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Look Back: Aug. 23 1952: At age 47, Jack Westland becomes the oldest player to ever win the U.S. Amateur, defeating Al Mengert 3 and 2 at Seattle Golf Club. 1964: Ken Venturi wins the American Classic. 1981: In a four-way playoff, Hale Irwin defeats Bobby Clampett, Peter Jacobsen and Gil Morgan to win the Buick Open. 1987: In a rain-shortened, 54-hole Motorola Western Open, D.A. Weibring finishes with a 69 to win by a stroke over Larry Nelson and Greg Norman.
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Equipment
PING
releases information about its new TiSI Tec driver. a 6-4 titanium club
with lower weighting that raises the trajectory of hits. The driver uses
a new PING techology called Effective Trajectory which measures the loft
at contact, and manufacturing will be done using a new milling process
called chem-milling that increases durability. Retail for the club, available
this fall, is $550.
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Advertising
Callaway Golf
announces it has selected TBWA\Chiat\Day of San Francisco for the company's
electronic business and online ventures. TBWA\Chiat\Day's initial duties
will include evaluation and enhancement of Callaway Golf's online presence
with respect to interactivity, personalization and direct marketing.
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People
Billy Casper Golf
announces the appointment of Jill Headley, 30, as its Director of Marketing.
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Business
Toro Co.
announces net earnings for the third quarter are up 3 percent over the
same period last year. However, revenues declined by 4.4 percent in the
struggling economy.
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Turf care products
maker LESCO's Board of Directors votes to distribute a redemption
payment to shareholders as well as redeem other rights in its shareholder
rights plan.
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Apparel
Ashworth
will broadcast a review of its third quarter results online next Tuesday.
The golf clothing company's webcast can be accessed at www.ashworthinc.com.
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more...
Hartmax, makers
of golf clothing brands Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus, retains Bear, Stearns
& Co. to assist with proposed transactions. Lincoln Company has shown
interest in acquiring the company.
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more...
As part of its dealings
with Hartmax, Lincoln Company releases a letter written
by company official Spencer Hays and sent to Raymond Farley, head of an
Ad Hoc committee set up by Hartmax to evaluate potential acquisitions
or mergers.
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more...
Five Questions
David Toms
2001 PGA Championship winner
On Sunday, David Toms, 34, beat Phil Mickelson to his first major championship, winning by a stroke at the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Toms, of Shreveport, La., and an LSU grad, also earned his first ticket with the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Toms, who earlier year passed Mickelson on Sunday to win the Compaq Classic, is having his finest year with two wins and over $2.5 million in earnings.
Q.: Not to bring up that 18th hole, but did you
come close at all to thinking about hitting the 5-wood; and, secondly,
did it ever cross your mind that if you didn't get up-and-down and Phil
happened to birdie, then it's over?
A.: Yes. That was the first thing I thought about,
having to lay up, and if he hits the green and makes birdie, I could lose.
I mean, I could go from being one shot up to losing the tournament right
there.
But when you weigh your options -- I mean, I said all
week in here, that hole, I would not be afraid to lay that ball up if
I didn't have what I thought was a good shot, because that green -- I
mean, it's not built for a par 4. It's so hard to hold it on your second
shot, and I had a bad lie. I was in the first cut of rough. A sidehill
lie, downhll lie. That translates into a low hook with no spin on it,
and that's not what I needed.
I just figured, you know, my chances at that point,
best chance to make par was to lay up, and if I still made bogey, you
know, and he didn't make birdie, then would I go to a playoff.
So, you know after hitting that tee shot in the rough,
that's what I had to do. You know, I hated to do it. The crowd was over
there oohing and awing and moaning and just like, you wimp, and the Chip
Beck thing all over again, from Augusta. I just had to put it out of my
mind and just go hit two good shots and make a good putt and I did that.
Q.: Some guys come on to the tour out of college,
like a Phil Mickelson, and they just hit the road running. You took a
while to get going. Was there any point where you thought about golf,
where you thought about giving up golf; you had a bad year I think in
'94?
A.: '94 was about as low as I could get. You
know, from playing the Tour, to all of a sudden playing the -- it was
the Nike Tour at the time. I just made a commitment to -- we drove the
country, my wife and I did. We drove it in our car, all over the place,
and made a commitment to try to win tournaments, see what that was all
about, in the winning spirit and get right back on to the tour, and that's
the way it worked out.
Even though I didn't win in '96, I won in '97, and it's
just been getting better ever since. I think that point in '94, I had
some injuries and I was really tested as far as was I going to be able
to do this. I came out of it and I was proud of myself for doing that.
Q.: There's a lot been written about the fact
that you are a fairly anonymous guy and a quiet-spoken guy. Can you give
us some instances where you get stopped at the clubhouse, where people
don't recognize you and don't realize you are a player?
A.: Well, I mean, as far as in the area that
I live in, or the state where I live, I mean, I get recognized everywhere
I go. On the national level, every once in awhile in airports, at a restaurant
sometimes, because we always got on these monkey suits with the logos
all over the place,so they figure they saw you on TV so they kind of know
who you are.
I've never had a problem getting into a clubhouse unless
I didn't have my credentials. But I'm really glad that people don't want
to you come in, because it says a lot about our security and the job they
are doing. It's fine. I like it this way.
Q.: Give us your reaction now to being on the
Ryder Cup for the first time, and if you've had time to think about what
it means?
A.: I've actually been thinking about it too
much the last three or four months and it has showed in my game until
this week. That's something that -- you know, I wanted to make the team
but I wanted to earn my way onto the team, kind of like we were talking
about Chris DiMarco, saying you need to make your first team, make the
points.
Something I really wanted to do. Not only to represent
my country, but I just think it will be neat to get to know those other
players in a different way, where you're a team deal. You know, you get
to be a little closer to them, find out what they are all about, because,
you know, as players out here, we kind of all go our separate ways once
we leave the golf course. We don't really spend a whole lot of time together,
other than in competition. Even though I want to -- the other guys to
play well, you just don't quite know them as well as I'd like to, and
I think that's what I look forward to the most.
Q.: You haven't used the expression, "Man oh
man, I was just sucking air coming in." And way back to Inverness when
The Zinger came in, he came into the press room and said, "Well, I didn't
play my best game, wasn't the greatest, but, oh, man, I was just sucking
air." You said you were shaking. Did you ever have that feeling of not
being able to breathe?
A.: Not really. My hands were shaking a little
bit. I just think that's a nerve -- I think that's adrenaline. I don't
think I was really nervous. I just think I was excited. My heart was racing,
so, you know your hands get a little shaky.
You know, I really -- it happened so fast. You know,
it was really a blur when I look back at it. I mean, that's the way it
was in '98 when I shot 29 on the back side of Augusta and somebody said,
"Well, what was it like?" It just seemed like we would go up there and
grind it out on one hole and you get to the next hole and grind it out
again, and all of the sudden 18 holes are over and I've won the tournament.