25 MAY 09: A-Mize-ing Chase
So I'm dialing around TV Sunday while waiting for the big 500-mile car race, and I spot a familiar name in an unlikely place. Before you get wrong ideas - no, Wayne Bennett has NOT made a commercial for a local dentist.
That name was Columbus golfer Larry Mize, who came within two strokes of winning a "senior major" Sunday. He had a strong final round to finish second at the Senior P.G.A. Championship. Before you scoff at Mize placing second - his Sunday drives put him one spot higher than Danica Patrick in that car race. And Mize only had a caddy to help him.
Larry Mize made four birdies on the front nine, and had a three-under-par final round to finish at four-under 276. At a major tournament like the Senior P.G.A., four-under for four rounds is a good score. Someday I'll understand why that score is bad at tournaments named after entertainers.
For a short time on the back nine, Larry Mize was tied for the lead. But he missed birdie putts at holes 15 and 17, then left an approach shot short of the green at 18. And on the former "Seniors Tour," they don't let you claim age as a handicap.
After his final round, Larry Mize told NBC Sports there was "not a lot of slobber in the mouth" during the back nine. He missed a golden opportunity here - because NASCAR drivers would have given credit for it to a drink sponsor.
Larry Mize wound up losing the Senior P.G.A. Championship by two shots to little-known Michael Allen. Mize said you "have to take your hat off" to him - but hmmmm, I noticed Mize never did during the interview.
Michael Allen won $360,000, by capturing the Senior P.G.A. Championship. I searched online Sunday night, but couldn't track down how much Larry Mize earned for second place. Yet I imagine the George W. Bush supporter finally can afford to make a Presidential campaign donation again, after skipping the 2008 race.
The NBC golf team was a bit tough on Larry Mize at one point in the final round. The announcers noted he hasn't won a pro golf event since the "Johnnie Walker Cup World Championship" in 1993. But then again, maybe they were being generous - because Mize's online biography doesn't even mention that.
I was surprised on a road trip a few years ago, when an Augusta TV sportscast claimed Larry Mize as its own. It's because Mize was born in Augusta, but now lives in Columbus. Obviously he appreciates those later sunsets, for finishing his rounds.
And I was also surprised to learn from The Golf Channel's web site that Larry Mize plays the piano. If he never plays in The Masters again, at least he can help play that low-key theme music on CBS....
By the way: remember when Columbus tried to host a Champions Tour golf tournament on Memorial Day weekend? That was six years ago, and the event at Green Island Country Club only lasted one year. We've done well to keep the annual "Purple and Gold Tournament" from moving to Los Angeles, in honor of the basketball Lakers.
We hope you have a happy and meaningful Memorial Day - and now let's check other Sunday items:
+ A holiday program at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery was cut short by rain. I always feel sorry for the "honor guard" soldiers, who have to stand outside in a storm with no umbrellas. They at least should be allowed all the soup they can eat, back at the mess hall.
+ The 50th annual Masters Water Ski Tournament concluded at Callaway Gardens. This year's winner in men's jumping was Freddy Krueger - so hopefully everyone understood when the first Callaway "movie by the beach" was one of those "Nightmare on Elm Street" films.
+ Troy University's Montgomery campus hosted the "Capital Classic" Body-Building Championship. If you spotted someone in the audience wearing dark sunglasses and taking notes on the contestants, it might have been Auburn football coach Gene Chizik.
+ Instant Message to Clear Channel Radio: Are you kidding me?! You aired a commercial for Trojans condoms Sunday night, on WSHE-AM 1270 - the "Southern gospel" station! Are you waiting for complaints, to make sure anyone is listening?
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