Scoring one for family

NEWPORT BEACH ? When the final round tees off at the Toshiba Classic, Bruce Lietzke will be among the many players in contention for the championship. And if one watches him play for a few holes, the thought may come to mind, “Why haven’t I heard his name more?”

It’s not a question of talent ? not when Lietzke’s had 13 wins on the PGA Tour and seven on the Champions Tour.

What it is, is a matter of priorities and the Texan ? who goes into today’s third round tied for 12th at four-under-par 138 ? has very specific ideas about what they are in his life.

From the day he turned pro in 1974, Lietzke did what most pros of his day did ? go after wins and chase spots on the Ryder Cup team. And he was good at it, winning nine tournaments in his first nine years on the PGA Tour.

And then, suddenly, fans didn’t see him as much on the circuit. After playing 25 tournaments in 1988, Lietzke never started more than 20 tournaments annually during the rest of his PGA Tour career.

His starts dropped even more dramatically in the late 1990s: nine tournaments in 1997, 1999 and 2000, and 10 in 1998.

His reasons were simple, and they were named Stephen and Christine.

“I’ve skipped tournaments, I’ve skipped U.S. Opens and all that and I’ve had some people say, ‘Boy, you have no drive, an underachiever,’” Lietzke said. “They can write what they want, but ? about eight years into my career is when I had kids.

“For me, instead of talking about underachieving and drive and all that, it’s more about priorities for me. And immediately, my family and my kids became the No. 1 priority in my life.”

While others were playing in the U.S. or British opens, Lietzke was at home in Dallas with his family. He coached his son’s Little League team, spent time with his daughter and even did a little fishing ? with his family, of course.

The point is, other PGA Tour pros counted success in wins and money list earnings. He counted success in terms of time with his loved ones.

For sure, Lietzke was misunderstood by some of his peers and some in the media, who thought someone as talented as him should be using it to his advantage.

“I got some bad press about not having enough drive to be a great player,” Lietzke said. “My opinion was, I never was a great player and playing in every major and trying to play on six Ryder Cup teams was not going to change my opinion of what kind of player I was.

“I was just a good, solid consistent player, never great.”

The inspiration for Lietzke’s choice wasn’t surprising. His father, although not a professional golfer, made time to volunteer with his Little League team or to coach his brother’s church basketball league team.

Amazingly, he was able to stick with his decision, even though he was the breadwinner of the family. From 1997 to 2000 ? the years he didn’t play more than 10 tournaments ? Lietzke had three top 10 finishes and earned nearly $800,000, more than enough to pay the bills.

With his children now in college and his wife able to travel with him again, Lietzke has increased his schedule. In the last four seasons, he’s played at least 20 tournaments a year ? winning seven times, including the U.S. Senior Open in 2003.

But even his current renaissance won’t last. Lietzke said he plans to scale back his schedule after 2008.

“I could quit right now and be just fine,” Lietzke said. “I don’t feel like I have anything to prove any more. I really enjoyed my PGA career and I’ve played out here for five years and I’ll play another three, four, five years out here.

“I play because it’s what I do. I don’t have any other businesses. I’ve played professional golf for 37 years and it’s the only thing I’m pretty good at, but I can quit right now and be absolutely happy.”dpt.10-lee,james-2006-CPhotoInfo6J1P3RV920060319irtsbgnc(LA)