Posted on 05/19/2003 7:04:48 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
IRVING - We regret to inform you that Vijay Singh, your freshly crowned Byron Nelson tourney champion, will not be golfing in Fort Worth this week.
Pity.
Vijay and Nick Price would have made a grand two-man welcoming party at the Bank of America Colonial.
A committee of champions. Singh won the EDS Byron Nelson tournament Sunday, playing with unflagging focus to finish 15 under par for the four days. And Price, at age 46, finished second, putting together rounds of 66, 70, 66 and 65.
All from the men's tees, it might be catty to point out.
While the hype machine was launching blimps and quoting Susan B. Anthony for the impending arrival of Annika Sorenstam, Singh and Price were over here with the fellas, playing golf -- and putting their scorecards where their mouths were.
In recent days and weeks, both men were ingloriously quoted saying negative things about Sorenstam's historic Colonial appearance.
Yet, Singh had 21 birdies over the four days at the Nelson. Price shot 13 under par.
I don't think the bad pub is hurting their golf games. These guys can play.
If anyone deserves a more hospitable welcome mat this week, the nominee should be Price. For 20 years, he has been one of the PGA Tour's most affable ambassadors. Honest and approachable. A winner of 18 tournaments on the tour, including three majors.
He is also a two-time winner in Fort Worth and Colonial's defending champion, yet you'd have to look under a lot more rocks this week to find that.
"You said it," Price said Sunday, after a long, seemingly exasperated pause. "I mean, I have answered more questions about Annika than how I'm playing, for the last -- how long has she been invited? -- three months?
"She had, what, 41 other tournaments she could have chosen?"
Contacted in March, Price said of the invitation to Sorenstam, "It's not right. I mean, why can't we go play the ladies' tour? It's not right. That's all I can say. This just reeks of trying to find publicity. Why? What's she trying to prove?"
Of course it's about publicity. Publicity is why Bank of America spends millions of dollars to attach its name to a golf tournament.
Price also objects, however, to Sorenstam being handed one of the sponsor's exemptions. The precious few spots should go to golfers who have earned them, preferably on the same field of play.
Yet, some have cast Price's and Singh's stance on exemptions as Neanderthal. Sexist.
Some of the same people who have been calling Singh and Price names, let me suggest, belong to guilds or unions. And they would cry foul as well, if a non-card carrying plumber or flight attendant was invited to work alongside them for a week.
One infamous incident comes to mind. In 1992, Kemper Open officials thought it would be a cool idea -- good publicity? -- to invite local hero Mark Rypien, the quarterback of the local Washington Redskins, to play in their tournament on a sponsor's exemption. Rypien had been a regular hot shot on the celebrity golf tour.
At Kemper, he shot 80-91 and missed the cut by 28 strokes. More than one party involved was left with a red face.
Adding to the Kemper legend was an incident in the clubhouse where pro Neal Lancaster bellowed how he wanted to kick a few field goals for the Redskins, and he wondered aloud whether there was anyone around who might be able to arrange it.
Alas, Singh won't be in Fort Worth to fight for his share of headlines this week. He pulled out Sunday, offering the excuse, "I told my wife last week that if I won this week, I will take next week off."
Players have backed out of tournaments for lamer reasons, but at the moment, none come to mind.
"Vijay is a straight-up person," Price said Sunday. "You always know where you stand with him. I don't think he meant to say that he wants Annika to miss the cut.
"But he sure got crucified this week."
Inevitably, Singh would have been badgered this week about his comments about Sorenstam. But when he was asked if that probability figured into his decision to withdraw from Colonial, Singh let the interviewer play through.
"Not really," he said. "It was a decision not made this week. I said if I won a tournament, I would take a week off. It just came at the right time.
"Just as well."
Singh chuckled when he said that. When Price called him "straight-up," he must have been talking about Vijay's putting stance.
If he had anything to say, Singh left the impression that he and Price said it Sunday. It was there for all to read on the Nelson scoreboard.
Yes, these guys can play. And, this week, we'll see if the new girl can, too.
"I wish her the best of luck," Price said. "I really do.
"She has a big heart; I'll give her that. I don't think I would be able to do what she's going to do next week."
As an aside, this is not always the case when men and women play together professionally.
I marshalled a mixed professional tourament at Pebble Beach several years ago. PGA Tour players hit from the Championship Tees, Seniors hit from the Whites, and Women hit from the Reds.
The year I marshalled, Robert Gamez (I think that's the spelling) won, but the year prior, Juli Inkster, who grew up nearby, won.
That was my first time to see women professionals. It was actually inspiring for a middle-of-the-pack amature. When you see the men routinely drive the ball 300+ yards on a tight course, I thought, "I'll never be able to do that." But watching the much-shorter-hitting women score very well makes me think I could score that well if I worked on my iron game and short game.
Give me a break -- nobody forces anybody to live the life of a journeyman pro. If they choose to take that risk, more power to them. But Annika isn't taking bread out of their children's mouths. If they can't hack it on the bush-league tours, maybe they should seek a new line of work.
And sponsor's exemptions are for the sponsor to do with as they see fit -- usually, they're used to invite some has-been golfer from an earlier Golden Age to come and compete so that tournament attendees can get a close-up look at them. In any event, they are merely gate-enhancements. This time, they've found a new attraction for the sideshow.
If they could beat Annika with just a 5 iron and a putter, they wouldn't need a sponsor's exemption -- they would qualify for the tournament on their performance.
The author blew it with this line. Sponsor's exemptions are not earned, they are given to people who otherwise did not qualify for the tournament, but who the sponsors believe will add interest to the tournament. She isn't taking someone else's spot.
Why not just allow Burke and Dowd to compete?
Oooops! Never mind. I just realized they're already eligible.
Does that mean she has to wear long pants?
That's an interesting question. I think that long pants are a PGA Tour rule. This is a PGA Tour event. One would think she'd comply.
Nitwits usually do.
As to your earlier point, that Annika is depriving some "deserving" second-stringer of food and clothing, is simply wrong -- a tournament sponsor can give out exemptions to anyone they please. And it pleases them to give one to Annika. So rant on, for all the good it'll do.
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