BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON -- Playing golf in pro-am events can be hazardous to your health. Especially if you're the pro.
First-year Senior Tour player David Lundstrom could not finish his round in Thursday's Johnny Bench Fifth - Third Pro-Am event after he was struck by a playing partner's golf cart.
Lundstrom's hand was injured after one of his amateur partners inadvertently stepped on the accelerator and ran into him.
Lundstrom had his hand iced and is expected to be able to tee off in today's first group for the Kroger Senior Classic, at 8:30 a.m. on the Grizzly course.
His place in the pro-am was taken by Pittsburgh-area club pro Roy Vucinich.
Vucinich is not the most recognizable name or face in the Kroger Classic field, but he's better-known than he was before his Tin Cup-like performance in the U.S. Senior Open.
He has played in only four previous events this year, but his play in the first two rounds of the Open at Los Angeles' Riviera Country Club put him in the final group with legendary Ray Floyd and got him plenty of air time on NBC's third-round telecast.
"You get a little more comfortable out there, and you get to see how the good players play, which is a big thing," said Vucinich. Vucinich ultimately faded to 22nd with a final-round 79.
Mike Hill burned the Grizzly for a 6six-under 64 to claim first place in Thursday's pro-am and earn the $500 prize. He eagled the par-4, 412-yard 13th hole and covered the back nine in 30 strokes. Hill was one shot better than Jim Dent, who shot 65. The team event was won by the Bobby Nichols group, which was 22-under in the best-ball format.
The MasterCard Champions Pro-Am, played at the Beckett Ridge Country Club, went to the team led by Walt Zembriski, which was 23-under.
Yaz pinch hits
Johnny Bench isn't the only baseball Hall of Famer to play the Grizzly golf course this week.
Former Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski, the last player to win baseball's triple crown (RBI, home run and batting champion), was one of four amateurs playing with Chi Chi Rodriguez on Thursday in the pro-am.
The CEO of his company was at a meeting in Arizona, and Yaz was called upon to, well, pinch hit.
"I haven't played a tournament in about six, seven years, so I came down and decided to . . . have a little fun," he said. "We were all over the place today. It will take some of these teams about nine holes to surpass us."
Quote of the day
Chi Rodriguez talking about how difficult it is for him to turn down tournaments: "My dad used to say if I was a woman I would've been pregnant all the time because I don't know how to say no."
