Strange Hopes for Faster Start This Season

In the early 1980s, Curtis Strange was in a comfort zone. He wasn’t winning many tournaments but he was finishing in the top 10 on the money list.

“I think I was caught up in the top 10, the good check every week, and maybe I didn’t give it that extra effort to win,” he said Wednesday.

Now he’s winning, having scored 7 of his 16 victories in the last 2 years--and he’s winning tournaments that are financially rewarding and prestigious, such as the Nabisco Championships, which earned him a $360,000 check, and the U.S. Open.

Strange last year became the first player to win $1 million in a single season and was voted PGA Tour player of the year.

Now it’s a new year and the first of 49 tour events, the 37th MONY Tournament of Champions, begins today at La Costa.

Strange said he is aware that people will be watching him, perhaps speculating that he might not be as motivated as he was last year.

“I don’t want people to say I backed off, or wore himself out in 1988,” he said. “If I don’t play well, it’s not because I’m not trying.”

Strange said he also realizes that he can’t dwell on his accomplishments of last year or, for that matter, the last 2 years, during which he won a total of $2,089,123.

“The best thing for me is to forget about last year as quickly as possible,” he said. “I want to start like I’ve never done anything, and just work hard and play well.”

He would, of course, like to get off to a better start this year than he did in 1988. His best finish in the first 10 tournaments was a tie for 12th in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and he was 21st here in the Tournament of Champions.

“You want to pick up where you left off last year, but the key word is patience,” Strange said. “It’s a long year.”

Strange doesn’t particularly care to talk about his winning $1,147,644 last year, saying: “(Money talk) might alienate some people. They’re working hard every day for a living and they don’t want to hear about how much I’m making playing golf.

“It’s just a number. In a few years, you’ll have four or five guys (making $1 million in a season), if purses continue to rise.”

For sure, the tour is lucrative. The T of C, for instances, carries a total purse of $750,000 and first-prize money of $135,000.

The 49 Tour events will be worth more than $40 million.

The field for today’s tournament includes only winners of PGA Tour tournaments and the British Open in the last 12 months.

Among those challenging Strange and defending tournament champion Steve Pate are Masters champion Sandy Lyle, PGA champion Jeff Sluman, Greg Norman, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Jay Haas, Paul Azinger, Ken Green, Mark Calcavecchia and Chip Beck.

Seve Ballesteros, the British Open champion, is passing up this tournament and Larry Nelson, who qualified, can’t play because of an ankle injury.

It rained here early Wednesday, but the sun was shining in the afternoon. There’s a possibility, however, of more rain today.

It is, perhaps, a cliche, but, apparently, Strange knows how to win now.

“When I get into contention, I feel very comfortable,” he said. “Of course, I’m nervous and my stomach is churning, but when I say comfortable, I feel confident in my ability to play well.

“The more confident you are, the better you can handle the pressure--and everyone feels the pressure.”

As the defending U.S. Open champion, Strange rates the U.S. Open ahead of other tournaments, saying, “It’s my open, your open and our open. The Masters is prestigious, but the Open is what you dream about when you’re a kid.”

Even though Strange won 4 tournaments last year, there were several tournaments, especially at the start of the Tour, when he wasn’t in contention.

“I wasn’t in contention as much as I would have liked last year but, when I was, I took advantage of it,” he said.

Strange will settle for that same format this year.

A separate PGA tour to provide opportunities for young golfers will begin in 1990, it was announced Wednesday by PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman.

The new tour has a 5-year agreement with the title sponsor, the Ben Hogan Co., and will be called the Ben Hogan tour.

“It will not only create additional opportunities for young golfers, but it’s also an opportunity to expand golf into new communities that don’t have PGA, LPGA, or Senior tour events,” Beman said.

The top 50 players who come out of the PGA qualifying tournament are eligible to compete on the regular tour. Beman said the next group of 50 would become eligible for the new tour.

Beman said there also will be local qualifying for the second tour.

Among the cities mentioned as possible sites for the Hogan tour were Glendale and Long Beach.

It’s estimated that there will be 30 annual events with purses of $100,000.