Morgan Tries to Build on His Success

If it weren’t for Hale Irwin, Gil Morgan would be talking a lot more about matching his own outstanding performance on the Senior PGA Tour last year.

After all, Morgan did win six tournaments and $2.2 million in his first full year playing with the 50-plus guys. Irwin, of course, did him three better, tying the Senior Tour record with nine victories and winning more money than even Tiger Woods, an all-tour record $2.3 million.

Talk about being overshadowed. But Morgan doesn’t bristle at being reminded that he’s No. 2. And why would he, considering he’s putting up Irwin-like results this year?

It’s uncanny, in fact, how similar Morgan’s start this year is to Irwin’s last year. Just like Irwin, Morgan won the season-opening MasterCard Championship and the LG Championship, then cruised to victory in the unofficial Senior Slam.

So is Morgan shooting for nine in ‘98?

“Ten for me,” he said, chuckling. “I was hoping for 10. No, not really. Obviously nine is a lot of tournaments. That is a spectacular record, especially in this day and age. With the increased competition of the Senior Tour, just to match the record was a pretty nice feat.”

Today, Morgan will try to continue building on his early success, in the first round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. Morgan is returning to the site of a near miss. Last year he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have put him in a playoff with Bob Murphy and Jay Sigel.

The playoff turned out to be a marathon, with Murphy winning with an 80-foot putt on the ninth extra hole. “I don’t think I’d have lasted nine holes,” Morgan said. “It might have been just as well [that he missed it]. Nine holes is a long time.”

Morgan, who won seven events during a 24-year career on the PGA Tour, certainly has made himself comfortable among the older set. He won his first senior title, at the 1996 Ralphs Senior Classic at Wilshire Country Club, 11 days after turning 50, making him the youngest winner in Senior Tour history.

Then there was 1997 when he put himself within hailing distance of being player of the year. So is the Senior Tour what he expected?

“Overall, I think it’s a lot more competitive than I anticipated,” Morgan said. “The golf courses and the competition both are a little more critical than I expected, especially the pin placements.

“When I was on the regular tour, they talked about how the greens [on the Senior Tour] were not going to be very fast and the pins were going to be in the middle.

“And I have never seen any of that.”

Morgan did allow that the greens sometimes are a little slower, but if anything, he said, the pin placements might be tougher for the seniors.

Not that it’s holding back Morgan, or Irwin for that matter. Although Irwin, who is also here this week, hasn’t won yet this year, he has been playing well, finishing tied for second, fourth and fifth in three official starts.

It remains to be seen whether the two players who won nearly 40% of the events and 11% of the $41 million in prize money in 1997, can continue their dominance.

“I thought that was unusual,” Morgan said.

Can it happen again?

“Can it? I think it can,” he said. “I think it probably will be spread around a bit more this year but at the same time I think it’s still a possibility.”

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Weather report: Golfers and tournament organizers couldn’t have asked for better weather during the early days of tournament week, but rain is expected today, just when more fans will start coming out.

Rain was expected to start in the area after midnight with showers continuing throughout the day, said John Sherwin, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides weather reports for The Times.

The sun might poke through today but that could increase instability in the atmosphere and cause thundershowers and heavier rain in the afternoon. The storm is expected to drop about half an inch of precipitation, but some areas could get more than an inch, Sherwin said.

Not exactly a great day for golf.

“No,” Sherwin agreed. “They are going to have to keep an eye to the sky. “Does the tournament go on into the weekend?” Told that it does, he said, “Yeah, the weekend’s going to be much better.”

Sherwin said rain isn’t expected Saturday or Sunday.

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Add weather: In the event of rain, play will start and continue unless unsafe or unplayable conditions exist. “We’re going to get play in and it’s going to be a great tournament,” said Jeff Purser, tournament director. “If play’s delayed two or three hours so be it. Have something to eat and go watch Dave Stockton, Gil Morgan, Hale Irwin and Lee Trevino tee off three hours later.”

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Nice round: Harry Toscano, a Monday qualifier, equaled the course record with a seven-under-par 64 in the pro-am Wednesday. Because it came during a shotgun-start round it won’t count, but it did earn Toscano $500. The record is shared by several golfers, the most recent being Bob Eastwood in the final round of the 1996 tournament. Dana Quigley won Thursday’s pro-am with a 5-under 66.