Norman Hopes Aussies Rule

THOUSAND OAKS —  One Australian has two Shark Shootout championships, one Australian has none.

In this year’s Shark Shootout, which begins today at Sherwood Country Club, Greg Norman and Steve Elkington will team up for the first time in an effort to bring tournament host Norman his first title.

“I know Greg really wants to win this tournament,” said Elkington, who is Norman’s fourth partner in the nine-year history of the tournament.

Elkington, who teamed with Raymond Floyd to win in 1993 and won with Mark Calcaveccia in 1995, joked that Norman came begging for some of Elkington’s success when they ran into each other at the Masters in April.

“He recruited me,” Elkington said. “It really came down to money. I told him he had to pay me to play with him.”

Norman and Elkington share a special bond because of their Australian heritage. There are only four prominent Australians on the PGA Tour: Norman, Elkington, Stuart Appleby and Craig Parry.

“We’ve got a whole country watching us play every week,” Elkington said. “It’s hard sometimes because you’re going back and forth, and if don’t play over there they say you’re burned out. It’s hard to say which one is home because there’s so much switching of the anvil.”

While it remains to be seen if their shared bond will lead to a title, Elkington is sure of one thing.

“We’re good friends, so we’ll have fun anyway.”

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Chris Truhan of Westlake Village took his Suburban in for service and ended up playing in the Shark Shootout pro-am.

Truhan, a 44-year-old dentist, filled out a sweepstakes entry form for Chevrolet’s nationwide drawing while waiting for repairs. The next thing he knew he was calling patients to cancel appointments and teeing it up with Scott McCarron and Lanny Wadkins.

“This has been a fantasy of mine,” said Truhan, who has a 6.4 handicap index. “I’ve seen these guys on TV and I’ve been out here every year since it’s been here and let me tell you, it’s a big difference being on the inside of the ropes.”

The biggest thrill, Truhan said, was warming up at the practice range.

“There I am hitting balls next to Tom Kite and Lee Janzen,” he said. “The ball makes a different sound when they hit it than when I hit it.”

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Though heavy rains threatened to cancel the second round of the pro-am, players withstood drenching downpour and plugged on.

“I can handle it, but I don’t know if Fuzzy [Zoeller] can,” John Daly said with a laugh when an official asked him if he wanted to stop.

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The unsung heroes Thursday were the approximately 135 volunteers, who manned scoring tents, parking lot entrances and marshaled holes throughout the rain.

The greenskeeping staff used squeegees to clear greens of standing water and cleared a drain blocked by television wires.

The skies eventually cleared, leaving one volunteer confused about the weather forecasters.

“[Wednesday] I heard it would be cold and rainy so I wore thermal underwear,” said Nancy Norris of Castaic, who marshaled the ninth green. “So I wore thermal underwear and then I had to go find one of those Andy Gumps to take them off.

“Today, I knew it was raining, but I didn’t wear them and I wish I had, I tell you.”

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Actor Joe Pesci, a member at Sherwood Country Club, braved the heaviest rain of the day while walking several holes with Daly during the pro-am.

“I wanted to see John [Daly] play golf,” Pesci said before succumbing to the weather and heading for cover.

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Consensus favorites to win the Shark Shootout: David Duval and Scott Hoch.

Duval is the hottest golfer in the world, coming off victories in his last three tournaments. He finished second on the 1997 PGA Tour money list and was a member of the winning pro-am team.

Hoch was sixth on the money list.

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Elkington, who has added the Diner’s Club Matches to his off-season schedule, obviously isn’t playing for the money.

He played only 17 events this year, yet still finished eighth on the money list with $1,320,411.

He said he prefers events like the Shark Shootout over big-money, made for television events, such as The Skins Game and The EMC Skills Challenge, because of the format.

“As long as the product is good, I like off-season events,” he said. “But I like the tournaments, not the ones that you don’t actually play a tournament.”