Golf / Thomas Bonk : Are O’Grady and Beman Just a Little Too Much? No Comment

They are golf’s oddest couple: Mac O’Grady and Deane Beman. O’Grady, the reigning deep-thinker of the PGA Tour and Beman, the no-nonsense commissioner, have had some heated battles but now are engaged in something of a cold war.

The last time O’Grady and Beman saw one another was on the third day of the Players Championship at Sawgrass, where O’Grady didn’t make the cut and vowed never to play another Beman-inspired TPC course again. When they passed within a foot of each other in the clubhouse, each looked the other way while the temperature dropped near freezing.

Now, with the great square-groove controversy having apparently run its course, O’Grady is relieved.

“It’s the first of two measures that should be administered,” O’Grady said. “The first one is square grooves. And what is the second measure?

“Should the players find a new commissioner? No comment.

“Should the players blow up all the TPC golf courses? No comment.

“Should the players found their own union and control it themselves? No comment.”

You get the idea.

But O’Grady’s real second measure is to ban metal-headed woods, too. Why?

“Square grooves and the metal woods have given rise to mediocrity,” he said. “If you eliminate the metal woods and the square grooves, the rise in mediocrity will fall rapidly and the little Davids, the little mosquito players who are slaying the giants, will soon vanish.”

O’Grady finished a one-year probation last fall, which was the penalty assessed by Beman when he found O’Grady guilty of insulting a worker at a tournament in New Orleans in 1986. Beman also fined O’Grady $5,000. The two have been antagonists since. O’Grady, who previously had been suspended for six weeks, figures his battle with Beman cost him $50,000 in legal fees.

O’Grady said he expects to hear from Beman as a result of these new statements.

“He’ll do something,” O’Grady said. “That’s all right. If he says, ‘I’m going to fine you $500,’ I’ll just say, ‘Where do you want the check to go?’ It’s so foolish. Blow up the TPC courses? Who’d believe that, anyway?”

All right, so what’s wrong with the TPC, or stadium courses?

“Two things,” O’Grady said. “They were all thought of by Deane Beman, and all power hitters have no relationship with the courses. You need 30 clubs to play a TPC course and one of those is a rifle.”

In the meantime, O’Grady is taking some time off in Palm Springs to get ready for the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. The last time O’Grady played that course was in 1968, he was Phil McGleno and competing in the national junior golf tournament. He didn’t make the cut.

The theme this time?

“Mac O’Grady meeting Phil McGleno,” O’Grady said. “Now, I’m trying to find a ticket out of the sport.”

O’Grady said he will announce his retirement, right there on the green, if he wins the Open, or any other major tournament.

Beman will probably faint with relief.

O’Grady almost retired in last year’s Open at the Olympic. He was close to the lead with four holes to play, but finished tied for ninth by closing with three bogeys and a par.

“The problem was I started reciting my (retirement) speech,” he said. “It’s a good one, too.”

O’Grady’s plan to finance his retirement depends on a three-book set he is writing that is supposed to go on sale for $250 before Christmas. The trilogy is called “Golfology, Golf in the Cosmos, the 21st Century.” The three books are titled, “The Golfing Prophet,” “The Brain: The Neurology and Physiology of the Golf Swing,” and “The Evolution of the Golf Swing from the 15th Century to the 21st Century.”

O’Grady also plans to build a junior high, high school and college where young people can study “golfology.” He estimates costs of more than $50 million.

But O’Grady is still playing now. And if O’Grady retires, it will be for reasons besides Beman.

What reasons?

“Read the book, the ‘Golfing Prophet’,” O’Grady said.

Beman?

“He has nothing to do with it,” O’Grady said. “Even Deane Beman is to be respected and revered. He’s been given the most precious gift in life, called consciousness.”

More Mac: Who will win the U.S. Open?

“Someone long overdue. No, not Sam Snead. It’s Seve Ballesteros. He’s the most committed athlete I’ve seen in my whole life. He’s my closest friend out there. When I asked him why he wanted to win a major, know what he said? He said ‘Because I live, I live, I live to win the majors.’ He said it three times.”

About 90 golfers are going to try squeezing into one of possibly six spots for the U.S. Open at sectional qualifying Monday at Pauma Valley Country Club northeast of San Diego.

Those qualifiers will play in the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Ray Floyd is the captain of the American Ryder Cup team for the 1989 matches against Europe. Floyd, 45, will lead the 12-man American team that will attempt to regain the old cup in the biennial matches at the Belfry, Sutton-Coldfield, England, Sept. 22-24, 1989.

Floyd, a former Masters and U.S. Open champion and twice the winner of the national PGA tournament, succeeds Jack Nicklaus as the American captain.

The Americans, who once dominated the matches and were unbeaten from 1959 through 1983, have lost the last two matches, including the first on American soil last year at the Muirfield Village course in Dublin, Ohio.

The PGA Tour’s policy board has decided to abandon consideration of a split tour. Beman, in a memo to the tour’s players, said that a study of the proposal--a two-section tour with some tournaments being played simultaneously--showed there is no broad support now.

“Most sponsors and the television networks see no major gains from splitting fields,” Beman said. “Given current purse levels, the staff does not believe a split tour would result in greater prize money.”

Just in case you missed it, here is how the square-grooved issue that O’Grady was talking about stands. The United States Golf Assn., which governs the amateur game in this country as well as the U.S. Open, has proposed a rule that would ban square-grooved clubs from the PGA Tour next year. The USGA also ruled that one specific club, the Ping Eye-2, will not be allowed for play in USGA tournaments beginning in 1990 and will be banned entirely in 1996.

The action was taken, said Beman, after exhaustive, expensive technical tests of equipment, surveys of professional players, and various studies of statistical information by the Universities of Delaware and Texas.

The PGA Tour’s policy board said that if the rule is approved in August, square-grooved clubs will be banned from tour competition beginning Jan. 1.

Most pros say that the controversial clubs result in greater accuracy by unskilled players from the rough and under wet conditions.

Golf Notes

The Vince Ferragamo Special Olympics Golf Classic will be played Tuesday at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park. The event has raised nearly $90,000 for the Special Olympics. . . . The 39th California Junior Girls’ state tournament, open to girls under 18, will be played July 11-15 at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club Dunes course in Pebble Beach. Qualifying for the championship flight is set for July 11 and match play will continue throughout the week. Defending champion Elizabeth Bowman, 17, of Bonita and last year’s runner-up, Brandie Burton, 16, of Rialto, will be in the field.

The Pinfinder Classic, benefiting the United Way of Orange County, will be played Aug. 5 at Anaheim Hills Country Club. Entry fee is $50. For information call (714) 970-7884. . . . The HEAR Center’s tournament, which is expected to raise $25,000 to help treat infants, children and adults with hearing and speech disorders, will be played June 20 at Glendora Country Club. . . . The Toyota-SCPGA pro-am, benefiting Southern California junior golf, will be played June 20 at SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington Beach. Proceeds are used to administer the Junior Golf Assn., to buy equipment for the school of golf’s development program and to help run junior tournaments. For further information, contact Don Sandefer at the Southern California PGA office, (714) 776-4653.

The Queen Mary Open, at the Lakewood Country Club, will offer a $100,000 purse with a first prize of $20,000. Two pro-ams will be played Aug. 16-17 and the 72-hole tournament will be played Aug. 18-21. There will also be a $5,000 putting contest. Last year’s event, won by Mike Miles of Huntington Beach, raised $16,000 for various charities. . . . The Winners Circle tournament will be played June 20 at El Niguel Country Club. The event has raised more than $400,000 to help the South Coast Medical Center buy medical equipment. For information, call (714) 499-7229.

Ed Padzur was elected to honorary life membership in the Southern California section of the PGA. Padzur is editor, publisher and president of Executive Golfer magazine. Also, SCPGA Honorary President Andy Thuney was voted professional of the year by members. Thuney serves on board of directors of the executive committee and has been a PGA member for 12 years. . . . Georgia-Pacific is ending its sponsorship of the Atlanta Golf Classic after this year’s $700,000 event, June 23-26. The company, which has sponsored the Atlanta PGA stop since 1982, said the rising costs of television coverage for the event did not make it feasible to continue sponsorship.

The City Recreation and Parks Dept. is sponsoring free golf lessons to junior golfers June 28-30. For information, call the pro shops at Sepulveda, (818) 986-4560; Hansen Dam, (818) 896-0050, or Rancho Park, (213) 839-4374. . . . The Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood will hold its tournament at Woodland Hills Country Club July 11. Proceeds benefit Hollywood youth. . . . The USC Mexican-American Alumni Assn. tournament will be held June 24 on the Eisenhower and Zaharias courses at Industry Hills.