Strange’s Putt Hits Pay Dirt : His 2-Footer Wins Playoff, Puts Him Over $1 Million in ’88

The putt Curtis Strange hit on a bright Monday morning traveled just 2 feet. That figures to $11,625 an inch.

With sea gulls swooping over a green moist with dew, Strange made probably the most expensive putt in the history of golf on the oceanside 17th hole at Pebble Beach golf links.

That putt was worth $279,000, the difference between the $535,000 in prize and bonus money Strange collected for being the first-place finisher and the year’s leading money-winner, and the second-place money of $256,000.

Strange gently rolled in the 24-inch birdie putt on the second playoff hole, defeating Tom Kite in the $2-million Nabisco Championships and putting into motion a set of circumstances rooted in golf but branching into high finance.

Strange, the U.S. Open champion, won his fourth tournament of the year, became the first player to win $1 million in a single year on the PGA Tour and passed the $4-million mark in career earnings.

Strange and Kite had finished Sunday’s fourth round tied after Strange had bogeyed the same par-3 17th hole as daylight faded, forcing the sudden-death playoff to be postponed until Monday.

Strange also became the unofficial PGA player of the year. Although the PGA has yet to announce that Strange edged Sandy Lyle for the honor, Strange apparently has it wrapped up because of his money figures, part of the formula used to select the player of the year.

Last year, Strange also led the money list going into this tournament but lost the player-of-the-year award when he finished last. He found delicious irony in his comeback Monday.

“Looking back on it, I don’t know what it is about me,” he said. “It seems like I stay in the middle of controversy.

“I finished last last year and come back and win it this year,” he said. “I guess my average is decent.”

After both players parred No. 16, the first playoff hole, Strange beat Kite with a 4-iron shot from the 17th tee that was more than decent.

The 17th hole is the site of 2 memorable shots. It is the hole where, in the 1972 U.S. Open, Jack Nicklaus hit the pin with a 1-iron and missed a hole-in-one by 4 inches. It also is where Tom Watson knocked in a pitch from 17 feet to beat Nicklaus and win the 1982 U.S. Open.

When Strange and Kite stood at the 17th tee, the hole was playing 188 yards with the pin positioned on the back part of the green.

Hitting first, Strange sent the ball traveling toward Carmel Bay, and it landed just in front of the cup, only 2 feet away.

Neither Strange nor Kite could see how close the ball was to the hole, however, and there was little applause from a smallish gallery, roped far away from the green, to give any indication to either player.

“I knew it went straight on line,” Strange said of his drive. “Somebody said it was 2 feet away, but those 2-footers can turn out to be 6-footers a lot of the time.”

The scant reaction of the crowd fooled Kite, who said he would have used a 5-iron instead of a 4-iron if he had known where Strange’s shot had landed.

“The 17th hole, as great as it is, is one of the worst spectator holes in America,” Kite said. “I couldn’t see where Curtis’ ball was, so I had to go by the reaction of the crowd. The way they barely applauded, I thought he was 12 to 15 short, that he was barely over the bunker.”

Because he thought Strange had hit it short, Kite decided to hit a 5-iron, but his drive flew over the green and landed in another bunker. When Kite got to the green and saw Strange’s ball, he quickly realized his task.

“Now I know I’ve got to make that bunker shot,” he said.

Kite put his shot just 3 feet away, but all Strange had to do to win was to make his 2-footer.

“I play a nice bunker shot out, but under the circumstances, not good enough,” Kite said.

So Kite had to console himself with the $256,000 for second place, which is pretty comforting. Still, Kite said he was disappointed.

“I’m not ready to go throw a party,” he said.

Kite finished the season without a victory for the first time since 1980, but he came close.

He had three seconds and a third and lost two playoffs, but he still wound up with $760,405 in earnings and he, too, passed $4 million on the money list.

There are now four golfers who have won more than $4 million in their careers: Nicklaus, $5.005 million; Watson, $4.97 million; Strange, 4.26 million, and Kite, $4.205 million.

Strange’s 16th PGA Tour victory capped a remarkable year in which he has won 4 tournaments since late May. He entered 24 events this year, had six top-10 finishes and won $1,147,644.

Now a three-time leading money-winner on the tour, Strange has won 11 events in the last 4 years. And although he counts Kite as a close friend, Strange said he had no qualms about beating him.

“When it comes down to the golf course, he’s just a guy standing between me and a victory,” Strange said. “It didn’t bother me a bit.”

Golf Notes

With the 1988 PGA Tour season over, Curtis Strange refused to speculate on whether he is the No. 1 player in the world. “I’m going to avoid that one,” he said. “If I say yes, it’s too egotistical. But it’s the greatest compliment you can have.” . . . Another big winner Monday was the Houston Golf Assn., which Strange represented in the Nabisco golf team charity competition. Strange’s victory meant the Houston group got $500,000 for its charities.

Strange on becoming the first player to win $1 million in a year: “In a couple of years, four or five guys will be doing it. It’s kind of like Arnold Palmer becoming the first player to win $1 million in a career. Now, lots of players have done it.” . . . Strange said he will curtail next year’s schedule and plans to play only the MONY Tournament of Champions, the Phoenix Open and the Nissan Los Angeles Open in the early part of the season.