Bragging Rights Are All Inman’s

As soon as his golf ball disappeared into the hole on the 18th green, Joe Inman dropped his putter, he pulled down the bill of his cap and he started to cry.

Then he started to talk. And talk. And talk. As Inman might say about himself, “Lor-DEE, son, can you talk!”

Well, yes, he sure can. Wherever Inman is this morning, chances are he’s still yakking about how he won his first Senior PGA Tour event, the $1.1-million Pacific Bell Senior Classic at Wilshire Country Club, where they could have had Lee Trevino, but Gomer Pyle won instead.

Inman, a 50-year-old Southern-fried Georgian who could probably talk the wheels off a golf cart, birdied three consecutive holes down the stretch Sunday, closed with a steely 68 and managed to slither past Trevino by one shot.

Inman burst into tears afterward, but he managed to pull himself together long enough to kiss the glass trophy, accept the winner’s check of $165,000 and, of course, start talking again.

“I keep wanting to cry,” he said.

“I held it together. I mentally stayed fine. I told myself, ‘Don’t give in . . . be a man, gol-dern it. Take it. I always felt like I could have done better in my career if I had believed in myself. It was nice to stand up and come through through one time.”

Inman’s 54-hole total of 11-under 202 was just enough to hold off Trevino, who made a big charge with a 65. The 59-year-old Trevino, winner of 28 senior events and 55 overall as a pro, held a one-shot lead over Inman until the 17th hole.

It was not a good time for a bogey, but that’s what Trevino did. He missed the fairway, bounced his second shot over the green and gave back a very big stroke.

“That was crucial,” Trevino said.

That was basically the end, but only if Inman could protect a one-shot lead over his last two holes. Somehow, the guy with only one victory since he turned pro in 1972 did just that.

Trevino was waiting near the scorer’s tent at No. 18 to see if Inman would mess up and fall into a playoff. Inman didn’t keep him waiting long. When his four-foot par putt rolled into the hole, Trevino hesitated for a moment, then joined in the applause.

Then there was Gil Morgan, who might have only himself to blame for Inman’s victory. It was Morgan who gave Inman a 30-minute putting lesson before the tournament and then had to watch Inman roll ball after ball into the hole.

Morgan shot a one-under 70 and tied for third with Brian Barnes at nine-under 204. Hubert Green’s 69 allowed him to finish fifth at 206, one shot ahead of Bobby Stroble.

There was one other subplot. Inman also moved from No. 42 to No. 27 on the money list, which gives him a position in next week’s Senior Tour Championship. Inman bumped Bob Dickson to No. 33--the second consecutive year Dickson was dumped out of the top 31 at Wilshire and lost his full exemption for senior tour playing privileges.

But this was Inman’s day, even if it had been a long time coming. He actually had one before--the 1976 Kemper Open--but that was 22 years ago and you would have to say that two decades between victories is sort of a long time.

In addition to his status as a world-class talker, Inman is also a positive thinker who never downgraded his chances, never lost his temper, never lost his nerve. He said he wasn’t always that way.

“Courage is to stand up to that little voice inside your head. I hear their voices: ‘Joe, I don’t know . . . that’s Lee Trevino, look how good he’s playing.’ Courage is not giving in when things go bad.”

For a while, though, it didn’t appear as if it was going to be his day. Morgan still held a two-shot lead through 10 holes. But Morgan made bogey at the next hole and Inman trailed by only one, then Inman took the lead at No. 14 when he rolled in a 12-footer for birdie.

Inman birdied the 15th after spinning a wedge back to 10 feet behind the hole, which put him ahead of Morgan and one shot behind Trevino.

“I was being carried along,” Inman said.

He was carried further along when he birdied No. 16 to catch Trevino. Inman’s 12-foot putt didn’t look like it was going in. It rolled right, but dropped in to the left at the last second.

“Unbelievable,” Inman said.

After Trevino bogeyed the 17th, Inman did what comes naturally. He started talking. At the 18th tee, Inman took a brief time out for a personal chat.

“I said ‘Now is the time, Joe, let’s see what you can do,’ ” he said.

Inman was on the green in two, about 14 feet left of the hole. But he rolled his first putt about four feet past.

“And I’m saying, ‘Joe, you can’t do anything easy, Joe, gol-dern, you son. Then the putt went right in. Gosh-Almighty!”

That’s telling it, Joe.

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* SUTTON WINS

Hal Sutton birdied the first playoff hole to win the PGA Tour Championship. Page 9