Golf
Chrysler event a lure for players in need of more money
By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2003
Many of the top players on the PGA Tour have put their clubs away in recent weeks, taking a break from a long season that will come to an official conclusion next month. The rank-and-file players who remain only wish they were so fortunate.
While stashing the clubs and getting away from the game for a while might be the best thing for their state of mind, they have no choice but to soldier on, hoping to put a hot streak together and perhaps put off a worse fate - a return to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
We're talking about the guys playing for their livelihood, or at least the right to control their immediate futures. We're talking about the guys who have not secured their place on the PGA Tour next year.
And if you have yet to do that, obviously, it means you are not playing all that well.
But you never know when a few putts might drop ... and that is why they keep playing.
Or hoping to. Not all of them even have that option. And that's why Gerald Goodman's phone has been ringing often.
Goodman is the Chrysler Championship's tournament director, and his event in two weeks is the last chance this year for players to earn enough money to retain their PGA Tour card for next season by finishing among the top 125 money winners. Because his field has just 132 players, the competition for those spots is fierce.
The tournament has no Monday qualifier, and Goodman is allowed to give out four sponsor exemptions. He has received more than 100 requests for them.
"I field calls all day long," Goodman said. "Players, agents, players' wives."
One spot has been given to Hank Kuehne, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 321.2 yards. Kuehne has secured his card for next year, but "we felt giving him a sponsor exemption might help give us a boost. Everybody likes to see a long hitter banging it out there," Goodman said.
The rest of the exemptions, however, are still to be decided.
"We're kind of holding out for guys who are 120 on the money list to 150 who cannot get in our event," Goodman said. "A perfect example is Dicky Pride. It would be a shame for him to be $10,900 out and not be able to fight for his card. He's in line."
Pride is 130th on the money list. Dennis Paulson is 132nd. They are within $25,000 of Jose Maria Olazabal, who is 125th. Both players, former PGA Tour winners, are in line to get a sponsor exemption to the Chrysler Championship; their finish on the money list in 2002 would otherwise keep them out of the tournament. David Frost was in the same position until a good finish at last week's Las Vegas Invitational. He has moved to 110th on the money list and should be secure. He had hoped for a sponsor exemption, too.
"But he called me and said, "Take care of somebody who is fighting to keep their card,' " Goodman said.
MORE COMMITMENTS: The Chrysler Championship this week received commitments from Scott Verplank (25th on the money list), Charles Howell (26th), Bob Estes (33rd) and Steve Lowery (74th). So far, the tournament has five of the top 10 money winners, 10 of the top 20, 16 of the top 30 and 26 of the top 40.
AROUND GOLF: Raymond Floyd has been given a special exemption into next year's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, where he won the tournament in 1986. Floyd, 62, has not played in the U.S. Open since 1995, when the tournament also was at Shinnecock. ... Kent Jones hit 83 of 90 greens in regulation at the Las Vegas Invitational, the most in a 90-hole event since the PGA Tour started keeping track in 1980. But despite all those chances, he only tied for 26th. That's because he was 79th in putting for the week, averaging 32 putts per round. ... British Open champion Ben Curtis and PGA winner Shaun Micheel have not posted a top-10 finish since their major championship triumphs. The last time a player did not finish in the top 10 after winning a major was in 1993, when Lee Janzen failed to do so after winning the U.S. Open. ... By playing in the final two events of the Champions Tour season, Dana Quigley will complete his sixth straight season of playing in every tournament.
LOCALLY: The Adidas Fall Invitational Women's Golf Tournament is Sunday through Tuesday at Lansbrook Golf Club in Palm Harbor. Hosted by Notre Dame, other schools in the 14-team field are Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa State and Kansas State. There will be shotgun starts each day.
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