A playoff to remember

It was 50 years ago, and many of the details are long forgotten. But Kathy Cornelius remembers this: There weren't any scoreboards so she didn't have any idea as to where she stood.

``I just remember that Marlene Hagge and I weren't even paying attention to one another. We were both kind of in awe of the situation," said Cornelius from her home in Chandler, Ariz.

The ``situation" was her winning performance in the 1956 US Women's Open at Northland CC in Duluth, Minn., which remains a pleasant memory. Except, of course, for the 18th hole in the final round, which back then would have been the 36th hole on Saturday. It was there that Cornelius -- though she didn't quite know it at the time -- squandered her lead and put herself into a playoff.

``I just remember that I hit a mediocre tee shot, then laid up into a hazard," said Cornelius, who only knew that she had a two-shot lead over her playing competitor, Hagge, on that 18th tee.

As Cornelius navigated her way onto the elevated green with her fourth shot and made two putts for a bogey 6, a shy amateur named Barbara McIntire sat in the locker room, wondering what she had done. There had been a birdie at the par-4 16th, a par at the par-3 17th, and a shocking eagle at the 18th. Joe Dey, the executive director of the US Golf Association, approached McIntire and said her 302 total might be good enough to win, and that she shouldn't go anywhere.

Which was OK with her, ``because I couldn't move," said McIntire.

McIntire had trailed by a whopping eight shots through 54 holes, but her final-round 71 had closed the gap with a stunning swiftness. Not that Cornelius knew; after all, she had her own problems on 18. The closing bogey gave her a 79 and, at 302, she was pushed into an 18-hole playoff the next day.

Let the record show it was the first playoff in the history of the US Women's Open, which had been born 10 years earlier. Let the record show that Cornelius prevailed, 75-82. Let the record also show that her name should be entered in the Massachusetts roster of national golf champs, though it is hardly mentioned in state archives.

``I still remember our house address," said Cornelius. ``It was 43 First Parish Road."

As in Scituate, where she was born and raised, at least for the first seven years of her life.

``I don't remember much about the town, just that the grade school was on a hill and that my father owned a boat so we went fishing quite a bit."

She would like to tell you that her golfing roots trace to Scituate, but she can't say that. They are pleasant memories of Scituate, but it wasn't until Kathy McKinnon's father moved the family to Florida during World War II that her passion for golf took place. They lived in Lake Worth, not far from West Palm Beach, and golf was accessible for an enthusiastic learner back then.

``I started when I was 13, in group lessons," she said. ``I enjoyed the game right away."

It led her to college, Florida Southern, and after a sterling NCAA career, she turned pro in 1953. She married a club pro named Bill Cornelius and the two traveled the LPGA Tour circuit, even after she had given birth to two daughters. There were seven LPGA Tour triumphs in her career, but it is that 1956 US Women's Open that remains her favorite.

Cornelius and McIntire made for an intriguing playoff pairing. Both were shy, quiet women, but there was one striking difference: Cornelius was a pro, McIntire an amateur, and that meant some cold stares.

``The professionals back then didn't care much for us amateurs," said McIntire, a two-time US Women's Amateur champion. ``But Kathy was very nice. I knew her and had played against her. I just never played well in the playoff."

Indeed, though she had plenty of support from fellow amateurs, McIntire was soundly defeated in the playoff, Cornelius playing smart, mistake-free golf.

But it would not be the last national championship for the Cornelius family, however, because in 1981, Kay, the youngest of her two daughters, captured the US Junior Girls' Championship.

Today, Kathy and Bill Cornelius still stay connected to the game. They teach part time at Rio Salado Golf Club in Tempe, Ariz. Kay is also in touch with golf. She teaches in the Chandler area and is mostly involved in junior golf.

The sport has offered Kathy Cornelius a lifetime of good memories, none better than that summer day in Duluth 50 years ago.

``Financially, it certainly wasn't that rewarding," said Cornelius, citing the $1,500 payday. ``But I was glad to have the opportunity to play."

Faxon foiled by rain, ranking

He spent more time in the nation's capital than many elected officials, but it was all for naught. Brad Faxon didn't earn his spot into the British Open. Even worse, he never got a chance to try for it.

``I'm really disappointed," said Faxon. ``Especially after last year, there's no tournament I want to play in any more than the British Open."

Faxon was referring to last summer's trip to Scotland, where he earned one of three spots in a local qualifier, then made a spirited run in the British Open at St. Andrews. With local qualifiers pushed up to two weeks before the British Open this year, Faxon decided that it made more sense to do an international qualifier at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md. Mother Nature had other plans, because the worst rain storm in Washington area history -- 11 inches fell over Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday -- canceled the qualifier.

Officials with the Royal & Ancient, the folks who conduct the British Open, had made a provision for such a scenario, though no one ever felt it would be put to use, but lo and behold, it was. The spots into the Open Championship would go to the 12 players in the qualifier with the highest world rankings. At No. 90, Faxon was on the outside looking in, as were fellow Rhode Islanders Brett Quigley (81) and Billy Andrade (101).

The heartache for Quigley was compounded by the fact that he was 13th on that list, sitting just .03 points in the world rankings behind Aaron Baddeley.

The heartache for Andrade was softened by the fact he is in line to earn an exemption as one of the two leading money-winners in selected tournaments that conclude with the Western Open next week.

As for Faxon, he knows that there are still options, because the low finisher in the next three tournaments -- the Buick Championship, the Western Open, the John Deere Classic -- who is not otherwise exempt into the British Open, will be given a spot.

What he doesn't see happening is a trip over to the local qualifier, a la 2005.

``It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because it would mean missing two tournaments," said Faxon. ``Then, if you make it, what do you do? You would have a week before the British Open starts. Do you stay? If you do, you miss another tournament [in the US]. Do you come home, then come back? It's a mess."

It's here he pauses and re-assesses the situation.

``The bottom line," he said, ``is that I haven't played very well this year and that's why I'm in this situation."

Gaquins leave some big Foot-prints

Long before they became the heart and soul of so many Cape Cod golf tournaments, Jim and Lois Gaquin were fixtures at US Open and PGA Tour press tents. When they had the chance to visit the media center recently at the 106th US Open, it brought back a flood of memories, especially since the venue was Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

That's where, in the 1957 US Women's Open, Jackie Pung, the apparent winner, was discovered to have signed an incorrect scorecard, thus making Betsy Rawls the champion. Then a sales rep for Wilson, Lois Gaquin was sent to the parking lot to retrieve Rawls. ``I had just said goodbye to her, so when I found her and said she had to come back, she said, `What did I do wrong?' I laughed and said, `I don't know, but if Joe Dey wants to see you, it's must be important.' "

Dey was the executive director of the US Golf Association and it was his job to tell Pung she had been disqualified and Rawls she had won.

``It was a big shock to all of us," said Lois.

Two years later, Jim was at Winged Foot, serving as PGA press secretary when Billy Casper won the US Open, and in 1974 they were both in attendance when Hale Irwin won what is known as the ``Massacre at Winged Foot." Jim that year was one of a four-man USGA communications team, while Lois (they had married years earlier) helped run the press room.

When the international qualifier got canceled at Congressional and 12 guys were handed free passes into the British Open, based on their world rankings, who got the lucky calls? Take a bow and give thanks, Tom Pernice Jr., Brett Wetterich, Vaughan Taylor, Lee Westwood, and Greg Owen. You, too, Bo Van Pelt, J.B. Holmes, Jerry Kelly, Ted Purdy, Steve Elkington, Jeff Maggert, and Aaron Baddeley. One who felt a twinge of pain was Jeff Sluman, because originally he would have been in line to receive one of the 15 spots the R&A was prepared to hand out. Then, when the rain came and withdrawals started piling up, officials deemed the site too small to reward with 15 spots, they trimmed back to 12, and Sluman was one of the three players who fell on the wrong side of the line.

Justin Peters, the onetime Massachusetts Golf Association Player of the Year, remains committed to his PGA Tour dream, necessitating a heavy schedule. The Pembroke native doesn't have any status, even on the Nationwide Tour, so he hasn't been able to go through the infamous Monday qualifiers. Instead, he's had to take on a new layer of work, a ``prequalifier." These tournaments are held so that players must prove worthy of even entering the Monday qualifier and you'd have to say that Peters has passed that test, because he's 7 for 7. It's on Mondays that he has run into problems; he was 0 for 6 until he shot a sizzling 65 June 19 to earn a spot in the field at the Booz Allen Classic in Potomac, Md. Alas, he went 77-74 and missed the cut. ``The worst I've played in months," he said.

Brad Adamonis of Cumberland, R.I., earned $17,337, his largest check in 76 Nationwide Tour career starts, when he finished tied for fifth at last week's Chattanooga Classic. It came after he had missed the cut in seven of the previous nine tournaments . . . Briana Vega of Andover is still honing her game on the Futures Tour, but she'll search for a spark as a contestant on The Golf Channel's latest ``Big Break" reality golf show.

An incoming nine of thoughts, wonderments, and observations as we await that ride home from Noah:

PGA Tour officials revealed the pay structure for next year's FedEx Cup. The winner will be able to choose between $10 million in cash or free package delivery for the family for one year.

Don't look now, but Westwood seems to be in another funk. He has missed the cut in seven straight tournaments, two of them in Europe. His last check came in March when he got into weekend play at the Bay Hill Invitational.

I don't want to say it's been a rough year for Chris DiMarco, but when he filled in for Phil Mickelson and tied for second in a hit-and-giggle par-3 exhibition in Michigan, it marked his first top 10 in a stroke-play event since winning the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship in January. Of course, there weren't any Ryder Cup points at stake.

Mickelson didn't want to play in that par-3 event because he wasn't in the mood to have fun, part of him still in despair over his US Open collapse. Instead, he flew to England to have a look at Royal Liverpool, site of next month's British Open. Perhaps a warm drink of soda and small pieces of fish covered with greasy batter is what he needs to be cheered up.

If Mickelson truly wants DiMarco as a partner for September's Ryder Cup, there's a chance he'll be able to give him a bunch of the points he has in excess. PGA of America officials are aware of the request, but they have tabled the request until they decide whether red socks will be worn in Friday's four-ball and blue socks in alternate-shot, or blue socks in four-ball and red socks in alternate-shot.

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, greenkeepers at the K Club outside of Dublin have threatened a work stoppage if they don't get a pay raise. Tournament officials are outraged, of course. If they have to come up with the money for a pay raise, it might force them to cut the black-tie gala affairs from 13 to 12.

Citing fatigue, Colin Montgomerie withdrew from the French Open. He knew he was exhausted when he could only glare at 16 people walking up the 18th fairway in last week's final round of the Johnnie Walker Championship. He calculated that another seven or eight folks deserved stares.

Just wondering, but with $40,363 in 11 tournaments, is John Riegger still saving money to have that $1 million challenge with Annika Sorenstam?

Bubba Watson is averaging 319.3 yards per drive, Camillo Villegas 306.2. Just goes to show you that a pink shaft could be slightly more beneficial to the power game than a yellow belt.