Inman on Inside Looking Out of Senior Tour Access Window

Joe Inman knows he is a very lucky man. And how does he know this? Because he is playing on the Senior PGA Tour, a virtual money-printing business without the printing press or the ink.

Inman is the defending champion in the upcoming Pacific Bell Senior Classic at Wilshire Country Club, which is where the 51-year-old former Ping sales rep and one-time PGA Tour radio network broadcaster scored his first senior victory.

Inman has made more than

$1.4 million on the senior tour--or twice what he made in 26 years after he joined the PGA Tour in 1971. He is 16th on the money list this year with $813,947.

“This whole thing is amazing,” Inman said. “I feel like Cinderella, man. When I get up in the morning and put on these glass slippers, I expect them to be boots sometimes. It can’t last forever.”

In fact, it’s such a rich game that the window of opportunity for a lot of players to climb in is closing fast. The problem is about access and it’s starting to get fairly limited.

“There are only 78 players in the field every week and you can’t move up that money list--unless you’re a superstar--unless you play.”

Inman knows. He didn’t finish in the top 10 last year until August, but his victory at Wilshire took all the pressure off. And he has made the most of his chance this year.

Fields in senior tour events largely are limited to three groups: 1) tournament winners, 2) the top 31 spots in the previous year’s money list, and 3) players from the all-time money list, not otherwise exempt, to a floor of 70.

What’s happening is that the all-time money list is getting pretty high--the 70th place for 2000 may be $2.7 million--and that means that players about to turn 50 such as Mark Hayes, Lon Hinkle, Andy North, Jerry Pate and Andy Bean--aren’t automatically eligible and have no place to play.

Not only that, but the top 31 money list exemption is becoming more difficult too. Last year, it was about $544,000 and this year it’s probably going to be more than $600,000.

With Tom Watson, Tom Kite and Lanny Wadkins either on the senior tour or on their way, the access is going to tighten up even more. And the time to make money is growing narrower--more than 80% of the senior tour titles are won by players younger than 56.

“It’s great out here, but I’ll tell you, it’s tough,” Inman said.

WHAT ABOUT A WINDMILL?

In a somewhat unusual move, the finishing hole at Wilshire for the Pacific Bell tournament will be what is normally the 10th hole--a 162-yard par three with bunkers fronting the green. What is normally the 18th hole will become No. 17.

Why? So the last two holes will be played in front of the clubhouse and supposedly make sure there is a large crowd looking on.

Gil Morgan, a two-time winner at Wilshire, said there are two other senior tour events with par-three finishing holes.

So what does that mean about the new 18th hole? Well, Jim Colbert said he knows.

“Everybody will be able to reach it,” Colbert said.

IN THE DROP ZONE

From the It-Was-Bound-

to-Happen Department: For the first time since golf’s world ranking system began in 1986, Greg Norman and Bernhard Langer are not ranked in the top 50--Norman is No. 51, Langer No. 54.

ALERT ARTHUR MURRAY

Judging by the stiff moves David Duval made while celebrating his singles victory on the last day of the Ryder Cup, Johnny Miller says Duval needs a little work.

Said Miller: “He looked like he was in training for dance lessons.”

THE UNSINKABLE TITANIC

How do you spell “hustle?” In golf, you spell it Titanic Thompson. One of the game’s legendary hustlers, Thompson fleeced unsuspecting citizens with such ploys as betting he could knock a golf ball into a row boat on a lake--and did it by secretly filling the boat with sand so the ball would hit it and bury.

Anyway, for $100, you now can buy an official Titanic Thompson cap on his Web site. Yes, only $100 for a cap (plus $10 shipping and handling).

Here’s betting that’s one offer Titanic would approve of.

HOME SWEET HOME?

The headline from a media release about the World Golf Championships event next month at Valderrama in Spain: “American Golfers Should Feel At Home . . .”

How’s that again? “American Golfers Should Feel Slightly Ill,” maybe. Valderrama is the place where the highly favored U.S. team suffered a Ryder Cup defeat in 1997, one that U.S. captain Tom Kite blamed partially on unfamiliarity with the course.

NEXT IN LINE

For what it’s worth, early speculation on Ben Crenshaw’s successor as Ryder Cup captain in 2001 centers on Curtis Strange.

Yeah, Johnny Miller is probably out.

Strange, the five-time Ryder Cup member and two-time U.S. Open champion, turns 46 in January and seems to satisfy at least two of the PGA of America’s unwritten standards--major championships and the correct age.

Lanny Wadkins was 46 in 1995, Kite was 48 in 1997 and Crenshaw is 47.

HE WASN’T IN ANYONE’S LINE

In case you missed it, an international incident was barely avoided at the Dunhill Cup at St. Andrews when Tom Lehman overslept and missed the team event’s opening ceremony.

Lehman’s excuse: “I didn’t know there was one.”

It was the first time players from the United States were in Europe since the Ryder Cup. Lehman, Payne Stewart and Mark O’Meara are the U.S. team, which defeated New Zealand on Thursday.

By the way, here’s why no one should believe anything in a United Kingdom tabloid--the headline on a story about the Dunhill Cup referred to Lehman as “Monster Lehman.”

I’m not sure, but that seems a little strong, doesn’t it?

CASEY UPDATE

Despite making $652.50 and tying for 48th last week in the Nike Tour event at Moreno Valley, Casey Martin is still hanging on to the 15th and last spot on the Nike Tour money list that qualifies him for a PGA Tour card in 2000. Two events remain on the Nike Tour schedule.

JULI AND 29 OTHERS

Juli Inkster, who can count two major titles in her five victories this year, leads the field in the $1-million PageNet Championship at Las Vegas, Nov. 11-14.

The top 30 players on the LPGA money list compete in the event, where the Rolex player of the year, the Vare Trophy and the money title will be decided.

NEXT YEAR, 12 HOURS

Not that there’s too much golf or anything, but is a one-day off-season really enough?

That’s how long between the $3.5-million Tiger Woods Williams World Challenge special event Dec. 28-Jan. 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the $2.9-million PGA Tour season-opening Mercedes Championships, Jan. 4-9 at Kapalua on Maui.

SHARK FIELD

Prize money at the Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout is up to $1.5 million for the Nov. 10-14 event at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. The event benefits the National Childhood Cancer Foundation, among others.

Committed to play are Norman, Crenshaw, Pate, Strange, Steve Elkington, Fred Couples, Craig Stadler, John Daly, Brad Faxon, Peter Jacobsen, Mark Calcavecchia, John Cook, Jay Haas, Corey Pavin, Chris Perry, Jeff Sluman, Olin Browne, Stewart Cink, Bruce Lietzke, Glen Day and Andrew Magee.

SENIOR TOUR UPDATE

The new old kid on the block is Doug Tewell, who turned 50 Aug. 27, but didn’t make his senior tour debut until the Vantage Championship last week.

Tewell, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, finished tied for 15th and made $25,500.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

The Maury Wills celebrity golf classic will be played Monday at MountainGate Country Club. The event benefits Today’s Fresh Start, which provides tutoring for inner-city children. Details: (888) 998-6329.

The 12th Five Acres Invitational will be played Monday at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank. The event benefits the Altadena therapeutic treatment center for abused, neglected and abandoned children. Details: (626) 798-6793, Ext. 244.