Bob’s ‘Mob’ : May’s Family, Friends Help Soften a Rough Day

Muriel May offered her son, Bob, a huge chocolate chip cookie as he strolled down the fairway at the fourth hole on the South course at Torrey Pines Thursday. Bob, 18, shook his head. He had a tournament to play.

Gina Jakob, May’s girlfriend, chatted with him between holes.

“Early on, he told me he couldn’t get his rhythm going,” Jakob, 20, said.

Keli May, Bob’s 13-year-old cousin, crossed her fingers whenever he putted. May’s La Habra High principal, Pat Mauch, repeatedly said: “I seem to die with each hole.”

Bob’s father, Jerry, caddied for him. The Mays were going to wear “Bob’s Mob” T-shirts, but at the last minute they decided not to.

No player had more teen-age female fans and more relatives following him around Torrey Pines South course than May, an amateur.

And on a day when 118 of 156 golfers broke par, only one golfer in the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open had a higher score than May.

Competing in only his second professional tournament, May shot a seven-over-par 79 in Thursday’s opening round. He opened with a 38 on holes 10 through 18 and then shot a 41 on the front nine.

Only Doug Johnson’s 80 was higher. Dave Sheff of San Marino, the tournament’s other amateur, shot a 75 on the South course.

“I wasn’t nervous at all, which is surprising” said May, a three-time athlete of the year at La Habra High.

“Last night, I asked Bob if he was nervous,” Jakob said. “He took about five minutes to think about it. Then he said, ‘Well, sort of.’ But he was really peppy this morning.”

Two years ago when May, at 16, was the youngest qualifier in the history of the Los Angeles Open, he appeared so calm that Mark O’Meara asked him: “You trying to win this?”

May shot a 73-76 to barely miss the cut at Los Angeles. Making the cut in the Andy Williams Open will be an uphill battle after May’s round Thursday.

“I just played bad,” May said. “I can’t use the wind as an excuse. I hit some bad shots. I have no excuses.”

May had five bogeys, two double bogeys and two birdies.

“This is the worst score he’s had in years,” Jerry May said.

Playing with David Canipe of Orlando (three over par) and Lester Hayashi of San Diego (four over) in the final threesome of the day, May was on the course for 4 1/2 hours.

“He likes the quick pace,” Jerry May said. “The pace out there killed him. It drives him nuts.”

May’s driver was way off. He spent much of the day chipping out of the rough.

“It will be tough to forget that round,” May said. “Everything that could happen, happened. There’s no way I can possibly make the cut unless I’m 12 or 13 under.”

May tees off on the North course at 10:48 today, but first he headed with his father to the driving range to hit balls as the sun set Thursday.

“He’ll either sleep like a baby tonight after going through all that pressure,” said May’s uncle, Bob, “or he’ll be up all night.”

The Mays have become quite a golfing family. And that really makes Bob’s mother chuckle.

“His aunt started him on a pitch-and-putt course when he was 9,” Muriel said. “Bob came home and said he loved golf. I said, ‘Oh, don’t be silly. It’s a stupid game.’ He played baseball and soccer back then.

“But my husband and I said, ‘OK, we’ll get him golf lessons and let him get tired of this sport.’ We knew nothing about the sport.”

Now, Jerry has a 12-handicap, Muriel has a 24-handicap and Bob is headed to Oklahoma State on a golf scholarship.

As May approached the final hole Thursday, his mother offered him a bag of cheese popcorn. He took the bag.

May munched on the popcorn as he headed down the fairway. He looked just like a high school senior playing a round of golf.