Golf: Golden Bear gets an attitude at Pelican Hill

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT COAST - Two matches extended the live telecast more than an

hour while the Golden Bear roared as pre-tournament billing turned out to

be true: It was a three-ring circus.

On Saturday, opening-round action in the Hyundai Team Matches at

Pelican Hill Golf Club fell 30 minutes short of scheduled airtime (1 p.m.

to 3 p.m. on ABC) and producers scrambled to fill the gap with last

year’s highlights, among other things.

But Sunday were matches made in golf heaven.

With blue skies overhead the entire weekend and sailboats on the

Pacific Ocean as a perfect backdrop for the made-for-television event,

heavy drama played out on the Ocean North Course in the championship

matches of all three major tours, capped by another Jack Nicklaus

victory.

“For two days I really putted beautifully. I felt like I had an

attitude over the ball,” said Nicklaus, who told himself he could make

every putt, and added later his greenside intensity was reminiscent of

his amateur days in the match-play format.

For Nicklaus and partner Tom Watson, they won their second straight

Team Matches title and are now an amazing 8-0 in their careers as

match-play partners, after beating Senior PGA Tour rivals Bruce Fleisher

and David Graham, 4 and 2, in the finals.

On the PGA Tour, Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf defeated defending

champions Fred Couples, the “King of the Silly Season,” and Mark

Calcavecchia in a match requiring two extra holes.

On the LPGA Tour, Julie Inkster and Dottie Pepper won their Team

Matches-record fourth straight title, defeating Annika Sorenstam and

Lorie Kane in a 21-hole showdown.

Nicklaus, who hinted Sunday about playing more golf on the Senior Tour

in 2001 if his putter continues to sizzle, got heated up at Pelican Hill

for the second year in a row.

“In match play, there’s a definitive outcome in the match or hole, and

how you play it doesn’t affect the next hole,” said Nicklaus, who split

the $200,000 first-place purse with Watson. “For some reason, in match

play, I have an attitude that I really need to make this putt. In medal

play I’m always protecting what I’m doing.

“Match play’s a lot of fun, and I’d like to transition that attitude

back into my game. It’s one I used to use.”

Nicklaus, the winner of a record 18 major championships and 70 wins on

the PGA Tour, and Watson beat Gary McCord and John Jacobs in Saturday’s

semifinals, 4 and 2.

In other match play, Watson and Nicklaus were 3-0 in the 1981 Ryder

Cup and 1-0 in the 1977 Ryder Cup. They’re 4-0 in the Team Matches at

Pelican Hill, where they made six birdies to close out Fleisher-Graham in

a rematch of last year’s Senior Tour final-round match.

“Making birdies turns the momentum around so quickly in match play,”

said Watson, who birdied the sixth and 14th holes. “We went 3 up after

six, so that was a nice start for us.”

Nicklaus said it was his best round of golf since the opening round of

last year’s Team Matches at Pelican Hill, when the Bear shot an

unofficial round of 62 in a lopsided victory over Allen Doyle and Dana

Quigley, 5 and 4.

“This week has been an eye-opener for me, because I felt terrific

every time with the putter,” said Nicklaus, the event’s top headliner who

added that he enjoys the competitive juices created by the match-play

format.

“There were four or five times (Sunday) when Tom and I thought this

was a really key hole or key putt. When you stuff it down their throat,

it’s kind of demoralizing for the other guys. That’s what makes it fun

about match play, actually.”

In the six years of the event, Nicklaus and Watson are the second

repeat champions on the Senior Tour, following Jim Colbert and Bob Murphy

in 1995-96.

The event features four two-player teams from the PGA, Senior PGA and

LPGA tours in three separate better-ball tournaments with a total purse

of $1.2 million.

“When we hit it close enough to the hole, Jack made the putt.

(Fleisher and Graham) didn’t make a lot of putts,” said Watson, who

reiterated Sunday his plans to play in the 2001 Toshiba Senior Classic at

Newport Beach Country Club March 2-4.

Watson did not play in last year’s Toshiba Classic, his first year of

eligibility.