THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070659
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Could this be the year?
Every summer, another Curtis Strange watch begins with the start of the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic. Nearly every July, Strange vaults onto the leaderboard long enough to excite the throngs who follow the local boy in hopes of a hometown victory.
The Curtis hound-dogs can pick up the scent this morning at Kingsmill at 7:48 when Strange tees off in the premier pairing of the first two days, playing with Davis Love III and Ben Crenshaw.
The day's other top pairing has defending champion Jim Gallagher Jr. playing with 1990 winner Lanny Wadkins and Jay Haas at 7:56.
Strange, who hasn't won on the PGA Tour since his 1989 U.S. Open title, has been showing signs of returning to the PGA's penthouse.
Ironically, it was at this year's U.S. Open that Strange returned to the spotlight. In contention throughout at Oakmont, he finished one shot out of a three-way playoff eventually won by South African Ernie Els.
``Honest to God, I didn't look back and try to count a stroke I threw away somewhere,'' Strange said.
When it was suggested that Strange had to be kicking himself for not making it into the 18-hole playoff after all three players - Els, Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts - played the first four holes Monday in 3-over-par or worse, he denied that was the case.
``I'll take that as a compliment, but they were the ones in the playoff, not me,'' Strange said. ``Playoffs can be close, sloppy, great or a runaway. Those were three guys who hadn't done it before.''
Strange shot 70-70-70-70 at the Open, prompting noted author John Feinstein to jokingly ask Strange in the media tent Wednesday if he'd shot 69 yet. Feinstein is currently in Williamsburg working on a book detailing a year on the PGA Tour.
``Actually, I did better than that,'' Strange retorted, speaking of his round of 4-under 67 in Wednesday's Anheuser-Busch Pro-Am.
His fourth-place finish in the Open three weeks ago was his best showing of the year and his fourth top-10 finish. Strange has pocketed $271,576 in 15 events.
``I'm just playing OK, I'm not playing great,'' Strange said. ``But I'm home, so hopefully I can play good again.''
Although he's never won the Anheuser-Busch, he's come temptingly close. Last year, he tied for third after shooting rounds of 67-69-68-68. He has six top-10 finishes in the 13 Classics played at Kingsmill. Without a victory here, Strange still ranks sixth on the tournament's all-time winnings list with $204,987.
Strange, who won 17 times from 1979 to 1989, says there is no one aspect of his game that has improved enough to make a difference in his overall play this year. But he admits to being longer off the tee than in past years.
``It's the club,'' Strange, 39, said. ``I went to a longer shaft. I'd been using a 43-inch shaft that I thought was the normal length but was actually on the short side. I switched to a 44-inch shaft and `Boom!' Plus, it's a graphite shaft.
``How much distance has it added? You know we all exaggerate. If I say 20 yards, then it's more like eight. If I say 10, then it's more like 5. Whatever it is, I'm longer off the tee. But it doesn't matter if it isn't in the fairway.''
Keeping it in the fairway might be the most important aspect of play this week, for while Kingsmill's River Course tends to be forgiving - between 14-under and 18-under has won the tournament the last seven years - the rough will punish wayward shots.
While winter kill claimed a lot of area courses, Kingsmill dodged the dreaded turf killer, and its rough is high and thick.
``That's our defense on this course,'' Strange said. ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff
``I'm just playing OK, I'm not playing great,'' Curtis Strange said
Wednesday. ``But I'm home, so hopefully I can play good again.''
SCHEDULE
[For a copy of the schedule, see page C4 of the microfilm for this
date.]
TODAYS, FRIDAY'S TEE TIMES
[For a copy of the schedule, see page C4 of the microfilm for this
date.]
by CNB