Davis used Toshiba as a springboard

Bryce Alderton

Rodger Davis proved in 2003 that he was stealth around the greens.

Winning the eighth Toshiba Senior Classic for his first victory on

United States’ soil might have been the launching ground.

The Australian native fended-off a mild charge from Larry Nelson

on Sunday to claim the 2003 Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country

Club with a three-round 197 [16-under-par], making it the fifth

continent he has won on.

By the end of 2003, Davis, 52, led the Champions Tour -- formerly

the Senior PGA Tour -- in sand saves and putting average. He made par

or better 45 times out of 75 bunkers, a 60% clip. He averaged 1.726

putts per hole.

The putter worked for him in Sunday’s final round when he birdied

11, 13 and 16 to stave off any attempt at a competitor catching up.

“If you can’t putt, you can’t win,” said Davis, who switched to a

long putter seven years ago after double-hitting a putt at a

tournament in Monte Carlo. “I spent the rest of the round putting

Bernhard Langer-style. I tried cross-handed, but that is not the way

to go. A long putter takes awhile to figure out, but I ended up being

more consistent with it. Everyone talks about building the perfect

pendulum with the right grip and setup. With the long putter, you can

get to that. I was 32nd in putting [in 2002] and then topped it [in

2003].”

Davis, who entered the final round of last year’s Toshiba with a

two-stroke advantage, defeated Nelson by four strokes and came within

one shot of tying the all-time tournament scoring record of

17-under-par 196, set in 2002 by Hale Irwin, the only two-time

Toshiba champion.

“From day one I had a good game plan going in,” said Davis, who

prefers courses from yesteryear -- such as NBCC -- more than the

modern tracks. “They say the modern courses are more challenging, but

I’m not sure if they are. You need to do more homework [on a course

like NBCC], especially if a pin is tucked.

“I prefer the older-style courses. On a lot of holes you can’t

stand back and blast driver, but have to position the shot. That is

why [two-time Toshiba champion Hale Irwin] plays well around here. At

the seventh [a par-4 with a tricky green], you can go with a

four-iron or driver off the tee. If you have a driver, you can take a

three-quarter lob wedge [into the green].”

Davis will make this third appearance at this year’s Toshiba March

15-21.

Jim Ahern took a one-stroke lead over Davis and Lanny Wadkins

after the opening round last year, when 38 players shot under 70, the

second most in tournament history. But Davis came storming back with

a 7-under-par 64 in round two to gain a two-stroke lead over Ahern.

Jim Thorpe closed to within a stroke once, but he fell back quickly

on Sunday.

Davis was struggling with his short game upon coming to last

year’s tournament, but a quick lesson by Marc Albert, a teaching pro

who happened to be walking by when Davis was practicing a day before

the first round, apparently squared things up.

“I was struggling, I can tell you,” Davis said after the

tournament. “Ask my caddie (Paul Banks) ... all of a sudden (Albert)

got me contacting the ball properly. Hey, if you think you can chip

in this game, it takes the pressure off you and you’ve got a crack at

a couple of flags.”

That is not all Davis had to struggle with in the early stages of

2003.

Two weeks before Toshiba, Davis, another golfer and two caddies

were in a Mexico City restaurant and were held up at gunpoint by two

men who stole their watches.

Davis nearly withdrew from the Champions Tour event that week, but

some coaxing by Fuzzy Zoeller talked him out of it.

“That woke me up a bit,” Davis said about the last year’s ordeal

during a Toshiba media day event in January.

Davis will not compete in Mexico City this season, one of the only

tournaments through the first seven months of the tour schedule he

won’t attend. He doesn’t know how many he will play. It all depends

on the mighty dollar.

“If I make $750,000 by July, then you might not see much of me

until [October’s Charles Schwab Cup],” Davis said. “Britain in July,

August and September is a great place to be.”

First place in the Toshiba gets $240,000.