O’Grady Says Name Pros Partly at Fault : Their Lack of Backing Forced Him to Sue Beman, Tour, He Says

Mac O’Grady says the “virtuosos of the Tour” allowed his feud with PGA Commissioner Deane Beman to escalate into a lawsuit filed in federal court rather than help settle it in its early stages.

“I hold (Jack) Nicklaus, (Arnold) Palmer, (Tom) Watson, (Lee) Trevino, (Ray) Floyd and countless other virtuosos of the tour responsible for my filing a lawsuit against the Tour and Deane Beman,” O’Grady told United Press International in a telephone interview from the PGA Championship in Toledo.

O’Grady said the golfers knew of his problems with Beman and that they should have stood behind him when they met during a rainout at the Bay Hill Classic on March 15. Nicklaus was not present at the meeting.

The bad blood between O’Grady and the commissioner began with the Tour veteran allegedly chewing out a volunteer at a New Orleans tournament two years ago. Beman levied a fine on O’Grady, which O’Grady refused to pay. A war of wills and words resulted in a six-event suspension for O’Grady and a lawsuit against Beman.

“Deane shouldn’t have been allowed to run wild in the field,” said O’Grady. “The problem could have been over at Bay Hill when the players had their meeting. All the top players knew about the problems, but they have allowed Beman to go unchecked. Very simply, players are not going to complain as long as there is money to play for. They won’t rock the boat.”

O’Grady’s maverick image, not to mention his skill with a golf club, have attracted the attention of the fans. Supportive crowds have started following the Minneapolis native who qualified for his Tour card in 1982.

He was 20th on the PGA money list in 1985.

O’Grady’s lawyer, Stephen Novak, told Beman in a letter that he truly believed that O’Grady was good for the game of golf.

“At a time when the press has labeled the current crop of young golfers as a faceless horde of no-name, no-personality bunch, the effect of your actions ... in the long run will harm the PGA Tour more than my client’s statements,” Novak said in his letter.

Said O’Grady, “I’m unique. I’m not motivated by money, social status or the drive to be America’s next little sweetheart. I’m an athlete and I love sports but I love my basic integrity and dignity more. I won’t give up.”

Novak lost the bid for a preliminary injunction in federal court earlier this week that would have allowed O’Grady to continue to play until a jury trial could determine the merits of his suit against Beman.

“The PGA Tour has put itself in a position of risking substantial judgment if we prevail in trial because Mac has to actually sit out six events, thereby suffering some very real damages,” Novak told UPI.

O’Grady said that he will spend his time on the Japanese island of Hokkaido with his wife and mother-in-law during his suspension. He added that he may play in a tournament or two in Japan.

“Or I may go to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument in Washington, D.C.,” said O’Grady, who is a fan of the James Stewart movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

“It would be my symbol of protest. Has everybody forgotten what truth and justice are all about?”

O’Grady said that he heard from Larry Nelson that there is a chance that he may be banned from the PGA Tour for life.

Nelson, a former PGA Tour policy board member, had looked in O’Grady’s confidential disciplinary file, according to court documents obtained by UPI.

“I don’t need to validate my existance with the game of golf. I love golf but I love my rights more,” said O’Grady. “If that’s my ticket out of the game then I don’t want to play that game.”

O’Grady, whose wife, Fumiko, is a Japanese citizen, said he would move to Japan.

“If I’m banned and have no freedom of speech, you can have this country. I’m too much of an idealist to live that way,” said O’Grady.