The Skins Game : Floyd Is Not as Nervous After Seeing the Color of Money

Only nine holes separated Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange and Raymond Floyd from $175,000 as they stepped up to the first tee Saturday morning at PGA West.

Floyd looked around and shook his head.

“I hope everybody is as nervous as I am,” he said.

Nervous, perhaps, just not as rich. After 1 day and 9 holes of the $450,000 Skins Game, Floyd won 6 skins worth $90,000 and said his nerves could rest easy.

“I’m going to sleep very well tonight,” Floyd said.

Adding up the first-day results, the number of skinners was slim. It was strictly a two-man show between Floyd, 46, and Nicklaus, 48, who took all the skins.

Nicklaus got the last three skins and won $75,000, or nearly three times what he earned on the PGA Tour this year.

It wasn’t Nicklaus’ back that gave him trouble Saturday it was his eyes. His big day became possible only after he discovered on the second fairway that he had put his left contact lens in backward.

Nicklaus quickly put the lens in properly, which not only kept him from getting a headache, but also allowed him to see the green, which is always a big help.

Nicklaus spent so much time in the sand he should have been a cactus. Five times he landed in bunkers, but the last time, it didn’t matter. On the eighth hole, Nicklaus came out of the front bunker to within 12 feet and sank a birdie putt to win a $50,000 carryover.

Strange and Trevino were blanked, skunked and skinned. Yet, as the Skins format would have it, they get another chance today when the final nine holes, worth $285,000, are played.

“I’m kind of glad we’ve stopped right now,” Strange said. “I just keep remembering that it only takes one shot at the right time.”

Floyd found out at the fifth hole. Floyd, who might have been the most nervous of the foursome, won the day’s biggest carryover--$75,000.

On the fringe of the green in 2, Floyd was 35 feet from the hole and sent his putt rolling 5 feet past. He watched Nicklaus miss from 10 feet and Strange miss from 6 feet before he stood over his putt.

“I had to sit there and bite my nails and see Jack and Curtis both miss,” Floyd said. “That was very exciting getting over a putt of 5 feet.”

Only three holes earlier, Strange had seen a 12-foot birdie miss, costing him $30,000 and forcing a carryover.

“To be quite honest, it took the wind out of my sails,” he said.

Strange had no more chances and he finished on No. 9 with an unusual bunker-to-bunker shot. His second shot from a fairway bunker hit a railroad tie in front of the green, bounced past the hole and plopped into a bunker in back.

Trevino was similarly unlucky. He hit into a bush on No. 3 and picked up his ball. On No. 5, which was Floyd’s rich hole, Trevino hit into the water and took a 6.

What kind of round was it? A short one, apparently.

“My day ended after the first hole,” he said.

Trevino, a $310,000 winner in last year’s Skins when he shot a hole-in-one, says he must start quickly today.

“Either that, or I’m going to have a tough time,” he said. “Unless a miracle happens, like last year.”

For someone who has won $4.9 million in his career, Nicklaus obviously doesn’t need the money, but he was also a bit nervous in the beginning. Nicklaus and Trevino like to use conversation to loosen up, and the players talked among themselves.

“I’m not sure what Curtis does to get loose,” Nicklaus said. “He signs the backs of checks, I guess.”

Nicklaus also took the skin at the ninth with an 18-foot birdie putt as Trevino and Floyd joined Strange in bunkers.

Strange, the 1988 PGA player of the year, said he was uncomfortable with the role of favorite in the Skins.

“I think that’s being a little bit unfair to the other three guys,” he said. “All they need is one shot and they can still do that. I know how it appears. I’m still in my prime and they, well, they’re not playing a full schedule.

“They can handle anybody. And I guarantee you, they aren’t worried at all about Curtis Strange.”