THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100523
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 46 lines
Erstwhile eccentric Mac O'Grady has been called many things during his PGA Tour career.
Lefty has never been one of them.
But O'Grady, best known for his frequent run-ins with former commissioner Deane Beman, played the Michelob Shoot-Out left-handed Tuesday. O'Grady is right-handed, although he normally putts lefty.
``My brain is much more emotionally serene when I go left-handed,'' O'Grady said.
He said the last time he played left-handed was during a shootout in 1988, but he hit balls lefty last week and decided to try it again. O'Grady said about 10 years ago he wrote a letter to the United States Golf Association asking them to rule on whether he could be classified as a pro right-handed and an amateur left-handed.
``I never got an answer,'' O'Grady said. ``Maybe it's late postage.''
He'd be a formidable lefty amateur. Hal Sutton, Jim Gallagher Jr., Jay Delsing, Jim McGovern and Curtis Strange all bowed out of the 10-player shootout before O'Grady.
``He's such a good ball striker,'' Strange said. ``It's phenomenal what he can do right-handed and left-handed.''
The most phenomenal thing may have come at the 12th tee. One hole after hitting shots simultaneously while facing each other at No. 11, O'Grady and McGovern teed up two balls about six inches apart. Facing each other again, they crossed their clubs, and hit each others' ball at almost the same time.
MALTBIE QUIPS: Roger Maltbie wore a wireless microphone and delivered one-liners for the crowd during the shootout. Here's a couple of his better ones.
When Strange left a chip four feet short: ``There's still a little chicken left on that bone.''
When O'Grady lipped out a putt: ``That got more lip than Mick Jagger.''
While the well-coifed Ted Tryba teed off at 17: ``Still not a hair out of place.''
FIELD STUDY: The Michelob Championship field includes just five players in the top 50 money winners on Tour this year. Highest on the money list is Scott Hoch (13th, $633,005). The other top 50 money winners here are Paul Stankowski (37th), Michael Bradley (38th), Jay Don Blake (44th) and Billy Andrade (48th).
PRO-AM PARTICULARS: Today's pro-am is a shotgun start, with groups going off every hole at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. by CNB