Mize looks to break through at 3M Championship
July 9, 2009
BLAINE, Minn. (AP)—Larry Mize might be playing the most consistent golf on theChampions Tour, but he has yet to hoist a trophy.
Mize has five top-10 finishes in his last six events, including asecond-place finish at the Senior PGA Championship in May.
“I’ve been playing well ever since just before The Masters,” said Mize,who finished 30th in his lone PGA Tour event this year. “I’d like to change thetop-10s into wins here somewhere along the way.”
Eleven of his last 15 rounds have been in the 60s, with a high score of 72.He is tied for 11th on the tour with 15 rounds in the 60s, though six playersabove him have played more events.
“It’s just been a combination of hitting the ball well, putting well andjust doing everything pretty good,” said Mize, who will be playing in his first3M Championship this week at the TPC Twin Cities. Other first-time entrantsinclude Fred Funk, Nick Price, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton and Mark Wiebe.
Mize will need to remain consistent on a course where R.W. Eaks shot23-under last year to win by six shots. He played a “quick 18” Tuesday andliked what he saw of the 7,100-yard layout.
“I’m already getting my mind set that I’ve got to go out there and make alot of birdies,” he said.
Mize is averaging 29.7 putts per round and went through a session tofine-tune his putting after a 10th-place finish at the Dick’s Sporting GoodsOpen two weeks ago.
It was at the same tournament that Sutton found a solution to some of hisputting woes by going to a shorter belly putter and using a split grip. He ranks75th on tour averaging nearly 31 putts per round.
“I don’t actually touch my belly with it. I don’t anchor the butt of theputter like some guys. … I putted nicely with it out there today,” Suttonsaid after Wednesday’s pro-am.
Sutton has finished no better than 24th in his past four tournaments, aftera third- and 11th-place finish in his previous two. He blames his putting.
In his first full year on the Champions Tour, Mize is third in CharlesSchwab Cup points, 442 points behind Bernhard Langer in the season-longcompetition. Each $1,000 earned equals one point.
“To catch Bernhard and anyone else that is going to be up there—LorenRoberts, Fred Funk, Keith Fergus and a lot of guys are playing well—would be atremendous accomplishment,” he said.
Mize estimates he’ll need to win at least a couple of tournaments, andprobably a major—where the points are doubled—to overtake Langer.
Nonetheless, no matter how much success Mize has the rest of his career, hewill always best be remembered for his 1987 Masters victory, beating Greg Normanby chipping in from 140 feet on the second playoff hole.
“It still comes up quite a bit. It’s not a bad subject for me to talkabout,” he said as a smile crept across his face. “Any time you do somethinggood, to remember that again is not a bad thing.”
Already one of the best attended tournaments on tour, competitors willlikely be playing in front of even larger 3M Championship crowds becauseadmission is free.
“We thought that after 17 years it was the right thing to do, to give backto the community,” said Hollis Cavner, the tournament director. “We just wantpeople to come and enjoy.”
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