ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
MANY MODIFICATIONS are in store for the $1.25 million Michelob Championship.
Traditions, as much a part of golf as manners on the course, quiet on the greens and honesty on the scorecard, are taking a hit this year in Virginia.
The Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic, for 15 years a lower-rung stop on the PGA Tour, is gone. In its place? The $1.25 million Michelob Championship, also played on the 6,797-yard, par-71 Kingsmill Golf Club in Williamsburg.
Gone, too, are the sweltering conditions that made the event special, at least according to forecasts for this week, and a field that has few of golf's big names but an abundance of pros looking to begin making their mark.
After years of being held the weekend before the British Open, meaning most of golf's best players missed the event in favor of preparations in Europe, the tournament on the River Course is moving to October next year.
That will change everything.
The conditions in October should be ideal, both for golfers and fans, and the field should be more representative of the best the game has to offer.
In a way, though, the changes will make the tournament less special.
Last year, as one of several touring pros making a run at his first career victory here, Ted Tryba endured 90-plus degree temperatures and gained his first PGA victory with a 12-under-par 272 total on the River Course.
``I went around the whole course just trying to keep my breath,'' said Tryba, who survived a late surge by Scott Simpson to win by a stroke. ``It was so hot I couldn't think about winning. Just about trying to get in.''
Before Tryba, the likes of Scott McCarron, Jim Carter and Robin Freeman took turns in the lead, all three also seeking their first PGA victories.
``You don't know if you can [win],'' said Tryba, who hasn't won again and stands 135th on this year's money list. ``I guess it's like getting shot. You don't know how much it will hurt. You just have to go through it.''
Winning once, Tryba said, changes everything.
``It's gotten me in places I wouldn't have gotten into,'' the 29-year-old former Ohio State star said. ``I played in the Tournament of Champions and the Masters - perks like that. It's been good for my confidence.''
Tryba got off to a good start in his return to Kingsmill on Tuesday, beating Scott Hoch on the last hole to win the Michelob Shootout.
Hoch, third here twice and never lower than 53rd in 13 appearances, returns as the biggest winner this year with $633,005 in prize money.
Others in the field include Curtis Strange, a Kingsmill resident still seeking his first tour victory since back-to-back U.S. Open triumphs in 1988 and 1989, two-time Anheuser-Busch champion Mark McCumber and six other past champions, including Lanny Wadkins, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Mike Donald.
The Virginia contingent, besides Strange and Wadkins, also includes Bobby Wadkins, a 22-year tour veteran still seeking his first career victory, Carl Paulson, Robert Wrenn and former Old Dominion University star Jim McGovern.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB