Golf : Fuzzy Looking Forward to Skinning Rivals Again at PGA West

Fuzzy. Was he:

--The winner of $370,000 in last year’s Skins Game?

--The guy who found himself $255,000 richer after the Skins Game the previous year?

--Totally unconscious, or what?

The answers are yes, yes and possibly. So when the fifth annual Skins Game is played in late November at PGA West, Fuzzy Zoeller will be back to try for a third consecutive big payday.

For the second consecutive year, Zoeller will be playing against Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino.

This awesome foursome will be out to accomplish two things. First, they must try to club the unruly PGA West into submission. Then, with $450,000 in prize money at stake, they hope the microphones they will be wearing for television do not pick up any funny sounds, as in choking.

Professional golf’s version of Lotto, the Skins Game seems to be evolving into the type of event that its creator, Don Ohlmeyer, thought it had a chance to become. Ohlmeyer thinks the Skins Game works because it’s the right concept.

“It’s easily understandable,” he said. “We attract a lot of people who don’t ordinarily watch golf. People watch Skins because it’s an event, number one, and it’s not like watching a tournament where on Saturday there’s no climax. Our telecast, every hole is a tournament unto itself.

“And everybody knows the players, even if they don’t follow golf. You take somebody who’s really not a golf fan and he’s heard of Arnold Palmer. He’s heard of Jack Nicklaus. He’s heard of Lee Trevino. He’s heard of Fuzzy Zoeller. And for people who do follow golf, it’s kind of a dream foursome.”

The first year of the Skins, the selection procedure was a little different than it is now. Ohlmeyer said that he and Barry Frank, senior vice president of Trans World International, which co-produces the event with Ohlmeyer, chose the players while having a glass of wine. Now, the foursome comprises the defending champion, Zoeller; two chosen by a panel of PGA-selected golf experts, Nicklaus and Trevino, and a fourth in on a sponsor’s exemption, Palmer.

Nicklaus and Palmer have played in all of the Skins Games, and Nicklaus made the biggest putt in Skins history. In 1984, he won $240,000 by sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole. No one had won any of the previous holes, so the money carried over from each one.

The Skins guys will play the front nine holes at PGA West on Saturday Nov. 28 and the back nine the next day. The first six holes are worth $15,000 each, the middle six holes are worth $25,000 and the last six holes are worth $35,000.

Ohlmeyer thinks this makes for great television. The golf doesn’t even have to be great, either, for the show to be a success.

“We mike the players and people (viewers) feel like they’re eavesdropping,” he said. “The guys are loose. Then as the money gets bigger, people at home can watch the tension build because the guys aren’t talking and they’re not funny.”

And the Skins Game is not what?

“Not the U.S. Open or the British Open or the PGA,” Ohlmeyer said. “It doesn’t have the tradition. It doesn’t have the prestige. Nobody puts on their resume, ‘I won $50,000 at the Skins Game.’ ”

Zoeller certainly can’t put that on his. His says he has won $625,000.

Ohlmeyer is also introducing a new national Skins Game this year, pairing PGA club pros and amateurs. If regional winners make it through to the finals on the same weekend as the Skins, the prize money is $108,000. One regional competition will be held at Coto de Caza on Sept. 11. There is a $1,000 entry fee.

The LPGA, which lost a tournament when the Glendale Federal folded after three years, is optimistic that it can put another tournament in Los Angeles next year. Glendale Federal Savings and Loan withdrew its sponsorship of the tournament shortly after the Oakmont Country Club voted not to negotiate a new contract.

“We are actively pursuing the creation of a new tournament, although it won’t be at Oakmont,” said John D. Laupheimer, commissioner of the LPGA. “We’re optimistic about 1988.”

Laupheimer said that a new LPGA tournament might still be held in Glendale, although he did not say where. He also did not say what sponsors might be interested. He did say that the tentative dates are April 14-17.

The Glendale Federal, a $250,000 event won this year by Jane Geddes, was killed when the Oakmont membership voted to call it quits, 117-113.

“The basic feeling was that three years was enough,” said Oakmont General Manager Steve Hockett. “The members spend a lot of money to be part of this country club and they wanted privacy.”

Oakmont golfers were denied use of the course for a week during the tournament, and Hockett said the membership decided it just wasn’t worth it. He said course rental was $50,000 this year and the new contract guaranteed Oakmont $60,000 up to as much as $90,000.

The death of the Glendale Federal leaves the LPGA with only two events in Southern California, in San Diego and Rancho Mirage. The LPGA event at Costa Mesa’s Mesa Verde Country Club died after the 1986 tournament.

Great Britain’s Laura Davies, the U.S. Women’s Open champion, doesn’t have an LPGA card, which is something of an embarrassment, so the LPGA is talking about doing something for her.

In an unusual move, the LPGA may amend its bylaws and allow Davies to play in LPGA events without having to qualify for a tour card. When the LPGA stops in Portland, Ore., Sept. 11-13, the 144-member field will vote.

If the majority of players agree to the amendment, Davies would be allowed to enter LPGA events despite her noncard status. Although the language isn’t yet spelled out as to whether the amendment could be applied solely to her, an LPGA spokesman said it might be broader and include anyone who wins an LPGA major event without a tour card.

Golf Notes

The ninth annual California Senior Women’s Amateur tournament will be played Monday through Wednesday at the Old Del Monte course in Monterey. Defending champion Millie Stanley of Escondido will be in the field, which is open to players 55 and older. . . . Ed Donahue and Brad Friel of Candlewood won low gross honors in the Tam o’ Shanter Invitational at Seacliff Country Club in Huntington Beach. Last year’s winners, Ron Chamberlin and Jon Levin of Seacliff, were second.

Eric Shimp, a 5-handicapper, had a noteworthy round at Woodley golf course. Shimp had three eagles, all on par-5 holes, on the way to a par 72. Shimp eagled the 480-yard No. 8, the 506-yard No. 13 and the 534-yard No. 18. . . . Larry Nelson’s playoff victory in the PGA earned him an automatic berth on the Ryder Cup team, his first since 1981. Scott Simpson, the U.S. Open champ, also won an automatic berth. The rest of the team is made up of Payne Stewart, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Larry Mize, Lanny Wadkins, Dan Pohl, Tom Kite, Mark Calcavecchia and Andy Bean. Jack Nicklaus is the nonplaying captain. Simpson, Stewart, Mize, Pohl and Calcavecchia are Ryder Cup rookies. The U.S. team will play Europe Sept. 25-27 at Muirfield in Ohio. The United States lost in 1985.

Defending champion Jeff Wilson of Vallejo will be back to play in the 16th annual Queen Mary Open Tuesday through Aug. 23 at Lakewood Country Club in Lakewood and Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach. A record field of 272 professionals and 40 amateurs will compete for a $75,000 purse. . . . Al Duhon won his fifth Griffith Park Senior Club title last Sunday, defeating Randy Riggs, 4 and 3.