Morgan Takes an Unorthodox Path to the Tour

Nobody said it to Walter Morgan’s face, but he was aware some skeptics thought his first Senior PGA Tour victory was more a product of luck than skill.

Such is often the case when a player, who didn’t come from the PGA Tour, wins on the senior tour.

After his second victory, in which he beat Gary Player in a playoff at the FHP Health Case Classic March 3 in Ojai, the label as a lucky winner was removed. His first victory was last September at the GTE Northwest Classic in Kenmore, Wash.

“People probably said that first one was a fluke,” said Morgan, who is competing in the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach County Club starting Friday. “But now they can’t say that anymore.”

Morgan, who spent 20 years in the Army, did have a chance at the PGA Tour in 1980 when he came within a shot of getting his tour card at qualifying school.

But rather than labor and hope to qualify the next year, he took a job as a club professional in Texas, which he said was the next best thing.

Once he turned 48 in 1989, Morgan said he started to seriously consider playing the senior tour, partly because it offered the chance to make lots of money.

But that didn’t start to happen until recently. Morgan turned 50 in May, 1991, and played in four tour events, earning about $10,000. It wasn’t until last season that he finally started to make the sort of money he imagined. He finished with $423,756 and was 27th on the money list.

That finish gave him a full exemption for this year and he already has made $163,548, fifth on the tour money list.

“I can fly first class now,” he said, “and I can sleep in hotels where I’m not afraid the door will fall down.”

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Morgan, who was born in Haddock, Ga., joined the Army out of high school and didn’t start playing golf until he was 25. Instead, he concentrated on baseball after two tours of duty in Vietnam.

“I was a combat soldier, so that explains everything,” he said. “I’ve seen more than I care to talk about. I was very fortunate. That’s why you see me smiling all the time.”

Morgan took up golf while stationed in Hawaii. He said he borrowed a seven-iron from a club pro and hit balls for about six months, then shot 79 in his first full round and was hooked. He went on to become the all-service champion in 1975 and 1976.

“I don’t regret not [starting to play] as a youngster,” Morgan said. “If I did I might have gotten burnt out.”

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Bob Murphy won’t play his first round at Newport Beach Country Club until today, but he has to be considered a tournament favorite.

Murphy is the tour’s leading money winner at $302,467 after five events.

He won at the Royal Caribbean Classic in Key Biscayne, Fla., and also has a second, third and two ninth-place finishes.

“The danger [in not knowing a course] is shooting at a pin and not knowing about the danger in back of it,” Murphy said. “But most of the time I don’t really have a lot of trouble with that.” He said he won the Canadian Open in 1986 without the benefit of a practice round.

Murphy credited his strong start this season to a mind game he has started in order to play better in the first round. He said he tries to convince himself to use the same concentration he has on Sundays.

He will have little trouble doing that on Friday, when he is paired with Dave Stockton and Isao Aoki at 9:20 a.m. in the opening round.

“I guess the thrill of the fight isn’t in me [until Saturday and Sunday],” Murphy said.

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Teams led by DeWitt Weaver and Steve Spray had the low rounds in Wednesday’s pro-am. They finished at 17-under 54. Deane Beman, Charles Coody, Gary Player, Bobby Stroble, Dale Douglass and Jim Colbert had the low individual rounds, one-under 70s.