After having to sink putts with $50,000 of his own money on the line, Steve Schneiter figures the Big Stakes match play held in May in Mesquite, Nev., could be renamed Big-Time Nerves.
There was a whole lot of trembling going on, said Schneiter, a Sandy, Utah, resident. He is competing this week in the Colorado Open for a considerably smaller purse than the $3 million check, awarded to the winning two- man team of David Ping and Garth Mulroy at Big Stakes.
“It was a pressure that I’ve never felt before, and I’ve played in a lot of major championships,” Schneiter said. “It’s just different when it’s your cash.”
A total of 64 twosomes entered the inaugural Big Stakes showdown, the brainchild of former NFL quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Entry fee was $100,000 per team.
Schneiter, who will play in his eighth PGA Championship in two weeks, teamed with longtime friend James Blair, a two- time Colorado Open champion and fellow Utahn. They reached the semifinals and split $400,000.
Tournament officials said Schneiter and Blair, who own golf facilities, were the only entrants to foot their own bill. All others in the field received financial backing from outside parties.
The $100,000 entry fee for Ping and Mulroy was funded by two NFL offensive linemen: Barry Stokes of the Atlanta Falcons and Ross Verba, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. Ping, 27, and Mulroy, 26, became friends on mini-tours.
The competition aired later in May on the Golf Channel.
“It’s a great concept; it’s gambling, it seems like to me,” said Schneiter, 41. “I think it could turn into something really big.”
Three other entrants in this week’s Colorado Open played in the inaugural Big Stakes competition: 2001 Colorado Open champion Brett Wayment and former University of Colorado teammates Ben Portie and John Douma. Wayment, from Logan, Utah, reached the quarterfinals. Portie, a Westminster resident, and Douma, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., lost in the first round. Portie teamed with a former PGA Tour player, Brian Tennyson. Douma played with fellow Gateway Tour regular Mikkel Reese.
“It was a little different,” Portie said. “Obviously I’d never played for that much money before.”
The Big Stakes field was limited to players without fully exempt status on any major tour during the past three years. Handicaps were not used in the best-ball format.
In the final, Ping and Mulroy defeated veteran Long Island club pros Rick Hartmann, 44, and Mark Mielke, 42. The runner-up team split $675,000. After paying off their benefactors, Ping and Mulroy each collected $750,000.
Douma plans to play in next year’s Big Stakes.
“If I don’t, it means that I made the Nationwide Tour or PGA Tour, a good news, bad news kind of thing,” he said.
Couples commits
PGA Tour pros who committed to The International on Wednesday included Fred Couples, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Todd Hamilton and Jesper Parnevik. Couples, winner of the 1992 Masters, recently finished in a tie for third at the British Open.
Weir, who won the Masters in 2003, tied for fifth at Augusta this spring. Hamilton won the 2003 British Open. Appleby became the first back-to-back winner in 22 years at the Mercedes Championship this year.
Footnote
“Tiger Tees” (3,771 yards) for juniors and beginners have been installed at Aurora’s Springhill Golf Course.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
