Morgan Sure Looks as if He’s Practicing

In the 1983 Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open at Rancho Park, huge crowds followed Arnold Palmer, which was understandable since Arnie’s Army hadn’t been decommissioned and Arnie himself was in the hunt on the last day.

But when Palmer took a triple bogey on the 12th hole, many people in the crowd decided it would be a good time to go home. So they did.

Gil Morgan wound up winning by two shots in front of a gallery that would fit nicely in a golf cart.

It has been 25 years since the non-practicing optometrist from Wewoka, Okla., turned pro after the 1972 qualifying school. That has been long enough for Morgan to perfect a golf career that has been nothing less than inoffensive, workmanlike and comfortable . . . sort of like oatmeal, or a sofa.

Morgan spent 24 years on the PGA Tour and couldn’t have been more consistent. After his second year, he was never lower than No. 85 on the money list. He won seven times and $5.2 million. Even if you couldn’t tell him without a program.

Last September, he joined the Senior PGA Tour and had to wait until his second time out to win--at the Ralphs Senior Classic. Morgan has won four more times this year, banked more than $1.68 million and couldn’t have been more anonymous if he had played in a ski mask.

That’s because Hale Irwin chose this year to equal the senior tour record of nine victories and become the first player on any tour to pass $2 million in prize money.

Any other year on the senior tour, Morgan would be the star. He probably would have had a candy bar named after him, or at least a putter.

But that’s not the way it has been for Morgan. It has never been that way for the 51-year-old, whose list of special interests is one word: cars. Probably station wagons.

The headlight seldom shines on Morgan, but he isn’t one to complain.

“Whatever happens, happens,” he said. “None of those things bother me if I had a pretty good year.

“And I had a pretty good year. I guess I’m second-seat, or back-seat to Hale, but that’s all right. Those things happen.”

In his first full year on the over-50 set, Morgan has put his stamp all over the standard statistics. He is No. 4 in driving, No. 3 in greens in regulation, No. 2 in putting, No. 5 in eagles, No. 3 in birdies, No. 2 in scoring, No. 6 in sand saves and No. 1 in all-around.

It’s just as Morgan said. Add it all up and that’s a pretty good year, all right.

Even Irwin is impressed.

“I’ve really taken notice of what Gil has done,” Irwin said. “Everybody has. Four wins is special, no doubt about that.”

Morgan’s career had a chance to be even more special. In the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Morgan finished third. In the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Morgan was the first player ever to get to 10 under in an Open, then blew away in the wind and finished tied for 13th.

Maybe it mattered, maybe it didn’t. Morgan probably wouldn’t have changed anyway. He still lives in Oklahoma, outside Oklahoma City, at Oak Tree in Edmond. It was the site of the 1988 PGA Championship. Morgan missed the cut. That’s sort of the way it goes. He played with Jack Nicklaus, who also missed the cut, which proves it can happen to anybody.

These days, Morgan doesn’t miss the cut, basically because there aren’t any on the senior tour. About the only thing he misses is his family, but that’s the way it goes in this business.

His streak of 26 consecutive rounds under par ended in a wind-blown first round last week at Sacramento, but that’s also the way it goes in this business.

Morgan’s reaction: “I felt I was a bit unfortunate.”

A master of overstatement he is not, but Morgan is sincere in what he does say.

What a year, huh?

“I feel like overall, I’ve played pretty consistently, especially in the last two-thirds of the year,” he said.

And nearly $2 million in prize money?

“The dollars that were generated were very substantial. I’m very excited about that.”

There is a chance Morgan could become even more excited if he passes the $2-million mark, which isn’t out of the question since he’s the defending champion here and then has a crack at the big purse in the Senior Tour Championship.

“I wouldn’t turn it down,” he said.

If so, Morgan would then miss a great chance. That’s one thing that would steal the headlines for sure.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Senior PGA Facts 1997 RESULTS

*--*

Date Tournament Winner Jan. 17-19 MasterCard Championship Hale Irwin Jan. 25-26 Senior Skins Game Raymond Floyd Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Royal Caribbean Classic Gibby Gilbert Feb. 7-9 LG Championship Hale Irwin Feb. 14-16 GTE Classic David Graham Feb. 21-23 American Express Invitational Bud Allin Feb. 24-25 Senior Slam Hale Irwin March 14-16 Toshiba Senior Classic Bob Murphy March 21-23 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf J. Bland-G. Marsh March 28-30 Southwestern Bell Dominion David Graham April 3-6 The Tradition Gil Morgan April 17-20 PGA Seniors’ Championship Hale Irwin April 25-27 Las Vegas Senior Classic Hale Irwin May 2-4 Bruno’s Memorial Classic Jay Sigel May 9-11 Home Depot Invitational Jim Dent May 16-18 Cadillac NFL Classic Bruce Crampton May 23-25 Bell Atlantic Classic Bob Eastwood May 30-June 1 Ameritech Senior Open Gil Morgan June 6-8 BellSouth Senior Classic Gil Morgan June 12-15 du Maurier Champions Jack Kiefer June 20-22 Nationwide Championship Graham Marsh June 26-29 U.S. Senior Open Graham Marsh July 4-6 Kroger Classic Jay Sigel July 10-13 Ford Senior Players Championship Larry Gilbert July 18-20 Burnet Senior Classic Hale Irwin July 24-27 Senior British Open Gary Player July 25-27 Franklin Quest Championship Dave Stockton Aug. 1-3 Bank of Boston Senior Classic Hale Irwin Aug. 8-10 Northville Long Island Classic Dana Quigley Aug. 15-17 First of America Classic Gil Morgan Aug. 22-24 Saint Luke’s Classic Bruce Summerhays Aug. 29-31 Pittsburgh Senior Classic Hugh Baiocchi Sept. 5-7 Bank One Classic Vicente Fernandez Sept. 12-14 Boone Valley Classic Hale Irwin Sept. 19-21 Comfort Classic David Graham Sept. 26-28 Emerald Coast Classic Isao Aoki Oct. 3-5 Vantage Championship Hale Irwin Oct. 10-12 Transamerica Championship Dave Eichelberger Oct. 17-19 Maui Kaanapali Classic Hale Irwin Oct. 24-26 Raley’s Gold Rush Bob Eastwood

*--*

1997 SCHEDULE

Date: Tournament

Oct 31-Nov. 2: Ralphs Senior Classic, Los Angeles

Nov. 6-9: Energizer Tour Championship, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

1997 MONEY LEADERS

*--*

PLAYER EVENTS EARNINGS 1. Hale Irwin 21 $2,131,364 2. Gil Morgan 23 $1,682,562 3. Isao Aoki 26 $1,247,561 4. Jay Sigel 30 $1,189,172 5. David Graham 28 $1,128,598 6. John Bland 31 $1,126,957 7. Graham Marsh 27 $1,072,578 8. Larry Gilbert 23 $902,816 9. Dave Stockton 27 $819,297 10. Bob Eastwood 27 $804,908 11. Hugh Baiocchi 23 $787,570 12. John Jacobs 32 $778,142 13. Bruce Summerhays 33 $734,437 14. Dave Eichelberger 32 $733,172 15. Jack Kiefer 33 $710,735 16. Walter Morgan 34 $652,776 17. Mike Hill 26 $639,974 18. Bob Murphy 29 $637,445 19. Vicente Fernandez 27 $632,811 20. Lee Trevino 25 $621,931 21. Bob Charles 25 $596,653 22. Jim Dent 29 $541,180 23. Jerry McGee 32 $534,607 24. Tom Wargo 31 $528,104 25. Ray Floyd 18 $519,941 26. Bud Allin 29 $507,627 27. Frank Conner 33 $484,096 28. Bob Duval 23 $482,601 29. Jim Colbert 17 $481,500 30. Bob Dickson 32 $479,611 31. J.C. Snead 32 $475,099 32. Hubert Green 26 $443,402 33. Gibby Gilbert 28 $438,633 34. Kermit Zarley 28 $428,242 35. Dana Quigley 19 $422,974 36. Jimmy Powell 31 $422,326 37. DeWitt Weaver 32 $392,582 38. Bruce Crampton 34 $388,637 39. Mike McCullough 34 $364,345 40. Dale Douglass 30 $362,003 41. Leonard Thompson 29 $359,806 42. Chi Chi Rodriguez 27 $359,030 43. Brian Barnes 27 $350,086 44. John D. Morgan 29 $346,652 45. John Schroeder 31 $338,919 46. Terry Dill 30 $320,722 47. George Archer 25 $319,605 48. Simon Hobday 29 $313,757 49. Bobby Stroble 35 $303,033 50. Rocky Thompson 28 $270,387

*--*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Senior Golf at a Glance

* What: Ralphs Senior Classic.

* Where: Wilshire Country Club (6,571 yards, par 71).

* When: Friday through Sunday.

* Purse: $1 million.

* Winner’s Share: $150,000.

* TV: None.

* Defending champion: Gil Morgan (11-under-par 202).

* Top players: Hale Irwin, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Ray Floyd, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Bob Charles.