Castle Rock – Somewhere, amid all the chatter about Ryder Cup points and next week’s PGA Championship – even next year’s PGA Tour schedule and who may or may not be spending July 4, 2007, in Colorado, there just might be a pretty good tournament waiting to break out at Castle Pines Golf Club.
“A really good tournament,” veteran Larry Mize corrected. “All that other stuff will take care of itself. Right now, everyone I know of is hoping to have a good week right here.”
Defending champion Retief Goosen may be one of the favorites a week from now at Medinah outside of Chicago, but today he’s more interested in gaining his first PGA Tour win of the season. Youngsters such as Arron Oberholser, J.J. Henry, Lucas Glover and Zach Johnson may well be hoping to be a part of things versus Europe next month at the K Club in Ireland, but they also know that process would be greatly enhanced if they can successfully navigate the 7,619-yard challenge immediately before them.
Even then, their dreams of wearing the red, white and blue likely isn’t any greater than those of Fred Couples, Davis Love III or 2001 International champion Tom Pernice Jr. – Ryder wannabes who are also in the field here.
“That’s the thing. I’ve been thinking too much about all that other stuff,” Love said Wednesday. “This week is about focusing on this tournament – a win’s a win. It doesn’t matter if it’s for Ryder Cup points or getting to Kapalua (site of the winners-only season-opening Mercedes Championship) or just to take $1 million of (International founder) Jack Vickers’ money.
“It would be nice to build on things, use this to get ready for the PGA or Ryder Cup, but really, it’s more important for me to become the first person to win this tournament three times. After that, I can worry about how to play Medinah.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, as the last of the pro-am participants were straggling in, Jose Maria Olazabal stood on the practice green, trying to coax four consecutive snaky 10-foot putts into the hole. The Spaniard would later estimate that he’d spent more than three hours on that green alone during the week; indeed, at that moment, with absolutely nothing at stake, Olazabal was reading breaks like he was in the middle of Amen Corner.
The rationale for all the grinding was simple, Olazabal said. “The ball’s not going into the hole, so I have to work hard to have the putts.”
Every week on tour, added the 1991 International champion, is special. “For me to win here again would be fantastic. The course probably suits the long hitter more, but if I work hard, that’s what I think about, not next week.”
Of course, given the modified Stableford scoring system that’s in play, The International holds a unique spot on tour anyway. During the buildup to the tournament, there’s been talk about the rough being thicker than in previous years, but that probably won’t inhibit teeny-boppers such as J.B. Holmes, Camilo Villegas and Bubba Watson from letting loose in an attempt to ring up as many birdies as possible.
In part because of weather delays that forced a 36-hole finale, Goosen finished last year’s tournament with 32 points, the third-lowest total since 1993. And while there’s never been an International that hasn’t had at least one stoppage in play, the forecast for this week looks promising.
Should that prove to be the case, 32 points may not get you into the top five.
“I think it’s great to be in an aggressive and positive frame of mind,” 2000 champion Ernie Els said. “To play well here, you’re going to have to make a lot of birdies.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.