Sunday, September 02, 2001
Crowded leaderboard at Kroger Senior Classic
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
You know Bob Murphy if you watch golf on TV. He's the NBC commentator with a sharp eye who can dissect a swing even when the player himself can't see it — such as when Tiger Woods wasn't extending through the ball toward the hole on his putts earlier this year.
Since then, Woods has been releasing the putter, and he has returned to the winner's circle. Nothing builds confidence like rolling in some putts, and Murphy was a case in point Saturday.
He shot a 4-under par 66 at the Kroger Senior Classic as the early leader in the clubhouse after one round. It almost held up (Friday's round was rained out. Today's second round will wrap up the two-round tournament). Larry Nelson and Jim Thorpe are the co-leaders after their first-round 65s. There were four 66s.
Nobody had a better story than the affable, ruddy-faced, straw hat-wearing “Murph.” He was his usual self in the post-round interview room Saturday — relaxed, engaging, insightful — but he was anything but himself on the Grizzly Course at The Golf Center at Kings Island.
In 25 years on the regular tour (five victories), Murphy usually traveled with one putter, maybe two, such as when he played Augusta National and wanted something to putt those skating-rink greens.
Well, the following tells you all you need to know the about the recent state of Murphy's putting confidence: He arrived here with four putters and acquired two more while he was here.
“I was talking to my wife the other night and she said what I needed was a talk with Deborah Graham (a sports psychologist),” Murphy said. “I told my wife, "No, what I need is to make two putts.'”
He was wrong.
He needed only one.
After missing a 4-footer on No. 2 Saturday and an 8-footer at No. 3, he got his putt. On the par-3 5th hole, he had pushed his tee shot 20 feet to the right of the hole and rammed his birdie try 7 feet past. He made the comebacker, and suddenly he was his old self. Suddenly, he was back to believing he could one-putt anything shorter than his adopted state of Florida. Which, of course, he soon did, sinking an 80-footer for birdie on the 200-yard par-3 8th hole to go 4-under.
“You never plan on making one of those,” he said. “When it was three or feet away (from the hole), I thought it had a good chance. It was on line and taking the break with good speed. It went in dead-center.”
Which of six putters had Murphy chosen? The one most similar to the one with which he'd had the most previous success: he chose “an old Odyssey 770.” Rest assured he won't be changing putters this morning.
Nelson also credited a putt on No. 5 for getting him going, although his was a long one — 40 feet. That got him to 3-under, and he, too, had it to 4-under by the turn.
The top six players on the leaderboard (Nelson, Thorpe, Murphy, John Mahaffey, Hale Irwin and Dana Quigley) have won a total of 65 senior tour events. Scratch any of them, and they'll all bleed the same story: putting.
Thorpe is putting with a “Never Compromise” putter that he bought out of a used-club bin at the clubhouse two weeks ago in Salt Lake for $15. He had intentionally broken his regular putter over his knee after his first two rounds because he had 36 putts in each of those 18-hole rounds. He made sure there was no way he could re-shaft it. He needed only 25 putts the next round, and has been putting well with it ever since.
“I've got 150 putters at home, though,” he said. “Those are what I've got left. That doesn't count the ones I've given away.”
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Crowded leaderboard at Kroger Senior Classic
