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Putting is key to Senior tour success

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Posted: Monday April 03, 2000 04:26 PM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Being a Senior tour star isn't necessarily easy. If you watched the Countrywide Tradition, the tour's first so-called major of the year, you noticed that the tour's most marketable newcomers are fighting their putters. It's no fun to putt poorly, whether you're a professional or an amateur. It's even less fun to do it on national television.

THE SHORT GAME After Tom Kite was interviewed by reporters following a first-round 66 that gave him the early lead in the Tradition, a volunteer asked for Kite's autograph on a birthday card for a female friend. The card's message was, "You're too young to be this old." The volunteer told Kite, "Thank you. She's going to be so surprised. She's going to really love this card." The card looked even better Sunday after Kite won the tournament. ... Lanny Wadkins has enjoyed the popular reception for the Senior tour commercial he did in which he and Kite answer a doorbell rung by fellow Senior tour pranksters. However, he said, enough is enough. "I'm still hearing, 'Hey, Lanny, who's at the door?'" Wadkins said. "How the hell do I know?" ... Larry Nelson, who was the first one eliminated in a three-way playoff won by Kite, was glad to have come close to winning considering he didn't play well on the weekend. And he was sort of glad he was part of a dramatic finish. "It was nice to be exciting again," joked Nelson, who knows his reputation for being a little on the dull side. ... When Kite left the press tent after his first-round interview, he climbed into a cart with his caddie, Mike Carrick, to head for the back of the driving range to get some practice. Carrick, trying to maneuver their cart up a steep incline, spun the cart's wheels in the dirt and got stuck. When Kite kidded him about it, Carrick shrugged and said, "Rookie driver."

Tom Kite and Tom Watson made some ugly strokes along the way before Kite finally ended the playoff by nearly making an ace on the par-3 17th hole. The third member of the playoff, Larry Nelson, displayed some putting woes, too -- especially when he missed a five-footer on the final green that would've given him the win in regulation and then another five-footer for par on the second extra hole to stay alive in the playoff.

Kite fought off his problems early in the tournament when he opened with a 66. He explainied that he had been missing his putts to the right and thought he had corrected the problem by adopting a hook grip, one with a stronger left hand. The fix didn't work all week, obviously, as Kite missed some short putts during the weekend. Like Watson, whose putting battles have been well chronicled for years, Kite kept plugging away despite some low moments.

"I got to where I wasn't putting very well but I never doubted my ability," Kite said. "You can't allow those bad thoughts to come in. I won't say I didn't have thoughts like that but I got rid of them pretty quickly."

Asked if he ever suffered from the yips, which Watson prefers to call "the flinches," Kite hesitated. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know what the definition of that thing is. I didn't putt well, that's for sure. I don't know whether I had the yips but I went through a period of time where it wasn't pretty. No matter how well you hit it from tee to green, you have to make some putts."

The putt Kite holed on the sixth playoff hole to beat Watson for his first Senior tour victory was a length he likes to have -- six inches.

The Tradition's fun, interesting finish was a nice answer to the expectations that built up over the winter with the arrival of Kite and Lanny Wadkins, who turned 50 in December, and Watson, who turned 50 four months earlier. The only question is, can Kite and Watson conquer their putting troubles often enough to become the dominant stars the Senior tour needs? Or will Bruce Fleisher, who putted his way to seven victories last year and two more already in 2000, continue to be the tour's low-profile king?

"People are talking about how this is going to be a great year for golf because we've got majors at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews and because this may be Jack Nicklaus' last time around, but I think this is going to be a great year for senior golf," said former U.S. Open champion Andy North, who turned 50 in March and made the Tradition his official Senior tour debut. "The last few years we've had a high level of play but they were names people didn't know. The public has known Watson, Wadkins and Kite for 25 years. They're a big deal. Not only will they create a lot of interest but they'll make some of the aging stars play harder. I guarantee you, Lee Trevino and Raymond Floyd and Jim Colbert are going to have one more great year because of them."

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle is a regular contributor to the magazine's Golf Plus edition. Click here to send a question to his Golf Mailbag.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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