GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : After Open, Kite’s Expectations Take a Major Alteration

It has been a busy time for Tom Kite since he won the U.S. Open June 21 at Pebble Beach, and he’s enjoying every minute of it.

There is also the satisfaction of knowing that reporters no longer will put an asterisk next to his career, noting that Kite “is the leading money winner of all time, but. . . .” That reference underscored the fact that he had not won a major event in a pro career that began in 1972.

Kite said after he won the Open that such innuendoes “have bugged the living daylights out of me.”

“I thought it was strange that’s all anyone wanted to talk about, with all the things I’ve done,” Kite said recently. “I thought that was pretty narrow-sighted, but everyone has their own agenda that they want everyone else to keep.”

Kite, 42, who has long been regarded as one of the steadiest players on the tour, is not downplaying his accomplishment, though.

“If you’re picking tournaments to win, you start at the top. You don’t start at the bottom,” he said. “If I could pick one, it would be the U.S. Open. If I could pick two, it would be the Masters and the U.S. Open. If I could pick three, it would be the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.”

His victory at Pebble Beach has provided him with added incentive to win another major.

“No question about it. I’m planning on it,” he said. “I always thought I’d would win a major championship and multiple majors. That opinion hasn’t changed. If anything, that opinion has been reinforced.”

After Kite won the U.S. Open, he and his wife Christy were whisked away on a private jet to fulfill an obligation for a corporate outing in St. Louis the next day.

Then, still caught up in the euphoria of winning the Open, he played in the Buick Classic at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., where he finished sixth.

“I had no idea what to expect,” Kite said. “I said at the time I could shoot 63 because I was playing well and the emotions were high, or I could shoot 93 because there would be a letdown.”

He said it has been a “nice busy,” since he has been home in Austin, Tex. “I heard some comments about some people not enjoying a U.S. Open, or a major win because there are so many demands on their time. I promise you that I’m going to enjoy it.”

Unlike Kite, Fred Couples, the Masters champion, has been a reluctant celebrity, complaining about his lack of privacy and the crush of autograph seekers.

Kite has 17 victories in his 20-year career, and he’ll be trying to win another major when the British Open starts Thursday on the Muirfield course in Scotland.

Kite finished tied for second to Jack Nicklaus at St. Andrews in 1978 and was tied for fifth at Royal Birkdale in 1976.

As for the Muirfield course near the Firth of Forth, Kite said: “It’s great. Probably the best golf course over there. It’s more straightforward than some of the other courses. It’s difficult, hard as it can be, but not as much local knowledge is needed in comparison to some of the other courses.

“There are not as many blind shots. Just a good, solid golf course, not a lot of tricks.”

He will be playing on a links course, and some people have said that Pebble Beach is comparable to some of the courses in Scotland.

“Pebble is an Americanized version of a links course,” Kite said. “It’s on links land, but it’s maintained to the American standards.”

Kite won at Pebble Beach under difficult conditions on the final day of the tournament--gusting winds up to 40 m.p.h., tall rough and fast greens.

“It was really difficult,” he said. “The golf course as a tournament itself would not be considered that difficult, because the first three days were relatively sedate, very calm.

“After three rounds, Pebble was pretty defenseless. We beat up on her pretty good, but she got her licks in.”

So did Kite, who shot a par 72 on Sunday to win by two strokes over Jeff Sluman. How tough was it? Well, 20 of the 66 players in the field shot in the 80s, only four players had sub-par rounds and no one was in the 60s.

“The course was in excellent shape and it was set up really well,” Kite said. “But Pebble needs the weather to make it the golf course it’s supposed to be. And the course is made for the weather.

“You take that course and put it inland where you won’t get any ocean breezes and it can be a fairly easy golf course. But eventually you get the weather at Pebble.”

Kite said the difficulty on the final day was a combination of wind and hard greens.

“Even though I putted fairly well, I thought putting was as difficult as anything,” he said. “The greens were very, very fast, and with the wind blowing like that, you’re going to get blown off balance.”

Kite has managed to win at least one tournament in 11 of the past 12 years.

“I changed my swing about three years ago and overdid some things last year and struggled with it a little bit, he said, “but now I’m swinging really well and haven’t changed anything for quite a while.”

Golf Notes

The 15th International Girls Junior Americas Cup team matches, for ages 13 to 18, will be Aug. 9-13 at the Escondido, Calif., Country Club. Teams from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and all of the western states will compete. . . . The second annual Select Copy Systems Foundation tournament will be Aug. 17 at the Wilshire CC. Proceeds will benefit disadvantaged children.

The fourth annual “Adopt-a-Senior” celebrity tournament will be July 27 at the California CC in Whittier. It’s a four-person scramble event sponsored by the Los Angeles City Recreation and Park Dept. Funds raised will help provide hot, home-delivered meals for low-income seniors.

The Inland Empire Amateur Championship will be Sept. 7 at Jurupa Hills CC in San Bernardino. The entry fee is $70 payable to the Inland Empire Amateur Championship, 6161 Moraga Ave., Riverside 92509. Deadline is Aug. 31. . . . The Spalding Golden State Tour Pro-Am is scheduled Sept. 29-30 at the Edgewood Tahoe course in the Lake Tahoe area. . . . Ken L. Rizzotto has been named executive director of the Frank Sinatra celebrity invitational tournament that will be March 5-6, 1993 at Marriott’s Desert Springs Resort and Desert Falls CC in Palm Desert.