Monday, January 21, 2002
[MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP]
Kite soars in KA'UPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii >> Life after 50 has not been a slippery downhill putt for Tom Kite.
Big Isle wind
He shoots a 67 to hold off John
Jacobs' final charge of 68 at the
MasterCard ChampionshipBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comWinner of the $1.5 million MasterCard Championship, Kite carded a final-round 67 yesterday in difficult conditions that left many of his fellow seniors looking for the earliest flight off the Big Island before their swings were gone with the wind.
His six-shot victory was several strokes shy of the 54-hole record held by Dr. Gil Morgan, but it's a safe bet the degree of difficulty of the Hualalai Golf Club course wasn't changing hole by hole back in 1998 as it did the past three days.
After accepting the trophy and the $258,000 first prize that went with it, reporters encouraged Kite to enter the safety of a greenside tent to escape a 25-mph breeze that started the round as a trade, but changed to a Kona by day's end.
"I won't know what it's like not to be in it," said Kite, who as a youth in Texas learned all about Blue Northers from Oklahoma and Gulf Coast breezes out of Galveston. "But I've never played in anything quite like this. Not only did it blow hard all three days, it came from so many different directions that I lost count along the way."
Fortunately for Kite, he didn't lose track of a lead he held from his opening-round of 63 that set a course record on Friday to his final 18 holes yesterday that left him with a three-day total of 17-under-par 199, the only senior to crack 200. Nobody else came close.
"I'll tell you what right now," fellow Texan Lee Trevino said as he exited the 18th green yesterday with a 218. "Tiger Woods would have a hard time coming over here and equaling what Tom did this week. That's how good he played."
That's high praise from a professional golfer who made the wind his friend throughout his amateur days at Hardy's Driving Range in Dallas. If you couldn't aim low against the wind or putt downhill with the trades gusting at your back, you probably didn't finish in the top 10 at this week's season-opening event on the Senior PGA Tour.
"Tom hit the ball so well, I never really put too much pressure on him," said John Jacobs, who won here in 1999. Even with a rare double-eagle on the par-5 10th, Jacobs still placed a distant second at 205. His final-round 68 was bested only by Kite. Third-place finisher Bobby Wadkins, paired with brother Lanny, also shot a 68 to finish a stroke behind Jacobs at 10-under-par for the tournament.
Dana Quigley fired a 69 for fourth at 208, with defending champion Larry Nelson, 2001 Senior Player of the Year Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher and Walter Hall tying for fifth at 209. All were impressed with the efforts of Kite, who at 52, won his fourth event on the Senior Tour.
He credits a new-found putting stroke for his unexpected success. Playing a few rounds with his kids during the offseason, Kite knew he was hitting his woods and irons crisply, but wasn't sure if his putting would match his distance and accuracy.
Kite has always had an eagle eye. He missed only one green yesterday and managed just four bogeys in 54 holes to capture this prestigious winners-only event that attracted one of the top senior fields in recent memory. Trevino, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson and Hubert Green were part of an elite group of 33 golfers who braved conditions reminiscent of what the young guns on the PGA Tour endured two weeks ago at the Mercedes Championships.
No matter for Kite.
"This is a great start that will hopefully lead into a great year for me," said the Austin native, who was decked out in burnt orange in honor of his alma mater, the University of Texas. "I'm real excited about everything.
"When I came out to Hawaii, I thought I had found something in my putting that would really pay dividends. I worked on it all week and my caddy (Sandy Jones) kept reminding me of it shot after shot out there today while we walked.
"I've hit the ball quite nicely from tee to green for the last couple of years. If I can find a putting stroke that will come close to matching that, it should be a good year. I'm very excited. It was a nice start. I'm ready to go to Florida."
Kite had some competition early in his round. After bogeying the first hole, Hall came within two shots of Kite, but no one would draw any closer. He birdied the par-3 fifth, rated the most difficult hole of the week, with an 8-iron and a 15-foot putt that found the bottom of the cup.
He sandwiched a bogey on the eighth, the only green he missed all day in regulation, with birdies on the par-5 seventh and ninth holes to make the turn at 35. John Jacobs caused a brief stir, thanks in part to a double eagle on the 10th to close to within three.
Perhaps feeling the pressure of Jacobs' phenomenal shot, Kite drove into the sand on the 11th, but hit what he called "a frozen rope" out of the deep bunker with a 6-iron that landed 10 feet from the hole. He sank the birdie there and again on the par-3 12th to end any hopes of a Jacobs comeback.
"That bunker shot was the best of the week for me," Kite said. "It was a huge turnaround, especially after John made that double eagle. The wind changed again today. We were fighting the wind all week. This is a great victory for me. You can't ask for a better way to start the season than by beating one of the best fields I'll face this year."
At Hualalai Golf Club MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP
Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii
Purse: $1.5 million
Yardage: 7,053; Par: 72
Final Round
Tom Kite, $258,000 63-69-67 -- 199 John Jacobs, $154,000 70-67-68 -- 205 Bobby Wadkins, $126,000 68-70-68 -- 206 Dana Quigley, $103,000 71-68-69 -- 208 Larry Nelson, $65,750 66-73-70 -- 209 Allen Doyle, $65,750 72-68-69 -- 209 Bruce Fleisher, $65,750 68-71-70 -- 209 Walter Hall, $65,750 68-69-72 -- 209 Doug Tewell, $44,000 67-74-69 -- 210 Mike McCullough, $44,000 69-71-70 -- 210 Lanny Wadkins, $44,000 69-69-72 -- 210 Tom Watson, $34,333 71-71-70 -- 212 Gil Morgan, $34,333 71-70-71 -- 212 Bob Gilder, $34,333 67-70-75 -- 212 Tom Wargo, $30,000 70-70-73 -- 213 Graham Marsh, $24,750 72-72-70 -- 214 Bruce Lietzke, $24,750 68-75-71 -- 214 John Schroeder, $24,750 73-70-71 -- 214 Tom Jenkins, $24,750 71-70-73 -- 214 Jim Colbert, $24,750 67-72-75 -- 214 Jim Thorpe, $24,750 70-69-75 -- 214 Jose Maria Canizares, $19,500 70-75-70 -- 215 Dave Eichelberger, $19,500 68-74-73 -- 215 George Archer, $17,500 70-74-72 -- 216 Hale Irwin, $17,500 73-68-75 -- 216 Lee Trevino, $16,000 74-71-73 -- 218 Sammy Rachels, $15,000 75-71-73 -- 219 Hubert Green, $13,750 74-72-74 -- 220 Gary Player, $13,750 75-69-76 -- 220 Steve Veriato, $13,000 72-70-79 -- 221 Ed Dougherty, $12,750 74-72-76 -- 222 Leonard Thompson, $12,125 78-74-72 -- 224 Joe Inman, $12,125 74-77-73 -- 224