Sauers back in the swing
| • | Plenty of eyes to verify first ace |
| • | Japan well-represented in Sony Open field |
| • | Cashing in on Tiger's absence |
| • | Wie spends recess on Kapalua course |
By Bill Kwon
KAPALUA, Maui — In a field noted for its record number of first-time winners, the Mercedes Championships teeing off the 2003 PGA Tour season today features a guy who thought he'd never win again.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 12, 1989
Gene Sauers qualified for the champions-only event at the Plantation Course by winning the Air Canada Championship late last summer for his first victory in 13 years, six months and 20 days — the third longest in PGA history behind only Butch Baird and Ed Fiori, who went 15- and 14-plus years, respectively, between victories.
Gene Sauers went 13 years, six months and 20 days without a victory after winning the Hawaiian Open.
Sauers' last victory? The 1989 United Airlines Hawaiian Open at the Waialae Country Club.
The biggest paycheck of his career last season ($630,000) enabled Sauers to finish in the top 100 money list for the first time since 1995 and the victory gave him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Sauers' accomplishment didn't go unnoticed by his peers, who voted him the PGA Tour's comeback player of the year.
"I tell you, it's really a thrill to come back like that. To go from top to bottom and back again. It's been 13 years since I won at Waialae," said Sauers, who turned 40 just before his victory in Canada.
Although he had a couple of good years following his success in Hawai'i, Sauers began missing putts and cuts until it got to the point that the game was starting to wear on him.
"Golf can do that," Sauers said. "I'm a competitive guy and I love to win and I wasn't winning. That kind of wore on me, made me crazy."
Rock bottom came in 1999. That was the final year of a 10-year exemption to the event, which became the Sony Open in Hawai'i that same year.
Thanks to that exemption, he had been coming back every year to Waialae during that time only to have his free ride run into a dead end.
"I was playing good. I remember making the turn the second day nine or 10 under, about four shots off the lead. I was on the leader board," Sauers recalled.
"Then the back nine I shoot like a 40 or 41 and missed the cut by a shot. God dang. I had it going and that last nine killed me. I don't know what happened. Knowing I wasn't exempt, not coming back anymore, kind of hurt."
Old golf champions never fade away. They start hitting the Hogan/Nike/Buy.Com trail, which is what Sauers did in all of 2001 when he played in only two PGA Tour events.
"They keep changing names. Now it's called the Nationwide Tour," said Sauers, happy to be on the PGA Tour and not having to deal with name changes anymore. But it was on the Buy.Com Tour that Sauers regained his game and confidence.
"The week before I won (in Canada), I played the two Buy.Com tournaments and finished fourth and seventh, so I had a lot confidence going into that week," Sauers said.
Comeback stories, though, sometime need a little help from fate. It did in Sauers' case.
He didn't know a spot had opened up in the tournament until late Monday. By then he was flying back home to Savannah, Ga., from his last event in Texas.
"I flew all the way cross country (to Vancouver, B.C.) and they lost my golf bag and my luggage. I didn't get to play a practice round and I bogeyed the first hole of the tournament and still wound up winning," Sauers said.
"The last two years I started really hitting the ball well. ... solid and going where I wanted it to go. With my new TaylorMade 300 series driver, I don't hit it left anymore. I've basically eliminated the left side of the golf course. I'm hitting 80 percent of my fairways now and it's a helluva lot easier now, hitting from the fairways."
Plus, he's about 10 to 15 yards longer off the tee.
"That's another iron less into the green," said Sauers, who, fade and all, is looking forward to returning to Waialae next week.
"I'll be there. Eighteen might give me a rough time this year, though," said Sauers, about the dog-leg left, par-5 finishing hole.
His winning paycheck in the 1989 Hawaiian Open was $135,000. Even with inflation, they're clearly playing for bigger bucks on the PGA Tour these days.
The first-place purse at the Mercedes Championships is $1 million.
There's no cut for the 36 players in the field, so even finishing last this weekend will pay off $51,000.
A year ago today, Sauers wasn't even watching the Mercedes Championships on television.
"I hardly ever watch golf on TV. It makes me mad because I know I should be there," said Sauers. "It's like watching Augusta (the Masters) on TV because I should be playing. I'm just two hours away."
Yes, he's read, "The Garden of Good and Evil," the sublimely atmospheric novel about Savannah.
"There's a lot of truth in that book. I remember distinctly, like on Page 10 of that book, it tells how Savannah is old money and they don't like to spend their money."
In the next two years, Sauers would like to bring back some new money to this old-money hometown.
"First thing is to win again. That's always my first goal. My next goal is to finish in the top 30 on the money list. The third is to get back to Augusta."
It sure beats watching tournaments on TV.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
