Thorpe sets the pace

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 26, 2007 | by Art Spander

SONOMA -- Where do we start with Jim Thorpe, the man of 10,000 words and, Thursday, very few shots?

That he qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship by fewer dollars than he's liable to plop down on a table in Vegas?

That being first off the tee and playing alone he got around Sonoma Golf Club in a remarkable 2 hours 35 minutes and 64 strokes?

That he is deeply concerned there are no African-American prospects other than Tiger Woods, who may chuck it before getting this far, to follow Thorpe and Jim Dent

onto the Champions Tour when inevitably they step away?

This is the big one for the old boys, the rich one, the tournament in a tournament, a $440,000 first prize from a $2.5million purse and also a chance for someone -- probably Loren Roberts or Jay Haas, 1-2 in the year long standings -- to pick up a $1million annuity for winning the Cup.

And this always seems to be the one Jim Thorpe, the onetime halfback from Morgan State, grabs and never relinquishes.

He won here in the wine country in 2003, then again in 2006. And now, tied for first after the first round with Eduardo Romero, Thorpe, an ageless 58, might very well win again.

Nine birdies and one bogey for the guy called Thorpy. A short, fast, walk unspoiled.

"The pace of play was perfect for me," said Thorpe, who doesn't believe he'd ever played a round, on the PGA Tour, on the Champions Tour, without a partner.

"I don't like to listen to guys complain, say, 'I can't believe that thing.' You know? I mean, I just hit it and didn't have to wait on anything."

Before that, he did have to wait to see if he would be in the Schwab, what amounts to the Tour Championship, limited to the top 30 on the money list.

Heading into last weekend's AT&T at San Antonio, he was 30th, barely ahead of ahead of Tom Jenkins. Thorpe hung on, finishing with a cumulative $905,038, compared to Jenkins' $900,949.

"If I had missed the top 30 and had not won last year," said Thorpe, "it wouldn't have bothered me. But by winning last year and in'03, not coming back to this, that was eating at me more than anything."

If he had missed the top 30, he wouldn't have been able to reflect on his life.

Wouldn't have been able to worry that no matter how many programs have been established for minority youth, they're not embracing the game he has appreciated practically forever.

Wouldn't have been able to give his uninhibited opinions during a Tuesday youth golf clinic at which he and Haas were the attractions.

"You have a lot of African-American kids, and it's tough for guy like Jay to talk to African-American kids," said Thorpe. "I'm going to tell the truth. 'You guys are on the borderline of being born with a handicap. I'm not saying you have to be twice as smart or twice as gifted, but that's the way the system works.'

"I'm going to tell these kids by putting tattoos all over your body, having babies out of wedlock, disrespecting your mom and dad, not getting the right education, then you're putting yourselves behind the 8-ball."

The ball Jim Thorpe stands behind is white and dimpled. He's grateful to be able to strike it again this week. Otherwise he would have been in Las Vegas.

Yes, he's a gambler, as is quite apparent from the logos and labels on his straw hat and knit shirt, Jim representing Foxwoods Resort casino in Connecticut. More than that, he's a golfer.

"I would play every week, 52 weeks a year," said Thorpe. " ... It's not about the money. It's about the love we have for the game ... The places we go, the people we meet, that sort of stuff."

That's one thing about the seniors. They remember a time when the payoffs were small, when there were no courtesy cars, when golfers were just pros, not celebrities.

"I'm not stupid. I'm on the downswing of this thing," conceded Thorpe. "But I don't think anybody has enjoyed themselves as much as I have. We're going to play until they chase us away. They're going to have to use a wheelchair to take us off."

Eighteen holes in two and a half hours? A wheelchair couldn't match that pace.

Art Spander, a past recipient of top national golf columnist honors by the Golf Writers Association of America, can be reached at typoes@aol.com.