Awesome Golf

Pat Bates’ victory at the Buy.com Shreveport Open Oct. 21 was the payoff.

The price? A couple of years of physical therapy and plenty of dedication.

Bates played in only five events in 1999 before neck surgery in April ended his season. The surgery left his right leg numb and left arm weakened. It took him five days to walk again and three months to open and close his hand.

Last year playing on a medical exemption, he finished 57th on the Buy.com Tour money list. A lack of distance was the culprit and was rectified with an aggressive offseason program to regain his form.

“It’s been a long two years,” said Bates. “I’ve done so much therapy and worked so hard to get to this point.”

Bates shot 67 Sunday to finish with a tournament-record 20-under 268, one shot ahead of second- and third-round leader Brian Kamm. Bates, who won for the second time this season, earned $76,500 to move to No. 5 from No. 9 on the money list with only the Tour Championship remaining.

It will be Bates’ second stint on the PGA Tour. He finished 206th in earnings in 1995.

“I tried to not think about the money list all year and just tried to put myself in position,” said Bates.

Starting the day one shot behind Kamm, Bates took the lead with a birdie on No. 6, a position he never gave up.

While falling short of winning the second career title, Kamm was able to secure a spot in this week’s $600,000 Tour Championship. Starting the week 55th on the money list, he needed to maintain that spot to qualify for the season-ending event in Prattville, Ala. The $45,900 he made moved him to 29th in earnings.

“I’m not disappointed,” said Kamm, who closed with 69. “I’m proud of the way I played under pressure. At the beginning of the week, if you told me I would shoot 19-under par and not win, I would have said you were full of baloney.”

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Luke Donald and Bryce Molder were among 117 players who advanced from Stage 1 of PGA Tour qualifying Oct. 16-19.

Donald, the 1999 NCAA champion from Northwestern, dominated at La Purisima Country Club in Lompoc, Calif., shooting a 14-under-par 274 to win by eight.

Donald, who turned professional in August after he helped Great Britain & Ireland win the Walker Cup, has played in six PGA Tour events in 2001 and has earned $80,747. He shot rounds of 71-67-70-66 to beat Alex Rodger.

Molder, a four-time All-American from Georgia Tech, made the cut by a shot at Dayton Valley Golf Club in Dayton, Nev. Molder shot 70-69-71-72 for a 6-under 282. In six PGA Tour starts since turning professional in August, he has won $211,105, most of which was earned with a third-place finish at the Reno-Tahoe Open Aug. 26.

Seven more first-stage events were to be held Oct. 23-26. Six second-stage sites will be held Nov. 6-9 and Nov. 13-16. Visit www.golfweek.com for complete schedules and daily results.

Other Q-School news:

James Oh, the 1998 U.S. Junior champion, shot even-par 288 at La Purisima to advance to Stage 2. Oh, 18, recently completed his freshman year at UNLV and turned professional.

Brett Wayment shot 17-under-par 271 at Dayton Valley and beat Jeremy Champoux, Mike Louden, Steve Sear by two. Sear shot a course-record 63 in the first round.

Ryan Lavoie shot 13-under 275 at Laurel Island Links in Kingsland, Ga. Lavoie closed with 67 and finished three ahead of Hank Smith, Javier Sanchez, Kevin Blanton and Bryan Thompson.

Jaxon Brigman, who lost his PGA Tour card by a shot in 1999 when he signed an incorrect scorecard in the finals of Q-School, advanced at Woodbridge Country Club in Wiley, Texas. Kris Cox was medalist at Woodbridge shooting 11-under 277.

Akio Sadakata, the 2000 Florida Amateur champion, was medalist at the TPC of Tampa Bay in Lutz, Fla. Sadakata shot 70-65-73-67–275 to beat Jamie Neher and George McNeill by four.

Also advancing at the TPC of Tampa Bay were 1998 NCAA champion James McLean and 2000 NCAA Division II champ Jeff Klauk.

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It was nearly two years ago when Spalding began selling its top-of-the-line Strata golf balls to mass merchants such as Wal-Mart and Target. And for a good while after that, the Chicopee, Mass., equipment maker faced intense criticism about peddling its premium products through that distribution channel. It would damage the brand, industry watchers claimed, and it would anger the pro shops and off-course retailers that traditionally sold the company’s wares.

But James Craigie, Spalding’s chief executive officer, felt he was doing the right thing and argued that the move would increase sales without harming the Strata name. He also said the move would provide much-needed revenues that could be used for advertising and promotion, an area in which the company was overspent by its biggest competitors.

He also was sure that despite all the flak Spalding was taking, other ball companies soon would follow suit.

“Golf is one of the very few sectors in the entire consumer products world that feels this sort of prejudice for the mass merchants, which are very strong places of sales for so many businesses in this country,” Craigie said in spring 2000. “But I think the clock will change on that pretty quickly.”

Change it did, and as 2001 winds down, mass merchants – and price clubs such as Sam’s and Costco – are looking pretty good to ball manufacturers everywhere. Some, like Titleist, officially have begun selling some models in those channels after shunning them for years. And others are seriously considering doing the same.

But the main reason companies such as Titleist took the plunge is that more consumers, primarily those who are fairly new to golf and don’t have the channel bias of more veteran players, started buying their balls through mass merchants and price clubs, especially as the outlets began stocking more premium products. In addition, the advent of new competitors such as Callaway and Nike and the success of balls such as Precept’s MC Lady made it even more essential for established ball makers to find new places to sell their goods. As a result, the mass merchant/price club channel has become larger on a unit basis than any other in the game. That’s larger than green grass, larger than off-course retailing and larger than sporting goods.

“Ball shipment numbers from the National Golf Foundation show the domestic ball market to be at 50 million dozen,” said George Sine, vice president of golf ball marketing and strategic planning for the Acushnet Co., maker of Titleist products. “Of that, 10 million dozen are sold through on-course stores, another 11 million dozen off-course, 9.5 million in corporate custom and 6.5 million though sporting goods. That leaves 13.5 million through mass merchants and price clubs, which is 27 percent of the total market.”

That development made it imperative for companies like Titleist, which recently began selling its HVC line in that channel, to go there, especially considering that the three primary mass merchant chains – Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target – have approximately 6,000 outlets nationwide while the two main price clubs have 800.

That’s a lot of shelf space, and the increasing importance of that shelf space has had a significant impact on the ball business. For one thing, it has fueled a nice bump in sales. “Two years ago the domestic ball market was about 45 million dozen,” Sine said. “So, the market has grown by some 10 percent at a time when rounds played and participation were flat.”

The increase had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere was primarily mass merchants and price clubs.

Sine is quick to caution, however, that the mass-merchant/price club channel has become the largest on a unit basis only.

“It is a much smaller piece of the pie in terms of dollars, and generates only $130 million out of a total market of $740 million, which is roughly 18 percent,” he said. “Most of the growth in sales has been with nontop- grade product, and we cannot lose sight of the fact that it is dollars, and not units, that provide the profits.”

That may be so, but the dollar size of that channel should increase as more premium brands, such as Titleist and Strata, are sold there because they cost more. For example, Sine said the average retail price for a dozen balls in a mass merchant is $13 and only two bucks higher in a price club.

“But we are selling HVC at $21 or $22 per dozen, so it is clearly not a value play,” he said.

So far, the growth of the mass merchant and price club channel does not appear to have hurt other distribution areas, as numbers from research firm Golf Datatech show that their sales have risen, however slightly, the last several years. But there could be a longer term effect.

“I think the changes we are seeing will eventually up the ante for every retailer in golf to take better care of the consumer,” said Eddie Binder, the former executive vice president of marketing for Spalding and one of the architects of its move to sell Strata through the mass merchants. “It is hard to beat the price clubs and mass merchants on pricing, so the other channels are going to have to out-experience and out-customer service them.”

Another issue, Binder added, is that the Wal-Marts and Targets have not really gotten serious about merchandising golf yet. “But they will once they reach a saturation point like McDonald’s has,” he said. “Then, they will have to stop expanding the number of stores they have and start increasing sales from their existing stores. And at that point, they will start merchandising, and we could see little golf boutiques in those outlets as well as a lot more competition for the other channels.”

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Acushnet Co., the golf division of Fortune Brands, posted solid third-quarter numbers for the period ending Sept. 30 despite continued softness in the golf market and a worsening economy.

Net sales of golf products, which include the Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra brands, rose 3 percent to $218.3 million from $212 million during the same three-month period a year ago. Operating company contributions increased to $25.8 million from $25.5 million – a gain of 1.2 percent.

The growth of those numbers is largely the result of a 7 percent jump in ball sales for the third quarter. A good part of that success can be attributed to the Pro V1 ball, which has recorded a 20 percent dollar share in the on-course, green-grass channel, according to Casey Alexander, special situations analyst for Gilford Securities in New York.

“Acushnet is producing sales growth under very adverse circumstances,” Alexander said. “Therefore, they are taking truly meaningful market share away from their competition. And the Pro V1 dollar share is ridiculous. It’s a single ball, and it has a higher market share in that channel than any of its competitors’ full lines.”

As for all of Fortune Brands, the consumer products company saw its net sales for the third quarter rise 5.4 percent over the corresponding period a year ago to $1.47 billion, while net income climbed 26.6 percent to $92.8 million.

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Callaway Golf Co. Oct. 18 reported a 6 percent decline in sales and a 67 percent drop in net income for the third quarter, citing difficult market conditions and a noncash charge related to a long-term energy contract.

For the three-month period ending Sept. 30, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based equipment company posted sales of $195.8 million, down from $208.1 million in the same period a year ago. Net income fell to $6.5 million from $20.1 million in the third quarter of 2000.

However, excluding a $7.8 million after-tax, noncash energy supply contract charge, Callaway’s drop in net income was less severe: It decreased 28 percent to $14.3 million.

During the second quarter of 2001, Callaway entered into a long-term energy supply contract as part of a comprehensive strategy to ensure the uninterrupted supply of power while capping electricity costs in the volatile California energy market. Accounting rules mandate companies adjust the book value of such contracts based on current market rates and record any resulting gain or loss as either income or expense. During the quarter, Callaway recorded a noncash expense of $7.8 million after-tax, as a result of falling electricity rates.

Even with the third-quarter slide, Callaway posted sales of $710.9 million for the first nine months of the year – a company record. That figure was up 2 percent from $695.4 million during the same period a year ago. Net income for the nine-month period fell 12 percent to $67.6 million. (Excluding the energy charge, net income increased 7 percent to $81.8 million.)

“We are pleased with our year-to-date results in light of industry and economic challenges,” said Ron Drapeau, Callaway’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“. . . Our golf ball products have shown good increases in market share as well. . . . In particular, our CB1 golf ball line captured considerable U.S. market share in its price segment (16 percent) after just four months.”

Nevertheless, Callaway’s ball operation faces tough challenges ahead. Though company officials have been projecting 2001 balls sales to reach $50 million, they restated during an Oct. 18 conference call with Wall Street analysts that operating losses for the ball business likely will be $20 million.

Asked by one analyst if the ball operation would become profitable next year, Drapeau answered: “Getting to break-even next year would be a wonderful achievement for us.”

Tim Conder, who follows Callaway for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., said, “I interpreted Drapeau’s comment to mean that achieving profitability (in 2002) would be a stretch.”

Company officials also said they were lowering sales and earnings expectations for the remainder of the year. In a statement about its third-quarter results, Callaway officials said they now expected net sales for the year of $800 million to $820 million. By comparison, the company reported net sales of $837.6 million in 2000.

“We are re-evaluating our 2002 expectations in light of market conditions and expect to offer guidance after we collect feedback from our planned product introductions,” said Brad Holiday, Callaway’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

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Callaway Golf will forge into 2002, its first full year without its founder and energetic leader Ely Callaway at the helm, by making the most extensive product launch in the company’s history, including a new composite graphite driver, a Steelhead III line of metalwoods and the retro-technology of next-generation Big Bertha irons.

Product plans were announced at an Oct. 22 gathering of 225 of the company’s top accounts in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. (The event, originally scheduled for Sept. 19, was postponed because of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.)

“We think a soft economy means an opportunity for us,” Ron Drapeau, chairman and chief executive officer of Callaway Golf, told the gathering. “Not only will we weather the storm, but we’ll be investing as the storm goes on.”

Callaway unveiled its newest line of Big Bertha irons, which borrows from the appearance of the original Big Bertha irons while incorporating advances in technology. Golfers will see the familiar fat top line, wide sole and S2H2 hosel design, but the new irons are designed to reduce digging when players hit behind the ball. The wide-width sole also should help players get the ball into the air more easily.

The biggest buzz of the two-day Callaway meetings was expected to be the Big Bertha C4 driver (Golfweek, Oct. 20), a 360cc driver that weighs 280 grams and conforms to U.S. Golf Association standards. The C4 (Compression Cured Carbon Composite) design’s lightweight graphite composite allows 55 grams of laminated material to be spread across the interior perimeter of the clubhead, giving a player the opportunity to increase clubhead speed and potentially hit the ball farther.

The driver is expected to be shipped to retailers in January.

With its Steelhead III line, which will replace Steelhead Plus, Callaway has made the design of the clubface thinner and the face larger, thus creating a club that strikes the ball “hotter.” Internal weighting is fashioned to make the club workable when it comes to controlling shotmaking.

Odyssey, the putter company that is part of the Callaway family, will introduce two new variations in 2002: the White Hot 2-ball, which uses two large white golf ball-sized spheres on the back of the putter to aid with alignment; and the White Hot Rossie, a modernized version of the popular model that helped put Odyssey on the map in the mid-1990s, when Nick Faldo used the putter to win the 1996 Masters.

“This is a broader lineup of products for this season than we’ve ever had, and there is literally something for everyone, at every price point,” Drapeau told Golfweek. “Having lost Ely less than six months ago, we’re really invigorated and excited to come up with innovative products that honor Ely’s spirit. People have really rallied around his memory.”

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Score one for technology, even if it was a hollow victory.

The Golf Channel heavily promoted it’s Oct. 17 segment of “Viewer’s Forum” as an examination of the alleged threat posed by the modern golf ball to the integrity of the game. Defending the ball in the debate were Wally Uihlein, CEO and president of Acushnet Co., maker of Titleist products; and Tom Kennedy, vice president of golf ball research and development for Spalding. Representing traditionalists were Dick Rugge, U.S. Golf Association technical director, and architect Bobby Weed, author of a “white paper” released by the American Society of Golf Course Architects, which endorses “a modification to the ball that results in a percentage decrease on its flight/distance.”

It wasn’t much of a debate. Uihlein and Kennedy argued that ball technology is only one factor in the distance equation, along with modern agronomic practices; the larger size and increased athleticism of today’s elite golfers; the sophistication of swing analysis and instruction; and the custom fitting of clubheads and shafts to maximize each player’s effort. Ball manufacturers have played by the rules, they argued, developing products that conform in every way to USGA specifications.

Weed and Rugge failed to articulate any threat. Rather than explain why balls fly so far, and how ball makers have managed to produce better performing products that still conform to USGA specifications, Rugge kept repeating the USGA’s intention to be fair in its efforts to enforce the rules. Weed sounded downright conciliatory. “These are exciting times for architects,” he said. “We accept the challenge.”

The biggest failure was The Golf Channel, which never gave its guests the opportunity to properly frame the issue. The 90-minute show was eviscerated by promotional spots, misleading hype and inane commentary from viewers.

Moreover, the show’s premise was something of a moot point. The issue is being addressed by the USGA. Sometime next year it will implement a new formula for determining ball performance, called optimization. In effect, a new line in the sand will be drawn.

The USGA testing procedure will utilize an indoor range that employs high-tech devices to measure ball flight characteristics under a variety of conditions. Balls that have been ruled conforming under current parameters (called the Overall Distance Standard, first implemented in 1976) will be grandfathered under the optimization rule. Manufacturers have been aware of the USGA’s intentions for nearly two years.

Meanwhile, Weed and his architect colleagues still must contend with forces beyond their control, or the USGA’s. As long as prize money remains appealing, world-class athletes will continue to be drawn to golf. Elite players will continue to seek an edge through training techniques and the fine-tuning of equipment to match their swing characteristics. Architects will be compelled to become more adept at designing nuance into fairway contours and run-off areas around greens, thus putting a premium on accuracy and shot-making as opposed to power.

As for the ball, the average golfer should be thankful for technological advances. The cheapest ball today performs better than anything on the market 25 years ago. Metal woods, perimeter-weighted irons, lush fairways and smoother greens, computerized club fitting and swing analysis – all have helped make the game more fun

Ball performance is an issue. It needs to be addressed, if only because the USGA was asleep at the wheel while ball makers were exploiting the latest technologies. Equipment should be allowed to evolve, and so should The Rules of Golf. As long, of course, as they’re applied fairly to all. m

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The woman beside me easily could whip my butt at weight lifting, arm wrestling or long driving.

Am I intimidated? You bet. She is Lee Brandon, the World Long Drive champion for women.

Brandon won her title by smashing a 291-yard drive in spite of an injured left wrist.

“Second-degree tear in my fourth metacarpal,” she revealed, adding that her doctor warned against competing. She told him to take a flying leap.

Such is the determination of this woman. But more on that later.

First, I would like to report great success in my quest to find the essence of golf. Here at the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, I made a startling discovery: The longest hitters in golf – men or women – are 39 years old.

Brandon, the women’s world champion, is 39. Sean Fister, the men’s world champion, is 39. To all the youngsters who figured 39 year olds were prehistoric, I have a message: You got beat, suckers.

Golf is truly the game of a lifetime, and perhaps this longevity is the essence of the sport. Said Brandon: “The most exciting part of this whole process is that I’m old . . . and I’m new . . . and I’m broken . . . and I won!”

The parallels between Brandon and Fister are astonishing: Both are 39, both never played golf until they were adults, both were stars in other sports, both overcame serious injuries, and both are winners.

Fister was a pole vaulter, javelin thrower and decathlete at the University of Florida. During a meet he missed the mat in the pole vault landing pit and broke his back.

After lengthy rehabilitation, he took up golf at 25. During the first round he ever played, he drove a par-4 hole of 345 yards. His friends called him “The Beast” because of his power at softball, but the sport of long driving was calling.

The first time I saw the likable Fister, he walked onto a practice tee with a street-legal bag of 14 clubs – 13 drivers and a sand wedge. The next time I saw him, he was Dedicated Dad – he and his wife, Karen, have two boys. One of them, 2-year-old Palmer, is named after Arnold Palmer.

“I played golf with Arnold Palmer four months before Palmer was born,” Fister explained. “I was so impressed with him, and the things he taught me in one day of golf, I named my son after him.”

Like Fister, Brandon turned to golf after a bizarre accident. At 17, while leaving a basketball game, she was talking over her shoulder to a friend and ran into a glass gym door. The plate glass in the door cracked and gave way, and she fell into the door frame.

“It was like a guillotine,” Brandon said. “My left arm was more off than on.”

A main artery was sliced. She was losing blood at an alarming rate. Her bicep was severed and wrapped around her shoulder. Muscles and tendons were cut.

“Basically the surgeon had to reattach it,” Brandon said. “They didn’t know whether I would lose the arm or not.”

After seven years of therapy, she regained most of the feeling in her arm. Therapy included piano playing, stretching and weightlifting. This led to a career, and today she is a physical trainer. She holds a patent for an abdominal exercise machine and has several other patents that are pending.

Brandon is a newcomer to golf. She admits to playing just “a handful of 18-hole rounds” and her best score is 85. But, baby, she can bust the ball.

“I’ve been known to hit it 340 or 350 when I have two good hands,” she said.

She plays at Mountaingate Country Club in Los Angeles, and that’s where she met Gabrielle Reece, the volleyball star and supermodel turned golfer.

“Gabrielle and I practice together,” Brandon said.

“She is brilliant. I think she should be out here. I think we’d take the sport to a whole new level, although this is not really her aspiration.”

In contrast to Fister, who has a collection of endorsement contracts with golf companies, Brandon has no golf deals. To obtain a properly fit driver, she made a cold call to TaylorMade. “I’m 5-11, weigh 190 pounds and can swing a driver at 115 miles an hour,” she said. “What do you recommend?”

The folks at TaylorMade, being no dummies, recommended she pay them a visit. She did, settling on a 47.5-inch length for her 360cc driver. Fister, by contrast, can generate a swing speed of 150 miles per hour and uses a 50-inch Dunlop driver.

I could recommend that strapping young golfers try these longer shafts in their drivers, but they aren’t old enough. They aren’t 39.

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One began the week on the outside looking in, the other had nothing to lose. After 72 grueling holes at the Buy.com Tour Championship, both emerged triumphant.

Although it was Pat Bates who hoisted the hardware Oct. 28, Brenden Pappas had just as much reason to celebrate as the sun set over the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Senator Course at Capitol Hill.

For Bates, his three-shot victory at the season finale completed a long journey that began 21⁄2 years ago in a Little Rock, Ark., hospital. And Pappas’ tie for second place propelled the South African from No. 23 to No. 10 on the money list and onto the PGA Tour in 2002.

“I didn’t think I would get to this level ever again,” said Bates, 32, who was told he would probably never play golf again after neck surgery in April 1999. “I am so humbled and thankful to complete my journey and finally get back to the PGA Tour.”

Bates’ odyssey began in February 1999 when he heard an “unhuman-like pop” in his neck while playing with his son, John Spencer. After surgery to remove a bone that was pressed against his spinal cord, it took Bates five days to walk again and four months before he could even grasp a golf club.

That’s when Bates made his commitment to return to the PGA Tour and with help from his father-in-law, Senior PGA Tour player Doug Tewell, and sports psychologist David Cook he made slow, yet steady, progress, jumping to 57th on the money list in 2000.

“To be part of this is a dream,” said Bates, whose victory at Capitol Hill was his third of 2001 and earned him an elevated exemption on the 2002 PGA Tour. “It’s a dream of all of ours to go to the PGA Tour.”

The 2001 season, however, wasn’t always a dream for the Bates clan. After losing all his sponsors, Bates needed a runner-up finish at the Florida Open worth $10,000 just to bankroll his season. In May, after back-to-back missed cuts, Bates was again almost forced off the tour because of financial difficulties.

“Coming out here and trying to win this tournament isn’t pressure,” said Bates, who finished 206th on the 1995 PGA Tour money list. “Putting food on the table for your family is pressure.”

Pressure was a common companion and could be found in every corner of the windswept Senator Course, where seasonlong battles often boiled down to single shots.

Some – like Pappas, who holed his slick 5-footer on the 18th green to secure second place and his first trip to the PGA Tour – were successful.

“I figured if I stuck to my guns and kept working hard good things would happen,” said Pappas, who will join fellow 2001 Buy.com Tour graduate and older brother Deane next year on the PGA Tour. “I figured I was due. Even though I had been missing putts I stayed with my routine.”

Others, like Todd Barranger, were not.

Barranger started the week on the bubble at No. 15 on the money list but his first-round 85 all but assured his tumble from the top 15. His tie for 46th dropped him to 16th on the list and added a trip to the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School to an already long season.

Like Barranger, Brian Kamm also ended up on the wrong side of the season-ending money crunch. Kamm, who solidified his spot in the season finale with his runner-up finish to Bates at the Shreveport Open Oct. 21, finally ran out of magic. He likely needed a victory to crack the top 15 but had rounds of 74-71-71-74 and missed earning his Tour card by $22,951.

Kamm’s plight was one of many doomed by relentless winds and knee-high fields of fescue that line the links-style layout.

Things became even more charged when, after three days of gusts from the northeast, the final round was played in a stiff breeze from the southeast that set the stage for a final-round shootout for the Buy.com Tour’s money title between Chad Campbell and Australian Rod Pampling.

Although Pampling and Campbell, a three-time winner in 2001, were locks to earn 2002 PGA Tour cards, both had their sights set on the money crown. Pampling, who set a record for earnings ($306,573) without a triumph, needed a victory, as well as a little help from Campbell. He got neither.

Campbell closed with 71 to finish fourth and easily took the money title with $394,552 while Pampling tied for fifth and finished fourth on the money list.

“My whole goal going into this year was to set myself up for next year and I accomplished that,” Campbell said. “It was a little easier for me this week since I didn’t have to play well, but I wanted to win this tournament. That’s why you play.”

Ironically, tough conditions and a scoring average that hovered more than two strokes above par (74.4) helped some cling to their spots inside the top 15.

Canadian Richard Zokol, who at 42 is the elder statesman of the 2001 class, posted four consecutive rounds over par (77-79-74-73) yet held his spot on the money list (13th) to earn his way back to the PGA Tour for a 14th season.

Jason Hill (tied for 44th) also flirted with disaster as did Michael Long, who tied for 46th, but both remained inside the top 15 thanks, in large part, to the inability of the players like Paul Claxton, who was 16th on the money list when the week began but finished 21st, to make a significant move up the leaderboard.

Then again, not everybody came up empty in Alabama, and in the end, Bates walked away the biggest winner of all.

“After going through all the struggles I have the last few years this is a storybook,” Bates said. “This is the result of 10 years of blood, sweat and tears.”

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Ty Tryon might not have quieted all of his second-guessers Oct. 26 at World Woods Golf Club, but he took a bold first step.

Tryon, a 17-year-old Orlando, Fla., high school junior who received some criticism for turning professional after the U.S. Amateur in August, shot a 15-under-par 273 to be co-medalist with Paraguay’s Raul Fretes in the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.

“I didn’t hit it good for a while today (Friday) but I played well all week,” Tryon said. “It’s hard out here, but it’s only as hard as you make it, I think.”

Entering the first stage, Tryon had played only two competitive rounds since turning pro, shooting 76-72 to miss the cut at the PGA Tour’s Michelob Championship Oct. 4-5.

But he started quickly on the Rolling Oaks Course. Tryon shot a first-round 67, then backed it up with rounds of 70-66-70.

Tryon will move on to the second stage of Q-School Nov. 13-16 at Orange County National Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. It’s only a few miles from his home, and he knows the place well.

“That’s big,” he said. “Now I can stay at my house, and I play there all the time.”

Tryon emerged onto the national scene in March when he shot 10 under par at the Honda Classic, becoming the youngest player since 1957 to make a cut on the PGA Tour.

He also made the cut at the PGA Tour’s B.C. Open in July, where he shared the first-round lead after shooting 65.

Tryon said if he secures his PGA Tour card for 2002 he will play only part time as he finishes his high school education.

“Two more stages,” Tryon said. “I’ll take it one round at a time and see where it goes. I’m not putting any pressure on myself.”

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