Just for Laughs, McCord Wins One

Gary McCord, best known as the class clown of professional golf, kept the people and his opponents laughing at the Toshiba Senior Classic, but when it was over the funny guy walked off with the biggest check.

McCord, the handle-bar mustached color analyst for CBS’ golf coverage, outlasted long-time friend John Jacobs in a five-hole playoff for the tournament title to win $180,000.

It ended a long victory drought for McCord. “I haven’t won since Nixon was a president,” he said.

Not quite that long. McCord won a Ben Hogan Tour event in 1991, but in 376 PGA Tour events over 25 years, he never finished higher than second. He has made a career out of witty banter that includes self-deprecating attacks at his golf game. His car license plates read “NOWINS.”

After this victory he might have to adjust his spiel. “I’ll blame it on something. I’ll come up with something, something extra-terrestrial,” he said. “Nobody will understand it and I’ll stick with it.”

Jacobs, who lives near McCord in Scottsdale, Ariz., and sees McCord’s game often, said don’t buy the act.

“Don’t listen to all of Gary’s [bull], because he is a good player,” Jacobs said. “He was a hell of a player on the other tour.”

McCord became the first player to win a Senior tour event on a sponsor’s exemption since Tony Jacklin in 1994.

McCord put Jacobs away in the playoff with a three-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, ending the tournament more than an hour after its expected finish.

It was the second time in three years that the Newport Beach event went to overtime. In 1997, Bob Murphy made an 80-foot putt on the ninth extra hole to beat Jay Sigel.

This playoff, which proved to be just as dramatic as the last, started as a four-way battle between McCord, Jacobs, Allen Doyle and Al Geiberger, and only because Geiberger made bogey on the 18th hole to fall back into the tie at nine-under-par 204 for the three-round tournament.

Doyle and Geiberger were eliminated on the first sudden-death playoff hole--the 510-yard, par-five 18th--both waiting to attempt putts for birdie. Jacobs, a long-driving Sean Connery look-a-like, hit a chip-shot from about 10 yards off the green that curved into the hole for eagle.

Jacobs then went into a twinkle-toes dance celebration, complete with a Chi Chi Rodriguez sword dance, and fell back onto the turf, as McCord stood nearby waiting to try a 15-foot putt for eagle. McCord then rolled in the putt to the delight of the gallery that had swelled to 10-deep around the green.

“I knew I wasn’t going to have the opportunity to two-putt that green and win,” McCord said. “Then he made it and it was kind of fun and it got to the point of ‘OK, all right, let’s go.’ Start getting the people hooting and hollering and I make it and now it’s fun for everybody.”

McCord had an excellent chance to finish it on the fourth playoff hole but missed a 3 1/2-foot birdie putt.

“A couple of those putts I didn’t want to make,” McCord said, deadpan, “because I wanted to keep it going. A lot of people were following us and the TV was on. And I’m a little bit of a ham anyway.”

“Then it got to the point where it was getting dark, so I had to put J.J. away.”

Final Scores

$1.2 MILLION TOSHIBA CLASSIC--Par 71

x-Gary McCord: 204 (-9)--$180,000

Allen Doyle: 204 (-9)--$88,000

John Jacobs: 204 (-9)--$88,000

Al Geiberger: 204 (-9)--$88,000

205 (-8)--$52,800

David Lundstrom: 205 (-8)--$52,800

Dana Quigley: 205 (-8)--$52,800

George Archer: 206 (-7)--$43,200

* Complete scores, Page 15