Trevino big winner in skins game
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAILEA, Maui — At the risk of giving away the conclusion of golf's made-for-TV ConAgra Foods Champions Skins Game, which won't be on TV until this morning at 7 (ABC), we offer these words of pre-game Super Bowl Sunday wisdom:
Associated Press
Eat, drink and be Merry.
"I told you I was going to be reckless. And I hit the ball pretty good," said Lee Trevino after he collected $240,000 on six skins.
Lee Trevino, the "Merry Mex" of the Champions Tour, chattered for nearly six hours yesterday, then drained a 10-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to beat Hale Irwin. Trevino collected $240,000 and six skins, while Irwin won $200,000 and five at Wailea's Gold Course.
"I told you I was going to be reckless," Trevino said. "And I hit the ball pretty good."
Irwin had won the last three senior skins games he had played. Trevino had never won in six previous tries. His 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole yesterday was good for his first skin since 1994.
Jack Nicklaus hit his approach shot over the green — and into a plant in the lava — on the second extra hole and left with $160,000 and seven skins, all won on the eighth hole. He signed autographs all the way back to the clubhouse. Arnold Palmer fell out of contention on the first extra hole and was shut out for the second year in a row.
This Skins Game, and today's with Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Laura Davies and Laura Diaz of the LPGA, offers $20,000 on each of the first six holes, $30,000 on the next six, $40,000 on the next five and $100,000 on the 18th. The catch is, a player must win the hole outright to collect. If there is a tie, the money carries over to the next hole.
It made for compelling, if delayed, broadcast theater yesterday, because Trevino and Irwin were at their diverse best and Nicklaus and Palmer can still recreate the magic that originally brought the sport to the American masses.
After 12 holes the players changed shirts because the final six holes — and three playoff holes — will be shown this morning. Nothing changed but the color of the attire. Trevino, Nicklaus and Palmer still played well enough often enough to keep Irwin from winning any money until the 14th hole. Then Trevino, the only one of the Big Three still playing semi-regularly, put his game into attack mode to fend off Irwin, the "child" of the bunch at 57 and the game's $23 million man.
"Jack said the other day, it's 3-on-1 and I don't know if we can beat him," Trevino said. "But we held him back for so long. We knew that's what it was going to have to be."
Palmer had his share of problems, but the 73-year-old who remains golf's most well-known face has still got game and immense pride. He launched in a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 6 to cover Irwin and induced a roar on the ninth when he pulled off a risky approach shot. His chip on the 18th nudged the pin and stayed out.
When he went out after the 19th hole, even his opponents were sad.
"I think all of us down deep would love to see Arnie get in there," Irwin admitted. "I was kind of hoping he would win the last hole in regulation. Then I would have won."
Nicklaus disguised his chronic back problems brilliantly with a 3-under 33 on the front nine, including the lucrative 15-footer at the eighth. He was the first in the hole twice and denied Irwin on the second and ninth with one-putts.
But it was Trevino who ultimately took over. He jump-started his game with a new putter he put in his bag after practicing with it on his carpet at 3:30 a.m. He was the first golfer in the hole six times and caused carry-overs on five others — twice thwarting Irwin. He stayed in the playoff with a flop shot to four feet on the first hole (No. 18) and a perfectly hit 3-wood to 12 feet on the 208-yard par-3 second (16).
"I made a lot of crucial putts today, which is unusual," said Trevino after detailing his practice routine from the offseason: Hitting 500 balls a day while he watched his son swim.
Irwin, the senior tour's man to beat from the moment he turned 50, was at his meticulous best. He missed one fairway and one green in regulation all day, played the original 18 in 6-under-par 66 and still was a stunned second to a guy who hits golf shots between monologues.
As Trevino lined up an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, he told a joke, sang the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, admitted out loud he had no idea where the putt was going and slapped it into the heart of the hole.
Irwin, needing a 12-footer to extend the game, silently sank it. He could not do the same three holes later, from 25 feet.
"It seemed like everytime I did something well somebody else did it right on top of me," Irwin said. "I didn't play badly by an means. I was in just about every hole with the exception of the eighth."
Even that wasn't enough to trip up Trevino, who was in his element.
"Lee played very well and I hope he continues playing that well," Irwin said. "It will do nothing but enhance the Champions Tour. Obviously he's capable of continuing that type of play regardless of what he says. ... I haven't played with Lee when he's played that well in a while."
