1992 Final Leader Board

1 Bill Glasson 1 276 T2 John Daly 277 T2 Ken Green 277 T2 Mike Springer 277 T2 Howard Twitty 277 T6 Mark Brooks 278 T6 M. Calcavecchia 278 T6 Greg Kraft 278 T6 Wayne Riley 278 T6 Payne Stewart 278 Complete Scores

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 1, 1992; Page C1

Less than a year after wondering whether he'd ever walk again, let alone even play in another golf tournament, Bill Glasson found himself at the 18th hole of the Kemper Open yesterday uttering an acceptance speech for winning a championship that was not decided until John Daly's dead on-line final chip for par fell a foot short of forcing a playoff.

Instead, it was Glasson's brilliant 35-yard chip shot from off the fairway in front of the final green that will always be remembered at the Tournament Players Club at Avenel, along with the compelling story of the 32-year-old man who made it. That shot and the one-foot tap-in for par that followed settled a day of high drama for the record-breaking crowd of 55,000 on the soggy grounds to witness Glasson's fifth PGA Tour victory, and second at the Kemper.

His final round of 3-under 68 put him at 8-under 276, a stroke ahead of Daly, who bogeyed the 18th hole after toe-hooking his tee shot; Mike Springer, who also bogeyed 18 after hitting his drive into a bunker; and veterans Howard Twitty and Ken Green.

Five other players, including defending U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart playing in Redskins burgundy plus-fours and posting his best finish of the season, crowded in at 6 under. And coming down the final topsy-turvy nine holes, at least a dozen players had more than occasional chances for fame and fortune. Only Glasson survived, and over the last three years, he's had a lot of practice in perseverance.

Few professional athletes have known the agony Glasson has endured, whether from the pain of four knee operations going back to high school, or the severe muscle problems in his lower back and the four sinus operations that finally forced him off the tour last year, when he played in only 10 tournaments.

"The Kemper {he won with a 50-foot birdie putt in 1985 at Congressional} was the first one, and my life in my first pro career ended in 1989," Glasson said. "Now I've started again with my second pro career, and this is a chance to do better on my second life on the PGA Tour."

Glasson, who has been playing on a medical exemption this season, earned $198,000 for his victory, but far more importantly, the native of Fresno, Calif., demonstrated to himself that he is fully capable of walking 72 holes on a long, tough course and playing competitive golf at the highest levels of the game.

Never was that more obvious than on the 18th hole, the 444-yard undulating torture chamber that ultimately decided this event.

Glasson, playing two groups ahead of Daly — who was in the final threesome — came to the 18th tee at 8 under, with Twitty, Green and Springer all in the clubhouse at 7 under. Behind him, crowd darling Daly was charging, as evidenced by sonic-boom roars from the largest gallery on the premises.

"This is what every golfer looks forward to," Glasson said. "Playing the last hole with a one-shot lead. You make par, chances are you tie or win the tournament. You see what you're made of."

What Glasson saw after he pushed his drive was a brutal second shot to the green from the dark side of the moon, a ball buried in tall grass allowed to grow to major-championship length all week, 212 yards from the green. Glasson said he hardly hesitated in asking caddie Mike Lealos for his metal 4-wood, and admitted "I didn't take the intelligent play. Nine out of 10 times I'd hit a 6- or 7-iron out of there and get to a sand wedge shot 80 or 90 yards away.

"But I knew if I could get it moving forward down the fairway, I'd have a chance to get it close. It was one of the worst lies I've had all week, and you could definitely leave it there. I could have rolled it three feet like a lot of amateurs do."

But Glasson got enough of the clubhead on the ball to bump it onto the fairway, and when the ball rolled down the hill and came to rest 35 yards from the hole just off the front apron, he hit that 7-iron chip perfectly, downhill until halfway to the pin, with a hard right-to-left break to the hole. The shot stopped a foot wide and Glasson had an easy tap-in.

Waiting for Daly to arrive may have been the toughest part of Glasson's day, a day prolonged for him and nine other players who in the morning had to complete their third rounds suspended because of Saturday's rain. Now he stayed at the 18th hole near the scorer's tent, and even as Daly was playing the final hole, Glasson had his back turned to the action as he signed autographs for anyone who asked, and did the mandatory how-do-you-feel interview for television.

Meanwhile, out on the golf course, Daly, the defending PGA champion, had put himself in position to win by hitting a courageous 7-iron on the 195-yard 17th hole, flying the ball over the water down the right side protecting the green and the pin, tucked in an almost impossible position. The ball came to rest eight feet from the hole, and when Daly made the birdie putt to go 8 under, he knew he had a chance to tie or win.

"I couldn't believe it went in," Daly said of a putt that looked off line to the left almost from the moment he struck it. But somehow it found the left edge of the cup and plopped to the bottom of the hole. "I didn't deserve to make it, but I wasn't complaining."

That would come later. The man who is the longest driver on the tour said he'd been hitting his tee shot at 18 to the right all week and wanted to draw it this time to get the ball into the fairway. Instead, "I raised up a little bit and toe-hooked it. I didn't have a bad lie {for his second shot}, but I didn't have a chance to make the green."

The ball was in the deep left rough and Daly hit a 6-iron down that same side, trying to get into position for a chip and a putt for par that at least would force the playoff. But his ball landed in a dreadful lie, buried in high grass so that he could barely even see it.

"How I hit the third shot to where I did I have no idea," said Daly, who managed to get almost pin-high on the fringe, about 20 feet from the hole. The chip for par stopped a foot short, and Daly said, "If I had hit it a little harder, it would have gone in. I had it read perfect. . . . But one thing I'm proud of myself for, even when I hit it in the water" — as he did twice on his round yesterday — "I never gave up. I handled the pressure well."

So did his wife, Bettye, overdue now by three days to have her baby, even as she walked all 18 holes with her husband yesterday. "I'm tired," she said, "but I'm happy for John. It would have been nice to win and have the baby, but he did great."

And so did Glasson, a medical wonder whose swing has been completely rebuilt by Kent Cayce, the head pro at Congressional down the road and Glasson's teacher for the last nine years. Glasson also acknowledged the doctor who diagnosed and treated his knee and back problems last summer, Steve Gott- lieb of Statesboro, Ga., who "saved my life," and the contribution of the trainers in the PGA Tour's fitness trailer. He spends an hour there before each round loosening up, and 90 minutes after each round working on strength and conditioning.

"Therapy is a way of life for me," Glasson said. "I'm in better physical shape than I've ever been. All my parts seem to be working. . . . Last summer, I went from where I couldn't compete on the golf course to where I couldn't walk. At that point it was a quality of life issue for me. I couldn't stand up for 10 minutes. I couldn't play with my kids."

Yesterday, he was able to walk away from the Kemper Open as the tournament's 25th champion, cradling his son Max in his arms when his victory had been assured.