Sauers back, better than ever after years of frustration
By Bill Kwon
Special to the Advertiser
KAPALUA, Maui — Tammy Sauers remembers when her husband Gene won the Hawaiian Open in 1989.
"I was home with a 2-week-old baby and he called to say he was judging a bikini contest," said Tammy, who's enjoying Hawai'i this week.
All was forgiven when Sauers went on to win at the Waialae Country Club.
He would never win another PGA Tour event until the Air Canada Championship late last summer, enabling him to qualify for the winners-only Mercedes Championships this week.
The winless span of 13-plus years made life difficult for the Sauers' family, especially after he lost his playing card. It got to the point he was ready to call it quits.
"About the last two years my wife said, you can go ahead and quit now. I'll get a job. You'll have to take care of these three boys," Sauers recalled.
"I don't think so," Sauers replied. "So she lit the fire under my butt."
Did she ever.
The victory in Canada with a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour is like a new lease on life, according to Sauers, who's making the most of it by shooting an 8-under 65 yesterday at the Plantation Course to be in a tie for third with Chris Riley and defending Sony Open champion Jerry Kelly.
They trail co-leaders Jim Furyk and Ernie Els, who missed the tournament record by one stroke with opening 64s.
Sauers might not have to worry about feeding his family these days, especially after the biggest paycheck of his career ($630,000) with his victory in Canada, but he sure fed off Riley as they played together in posting mirror scores.
"We both played well. Chris and I kind of fed off each other. I was kind of kidding around with him out there, when are you going to let me have the tee? We kind of went back and forth," said Sauers, who matched the nine-birdie rounds by Furyk and Els only to give one back with a bogey at the par-3 eighth hole.
"We had fun. We absolutely fed off each other," added Riley, one of the 18 first-time winners in the field. He and Sauers hope it'll be deja vu all over again, because they're paired up again for today's second round.
Riley remembered playing with Sauers when he came out on the Nike Tour in 1998.
"College kid, out of college. I was kind of intimidated by Gene Sauers. You know he's won some tournaments," Riley recalled.
Now, it's Sauers' turn to be a little intimidated by golf's young guns.
"It's tough. Like you say, coming out of college, they're all hungry, they're all fired up. They've got just great, great swings," said Sauers, adding that he's hungrier now than when he first came out on the tour.
And even more grateful to be back where he belongs.
"The last couple of years I grinded pretty hard. I achieved it. It's great to be back," he said.
"I played with him when I first came out on the tour," said Furyk, who's trying to win the Mercedes Championships for the second time in three years. "You've got to be happy for the guy. Good things happen to good people."
Oh, about that 2-week-old baby boy Tammy was home with back in Savannah, Ga., nearly 14 years ago?
Sauers took him to the Bahamas to do a little fishing during the offseason.
"He caught his first white marlin. That was nice to see," Sauers said.
It's also nice to see Sauers, not only back where he belongs, but right up there on the leaderboard as well.
"I'm happy to be in the situation that I'm in right now," he said.
