17 Long Years Between Wins for Larry Mize

2010 Montreal Championship Recap
Winner: Larry Mize
Score: 17 under, 199 (67, 68, 64)
Quote: “I’ll take a win anywhere.”
Fact: His middle name is “Hogan.”
Thought: Next win in 2027?

THE LAST TIME LARRY MIZE won on a professional tour he was 34, the same age as Tiger Woods. Mize shot 16 under at the 1993 Buick Open to beat Fuzzy Zoeller by a stroke. It was his second win of the season and his fourth PGA Tour title. One could reasonably expect more wins from Mize, a pretty good if not spectacular player who I remember as a putting and short-game specialist. But more victories didn’t materialize.

So when the 51-year-old Mize watched John Cook miss his 25-foot birdie putt yesterday on the final hole of the Montreal Championship, he was moved to tears. Seventeen years is a long time between wins. Between anything, really.

“Once it happened, it was hard to keep that emotion back,” Mize said. “You know, it’s hard to believe.”

I guess it would be.

Mize got the job done in the final round by firing an 8-under 64 that included seven birdies and an eagle to edge runner-up Cook by a shot.

The attendance at the inaugural Champions Tour event in Quebec was impressive, a total of 54,000 spectators with 22,000 on hand for the final round. Fred Couples, who finished in a five-way tie for fifth, was a definite fan favorite. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin continued his good play, finishing in a tie for third with Dan Forsman.

−The Armchair Golfer

Bobby Clampett Is Back (as a Player)

IT’S HARD FOR ME to believe that Bobby Clampett is now playing on the Champions Tour. But it’s true. There’s his name at the top of the leaderboard after two rounds of the Regions Charity Classic in Hoover, Alabama. Clampett, who turned 50 in April, has put together rounds of 65 and 64 for a 15-under total of 129. He leads Dan Forsman by one shot. Forsman’s 62 on Saturday set the course record.

Clampett is best known for his nearly two-decade career as a golf commentator for CBS and TNT, but I also remember him as the next big thing when he came out of Brigham Young University in 1980. Bobby was a three-time All-American and two-time Collegiate Golfer of the Year. He was also low amateur at the U.S. Open and Masters during his college years. Clampett was destined for greatness, or so it seemed.

It didn’t work out. The player turned commentator won just once on the PGA Tour at the 1982 Southern Open. Bobby led the 1982 British Open after two rounds and then struggled mightily over the last 36 holes to finish in a tie for 10th. He had lots of seconds and thirds in his PGA Tour career and won more than $1 million (when purses were much smaller) but never really fulfilled his promise. What I remember—and I might have this wrong—is that Clampett lost both his game and himself and could never get his head right again.

Not that he hasn’t played since those earlier tour days. I’ve read that Bobby has teed it up on the Nationwide Tour and qualified for a PGA Tour event in 2008. Maybe the Champions Tour will serve as a rebirth for his game, another opportunity on the second-chance tour, just as it has been for so many others. One more good round and he’ll have his first tour win in 28 years.

−The Armchair Golfer