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The 17-year-old from Orlando tees off today in his first PGA Tour event as a pro.
By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 24, 2002
Golf's latest phenom is set to show off his stuff. This one is barely old enough to drive, has yet to graduate from high school and prompted the PGA Tour to hastily change its rules.
That didn't keep Ty Tryon from inking endorsement deals that run into seven figures.
The money came because companies are betting Tryon will be a popular figure at tournaments this year. There is no doubt he can play, as he has proved several times, including his most impressive feat of earning his PGA Tour card.
Lest we forget he is a kid, Tryon has had to turn down one tournament opportunity -- it conflicts with his high school prom.
Tryon, 17, a junior at Dr. Phillips High in Orlando, will make his PGA Tour debut as a card-carrying member today at the Phoenix Open.
His arrival, however, is met with skepticism.
While conceding that Tryon is an excellent player with tremendous potential, there are plenty who wonder if 17 is too young to be a professional golfer.
"Personally, I would have encouraged Ty to stay in school," said three-time U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin. "I think that's the way to go. Those years in school give you a maturation you can't get otherwise. I think you need to be with your peer group. I think you need to understand what being a 17- or 18-year-old is. There is a degree of normalcy. The tour is not normal.
"God forbid, if he ever had a health problem and couldn't play golf, what would he fall back on? It's an amazing accomplishment. I applaud him. But I wonder about that education somewhere along the line. It's helpful."
Six-time tour winner Gary Koch, who covered Tryon at the Honda Classic last year for NBC-TV and also saw him play at the U.S. Amateur and the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, does not dispute Tryon's talent. But he does have concerns.
"As a 17-year-old, how does he handle all the other stuff? The travel, the time management," Koch said. "There's six or seven hours a day at the golf course. What about the 17 or 18 other hours a day? What do you do with your time? As a 17-year-old, he's not going to relate to a lot of guys out there, and I don't think there will be a lot of guys making an effort to be buddy-buddy with him ... Because of the attention, because of the endorsements, I don't see a lot of guys jumping out there to help him. That'll be the interesting aspect of this."
Tryon, who plans to finish high school, earned his playing privileges in December but isn't allowed to fully utilize them until his 18th birthday in June. That tour rule was ratified after Tryon had begun the qualifying process.
Until then he will play on sponsor's exemptions. He'll have seven, and getting those invites will be no problem. Tryon already has turned down invitations to several tournaments, including a reported $1-million appearance fee to play in the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. That's the same week as the Honda Classic, where it all began for Tryon.
Virtually unknown outside the junior golf world, Tryon, then 16, earned one of two spots in a Monday qualifier for the Honda in Fort Lauderdale and became the youngest player in 44 years to make a cut on the tour. He tied for 39th.
Tryon started thinking a pro career was possible when he tied for the first-round lead in the fall at the B.C. Open, shooting 65. Soon after, he decided to turn pro and signed up for the three-stage qualifying tournament.
And that's where he showed the golf world something. He was one of seven players out of 992 who made it through all three stages. He endured two 72-hole events to make it to the grueling final 108-hole stage. And on the last day he shot 66 to secure his card. In those 14 rounds, he broke par 11 times and was 36 under par for 252 holes. He tied for 23rd at the final stage.
"I would rate it very high. I don't know what to compare it against," said Ben Crenshaw, who joined the tour right out of college and won his first tournament. "I think people understand that some very, very fine golfers with a lot of experience are at the school. The competition has gotten better. For a 17-year-old to have that much confidence in his game and go through it ... I think it is a great achievement."
Tryon and his family have approached this endeavor with plenty of thought. Although Tryon was not a huge winner in junior golf, he has been preparing for a long time. He has had a personal trainer for five years and two swing coaches at Orlando's Leadbetter Academy, including David Leadbetter. He has an image coach, a sports psychologist, an agent.
Not to mention plenty of training. Tryon has been working with Leadbetter for years. He spent a year at his academy in Bradenton.
"Everybody needs to ask themselves why they want to go to college," said Gary Gilchrist, an instructor at the Leadbetter Academy who worked with Tryon. "It's to get a degree so you can get a job and earn money.
"If Ty is good enough to earn sponsorships and play golf for a living and can play the game he loves, why go to college? In life, how many times are you going to get this opportunity? He paid his money, he went to tour school, he made it through. Why are people negative? Why not look at the bright side.
"There are no guarantees that if you go to college you'll become a doctor or earn a lot of money. A lot of people at Enron would love to be Ty Tryon right now."