Roberts Finding Success in Golf’s Other World

Hal Sutton, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins and the other Professional Golf Assn. celebrities usually receive the most attention on the tour.

Pros such as Loren Roberts, however, are just happy to play.

You probably don’t remember Loren Roberts. Friday, he was one of the many professionals among the 144 who played in Los Angeles Open at the Riviera Country Club that hardly anybody recognized.

At the last L.A. Open, a reporter wrote a story on Roberts. The headline--in the back of the section, of course--read: “Golf’s Other World/ While Nicklaus and Watson Enjoy Fame and Fortune, Players Such as Loren Roberts Struggle in Anonymity.” He was not familiar with such attention, he said at the time.

Roberts was the No. 3 alternate in the L.A. field last February but learned at 6:55 a.m. on the first day of the tournament that he would get to play. He teed off at 7 a.m. and shot a six-over-par 77.

However, he shot a 72 the next day, made the cut for only the third time in seven tournaments and won $832. That increased his earnings for the year to $3,833.67 and his total for more than two years on the tour to about $20,000. With a year’s expenses costing him about $32,000, it was clear that Roberts had to improve to survive.

Some stories have happier endings than others. Roberts improved noticeably. He ended the year with an income of $67,515 and finished 87th (of 289) on the money-winning list. Not only did his meager finances improve, he made the qualifying list of 125 players for 1985. This year at least, Roberts doesn’t have to wait around the first tee at 6 in the morning hoping to play in a tournament.

His success brought another fringe benefit. On Page 138 of the PGA’s Official Media Guide, there is a picture of the dark-haired, smiling Roberts accompanied by vital statistics, PGA record and a 10-paragraph summary of his accomplishments.

Roberts was impressed. “I got a whole page,” he said Friday.

The summary begins, “After Loren Roberts put together four solid rounds in the Westchester Classic, and finally finished in a tie for 10th place, he was convinced he belonged on the PGA tour.

“Two months later at the Memphis Classic, after leading the tournament through the first three rounds, he not only knew he belonged, but was convinced that winning was possible.”

What happened to turn his game and life around? “It just took me a couple of years to discover what I need to do to be competitive,” he said. “I learned to play the tour. No matter how good an amateur you were, there is so much depth out here you have to play well all the time.”

The most serious change he made, he said, was to switch to a metal wood in late May during the Byron Nelson tournament in Dallas. At the same time, he stopped trying to hit a 100-compression ball and started using a 90.

The metal wood helped him hit the ball farther and more straight and, he said, “It seemed as if I hit the 90-compression ball better, but it may have just been mental.”

His game seemed to improve at the end of May during the Kemper Open at Washington. He made the cut on a difficult course, the Congrerssional Country Club, by one shot and made about $4,000, the biggest check of his life. “That seemed to start a roll,” he said.

The next week at the Westches ter tournament in New York, he earned $11,500. “That was a big hurdle,” he said. “I finally proved to myself I could stay in contention the whole week. You have to come out here and think positively, but there is still a little bit of doubt. Westchester eliminated the doubt.

Roberts had reason to have doubt. He became a professional in 1975 but didn’t try the PGA Qualifying School until 1979. He flunked. He tried it again in 1980 and passed. However, he couldn’t make it on the tour and lost his playing privileges. So it was back to the qualifying school again in 1982 . . . and 1983. His record: Three failures in six tries. Twice, he lost his playing privileges.

After the Westchester tournament, he said, his year was made up of “a few missed cuts and a few good checks.” He collected the biggest one at Memphis, where he tied for fifth and won $19,500. Last week at Phoenix, he tied for fourth and made another $16,300.

The extra money has not changed his modest life style. His wife, Kim, accompanies him on the tour and they still drive to about half the tournaments and often stay in private homes with friends. “If I can reach the next town comfortably in a day, I drive,” he said. “Whether you fly to all the tournaments, depends on how much money you make.”

The money, he said, has helped his game by easing the financial pressure that afflicts many of the pros. This year, he said, he will play until he gets tired, then go home to San Luis Obispo to relax. “I’ve never been in a position to pick and choose before,” he said.

There have been other improvements in Roberts’ life. One, he has his temper under better control, and that, he said, made a big improvement in his game. He also has a better attitude toward the game. “If I miss the cut, it no longer is the end of the world,” he said. “Playing the tour is not the only thing in my life; I’d be a pretty shallow person if it was.”

As an independent contractor Roberts is not even guaranteed a living wage this year. And he must share a part of whatever he wins with 12 members of the San Luis Obispo Country Club who support him on the tour. There have been no new contracts. He gets his clubs from Wilson, his golf balls from Titleist, his shoes from Footjoy and his clothes from Izod, and as he said, “Everybody gets those.”

He is still playing in that “other world” from Nicklaus and Watson. Last year, he said he had never even met either celebrity. He still hasn’t.

After shooting a 74 Friday for a 36-hole total of 146, Roberts smiled and said, “Unless the wind really blows this afternoon, I’ll miss the cut.”

Well, the wind didn’t blow, and he missed it. He didn’t seem to mind.