A View From The 19th
by John M. Ross

Golf Earns Another Star for Its Father and Son Show

Golf fans call this part of the calendar the Silly Season, when various Skins Games, Shootouts, Showdowns, Grand Slams and the like elbow their way past football to add a little variety to the TV schedules. The results have no bearing on the official records, but they do provide a few extra dollars for the players for Christmas shopping - like a couple of million. And they are entertaining.

The Father and Son Challenge gets my vote as the best of the lot, simply because there is no other event like it in sport, and the scenes captured by the camera provide a warm feeling and, often, an emotional tug at the heart. The fathers, of course, are a collection of golf's superstars. In this year's lineup they represented collectively 65 major championships, the biggest and the best. And each was teamed with a golf-playing son, but not one who plays on the PGA tour.

Yes, all the marquee names were there: Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Johnny Miller, Bill Casper, the fellows to stir so many memories for so many golfers. Their junior partners covered a wide age spread from 16 to near 40 but, as you might expect, they all knew how to play the game. There was one significant absentee from this glittering group. Arnold Palmer. He has two daughters.

For many it is a stroll down memory lane. Having been around the golf scene for more than a few years, I remember when most of these young fellows were just sprouting, some only in their mother's arms. And I now pride myself on being able to pick out which son belongs to which father. Craig Stadler and Chris, 16, are like twins, not just in likeness, but in girth, too. Chris does not sport the identifying Stadler mustache, but the media calls them "Team Walrus," nevertheless. And handsome Scott, 24, is just as easy to match up, being a carbon copy of his dad, Johnny Miller. And he looks as if he'll be playing with his dad's old skills one day soon. Right now, he's on the Brigham Young team and looking ahead to bigger things.

I knew who Rick belonged to before he opened his mouth, but when he spoke, it was pure Lee Trevino. He's 38, and he was telling a small circle how much this week at the Paradise Island in the Bahamas meant to him.

"It's an odd thing," he mused. "Golf sort of kept me apart from my father when I was a kid. He played and traveled so much, he was hardly ever at home. But now, thanks to this event, golf has really brought us closer together."

The period Rick refers to is when Trevino had to scramble for his life to regain his financial footing. The Merry Mex had gotten off to a running start in his early days on the tour, and he was able to scoop up prize money and endorsement checks from all directions. As his sudden-found riches piled higher and higher, he opted to accept the services of a couple of financial advisers to handle his affairs. Old, sad story coming up.

As you've already guessed, Lee's money was suddenly gone, along with the advisers. And, thereafter, Trevino had to put his career on the express track. He played in virtually every tournament on the schedule, exhibitions, meat marketing openings, anything that paid a fee. By the time he got to the Senior Tour, the prize money was soaring and Lee cleaned up again, amassing over $9 million since 1990.

Incidentally, the similarity in the speech of the Trevinos is startling. Rick has the same rapid-fire delivery, punctuated with folksy expressions and chuckles. Indeed, Lee's secretary once took a telephone call and thought she was speaking with Lee for five minutes until she discovered it really was son Rick.

The TV producers of this Father and Son dandy provided a nice touch by weaving in bits of home videos showing the boys as toddlers, hitting their first golf shots, and the like. And to further underscore the theme of the program, the cameras would focus on the families rooting for their teams. At times, you'd think the United States Open Championship was at stake.

The competition over the two-day event was remarkably keen, and was hardly anything less during the practice rounds. In some cases, there was a bit of sibling rivalry involved. For instance, last year Nicklaus, playing with son Gary, won the event in a playoff, but Gary, 31, was ineligible for this one, having picked up $400,000 on the PGA Tour this year.

Jackie, 39, the eldest of the four Nicklaus boys, was pressed into service to defend the family honor. Jackie caddied for his father for years, and I have a vivid memory of him leaping for the clouds as Jack canned his eagle putt on the 15th at the 1986 Masters. Four shots behind with four holes to play before the eagle, this would trigger one of the most dramatic finishes ever in the storied Augusta classic. With a run of eagle-birdie-birdie-par, Jack won it by one stroke. In fact, he was 7-under through the last 10 holes of his charge to the wire and he accomplished this at age 46.

After he turned the bag over to his younger brothers, Jackie signed on with his father's golf course design operation, and he has already put his mark on 20 courses. But he'll take a ribbing from young Gary at the next family dinner because he and his dad let this year's Father and Son crown slip away.

They had been up near the top slots of the leader board at times, but in the scramble format, the changes come frequently. Larry and Drew Nelson, Dave and Ron Stockton and Hubert and Myatt Green, complete with matching black plantation hats, moved in and out of contention with the Nicklauses before the Millers and Raymond and Robert Floyd took over the stage for the final drama.

The Floyd team had won three of the first four Father and Son events, but had stumbled last year in a playoff, when they bowed to the Nicklauses. Raymond, Jr. had been his father's partner in the first four, but now Robert was filling in, and Team Floyd had another shot at it with two holes to play. Johnny and Scott Miller had a two-shot lead, but the Floyds were nibbling at their heels.

Johnny doesn't play very often these days. He spends the bulk of his time doing commentary in the TV booth, and he is regarded by many as one of the very best. Miller, 53, has problems with his knees, and they simply won't stand up to the ordeal of playing three or four successive rounds. He has added woes with his putter, too, although he did well with Beth Daniel as his partner in the World Golf Hall of Fame event.

The Millers had a 59 for the final round, tying the lowest score of the event, but a bogey on 17ultimately dropped them into a tie with the Floyds. In the sudden-death playoff, Johnny curled in an 18-foot putt to temporarily stave off defeat. But the Floyds, who are beginning to think they own the Father and Son, wouldn't be denied. Raymond finished off with an impressive putt under considerable stress, and Team Floyd had its fourth win in the six-year-old series.

Again, there is no other event like this in sport, and the heart-warming scenes of the high-fives, back slaps and bear hugs, meshed with top quality play, delivers a memorable message on family values. Add another star to golf's crown.

And a deep bow from the waist to the television people for a real winner.

(c) Copyright 2000 John M. Ross