[ TURTLE BAY CHAMPIONSHIP ]
Caldwell in mix
but keeping quiet
If Rex Caldwell was a betting man, he'd probably put his money on Tom Kite or Hale Irwin or Dana Quigley to win today's $1.5 million Turtle Bay Championship on the North Shore.
Anyone but himself.
Yesterday, the veteran pro birdied the 18th hole at the Arnold Palmer Course at the Turtle Bay Resort and found himself alone in second place at 140, 4 under par and only two strokes back of leader Tom Kite.
Afterward, he said, "I'm as surprised as anyone to be in second place," and then quickly downplayed his chances in today's final round. "Trust me, I'm not thinking of winning," he said. "That's probably not going to happen."
Caldwell's probably right. The big, husky redhead played the PGA Tour for 23 years, from 1975 to 1998, and won only once -- at the 1983 Lajet Coors Classic. That year he finished sixth on the money list with earnings of $284,434, his best year ever. He tasted his last professional victory almost a decade ago, in the 1994 Alaska Open.
Caldwell recalled the time he led the 1979 PGA Championship after 54 holes and the media asked him if the thought he could win. He told the press that if he played the way he had in the third round -- in which he shot 66 -- he felt he would. The next day he awoke to read that he had boldly predicted victory, and when he ended up placing third, a prominent national sports writer (Dan Jenkins) called him "a big hot dog that you couldn't cover with all the mustard in Texas," or words to that effect.
So Caldwell no longer likes to make predictions.
Since joining the Champions Tour in 2000, he has had only two top-10 finishes. Currently, he ranks 99th on the money list with $54,862. However, at the last three events he has played in he has had two top-20 finishes and one top-30. At the Kroger Classic in Cincinnati he briefly held the lead on Saturday before eventually finishing in a tie for 17th.
So the journeyman pro has been playing well. His even-par 72 yesterday was a very good score. "Golf doesn't get any tougher than this," he said of the windy conditions. "I had six wedge shots out there today where I couldn't even think of hitting at the hole. I was just trying to figure out a way to get a birdie putt."
At the 210-yard par-3 fourth, he hit a 7-iron that he thought was a perfect shot, only to see the ball roll past the hole, over the green and into the drink for a bogey. That put him 1 over for the round, and when he overshot the 11th green with a 6-iron he was plus-two for the day.
But Caldwell fought back, dropping a 14-footer for birdie at the 14th. At 16, he rolled in a 30-footer from the fringe to save par. And at the par-5 18th, he lofted a beautiful 3-wood shot that just cleared the water and rolled to the back of the green. From there, he easily two-putted for another birdie and sole possession of second place.
Is there any possibility he could win today? Caldwell repeatedly said no, perhaps wanting to take the pressure off himself. But you can bet he'll be thinking about it. "Maybe if my putter goes nuts," he said.
Just maybe.
