THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 9, 1995 TAG: 9510090134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB MOLINARO, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
They were all there for him Sunday. Mom and Dad. Brother George. Uncles Lou and Bill. Heather Pasour, the fiancee. Butch Liebler, the pro from home.
The rookie was in contention. Their rookie. Carl Paulson was going off last on the final day of the Walt Disney World Classic.
The PGA Tour waits for no man, though, not even the co-leader at the start of the day. Not even for a kid who shot 62 on Thursday. When he bogeyed the first hole, Paulson fell four shots behind a pair of players who had already finished. He shot an even-par 72 and faded to a tie for seventh.
``You know,'' Ned Paulson, Carl's father, said walking alongside the fifth fairway at the Magnolia course, ``a month ago, we'd have been real happy with where he is right now - four down on the final day. But expectations, they really change.''
Carl Paulson, aiming at his first tour win, picked up a big chunk of change Sunday, though not what he hoped for. He and seven others who finished 14-under for this rain-shortened 54-hole event each walked away with $31,275.
The tournament was won by Brad Bryant, golf's Everyman, who had been tied with Paulson after the second round was completed Saturday. The 40-year-old won for the first time in his 17 years on tour, four shots ahead of Paulson at 18-under.
``Tomorrow, every golfer in the world will be saying, `If he can do it, so can I,' '' Bryant said after getting his $216,000 winner's check and photo opportunity with Mickey Mouse.
Paulson, the 24-year-old rookie from Virginia Beach, must be content with knowing that he more than doubled his season earnings. Also, his top-10 finish guarantees him a spot in this week's Las Vegas Invitational. With that and the Texas Open left, he needs a win or about $80,000 in earnings to avoid a repeat engagement with the Tour Qualifying School.
``It was one of those rounds where you can say you played OK or you can say you played bad,'' he said. ``I'm disappointed with my score, but I tried hard until the last shot.''
His day was numbingly routine. One bogey, one birdie. Not a single three-putt green. Not more than three or four bad shots. But not enough great ones, either. Several birdie putts stopped short or slid just by.
``He had a couple of opportunities to go off the deep end,'' noted his mother, Susan. ``But he held it together.''
Paulson birdied the par-4 16th hole after his 140-yard second shot stopped within 18 inches of the cup.
``Dart! That's a dart!'' cried Liebler, the pro from the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club.
Not enough darts for Paulson on this day. Too many long birdie putts.
``He lipped out a couple of putts,'' Liebler said. ``Those are $25,000 putts.''
It's almost impossible to watch a PGA tournament up close without imagining the whirring of a cash register. That birdie on 16 came too late to thrust Paulson into contention. But it earned him an additional $12,675.
Pumped up, Paulson drove his tee shot on the par-4 17th over a lake and beyond a small stand of trees. It was an impressive display of power.
``That's 310 yards,'' was Liebler's estimate.
Once again, though, Paulson's second shot left him too far - about 30 feet - from a birdie, and he had to settle for another par.
``I hit the ball fine,'' Paulson said. ``But I hit some good putts early that didn't go in and that set the tone.''
The tone of Team Paulson was uniformly upbeat from Carl's bogey on No. 1 to his tap-in at 18.
``He'll make it,'' Ned Paulson said as his son huddled over a difficult 25-foot birdie putt. ``I think he'll make everything.''
Ned, Susan, Lou and Bill piled into a car Friday night and drove 13 hours from Virginia Beach to be here. The Team's demeanor may be a reflection of Carl Paulson himself. The rookie has his mother's personality; he can keep things in perspective.
``An hour after the round,'' said Ned Paulson, ``you can't tell he's played golf.''
What does father tell son after a tournament like this?
Said Ned: ``All I can say to him is, `You're close.' ''
Late Sunday afternoon, after a round of hugs and attaboys, Carl was off to the clubhouse to make sure officials knew he would be playing Las Vegas.
``Anytime you can get in contention,'' he said, ``you take something away from it. I had a good time.''
Now it was time to move on. By this afternoon, he'll be practicing on a course in the desert.
``I don't think,'' Ned Paulson said, laughing, ``that I'll be driving to Vegas.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Second-round co-leader Carl Paulson found himself three shots behind
when he teed off Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Carl Paulson signs an autograph at the Walt Disney World Oldsmobile
Classic, which he electrified with an opening round of 10-under 62.
``You're close,'' his father, Ned, told him after his first run at a
PGA tour title.
by CNB