A Drop in the Cup

Allen Doyle had a feeling that the one-foot birdie putt he made at the end of his second round in the Toshiba Senior Classic last year might be a tournament winner.

He sank the putt in a heavy drizzle and the weather forecast was calling for more rain, threatening the final round at Newport Beach Country Club.

Doyle’s putt, which capped a run of five birdies in his last eight holes, gave him a one-shot lead over Jim Thorpe and Howard Twitty. That advantage turned into a victory the next morning when the final round was rained out.

And so Doyle had his fifth career senior tour victory.

And his only victory of last year.

As a senior tour rookie in 1999, Doyle won four times. But improvements in his season driving accuracy, greens in regulation and stroke average didn’t result in any more victories.

It did translate into consistency.

Doyle had 17 top-10 finishes and was a top-25 finisher in 31 of 33 tour events last season. And he still finished seventh on the money list with $1,505,471.

“You have to go back to how you play,” Doyle said. “I improved almost everything so you just have to realize that, you know, the strength of the field has gotten better.”

If Doyle seems happy with his standing on the tour, it’s because he is.

An accomplished amateur, Doyle did not become a professional until 1995. Content to stay home with his wife and watch two daughters grow up, he ran a driving range in La Grange, Ga.

Doyle won the Georgia amateur six times, twice represented the U.S. on Walker Cup teams and was on three World Amateur teams. Certainly the lure of big money in professional golf was tempting, but he didn’t think it was worth being away from his family until his girls approached college age.

“I didn’t have much money and both my girls were getting ready for college,” he said. “I was just kind of hoping that I could do a little teaching at my range and keep playing and maybe in four or five years I’d have my shot at the senior tour and maybe, just maybe, you know, get out here.”

His earnings of $4 million in two seasons haven’t changed him much. He still owns the driving range and still marvels at things like courtesy cars and the treatment he receives as a professional athlete.

Doyle won three times in his debut season on the Nike Tour (now Buy.com) and in 1996, at age 47 he was the oldest rookie in PGA Tour history.

Even with his success as an amateur and early on as a pro, Doyle never imagined he’d make it so big on the senior tour. The senior tour qualifying tournament is very competitive because only 16 players get an exemption each year.

“[Getting out here] is the big thing for guys like me,” Doyle said.

When he did make it, he found another significant hurdle to overcome: Nerves.

Doyle had spent a lifetime watching some of the players he would now compete against. Seven top-15 finishes in his first nine tournaments--including two victories--helped calm him.

“I envisioned when I played with Trevino or Nicklaus or Watson or Kite that I would feel inferior,” Doyle said. “But now I don’t because you tee it up and you look at stroke averages . . . if I’m ranked above them or equal to them that takes a little bit of the fear out. I got comfortable faster than I thought I would.”

Doyle seems to prefer the small-town life he built in Georgia. He said he doesn’t plan on sticking around the senior tour past his prime, even though the Super Seniors events for players 60 and older offer a lucrative incentive.

“You won’t find me playing a lot of Super Senior golf,” he said. “I’ll have more fun back home playing with the guys than I would shooting 75 out here.”

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Pro Golf

* What: Toshiba Senior Classic

* When: Friday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

* Where: Newport Beach Country Club, 1600 East Pacific Coast Hwy., Newport Beach (between Jamboree and MacArthur)

* Basics: The seventh of 39 events on the Senior PGA Tour features a field of 78 players competing in three rounds for a purse of $1.4 million. The winner receives $210,000.

* 2000 Champion: Allen Doyle made a birdie on the 18th hole Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Jim Thorpe and Howard Twitty. The lead held up when rain canceled the final round and Doyle picked up his only Senior Tour victory of 2000.

* In the field: Hale Irwin, the tour’s career money leader shot a course-record 62 in winning the 1998 Senior Classic; Tom Kite, a two-time winner as a tour rookie last year; Lee Trevino, whose 29 career senior victories is tied for best on the tour; Tom Watson, making his Senior Classic debut in his second season on the senior tour; Chi Chi Rodriguez, winner of 22 Senior events in 16 years on the tour.

* Tickets: $15 for practice and pro-am round Mon.-Thurs., $18 for tournament rounds Fri.-Sun.; $50 for a week-long grounds pass good Mon.-Sun.; $100 for a season clubhouse badge good for tournament and clubhouse admission all week.

Seniors aged 60 and older pay $9 on Friday.

Available at the gate, by phone at (949) 515-4840, or on the Internet at www.toshibaseniorclassic.com.

* Television schedule: Friday, 2-4 p.m, PAX; Saturday and Sunday, 3-5 p.m., CNBC

* Parking: Public parking at intersection of Jamboree and Back Bay Road is $7 and includes a shuttle to the course.