GOLF:

Gale Coffman and Jill Luttrell are not exactly in Paul Goydos’ demographic.

The 70-year-old Coffman and 27-year old Luttrell are golfers, but neither of the Costa Mesa residents had heard about the 43-year-old journeyman, who lives in Dove Canyon.

It was nice to see they learned what I have known about Goydos for 10 years; he is one of the nicest, genuine, most down-to-earth professional athletes I have ever met.

His favorite restaurant is Super Mex and I still have a raincheck to go eat there with him one of these days. It is going to be a little harder now after his sudden burst of fame, but I know that if I call him he’ll pick up the phone. It is one of his many enviable traits.

Last weekend he was finally given a stage to expose others to his characteristics. Goydos was leading The Players Championship until the last hole, eventually losing in a playoff to Sergio Garcia.

While the loss was upsetting to Goydos, it did show how classy he was in defeat. Goydos congratulated Garcia, told a national television audience that Garcia should have won and thanked everyone from his 82-year-old mother to his ex-wife for their support.

His graciousness in defeat picked him up thousands of fans across the country, including Luttrell and Coffman.

“I had never heard of him until I turned on the TV to watch the tournament,” said Coffman, who was taking a break from practicing his putting at Newport Beach Golf Course. “I watched and really liked his story. He is a single dad and I didn’t even know he lived in Orange County.”

Goydos grew up across from Long Beach State, his father worked at the university for 25 years. It was an obvious choice where he would attend college after graduating from Long Beach Wilson High.

Goydos then set out to play professional golf, but had a hard time catching on to the tour. He did win the Bay Hill Invitational in 1996, but when times were lean and he didn’t have a tour card, he was a substitute teacher in the Long Beach School District. In one of his classes he watched as a student was stabbed by another classmate.

His demeanor though hasn’t changed. Nicknamed “Sunshine” on tour, he is still the mellow, sarcastic tour grinder that firmly believes golf is a job and the two teenage daughters he cares for are his first priority.

“He is a really nice guy,” Luttrell said. “You can totally see that. I was rooting for him. The Players is my favorite tournament, I was really hoping he would win.”

Luttrell has only been playing golf for eight months. She got introduced to the sport by her parents and spends any available afternoon at Newport Beach Golf Course hitting range balls.

“I’m from Long Beach so it was easy to root for him,” Luttrell said. “It was worth watching. It made me feel good to see him do as well as he did.”

Goydos has won three times on tour. After the 1996 victory, he didn’t win again on tour until last year at the Sony Open. His victory was overshadowed by 16-year-old Hawaii phenom Tadd Fujikawa becoming the youngest player ever to make a cut in a PGA Tour event.

Goydos didn’t complain about the lack of television time, instead wryly pointing out that the teenager was probably a better story than he was. On Sunday, though, there was no better story than Goydos. Wearing a Long Beach State baseball cap and his clothing devoid of corporate logos, the tour veteran showed what had been missing on tour.

“I’ll definitely be rooting for him from now on,” Coffman said. “You need more guys like that on tour.”