Winless Graham defends this week
PGA Tour: EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 12) -- Tom Kite, umbrella in hand, walked the rain-soaked course at Serrano Country Club after three days of showers limited practice for the Senior Gold Rush Classic.
"It's a little different when you step up to a hole without ever having seen it before," said Kite, who is chasing Doug Tewell for the Senior Tour's Rookie of the Year honors. "You have some blind shots and elevation changes out here, I wanted to take a look. I don't think I've ever played a course before without practicing on it first."
The rain canceled most of an anticipated Pro-Am and restricted practice on the course near Sacramento, where seven of this year's top-10 money winners are among the field of 78 Senior PGA players. Sunny weather and warmer temperatures are expected for the 54-hole tournament that begins Friday.
A hard rain chased Kite off the course in the Wednesday morning Pro-Am, limiting him to nine holes. That's why he was out checking out the course as the rain continued.
It's been a successful debut for both Kite and Tewell, who has won three times and earned $1,332,394 in 24 tournaments. In only 17 events, Kite has two victories and $1,048,480 in earnings.
Motivated by the opportunity to catch Tewell, Kite decided to join the Gold Rush Classic field. But with two teen-age sons learning to drive and a daughter heading to college as a freshman, golf hasn't always been Kite's top concern this year.
"Right now my family is my priority," he said. "I've had a pretty good year, I'm happy with it. It hasn't been unbelievably spectacular, but I've won two times."
David Graham returns to defend his title, which he won last year by four strokes. Graham, winless this season, tied a course record with a 9-under 63 in the opening round. He rebounded from a two-shot deficit after 36 holes, shooting a 65 in the final round to win for the fifth time on the Senior Tour.
A confident Jim Thorpe also will be playing. Last weekend, he set a tournament record by finishing 18-under in the Transamerica Championship for his first Senior victory. That moved Thorpe to No. 7 on the money list.
Money leader Larry Nelson has an opportunity to gain some further ground this week. Both No. 2 Bruce Fleisher and No. 3 Hale Irwin are taking the week off. Dana Quigley, fifth on the money list, won the Gold Rush event in 1998.
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