Golf / Dan Hafner : Neck Injury Has Rodriguez Down but Not Out

LIGONIER, Pa. —  Chi Chi Rodriguez says his days as one of the stars of the Senior PGA Tour are numbered.

A neck injury has cut down on the number of tournaments the Puerto Rican golfer can play. More important, though, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus will soon be eligible.

“Maybe I’ll have only three or four years left,” said Rodriguez, 53. “I draw a pretty good gallery when I play, but you know about Arnold Palmer’s army. I call mine Arnie’s leftovers. When Trevino gets out here, he’ll get my gallery.”

There will be no regrets for Chi Chi. He has done well. In not even four years on the 50-and-over tour, he has won more than $1 million. In 1987, he was the first of the older set to win more than $500,000 in a season. In addition, he has been the big winner in both senior skins games.

“I will miss the fellows I’ve played with and the media, which has been so good to me,” Rodriguez said. “But when it ends, I’ll have had a wonderful time.”

Rodriguez believes that Nicklaus, who has said he doesn’t expect to play much on the senior tour when he becomes eligible next January, will change his mind.

“You know how it is when you throw a frog into cold water, they may not like it but they swim away,” Rodriguez said. “The same thing will happen to Jack.

“Jack should join our tour. It would be a whole new career. He would dominate this tour the way he did the other one. He’s the best. You know how I found out I was a good player? I played nine holes with Nicklaus and won two of them.”

Told how well Nicklaus had done in the Canadian Open, Rodriguez said, “Good, I hope he plays so well he has to stay on the junior tour. It will mean more money for me.”

Rodriguez had to withdraw from a tournament last May because of two pinched nerves in his neck. He has finally recovered with the help of traction, massage and isometrics.

“Five doctors agreed that it was caused by playing in seven tournaments in a row,” Rodriguez said. “All these people have been so good to me I couldn’t turn them down. When Lee gets here in December, they won’t need me.

“I’m well now, I just can’t play as often. I’m headed back for the top. My goal is to be No. 1 until Trevino gets here.”

Rodriguez enjoys playing in tournaments such as the U.S. Senior Open, because they are played on what he calls real courses.

“Often on our courses, they make it so easy, it looks like we’re as good as the guys on the junior tour. We aren’t and we shouldn’t be. That’s the real tour.”

Along with real courses, Rodriguez would like to see rules passed that would have all the pros use the same ball.

“I’m like Nicklaus,” he said. “I think the balls should be put in a barrel and everyone would take one,” he said. “I’m also glad they took the square grooves (on club faces) away. I don’t think equipment should be the reason for the improvement in golf scores.

“I discovered that the same golf ball was used by the winner of eight of the last nine tournaments. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but come out and see (a Dunlop High Trajectory).”

Willing to talk on nearly any subject, Rodriguez said that the United States Golf Assn. is wrong in making the old-timers walk at the Senior Open.

“Deane Beman (PGA Tour commissioner) has the right idea,” he said. “He makes it possible for a Charlie Owens, a talented golfer, to play on the tour. With his fused knee, he has to ride.

“The USGA decision reminds me of the Pope telling women not to take the pill. What right do non-participants have to make such decisions?

“Walking doesn’t bother me. In fact, I could go out right now and run the course. I never exercise, but I sleep 12 hours. I have lots of energy. The heat won’t bother me, either.”

Owens tried to play in the Senior Open a couple of years ago, but had to quit after the first round. He had to take several weeks off the tour, then needed an operation on the other knee. He has never been as competitive since.

Golf Notes

Gary Player is a breeder of horses. He bred and owned a share of Kadarko, the winner of this year’s South African Derby. “The horse’s name means something but I can’t remember what,” he said. “I knew somebody would ask.” . . . The number of entries for the first U.S. Seniors in 1980, when the minimum age was 55 was 631. It has grown every year. This year there were 1,762. . . . Dave Marr, who won the 1965 PGA championship played at Laurel Valley, is one of ABC-TV’s announcers for this one.

Good news: Scotland’s Sandy Jones, secretary of the PGA Scottish region, made a hole in one on the 182-yard, 10th hole at Israel’s Caesarea GC. Bad news: He couldn’t keep the prize, a $27,000 automobile, because it would have jeopardized his amateur status. Jones was able to donate the value of the car to his favorite charity. . . . The 10th Amy Alcott Pro-Am, for the benefit of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will be held at Riviera Country Club on Sept. 25. The tournament is a scrambles format and an LPGA professional will play with each amateur group. Additional details are available from Linda Giaciolli at (213) 451-5862.

Mark Calcavecchia, professional golfer-scavenger, lost his luggage just before a pro-am at Somersett CC in Newark, N.J. So he improvised, borrowing clubs from a spectator, a putter from his caddy, a pair of pants and shirt from fellow pro Peter Jacobsen, socks from pro Hubert Green, and shoes--one size too small--from a club member. The result? Calcavecchia shot a 9-under-par 62, a course record. . . . Sam Yocham of San Ramon shot consecutive 74s at the Black Lake Resort in Nipomo to become the state champion of the Southern California Left Handed Golfers Assn.

The PGA will return to the Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., site of the 1988 PGA Championship, for its 1994 tournament. . . . Greg French, golf professional at Mission Hills Resort since its opening in January, 1987, has been named assistant project director at Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina. . . . The Golf Course Superintendents Assn. of American recently contributed $25,000 to the Turfgrass Research Committee to support scientific work on new turfgrass that would require less water and be more disease resistant.

Jerry R. Tucker, head pro at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, has qualified for the highest category of membership in the PGA. He has become only the 61st of the more than 10,000 PGA members to reach Master Professional status. . . . ESPN and the USGA have reached a three-year agreement for the network to televise action from four USGA national championships from 1990-1992. ESPN will carry live coverage of the first two rounds of the U.S. Open, the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Senior Open, and for the first time will show the semifinal and final rounds of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Patty Sheehan needs only $14,158 to become the fifth player to hit $2 million in LPGA career earnings. . . . Long shot: The odds of a golfer winning the Grand Slam of Golf--Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship--in one year, are calculated at 373,000,000 to 1.