By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rhoden pitched 17 career shutouts in 16 seasons. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP - Rick Rhoden was able to pitch his way through the Big Red Machine's vaunted batting order - four of his 17 career shutouts came against the Reds - so maybe that explains how he was able to finish fifth two weeks ago on the Champions Tour.

"Pitching is probably the closest correlation to golf you could possibly have," he said.

Rhoden, who pitched 16 big-league seasons with the Dodgers, Pirates, Astros and Yankees, is playing the Kroger Classic this week on a sponsor's exemption. Everything Tuesday - the Wives' Charity Challenge, Argosy Skins Game and the qualifier at Four Bridges Country Club - was rained out. The four qualifiers - R.W. Eaks, Terry Mauney, Scott Massingill and Doug Johnson - were determined by position on the 2003 money list.

Today is the first round of the Sara Lee Pro-Am, at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the TPC at River's Bend.

Rhoden, who turned 50 in May, finished one shot shy of qualifying for the Champions Tour in November.

"I'll know a little better what to expect this November," he said. "That doesn't mean I'll score any better. Golf is like that. ... Sometimes you're the statue, sometimes you're the pigeon."

By the time Rhoden was done as a pitcher in 1989, his golf handicap was 2. He dominated the Celebrity Golf Tour that began in 1991 - winning the first event, and then 43 more - and about three years ago moved from south Florida to Jacksonville in search of the best players he could find at one course. (Pablo Creek has tour players Leonard Thompson, Bob Duval, Bill Kratzert, Fred Funk and Rocco Mediate). Rhoden has had no formal lessons and has no swing coach but has learned a lot from his playing partners.

His first event was the U.S. Senior Open, for which he qualified.

"It was like walking out and having your first (big-league) game be in the World Series," Rhoden said.

He missed the cut by a stroke.

In baseball, every pitch counts; the outcome is based on the accumulation of good pitches; you have to have a short memory, yet be able to think ahead; you must escape trouble with minimal damage.

In golf, it's called "course management."

"If I have 35 starts as a pitcher in a given year, I'm going to have seven times where everything's working and seven times where I've got nothing," Rhoden said. "The difference ... is what you do with those other 21 starts - how do you go about your game to get a win? ... And how do you shoot 69 or 70 when everything's not working?"

Rhoden knows he has the seniors golfers' respect as a pitcher, but now he has to earn it as a golfer. Finishing fifth in Des Moines with a 9-under 204 that included 19 birdies was a start. On the final day, he played with Morris Hatalsky and Bruce Lietzke, who is No. 1 on the Champions Tour money list.

"It was fun watching Lietzke play," Rhoden said. "I'm right there in the middle of the tournament ... and I'm grinding, looking at the (yardage) book, how far over this crest, how far over that bunker, and he's just playing golf. He's playing like I'd be playing with you. When you get that comfortable, that's when you can really go play."

Kroger Classic at a glance

When: Today-Sunday (tournament starts Friday)

Today's event: Sara Lee Pro-Am, 8 a.m., 1:30 p.m.

Where: Tournament Players Club at River's Bend, Maineville.

Tourney field: 81 players.

Purse: prize money: $1.5 million; first place prize: $225,000.

Benefits: The Kroger Scholarship Fund; more than $1.725 million donated to charity since 1990

Course: 7,064 yards/par 72.

Tournament record: Jay Sigel (1997), -18, par 71 (Golf Center at Kings Island)

Last year's winner: Bob Gilder.

Gates open: 7 a.m. today-Sunday.

Note: Cameras permitted Monday through Thursday only; coolers and cell phones not permitted any day. Parking is free.

Directions:

• From downtown Cincinnati at Interstate 71: Take I-71 North to Exit 28, The South Lebanon/State Route 48 Exit. TURN LEFT off the Exit onto State Route 48. Continue on 48 through one light and up the hill. TURN RIGHT onto Winding River Boulevard, and the Clubhouse is on the right.

• From Columbus: Take I-71 South to Exit 28, The South Lebanon/State Route 48 Exit. TURN RIGHT off the Exit onto State Route 48. Continue on 48 through one light and up the hill. TURN RIGHT onto Winding River Boulevard, and the Clubhouse is on right.

Ticket information:

• Today-Sunday, $20.

Park cars at Kings Island

Today, Thursday, Friday only: All public parking and those people with "S" parking passes are to go to Paramount's Kings Island to park. Buses will transport people to the TPC at River's Bend for the golf tournament and related events. This change is due to the large amount of rain that has saturated the grounds the past several days.

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E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com