: O'Meara, by a whisker. David Duval had a better statistical season, won more tournaments, made a lot more money, and distinguished himself as one of the finest players of his time. But O'Meara won two majors and nearly a third, and Duval would surely trade all of his treasures for those.
CNN/SI: Your thoughts on the alternate system; should it be adjusted so that money-leader David Duval is the fourth pick?
JH: I think the alternate system is a very proper way of filling out the field in what is a most unusual situation. It's only happened once before, when Nick Price won the British and PGA Championship back in 1994. Ironically, Greg Norman was the alternate that year and wound up winning the Grand Slam. Going to any other system would be too arbitrary for my tastes. It's a bit like the PGA of America Player of the Year versus the PGA Tour Player of the Year. The former is based solely on a points system, the latter is by vote.
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