Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 19, 1993 TAG: 9309190040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When people rip the PGA Tour for all its cookie-cutter figures, one guy they're not talking about is Frank Urban Zoeller.
The Fuzz, you see, is different. He's not only a player; he's a character.
While gnomes like Jeff Maggert, Chip Beck and Scott Simpson may give you five seconds for an autograph, you get the impression Fuzzy might actually say sit down and order you a cold one.
Therefore, Roanoke is in for a treat Tuesday when Zoeller comes to town for the 12th Tee Off for Sight benefit tournament at Hunting Hills. The 1979 Masters and 1984 U.S. Open champion will play a round with 10 area club champions before conducting what promises to be an entertaining clinic at 5 p.m.
"I don't know," said Zoeller, when asked what spectators and participants can expect to witness at his clinic. "What do you want to see? I can hit bad shots. I can hit good shots. It just depends on what you need."
No matter what he does, it'll work. If the charismatic golf pro knows anything, he knows how to work people.
While most others coming down the stretch on Sunday afternoons are clearing their throats and doing their best to ignore the gallery, there's Zoeller, whistling and frolicking along behind his shades, all the while exchanging banter with the fans.
The others look like they're going to puke. Fuzzy Zoeller looks like he's ready to party.
"I've got you tricked, don't I?" Zoeller said, chuckling. "Well, the others are uptight. The bottom line is they're afraid they're going to choke and embarrass themselves. And with me, it's going to happen. You've just got to be man enough to accept it."
Zoeller hasn't won them all when he was in contention, but he's won more than most. In addition to his two majors, the 41-year-old New Albany, Ind., native has won eight other titles and has banked more than $3.7 million in prize money.
Given a huge assist by Roanoke native Ed Sneed, Zoeller first rose to prominence in 1979 when he won at Augusta National. Zoeller took the Masters in a playoff with Sneed and Tom Watson, only after Sneed had blown a potential victory by three-putting the final three holes of regulation.
Zoeller's 1984 U.S. Open title also came in a playoff, in which he beat Greg Norman by eight shots.
Fuzzy's ride atop the golf world didn't last long, however. A month after his U.S. Open victory, the lights suddenly went out on the Fuzz's party.
When he awoke to tee off in the first round of the 1984 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, Ala., Zoeller discovered he could barely move because of acute back pain. He was rushed to a hospital, where he remained for nearly a week. Not long thereafter, Zoeller underwent a complicated operation for ruptured disks.
"The doctor wasn't sure after he performed the surgery on me," Zoeller said. "After I woke up two days later, he said, `I've done my job. Let's just hope everything heals.' "
After six months on the sideline, Zoeller returned to the tour smashingly, winning the Hertz Bay Hill Classic in February 1985. He won three more times in 1986 before the back problems began to flare again.
"Once you have a bad back, I don't think you ever get rid of it," Zoeller said.
He hasn't won since. He dipped to a career-low 114th on the money list last year, winning only $125,003.
This year, he has returned from the heavy rough, making serious runs at the British Open, St. Jude's Classic and Buick Open. Zoeller ranks 32nd on the tour in winnings ($371,548) and leads the circuit in greens hit in regulation (73.5 percent).
When asked about his game's sudden resurgence, Zoeller cackled.
"You thought I was dead, didn't you? . . . Naw, I wish I could tell you what the key is," he said. "Once I put the finger on it, I'll call you back and put it in every magazine.
"Seriously, I don't know. I have stayed healthy this year. It's the first year since I had back problems I haven't had too much of a problem.
"I don't think I ever questioned myself. It's just a matter of time, to be honest. I had to get my schedule in order where I could play and not hurt myself."
Despite his seven-year winless streak, Zoeller is not hurting at all these days. He's making double-barrel money on the course - in competition and in golf-course design.
"Once I had the legs slapped out from under me in '84, I didn't really worry about playing golf too much," he said. "Winning, to me, is a happening anyway. You just get yourself in position to try your best and if you shoot the lowest score, they give you the winner's check.
"But every day I'm out there, I'm winning. I feel lucky to just be out there.
"If I never win again, I've done more than I expected to do. When you take up this crazy game, you just never know. I've been one of the fortunate ones. I got into position to win a couple of times and I did."
He has no doubts he will win again.
"If you knock on the door long enough, it eventually opens," he said. "It's not the end of the world. But we will win again."
The winners Tuesday, though, will be the 10 club champions who won the opportunity to tee it up with Zoeller. He guarantees this one.
"My main job in Roanoke on Tuesday is that those three groups I'm playing with have the times of their lives," he said.
Sounds like a heck of a party.
by CNB