Hilo native a surprise co-leader at MasterCard
By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
KA'UPULEHU, Hawai'i — Twenty-six years ago, when Hale Irwin won the Atlanta Classic, Steve Veriato finished second, one stroke back for his best-ever showing on the PGA Tour.
"I was on the fairway when I saw Steve make his birdie putt at 18. I was going to lay up. But when he made the putt, I went for it with a 4-wood and birdied it," recalled Irwin.
Zoom to the present, in the first round of the MasterCard Championship at the Hualalai Golf Club, and there were Irwin and Veriato again. They're tied for the lead with Dana Quigley after shooting 6-under-par 66s yesterday.
That Irwin is atop the leaderboard again is no surprise. He's the first ever to win $3 million in a year on the newly named Champions Tour, and is probably exempt forever, or as long as he wants to play.
It's not the same case with Veriato, the 56-year-old Hilo native who might now reside in Texas, but lives in senior tour limbo.
He's exempt for this week's season-opener for winning the 2001 Novell Utah Showdown in his 99th tour start. But he's not exempt for the rest of the year after finishing 61st on the 2002 money list.
"I'll be a (Monday) qualifier from this point on," said Veriato. "I'll try to Monday qualify every other week. I'll be happy if I can get in 12 to 13 events."
Of course, if Veriato happens to win tomorrow, there will be no rainy nights and Mondays to get him down.
Even Veriato is surprised to be in this position after three-putting from 10 feet on the third hole. But he chipped in from 30 yards for an eagle on the next hole, a par-5, and came in with birdies on Nos. 7, 9, 11, 14 and 18. He missed a 3 1/2-footer for birdie on 16.
"I was hitting my irons well," said Veriato, who credited former LPGA pro Jackie Pung for helping him with his grip a couple of days before.
Having an intimate gathering of relatives, including his mother, Margaret, who was watching it on television in Veriato's room at the Four Seasons, rooting for him also helped, he said.
Veriato's wife, Karen, keeps even closer tabs on him. She's his caddy.
"I've had some good finishes here in Hawai'i. Maybe because it's because I feel comfortable at home."
Veriato tied for sixth last year at the Turtle Bay Championship and had several top-five finishes in the Ka'anapali Classic the hard way, as a Monday qualifier.
Now, if he could only find some way to bottle that success and take it with him.
"I'll have to go back to how I started on the senior tour, trying to make it by qualifying on Monday," said Veriato, who is not eager to go back to the Q-School for a sixth time.
He thinks he stands a better chance of regaining exempt status by winning a tournament instead of doing it through the Q-School route.
"It doesn't bother me. I've been doing it all my life," Veriato said about the grind.
"Coming out of the Islands, going to the tour school. Even in college (Texas A&M), I had to qualify for a scholarship every semester. I also had to qualify to go on the Asian Tour to play there."
