The first cut is always sweetest

VIENNA, Ohio -- For Elizabeth Bowman, a Sunday afternoon lunch at the Yankee Kitchen was the appropriate spot to celebrate her first final round on the LPGA Tour.

The greasy spoon just outside of Squaw Creek Country Club features a menu with 1940 prices -- apropos given Bowman's meager prize money at the Giant Eagle Classic. Of course, Bowman could have sprung for, say, the pork chop dinner with two sides and a salad at $4.50 even without her take-home winnings of $1,947. Ultimately, the earnings were immaterial. For this 31-year-old, making her first LPGA cut was worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox.

THE SHAG BAG It's not surprising that Mi Hyun Kim switched clubs on Wednesday, prior to the start of the Giant Eagle Classic, but it was astounding that she didn't pack her trademark 9- and 11-woods. "I wish they let you play with 15 clubs because I really miss my 11-wood," said the Korean, who took her first victory since the 2000 Safeco Classic. ... Kelly Robbins tied the course record with an opening-round 64 but was unable close the deal. She has now gone 82 tournaments -- since the 1999 Health South Inaugural -- without a victory. ... Two-time winner Dorothy Delasin might want to make the Youngstown area her new home after recording a strong seventh-place finish. ... Natalie Gulbis extended her lead over Beth Bauer in the Rookie of the Year race by placing fourth. ... Catherine Cartwright made her first career cut despite being tagged with a two-shot penalty during the first round for slow play. The youngest player on tour fired a second-round 69 to ensure her spot Sunday. ... Gail Graham made her first cut of the season and also secured a berth in the Weetabix Women's British Open. Fiona Pike, Beth Bader, Giulia Sergas and Hilary Homeyer also earned spots in the fourth major championship of the year. ... Homeyer had to win the Monday qualifier just to get into the Giant Eagle Classic. "I almost didn't fill out the form for the Weetabix because I was the 24th alternate for the Giant Eagle at the time, but my dad told me to go ahead and send it in anyway," Homeyer said. ... At the mandatory players' meeting Wednesday night, where tour members were sworn to secrecy, commissioner Ty Votaw tried to keep the troops optimistic about the 2003 season. But according to several players in attendance, all he ended up doing was upsetting their stomachs. "We have 50 pounds of potatoes for a 40-pound sack," Votaw said about potential sponsors for June 2003. What he failed to mention is that the sacks for January and February are completely empty.

Over the last few years, Bowman's struggles and triumphs have been chronicled in this column. In 1999 at the Futures Tour's Betty Puskar Classic in Morgantown, W.Va., I had the uneviable task of informing Bowman that she had missed her exempt LPGA card by a mere $165. Later that year, she made the cut at Q school but again failed to earn her card.

Last fall, on her eighth time through Q school, the former UCLA standout finally secured her card, finishing in a tie for 24th. Due to the LPGA's slimmed-down schedule this season, Bowman has played in just five tournaments. It's no wonder that the only thing on her mind at Squaw Creek was placing in the top 70 after 36 holes.

After shooting an opening-round 2-under-par 70, which included two chip-ins, making the cut should have been an afterthought. But "playing on the weekend," as it is called on tour, was something Bowman has dreamed about since she bought her first set of clubs with money earned delivering The San Diego Union-Tribune.

"For the last three years while playing the Futures Tour, the last thing I ever thought about was making the cut, that was just a given," Bowman said. "But this is a totally different world."

Despite shooting 1 under on the front nine Saturday afternoon, playing the next day still was her biggest concern. Thoughts of looking up her tee time and calling fiancé Brad Benson with the historic news filled her head.

"After making the turn I starting getting ahead of myself," Bowman said. "I was thinking about how great it was going to be to be able to play on Sunday and being able to call Brad and say that I made the cut."

Back at her parents' house in San Diego, Benson was doing a little sweating of his own. While visiting his future in-laws, he kept busy following Bowman's round on the Internet. But that all changed when Bowman recorded an untimely double bogey on the 11th hole. With that black mark on her scorecard, she dropped dangerously close to cut line, which was projected to be even par.

"Hey, Judy, turn that off," Benson said to Elizabeth's mother after seeing the 6. He couldn't take the pressure anymore and headed to the Padres game.

Watching the Padres get dusted by the Diamondbacks was certainly more relaxing than tracking Bowman's last six holes. On No. 17, Bowman's nerves would get the best of her; she hit a routine chip 10 feet past the hole and made bogey.

Bowman now stood on the 18th tee knowing that a par, a simple score she had probably accomplished 10,000 times in her life, was imperative. Never before had her lifetime goal been within her grasp. The round almost turned into another nightmare: Bowman left herself a 15-foot putt to save par and make the cut.

But as she has done in so many practice rounds, Bowman drilled the putt to the bottom of the hole. She landed right on the cut line with a 70-74—144.

"I don't think anyone realizes just how much this really means to me," said Bowman.

Even after making the cut, Bowman still wasn't done worrying. On Saturday night at Dina Ammacapane's 34th birthday party, Lisa Kiggens and Dan Wilson, Danielle Ammacapane's caddie, told Bowman the tale of Becky Larson. In 1990 at the Rail Charity Classic, the longtime teaching professional made only the third cut of her career but almost missed her tee time because she overslept.

With the help of two alarm clocks and a wakeup call, Bowman was on the first tee well before 7:44 a.m. The precautions she took to ensure she wouldn't oversleep turned out to be more eventful than her 1-over 73.

Unlike most players, Bowman wasn't too disappointed about finishing tied for 70th. And even though she knew her payday would be small, she had plans for the check.

"After all that I have been through, I am not going to cash this check," Bowman said. "I'm going to have it framed."

As it turns out, Bowman won't actually have a piece of paper to frame because funds are deposited directly into players' bank accounts. Which may end up to be good news for Bowman. After all, there aren't too many places on tour where you can get dinner for less than $5.

Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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