On This Day, It’s a Struggle for Nearly Everybody

Raymond Floyd was three time zones and 2,500 miles from Friday’s memorial service for Payne Stewart in Orlando, Fla., and like everyone else in the field at Wilshire Country Club, he was busy trying to get off to a good start in the Pacific Bell Classic.

So Floyd didn’t have time to think about Stewart, did he?

“Only every shot,” Floyd said.

There were three men’s professional golf events on the calendar for Friday, and the Senior PGA Tour event at Wilshire was the only one that went on as scheduled.

On the surface, everything seemed normal. The sun shone, there was almost no wind, the greens were nicely manicured, the fairways were springy and soft.

But what happened was anything but business as usual.

John Jacobs and John Mahaffey shared the first-round lead at six-under 65 and five others are within two shots of them. Gary Player signed his scorecard for a four-under 67, but he said he was preoccupied with matters weighty and confusing and not playing golf.

Player watched part of Stewart’s memorial service on television and couldn’t shake it out of his mind. He wasn’t the only one.

“There’s no question there was a vibe around the golf course,” Player said. “That was a tear-jerker.

“It’s bad enough when there’s any death in a family, but if there is a sickness involved, at least you can prepare yourself a little bit. With Payne Stewart, it’s just a total shock.”

The work day began for the senior players with a blast from horn at 7:30 a.m. to signal a moment of silence for Stewart. Many of the players watched at least part of the televised memorial service waiting for their tee times.

Chi Chi Rodriguez did not wear his usual smile to the course. On this day, he thought it would seem out of place.

“I feel so bad,” Rodriguez said.

He felt bad for Stewart and Stewart’s wife and two children and also for the four others who died with Stewart in Monday’s crash of a private jet near Mina, S.D. He felt bad because he was struggling to understand why it happened. Eventually, he produced a theory.

“That’s the way God does things,” Rodriguez said. “We, as adults, we get older and we are supposed to be better able to understand. I am waiting for that to happen.”

Jim Thorpe turned in a 67 and started talking about Stewart before even discussing his round. Thorpe said Stewart was not an ordinary player or person.

“There are some guys, some players, you wouldn’t give 10 cents for,” he said. “Payne Stewart was not one of those guys. Payne was loved.

“I’ll tell you, that’s what makes this a tough week . . . a very tough week. I caught myself on the course today and my mind seemed to be drifting. I think we’ll all be glad when this week is over.”

Thorpe, Player, Lee Trevino and Dave Stockton are two shots behind Jacobs and Mahaffey. Bruce Summerhays is one shot off the lead after opening with a 66.

For Mahaffey, the circumstances Friday were about as difficult as he has faced.

“This is Payne Stewart’s day,” he said. “It was extremely difficult to play golf today. You saw grown men crying. Sure, I’m happy with my round, but I’m saddened by the loss of a great friend and competitor. I played a really great round of golf, but like Davis Love said, it really doesn’t matter.

“We have trained our minds to focus, but when I wasn’t hitting a golf shot, my mind was somewhere else.”

Floyd finished with a nifty sand save on the par-three 18th, but his mind wasn’t on his business. He accidentally put down an incorrect score on a hole for one of his playing partners, Fred Gibson, who luckily caught the error.

“I don’t normally do that,” Floyd said, shaking his head. His mind was elsewhere.

“What happened to Payne, it takes your breath away just to think about it. You can’t go a minute without thinking about it, ever since it happened.”

The players’ work day ended at 4 p.m. when a lone bagpiper signaled the start of a short memorial service for Stewart at the 18th green at Wilshire. Thorpe wanted to be there, but he couldn’t. He needed to go to a wake for his 13-year-old nephew who died suddenly this week.

Thorpe was silent for a moment and thought about his nephew, Justin Harvey of Culver City.

“Maybe he’s already run into Payne,” Thorpe said “Maybe Payne has said, ‘Hey, I know your uncle.’ ”