Monday, February 16, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
John Huston walks up the 18th fairway with his
sister and caddy, Julie Jones, on his way to a
Hawaiian Open win yesterday.
Huston’s win could be
By Paul Arnett
a career-saver
Star-BulletinJohn Huston comes across like Jack Armstrong, when he's really more of a Bill Murray inside. This year's Hawaiian Open winner broke one of the oldest records in sports that was first set by Ben Hogan in 1945 at the Portland Invitational, and tied at the Texas Open by Mike Souchak in 1955.
You might think walking up the 18th fairway that Huston was planning a show-stopping Captain Kirk speech for going somewhere -- 28-under par in a 72-hole tournament -- where no one has gone before in a PGA Tour event.
But more likely, it was Huston's own private rendition of Murray's Cinderella story in the cult classic Caddyshack that was in his head -- especially after he ripped a 4-wood 262 yards to miss a double-eagle on the final hole by a mere 35 feet.
"...Oh, he got all of that one. He's gotta be pleased with that. The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes I guess..."
Huston was close to real tears last year after a bad bout of bursitis in his shoulder and wrist all but had the Innisbrook, Fla., resident -- who finished No. 141 on the money list in 1997 -- looking for another line of work.
His best friend went and got married, leaving him without a caddy. He also parted company with Tommy Armour after the corporation was bought out, leaving him without a title sponsor for his bag.
Huston asked his sister, Julie Jones, at the Sonny's Barbeque down there in Clearwater, Fla., if she wouldn't mind coming to Hawaii to be his caddy. Of course, she said yes.
But even with that small K-Mart-looking bag he had her carrying, sister Julie barely made it around the course on Tuesday.
"It was really hot," Huston said. "At 16, she had to sit down. I thought she was going to faint."
Had a handicapper been hanging around the locker room after that practice round, he would have had Huston at a 100-1.
And he would have been wrong.
Huston shook off three winless seasons with four picture-perfect rounds that bettered the 27-under record shared by Hogan and Souchak. Huston's 260 is still three shots short of Souchak's record-low 257 set in 1955 at Brackenridge Park Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas, on a par-71 course.
Most of the time this week, windless Waialae Country Club played like a par-70. The average score was 69.613. The field was a combined 1,064-under par.
"Everything was in place for somebody to shoot a low number," Huston said as he walked off the 18th tee to the scorer's tent. "Good weather, great greens. Fortunately, I was the one to do it. And it feels really great."
Sister Julie gave her brother a brief hug after he sank a short birdie on 18 to secure the PGA Tour record. On the back side, the two rarely spoke.
Huston finally broke the silence after looking over at the scoreboard off the No. 17 tee. His remark brought a smile to her face.
"I looked up and saw I had a six-shot lead," Huston said. "I told here, 'I think I can take it from here.' At that point, the feeling was kind of overwhelming."
Overwhelming was a good way to describe Huston's play this week. He beat Tom Watson, who said he hadn't shot 21-under in 15 years, by seven shots.
Even when he bogeyed the par-5 13th -- thanks to a skull shot out of the front-left bunker that flew the green and bounced off a golf cart behind the hole -- Huston felt in control.
Playing partner Gary Kraft pulled within four shots after his blast out of the right-side bunker on No. 13 rolled in for an eagle.
But Huston came back to birdie three out of the last four, while Kraft played those same four in three-over, to secure his first victory since the Doral Open in 1994 and his only Tour win outside the state of Florida.
"I talked with my former caddy and he told me he wanted to come back," Huston said. "He knows this win is going to open a lot of doors for us later on Tour.
"It feels great to win again because sometimes you wonder if you ever will. I felt like I was playing the best of anybody. I felt like it was my turn."
