This Is the One Event Inman Aching to Play

Joe Inman lies on the trainer’s table, face down, heat pack on his back, but resolute.

He has just hung up on his wife, knowing full well how sensible she sounds by telling him to withdraw from the SBC Senior Classic.

But he doesn’t want to listen. This is his tournament.

Officials have changed the venue, moving the SBC from Wilshire Country Club to Valencia, and they’ve changed the month, moving it from October to March, but Inman feels the need to proceed.

He wants to win his fourth consecutive SBC title, which would set a PGA Senior Tour record. But his aching back and tender ribs must cooperate in time for Friday’s opening round.

He injured himself last month in Florida and bit his lip at the Toshiba Senior Classic last week in Newport Beach, tying for 74th out of 78 golfers.

Three years ago, Inman surprised golf aficionados everywhere by winning at Wilshire. It had been a while since his previous victory--the 1976 Kemper Open as a PGA member.

Two years ago, Inman won again at Wilshire, coming from five back in the final round to earn a two-shot victory over Dave Stockton and Bruce Summerhays.

He cried after winning. Then he talked. And started to cry again.

He compared himself to songwriter Randy Newman--”I love L.A.,” he said--and felt this was just his Andy Warholian 15 minutes of fame.

Then came last year. Same tournament. Same place. Same result. Inman shot a final-day 65 to beat Larry Nelson by three shots.

Inman has won three times on the senior tour, all at Wilshire, and is one of only five players in Senior PGA history to win the same event three consecutive years.

It’s easy to see why the 53-year-old wants to pop off the trainer’s table, grab the closest club and reclaim his rightful territory. It won’t be easy, he realizes.

“If all you ever ate was ice cream, you’d get tired of it,” he said. “You’ve got to have wasabi sometimes. That’s what life is all about, sweet and sour, up and down. This is one of those down times.”

The changes this year are dramatic. In the interest of connect-the-dots geography, the senior tour moved the SBC to March, a week after the stop at Newport Beach and a week before the Siebel Classic in San Jose.

Not to mention the 30-mile trek north to Valencia after six years and three title sponsors at cozier, and easier, Wilshire.

“It breaks my heart,” Inman said.

As a PGA Tour player from 1974-86, he earned $729,249. In four years on the senior tour, he has earned $3.44 million.

“I’m just the luckiest person you know,” he said. “I never dreamed I’d do what I’d done out here.

“I’m not Gil Morgan, Hale Irwin, Larry Nelson. I’m not going to do this forever. I want to dance while they’re going to let me dance, and then I’m going to go home.”

Back to his three kids and his wife, Nancy. He admits she might be right about his ailing back.

“She’s fussing like hell at me,” he said. “But she’s doing it because she cares about me. She knows how stubborn I am.”