THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120615
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 90 lines
There can be nothing more ponderous to lug through life than a father's legacy. Just ask Guy Boros and Dave Stockton Jr.
Boros and Stockton are two of four sons of famous golfing fathers who are toiling in this week's Michelob Championship at Kingsmill. Joining them are amateur Robert (son of Raymond) Floyd and Vance (son of Clayton) Heafner.
Heafner's father died when Vance was 6. By his own admission, his best memories of his dad have come via stories told by his father's contemporaries like Sam Snead.
Floyd is just 20. His career has barely started.
Stockton and Boros are different. They've been around enough to appreciate what their fathers accomplished and how tough it is to make even the smallest dent in their reputations.
Stockton Sr., who won the Senior U.S. Open championship last week, also captured a pair of PGA Championships and has won 23 tournaments total on the regular and Senior tours. Boros' dad, the beloved Julius Boros, won a pair of U.S. Opens, 1952 at Dallas and '63 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. He died in 1994.
Neither child has shown signs of being able to put together that type of resume. Stockton's best finish in two-plus seasons on Tour is a tie for second at the 1995 Hartford Open. Boros' finest showing in the same amount of time is a tie for third at the '94 Deposit Guaranty Classic.
``People used to ask me if I could be as good as my father,'' said Boros, who opened here with a one-under-par 70. ``I'd always say, `Better.' Now I look at my game and wish I were half as good.''
Stockton has spent a lifetime - 27 years - fielding the same question.
``You think about (how good your father is), but you do the best you can and try not to let it affect you,'' he said. ``I never would have made the PGA Tour if I were bothered by his success. When dad wins, I'm his biggest fan. I was sitting in front of a television in Chicago last week when he won the Open, just screaming and yelling my head off. We have a very loving, supportive family.''
Case in point: Dave Sr. called the press room at Kingsmill Thursday to see how Dave Jr. fared. Seventy-five wasn't what he wanted to hear.
Both men were exposed to the PGA Tour early in life. Stockton was born in late July and attended his first event when he was 2 weeks old. Boros wasn't that much older.
``I had the best childhood any kid could have,'' Guy said. ``I had a great father, on and off the course. He took me to a lot of events and I hung around the locker room with guys like Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino.''
Near the end of Julius' career, Guy caddied for him.
``I think he let me do it because I did what I was told,'' Guy said, laughing, ``but I certainly didn't work cheap.''
Stockton shakes his head when someone says it must have been tough not spending that much time with his father during his youth.
``Because my father won two PGAs, he had a lot of exemptions,'' Stockton explained. ``He was home a lot and spent a lot of time with me and my brother Ron. He was never gone more than two weeks at a time. Kids whose fathers had `real' jobs would work until 6 or 7 at night. My dad would be up when we left for school in the morning, then he'd go practice or play, and be back by the time we walked in the house after school.''
Neither father talked to their sons about them playing golf professionally.
``I never particularly liked it,'' Boros said. ``I played a lot of football and baseball; those were more fun. But the older I got, the more I began to like the game.
``The truth is, I'll never love golf the way my father did. He hit balls every day, because he liked to hit balls. He had a real passion for hitting shots. I have a real passion for fishing.''
Stockton may never have played pro golf if he hadn't broken his foot when he was 15. He was a high-scoring left wing in soccer at the time, with an abundance of speed. The foot injury took care of that.
``The only thing my dad told me was that I could be very good at a lot of sports, but I could be great at only one,'' Stockton said. ``That was it.''
The only aspect of their lineage that irks them is the misconception people have that they've been given a free ride onto the Tour because of their names.
``I've never received an exemption because I was a Boros,'' Guy said. ``People think I have it easier because I am a Boros. Sometimes, the opposite is true.''
Adds Stockton: ``No one's going to lay down because you are Julius Boros' son, or Ray Floyd's son, or Dave Stockton's son. If anything, they try that much harder to beat you.'' ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
``I never would have made the PGA Tour if I were bothered by his
success. When dad wins, I'm his biggest fan,'' Dave Stockton Jr.
says.
Guy Boros, son of two-time U.S. Open champ Julius Boros, admits he
doesn't love the game the way his dad did. by CNB