The Pro-Am

A close-up view at the Pro Am

By RONNIE RAMOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/02/05

Tiger Woods spent Tuesday playing golf with a U.S. Senator, the president of CVS/pharmacy and the president of the restaurant company that owns, among other things, all those Longhorn restaurants.

"We were hoping we would be playing a scramble," said Tom Ryan, CVS/pharmacy president.

Ryan, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Woods played their own ball. No hitting the best shot of the foursome stuff (the pros did play the course at 7,153 yards; the amateurs at about 6,800 yards). Tuesday's Southern Company Pro-Am was that unique day when amateurs could walk down the fairway with the best players in the world. The hacker with a 20 handicap is hitting balls out of the same sand bunker Vijay Singh just escaped.

Not sure how that putt breaks? Sergio Garcia, come over and tell me what you think.

"It's an amazing experience, seeing it from the player's perspective," said Danny Yates, who played with Garcia. "You can see exactly what they're facing — what it's like to hit out of the rough. That's pretty cool." Yates, a scratch golfer, is not easily impressed. He's played on two Walker Cup teams and then served as the U.S. captain two other times. Even he was jazzed about the opportunity to play with Garcia. "Who wouldn't be — walking down the fairway with Sergio, having him look at your putts."

Mark Lazarus, president of Turner Entertainment Group, said the experience is unique to professional golf. "You can drive a race car, but not when other NASCAR drivers are out there. Out here, you are walking alongside the best in the world. It's fun and a real treat."

But before you walk the fairways, you have to get off that first tee. In front of a crowd, right after Woods has launched one. Any tips? "I try to look at it as just another round of golf," said Gene Lee, president of RARE Hospitality International, Inc. which owns the Longhorn and Capital Grille restaurant chains.

Dean Myers, a Coca-Cola vice president who played with Stuart Appleby, said he was nervous about his first tee shot. "Then my wife reminded me that no one really cares how you're going to hit the ball," he said. "It went right down the middle."

The pros, used to the crowds — and the required pro-am rounds — take it all in stride. "You get used to the crowds, it's part of the game," Garcia said.

Garcia, overcoming jet lag from his trans-Atlantic flight the day before, was not pleased with his game Tuesday. Yet he signed autographs on every hole, helped his amateurs line up most of their putts and said hi to any kids who came by.

When Yates' tee shot on a par 3 landed 10 feet from the hole, Garcia turned to the crowd and said, "That's our pro."

Forget the amateurs, said Myers, the Coca-Cola vice president. "This Pro-am is a great opportunity to see the pros play up close without the crowds," he said. A ticket good for Tuesday's Pro-am and today's practice round was $25. "It's one of golf's best-kept secrets."