Golf: Sharing aches and pains

Richard Dunn

Tom Purtzer isn’t the biggest name in golf, but the Senior PGA Tour

rookie is someone you might want to watch closely.

Purtzer, who finished five PGA Tour events in the winner’s circle in

his career, is often described as having the sweetest swing in golf.

But Purtzer, who turned 50 in December, is simply glad to finally be

joining the senior circuit.

“The last eight years on the PGA Tour were very frustrating for me,”

Purtzer said. “At my age, it was hard to compete with those young guys,

especially when your body has a few aches and pains and they are at the

top of their game. It kind of knocks you down a little bit. I’m excited

about having the opportunity to play with the guys that have some of the

same aches and pains as I do.”

Like fellow Senior Tour rookies Ben Crenshaw, Fuzzy Zoeller and Wayne

Levi, Purtzer enters a new brand of golf this year, playing shorter golf

courses with fewer holes (54 instead of 72) and no cuts.

“That’s the one thing I have heard is a major difference,” Purtzer

said of the three-round tournaments, which includes the Toshiba Senior

Classic at Newport Beach Country Club March 4-10.

“On the Senior Tour, you will have to get going right away. You don’t

have that extra day to make up for a mediocre round like you do on the

other tour. It will be more like a sprint than a marathon.”

Purtzer, who made only three cuts last year in 16 starts on the PGA

Tour, is anxious to return to the top. He won two events in 1991,

including the NEC World Series of Golf, but hasn’t won since.

“I’ve got some things to prove to myself,” he said. “I definitely want

to get back into the winner’s circle and prove to myself that I can win

again. I think I will have more personal challenges than anything else,

but I’m looking forward to it.”

Purtzer and his wife, Lori, have six children, including 3-year-old

twins Jay and Jennifer.

The Toshiba Senior Classic will once again offer a scholarship fund

this year to Orange County high school seniors for $2,500 and a Toshiba

computer.

Now in its third year, the program will award scholarships to 14

Orange County seniors, one from each high school in the Newport-Mesa

School District, Irvine District, Saddleback Valley District and

Huntington Beach District.

The Toshiba Senior Classic Scholarship Fund has doubled in size,

benefiting twice as many students as last year.

“The legacy of the Toshiba Senior Classic is its meaningful impact on

local charity, and we can think of no better investment in this community

than to support standout students who demonstrate strong leadership

potential,” Rod Keller of Toshiba Computer Systems Group said.

The eighth annual $1.5 million Toshiba Classic has raised more than

$3.7 million for charity in its four years under the direction of Hoag

Hospital.