Wednesday, May 27, 1998

Golf Corner

By Al Pickett / Abilene Reporter-News

Tom Watson's win Sunday at the Colonial Invitational in Fort Worth was more significant than perhaps even Watson himself realized.

Ron Sirak, golf writer for the Associated Press, discovered a quirk in the PGA Tour record book:

Watson's victory at Colonial is listed as the 34th of his career and kept him in 11th place on the all-time list, two behind Lloyd Mangrum.

But a closer look reveals that Watson is actually tied with Gene Sarazen for ninth on the all-time list with 39 victories.

Until 1995, the PGA Tour did not consider the British Open an official tour event. And when it did decide to make it an official event, it did not make it retroactive.

So while the British Open victories by John Daly (1995), Tom Lehman (1996) and Justin Leonard (1997) count as official PGA Tour wins, the five by Watson (1975, '77, '80, '82 and '83) do not.

While Watson (34) is officially No. 11 on the victory list behind Mangrum (36), Mangrum had no British Open victories. Sarazen (38) is ninth and won the British Open once.

Throw in the Opens and Watson leap-frogs over Mangrum and is tied for ninth with Sarazen at 39.

No one else in the top 10 is as dramatically affected by including the British Open as Watson.

Walter Hagen is seventh with 40 victories and his four British Opens still leaves him short of No. 6 Billy Casper (51).

No. 5 Byron Nelson (52) never won the Open. No. 4 Arnold Palmer (60) won two and No. 3 Ben Hogan (61) won in his only Open in 1953. Jack Nicklaus (70) won the British three times and all-time leader Sam Snead (81) won the British Open once.

PGA certification

Former Abilenian Courtney Connell has become certified in merchandising from the PGA of America. Connell, who is the director of golf at The Quarry in San Antonio, completed Specialty Certification in March. He is one of only eight PGA professionals who are certified in merchandising throughout the United States.

PGA Specialty Certification was designed to assist PGA professionals in their quest for excellence in knowledge of the game and the business of golf.

Connell formerly served as the head golf pro at Fairway Oaks Country Club.

HSU tournament

Hardin-Simmons University will hold its annual ex-letterman's four-person scramble tournament at 8:30 a.m. on June 6 at Dyess Air Force Base's Mesquite Grove Golf Course. Trophies will be awarded the top three teams.

Later, a dinner and silent auction will be held at Briarstone Manor. Numerous items will be up for bid, including a Troy Aikman-autographed football and several vacation trips.

Entry fee for the golf tournament is $45, which includes cart, green fees, hat, beverages and lunch after the round. Tickets for the dinner are 415.

All of the proceeds from the auction will go toward the travel budgets of the HSU athletic teams.

For more information, call Jeff Goodin at 670-1374 or (800) 583-6622.

Anson tournament

The Anson Golf Club will hold a Guys and Dolls tournament on June 6-7. Entry fee is $100 per team, which includes a meal Saturday night. Cash prizes will be awarded.

To enter, call the clubhouse at (915) 823-2822 or Lanny Ivy at 823-3889.

Munday tournament

A two-person low ball tournament will be held June 6-7 at Lake Creek Country Club in Munday. Entry fee is $100 per team, which includes a meal Saturday night.

Tee times are 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Cash prizes will be awarded. To enter, call (940) 422-4746 or (940) 422-4242.

Tip of the Week

Here is the weekly golf tip from PGA member David Sherman, assistant pro at Abilene Country Club:

"A common downswing move is prematurely and excessively spinning the body to the left. This causes you to throw the clubhead outside the line of play on the downswing, leading to an outside-to-in swing path and a slice. It also causes your body to lean well ahead of the ball on the downswing, resulting in a steep angle of approach and skied tee shots with a drive. The following drill forces you to swing the clubhead into the ball along the proper swing path and at a more level angle:

"Using an iron, assume a square stance and address a ball tee in the middle of your stance. Keeping the rest of your body stationary, lift your left heel off the ground. Now swing and hit the ball without allowing your left heel to return to the ground. Repeat a few times. With your left heel off the ground, it is hard to return all of your weight to your left side on the downswing. That means you can't spin out with your body at the beginning of the downswing, nor can you slide your body laterally. You'll soon be hitting solid, lower-flying shots that start out on line instead of to the left."