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Kite, Stadler Hopeful; Defending Champion Not So Sure
By Kevin McManemin, USGA
Toledo, Ohio -- Tom Kite’s career highlight may well be his
U.S. Open victory in 1992, but Kite swears he’s only getting
better with age.
"I wish that I had the golf swing 25 years ago that
I have right now," said Kite on Tuesday. "I wish
I had the conditioning 25 years ago that I have now. I think
I would have won a lot more tournaments."
This week at the Inverness Club, Kite will be battling for
his first U.S. Senior Open victory, attempting to join seven
others who have won a U.S. Open and Senior Open. He comes
to this year’s championship with a history of contending at
the event, with two third-place finishes in the last three
years.
Kite is also no stranger to high-pressure golf at Inverness.
He has played in three major championships at Inverness, (two
PGA Championships and a U.S. Open) though his relationship
with the course has not always been a happy one.
"The first championship I played here I missed the cut,"
said Kite of the 1979 U.S. Open. "I was so bummed out
I think my wife and I stopped by Baskin Robbins and probably
consumed a whole turtle pie that night."
His history with the course has taught him to respect it.
He’s learned that the severity and small size of the greens
put a premium playing the irons well. And setting up the right
iron shot means keeping the ball on the fairway off the tee,
every time, no exceptions.
"Inverness is just a wonderful golf course," said
Kite. "I have not had great success here before in major
championships, so I’m looking forward to renewing a battle
here with this golf course because I feel like I’m playing
better now than I have shown here at Inverness."
Kite has three top-10 finishes this season on the Champions
Tour, his best finish being a tie for fourth at the Kinko’s
Classic in Austin. He’s currently grinding through the tough
majors stretch of the season -- the Senior PGA Championship
in early June, the U.S. Open in mid-June, the Senior U.S.
Open this week, and the British Seniors on the horizon.
Asked if he’d prefer the ease of regular PGA and Champions
Tour events to the high-pressure stakes of the majors, Kite
leaves no doubt where he stands.
"I would 20 times rather play these quality of tournaments
on this quality of golf course … than play just a normal tournament,"
said Kite.
"These are fun. They are demanding. These are hard.
This is what golf is all about as far as I’m concerned."
Stadler Looking For Magic
Craig Stadler has a confession to make about his 1973 U.S.
Amateur win at Inverness – he didn’t play very well.
"I think everybody I played hit it better than I did,"
he said Tuesday. "I hit it all over the lot. I had this
big wicked 80-yard slice going every hole."
So how did end up winning?
One word: putting.
Or as Stadler phrased it: "Just putting out of my mind.
Everything inside 20 feet I made, and I made every hole every
day."
Stadler turned 50 on June 2, making him eligible for this
year’s championship. He got in on a special one-time exemption
offered to U.S. Amateur champions.
As he returns to Inverness, he’ll be hoping for another week
of unstoppable dominance on the course’s lightning-fast greens.
Inverness has changed a bit since his last victory here,
(four new holes await Stadler this week) but the fundamentals
of the course have stayed the same.
"You’ve still got to put it in the fairway and out it
to the right side of the [flagstick] to have a putt at all,"
said Stadler.
As the young-gun on the Champions Tour, not yet a full month
over the 50-year hump, Stadler is hoping that Inverness can
ignite a successful senior career as it once set off his golf
career 30 years before. "I like my chances around here.
I have been driving the ball really well, my irons are good
and the putter is starting to come around."
He’ll be hoping the putter does more than just "come
around" this week.
Pooley Keeps Faith
Defending Senior Open champ Don Pooley fondly remembers his
historic Senior Open win last year at Caves Valley Country
Club.
"I still remember every single shot," said Pooley,
tongue in cheek, alluding to how tired he was after winning.
He said then he could hardly remember anything. "It’s
probably the greatest win I ever had."
While Pooley tried to personify an upbeat about this week,
he acknowledged that at the end of this week, he’s more likely
to be left holding onto memories than holding onto the trophy.
Pooley has missed most of the season while recovering from
shoulder surgery needed to repair a torn labrum. According
to Pooley, the shoulder is "90 percent" recovered,
but still "nowhere near where I would like it to be."
His body has faced other problems as well, and Pooley had
to drop a scheduled practice round at Inverness on Tuesday
due to back problems.
When he played the U.S. Open a couple weeks ago, he failed
to make the cut. It was a product of having only played one
event prior to that.
His mantra on Tuesday was that he’ll be ready to go when
the championship starts on Thursday, and will be able to get
his game back on track after last year’s career-highlight
season.
Pooley has played in three tournaments this season since
finishing his shoulder rehab. He’s missed the cut at two of
them (The U.S. Open and the Senior PGA Championship) and finished
tied for 45th at the other (the Columbus Southern
Open).
Despite the obstacles and long odds he faces, Pooley well
remembers that no one particularly gave him much of chance
even after the first two rounds of the Senior Open last year.
The next day, he shot a championship-record 63, stormed into
the lead, and eventually captured the title.
"Golf can change overnight," said Pooley. "I
am still hopeful that things can happen this week."
Kevin McManemin is a writer for the USGA. Contact him
at kmcmanemin@usga.org
with questions and comments.
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