Summerhays Gets Clear With Birdie on 18
By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 6, 1998; Page D1
Bruce Summerhays has an iron-man reputation on the Senior PGA Tour, where he is known as a workaholic who plays in more tournaments than just about anyone. With all that preparation, no wonder he outlasted a number of seasoned veterans down the stretch yesterday, making an 18-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole for a one-shot victory in the inaugural State Farm Classic at Columbia's Hobbit's Glen Golf Club.
At least a dozen players in the field were in contention down the stretch on a golf course with slick and terribly tricky greens that gave some of the game's finest graybeards fits all week.
Summerhays made bogeys at the 11th and 12th after taking a brief lead with a birdie at the 10th. But after birdies at the 14th and 18th, he finished with a three-under 69 for the day and a 54-hole total of 10-under 206, avoiding a playoff with Hale Irwin (69) and Walter Hall (69), both in the clubhouse at nine-under 207.
"I had a couple of bogeys to let everyone else back in," said Summerhays, 54, who won the Toyota Invitational at nearby Cattail Creek last summer in Glenwood, Md. That two-day unofficial exhibition with about 20 players was the precursor to this full-field tournament that attracted another 25,000 spectators to an event that will return to this venue for at least two more years.
"I took a couple of deep breaths" after the back-to-back bogeys, Summerhays said, "and told myself all I had was birdie holes in front of me. From the 14th on, I had good birdie chances at every hole. I had a yo-yo round, but that birdie at the 18th just capped it off really nice."
That was good enough for a one-stroke victory over Irwin and Hall, a tour rookie and North Carolina native who attended the University of Maryland in the '60s. Seven other players finished at 8-under 208, including David Graham, the 36-hole co-leader who will look back in anger at a missed two-foot putt at the ninth hole and a three-putt from eight feet at the 16th.
Fred Gibson, the Washington native who was two shots off the lead going into the final round, bogeyed two of his first three holes, shot 75 211 and finished tied for 17th. Tom Jenkins, a tour rookie from Texas who led after the first two rounds, ballooned to 79 213 and finished 24th.
Both Irwin and Hall could take more than a little consolation from their runner-up status. Irwin's check of $100,000 made him the all-time leading money-winner in professional golf, giving him $12,030,109 on both the regular and Senior tours. He surpassed Greg Norman's total of $11,936,443, a number that will start growing again when Norman returns this fall from shoulder surgery.
"Yeah, that's pretty good stuff," Irwin said of his money total. "It shows the growth of golf more than anything else. I don't place my name at the top of the heap ahead of people like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Ben Hogan. The dollars are just a sign of the times, but being in that position indicates a fairly good career."
Hall, who also earned $100,000, had to be content with his best Senior finish and his largest payday.
"If I keep getting in the hunt, maybe lightning will strike for me," he said. "I'm a little down, but a tie for second is still my best, so it's hard to complain about that."
Summerhays, the father of eight children and the grandfather of 10, collected $187,500 from the purse of $1.25 million and posted his second career Senior victory since he qualified for the over-50 circuit four years ago after a long career as a club professional. He averages about 36 events a year, once had a record streak of 136 straight appearances and credited his brood with allowing him to maintain the sort of concentration necessary to win in yesterday's frantic finish.
"There's nothing you haven't seen when you have eight children," he said. "You learn to play in commotion. Being out here is like being at home."
To prevail, Summerhays had to overcome several dreadful breaks, including twice having shots in the fairway land in sandy divots.
His third shot at the 578-yard No. 3 came to rest in just such a poor lie. But he hit a 9-iron onto the green, then made a 30-foot birdie putt, one of the seven birdies on his card. At the 381-yard 17th, his tee shot also landed in a divot at a time when he was tied with Hall at 9-under.
"I tried to look at it as just another challenge," Summerhays said, hitting an 8-iron from 148 yards to within 27 feet of the pin, then two-putting for a critical par. "I was really happy to pull off that shot. That really boosted me a lot. My thought process was, 'Don't feel sorry for yourself, just do the right thing and hit a good shot in there.'"
Summerhays knew precisely what he had to do at the uphill 541-yard 18th to win the tournament. His second shot off a sidehill lie in the fairway went into the right rough, just below a greenside bunker. He hit his lob wedge to within 18 feet of the hole, and when he made the putt, the tournament essentially was over.
Only Graham and playing partner Terry Dill, who got to 11-under after four holes yesterday for a brief lead, had a chance to catch him. Both were at 8-under with two to play, but they each parred the 17th and 18th and had to settle for that logjam tie for fourth.
"I decided to be aggressive all day and just go after the golf course," said Summerhays, whose 25-year-old son, William, caddied for him this week. "It's hard to comprehend playing with people like Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Don January. I'm just grateful to have the opportunity."
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