Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 16, 1993 TAG: 9305160049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Randy King
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"If I can be competitive I'm going to play the Senior Tour," Sneed said. "If I'm not going to be competitive I don't want to struggle with it, though. It certainly looks like it would be a lot of fun."
Sneed, who will turn 50 on Aug. 6, 1994, is preparing for golf's second-chance tour by playing in as many regular tour stops this season as his schedule permits. After going seven years without making a dime on the PGA Tour, Sneed has cashed in twice the past month. He was 72nd two weeks ago at Houston, winning $2,548. Sneed, who finished 15 shots back, faltered in the final two rounds after opening with a 66, his lowest tour score since 1983.
Sneed, who won four tournaments and finished in the top 100 on the PGA Tour's money list for 10 straight seasons from 1973-82, has played only sparingly since going into the brokerage business in Columbus, Ohio, in 1984. He continues to work as an on-course television commentator for ABC.
"I had the business opportunity in '84 and that's when I pretty much got out of playing. I've been in the brokerage business ever since," Sneed said.
"I've got to admit the Senior Tour could be nice. It sure would be a lot of fun to go out and compete again."
\ NIKE TOUR STOP: The Nike Tour, the top feeder system of the PGA Tour, makes its Virginia debut on June 3-6, when the $175,000 Nike Dominion Open is played at the Curtis Strange-signature Dominion Club in Wyndham.
The former Ben Hogan Tour is loaded with players who figure to be the stars of tomorrow. The top 10 money-winners on the Nike circuit automatically earn 1994 PGA Tour cards. Money-earners 11 through 25 are exempt through to the third and final stage of PGA Tour qualifying school.
The tour's most famous graduate is John Daly, who won $64,692 on the minor-league circuit in 1990 before going on Tour in '91 and scoring his monumental triumph in the PGA Championship.
Other Nike Tour graduates who have made a name for themselves on the PGA Tour include Jeff Maggert and Tom Lehman, both finishing in the top 40 on the PGA money list last season.
The Nike Tour also serves as a rebound circuit for players who could not retain their PGA Tour cards. Former PGA tournament winners on the Nike campaign this season include Ron Streck, who currently heads the 1993 Nike Tour money list, Morris Hatalsky, Curt Byrum, Larry Silveira, Lon Hinkle and Jim Benepe. Other ex-PGA Tour performers trying to "just do it" include Willie Wood, Chris Perry, Webb Heintzelman and former U.S. Amateur champion Chris Patton.
"I'm not sure everyone realizes the caliber of players that are on our tour," said Ben Bates, the circuit's No. 8 money winner through seven events.
\ THANKS FOR THE OFFER, BUT . . . : Herman Mitchell, Lee Trevino's oversized caddie, doesn't like to stay with his 17-year partner when the two are near Trevino's Florida home. "I try to get him to stay in my guesthouse, but he's afraid I'll starve him to death," says Trevino of his 300-pound caddie. "I told him I'd get him his own refrigerator."
\ SAND BLASTS: Former Longwood All-American Tina Barrett continues to make a good living on the LPGA Tour. Barrett currently stands 16th on the money list with $94,281, pushing her five-year career earnings total to more than $450,000. . . . Lynchburg's Donna Andrews, currently 38th on the LPGA money list with $38,017, ranks third in driving accuracy, hitting .841 percent of all fairways. . . . Tom Kite, expected back on tour soon after being shelved with a back injury, has earned at least $200,000 in a record 13 consecutive seasons, one more than Tom Watson and Curtis Strange.
by CNB