GOLF COLUMN

Weather Or Not, It Was Great Day

By MICK ELLIOTT

Published: Feb 19, 2007

LUTZ - It didn't snow Sunday at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. A spaceship did not hover over TPC Tampa Bay while little green men hung out windows asking Bill Murray when exactly he planned on coming home. Not a single driver was discovered carrying a full tank of jet fuel.

A perfect day.

No one cared that it was colder out than Britney Spears' noggin. They didn't mind that icy wind gusts reached 35 mph, turning both spectators and golfers from numb to numbest. There wasn't a closet in Tampa with enough clothes to have kept you warm but it flat didn't matter.

Leaves and debris blew across greens like tiny tumbleweeds through a ghost town. You couldn't tell the players with or without a scorecard because ski caps, mittens and turned-up collars made everyone look alike: cold!

It was a beautiful thing.

Anytime Tom Watson wins your golf tournament while Murray and playing partner Scott Simpson walk off with the pro-am title, nobody is going to sweat the small stuff.

Who cares whether the weatherman was fair or foul? It was one of those you-couldn't-have-written-a-better-script shows that produced so much fun, the overflow galleries figured it was better to risk pneumonia than miss something.

They didn't. Watson, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988, the man who won 39 PGA Tour titles, eight of them major championships, came to Tampa to make history.

"Well, I'm 1-for-94," he said. "I was zero-for-93."

In all the years and all the tournaments in which one of golf's all-time great players competed, he never, ever - not once - won in Florida until Sunday.

"I'd just like to congratulate Tom Watson, a guy I always thought was a total loser, for proving me wrong," said Murray, the actor, comedian and pro-am laugh track.

Watson proved a lot of things Sunday, among them that it is no coincidence he has won five British Opens and two Senior British Opens, events where wind is as much a part of the courses as bunkers and rough.

Come From Behind

A 1-under 70 made Watson one of only six players in the field to better par in the final round. Beginning the day one shot behind second-round co-leaders Andy Bean and Wayne Levi, he took the lead after a birdie on the par-4 13th hole pushed him to 4 under and carried it safely home.

Bean played steady and well, having only one stumble on the way to shooting 72, a double-bogey on the par-5 14th that resulted from a single bad swing. He finished one shot back, tied for second with Jay Haas, who finished with 69.

Nobody, however, was better.

Not in British Open weather.

"Actually, I have never been this cold at the British Open," he said.

It didn't matter. It was easy to warm up to Outback on Sunday.

"Bill Murray is your amateur champion; Tom Watson wins his first event of his career in Florida. We're pumped," tournament director Amy Hawk said. "It was a great, great day for us."

Let it blow, let it blow.

Think About It

"Wind adds another series of factor," Watson said, explaining his fondness for the elements. "Wind is like the break on the green. You have a slope on the green, the ball breaks. A big slope, it really breaks. It's the same thing with the wind.

"Add a 20- or 30-mile-an-hour wind, you get a little mis-hit, and it's 60 or 90 feet off line. The fun of playing in the wind is to be able to out-think it."

The week gave the Champions Tour a lot to think about. Murray's participation added an unmistakable vibe to the event. NBC broadcasting the weekend action, even it did have to shift the final hour and a half of Sunday's action to the Golf Channel because of a late finish, added prestige. The golf course was in perfect condition. Outback's commitment to detail and fondness for a party was evident.

Watson mentioned the spirit of the old Bing Crosby Clambake.

"Yes, there is some Crosby-esque times at this event," he said. "This is a well-run event. There's a lot of effort in making this a premiere event. In my opinion they have succeeded very well."

A good day.