Sunday, September 26, 1999
Dougherty is surprise leader; Trevino lurks
Irwin also in contention on final day
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — Ed Dougherty didn't even know until last week that he was invited to play in the Kroger Senior Classic.
Now he's the leader going into today's final round at The Golf Center at Kings Island.
Dougherty shot a bogey-free 5-under Saturday and stands at 7-under-par 133 after two rounds, leading good friend Dana Quigley, 1990 Kroger champion Jim Dent and first-round co-leader Jimmy Powell by one stroke.
“I don't even know who's behind me,” Dougherty said. “I do know they're all good golfers. I don't control them; they don't control me. We just play. At the end, hopefully you're good enough. If not, you say, "Well, congratulations.'”
The leaderboard is crowded.
The popular Lee Trevino heads a group of six players at 5-under, two shots off the lead. Joining him at 135 are Gil Morgan, Graham Marsh, Joe Inman, John Bland, Walter Hall. Inman had the best round of the day, a 7-under 63.
The course was playing slower, which helped the players' scores. Several commented after their rounds about how well the greens and fairways were soaked with water after the first round.
“I saw it right away on the first hole,” Trevino said. “I hit a 7-iron out of the rough and the ball stopped. It hadn't been doing that. I think that's why we made a lot of birdies out there today.”
Hale Irwin, No. 1 on the money list, joins Allen Doyle, Hubert Green, Vicente Fernandez, first-round co-leader Jim Colbert and Bobby Stroble at 136, three shots behind the leader.
“It'll be a shootout, we know that,” Quigley said. “I look for one guy to be real hot. I've just got to hope it's me.”
In his second year in the Senior PGA Tour, Dougherty does not have any automatic exemptions into tournaments, meaning he is often at the mercy of sponsors who can grant him an exemption.
That can lead to some frustrating times. For starters, he can't plan his schedule. Also, his results don't always translate into spots in the fields.
“I was in fifth place up in Grand Rapids and I was playing very well, and I bogeyed the last couple holes and finished 12th or 13th, and the next week I wasn't in the tournament. That was a disappointment,” Dougherty said. “I came in second in the U.S. (Senior) Open and I wasn't in the following week's tournament, so that was a very big disappointment.
“I try not to let disappointments happen. I'm out here for the good things. I'm out here to play and enjoy myself. I don't let it wear on me.”
He finished in the top 25 last year in 15 of the 19 events he entered, with his best result a third-place finish at the Bell Atlantic Classic.
At the beginning of 1999, he wrote letters to sponsors trying to get exemptions. He stopped doing that, hoping tournament chairmen would notice his results.
He is 15th on the money list for the year ($759,912). He led the U.S. Senior Open Championship for three rounds before finishing second to Dave Eichelberger.
Dougherty has not finished a tournament over par since April, and in three of his last four events he was 15-, 16- and 13-under. But that doesn't guarantee him anything.
“I'm playing next week,” he said. “Two weeks from now, I'm the second alternate. It can work on your psyche (but) I don't let it. If I'm in the tournament, I'm thrilled to be there. If I'm not ... that tournament doesn't exist in my life.”
The Kroger will exist forever if he can finish today with his first Senior Tour title.
“He's got a little more pressure on him than we do,” Quigley said. “He's played so well the last month and a half.
“I'll be obviously trying to win. (But) I do pull for my friends. We're all in this together. I'll be in his corner.”
Today's victory won't come easily to anyone. Several of the top players (Irwin, Morgan, Doyle) are lurking.
So are a couple of Super Seniors. Powell is 64 years old, Dent 60. Powell was just saying Friday how a 60-year-old wasn't going to win the tournament.
“I'll take it back if I win,” he said, smiling. “I hope one of us wins. That would be fantastic.”
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