Left-Handed Compliment

Shortly after Mike Weir tapped in his putt that won the Masters, he was asked how many times he had been teased about standing on the wrong side of the ball.

Weir became the first left-handed Masters champion when he defeated Len Mattiace in a one-hole playoff Sunday at Augusta National. The only other left-handed champion of a major is Bob Charles, who won the British Open in 1963.

Weir stared back intently and grinned knowingly.

“You’re a lefty, aren’t you?” Weir said, as if such an unusual question could only be posed by a left-hander.

Left-handed golfers are teased, shot funny looks and often changed into right-handers. They share stories about how difficult it is to find equipment and get proper instruction.

They play courses some claim are designed for right-handers and they have a tough time winning tournaments -- especially majors.

Phil Mickelson, the most successful lefty in PGA Tour history, has 21 wins. Weir and Charles have six each. Only three other lefties have ever won; none more than once.

In the history of the PGA Tour, left-handers have 36 career victories. Tiger Woods, in only his eighth year on the tour, has 36.

Blame the percentages. Among some 30 million golfers nationwide, only about one million -- 3.3% -- are left-handed. Of the 257 players currently exempt on the PGA Tour, only five -- 1.9% -- are left-handed.

So when Weir won Sunday, it’s no wonder fellow southpaws swelled with pride.

“It’s big stuff isn’t it?” said Joe Clem, Director of the National Assn. of Left-Handed Golfers. “Not only winning, but two of the top three were left-handed.”

Actually, the top three are left-handed. Mattiace plays right-handed, but said he does just about everything else left-handed. Mickelson finished third.

Mickelson, who does everything but golf right-handed, learned to play left-handed by standing opposite his right-handed father and mimicking his swing. But neither Weir nor Mickelson thinks in terms of left and right.

“I am a left-handed golfer, but when I’m out there I don’t think of myself like that,” Weir said. “I’m a golfer.”

There is little doubt that left-handed golfers have more to overcome than right-handers. For example, try finding a left-handed golf instructor. In Southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, there are only about five.

Try finding a lefty golf instruction book. Ever seen tips for left-handers in a golf magazine?

“As an instructor, you sometimes have difficulty diagnosing a left-hander because you rarely see them,” said Ken Conant, the head professional at Sierra La Verne Country Club and a left-handed golfer. “But good teachers adapt.”

The number of left-handed Americans has been estimated as high as 30%, but because of difficulty in finding equipment and instruction, parents often turn their left-handed children into right-handed golfers.

“Right-handed fathers think they’re never going to be able to teach their left-handed sons anything about golf,” Conant said. “So they change them.”

Mattiace falls into that category, and Weir nearly did. Weir contemplated switching when he was 13, but decided against it after sending a letter to Jack Nicklaus requesting advice.

“He wrote back and said, ‘Stick to your natural swing,’ ” Weir said. “I still have that letter in my office.”

Finding left-handed equipment can also be a chore, though that’s beginning to change. All major equipment manufacturers offer left-handed clubs. Some, such as Cleveland Golf and Taylor Made, offer left-handed versions of every club they make.

Both companies take extra care in designing clubs for left-handers. Cleveland, for example, runs every left-handed club past Steve Flesch, a left-handed PGA Tour pro.

“It’s very hard for a right handed-designer to properly design a left-handed club without input from a left-handed player,” said Todd Harman, Senior Product Manager for Cleveland Golf. “We’re very cognizant of the fact that a right-handed designer might not always design the best club for a left-handed player.”

Nate Heckman, the Manager of Marketing Intelligence for Taylor Made, said 2%-4% of his company’s business is left-handed clubs, but that about 6% of custom orders come from lefties.

“Lefties are a little more fanatical,” said Heckman, whose company has an endorsement deal with Weir.

“You have to be if you decide to stay a lefty. And as long as players like Mike and Phil [Mickelson] keep finishing in the top five, it’s going to encourage lefties to stay lefty.”

Weir has seen a great deal of change in the choices faced by left-handed golfers in the last decade.

“I think back even when I was starting out in junior golf the equipment issue was a bit of a factor,” he said.

“That was a tough thing. Now it’s not an issue. I think you’ll see more left-handed golfers. The fathers of the past changing their sons to right-handed I think is no longer an issue anymore.

“So I think you’ll see a lot more lefties out there.”

Which, in turn, should mean more lefty winners and major champions -- something lefties feel is the only way to get recognition for their subculture.

“When lefties win on tour, I think it gives a little more credibility to lefties playing golf,” said Clem of the National Assn. of Left-Handed Golfers.

“It shows that you don’t have to be right-handed to be a top golfer on the PGA Tour.”

It also helps quell the heckling about standing on the wrong side of the ball.

Left-handers usually come back by telling the hecklers to stand behind them and observe that lefties are the only ones standing on the right side of the ball.

After Weir’s victory, they no longer must use that tired line.

“Well,” Weir said. “Now you have some ammo to give them when you’re on the tee.”

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Not Left Out

The only left-handed golfers to win on the PGA Tour:

*--* Golfer Wins Career Money Phil Mickelson 21 $23,117,944 Mike Weir 6 $11,212,923 Bob Charles 6 $539,118 Russ Cochran 1 $5,240,987 Ernie Gonzalez 1 $265,032 Sam Adams 1 $82,787

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