Aaron still thrilled at Masters showing

Victoria Sun

Friday, April 21, 2000 | 10:24 a.m.

As the years go by, the voice inside Tommy Aaron's head speaks a little bit louder.

Maybe he shouldn't play in the Masters because he's getting older, it tells him. Or, just because he won the tournament in 1973 doesn't mean that he still belongs out there competing against the likes of Tiger Woods, 39 years his junior.

Each year Aaron reasons with this voice, and this year was no different. But this time, his gut instinct was right.

"I kept thinking that I still had enough of a game that I could make the cut. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone back to play," he said.

It's good that he did.

Aaron carded a 72 and 74 at Augusta National Golf Club to become the oldest player ever to make the cut.

He teed off this morning in the Las Vegas Senior Classic that concludes on Sunday. The winner of the $1.4 million tournament will pocket $210,000.

"That was a thrill," Aaron said of the Masters. "It had been a long time since I made the cut.

"Every year as you get older, you have doubts about going back and playing, because you hate to go back every year and miss the cut year after year after year."

Without golf, Aaron said he would be missing a very important part of his life.

At 63, he has minor ailments that plague almost every player on the senior tour, the most troubling of which is arthritis in his right hand.

For now, the aches and pains aren't enough to stop him from competing, despite the fact that his results have been less than satisfactory. Aaron has played in five official events this year and is 91st on the money list with $13,475.

"If I were to quit playing, unfortunately I don't have any consuming hobbies like fishing, hunting or whatever to occupy my time," he said. "As long as I'm an exempt player and can play any time I want to, I'm going to do that because it isn't too far in the future that I will be a non-exempt player and can't play so I might as well play now."

Does he have any hidden dreams he might be able to focus on once he decides to stop playing?

None that he can think of.

He goes quail hunting with a buddy each year in South Georgia, which he says is fun for a couple of days but "not a real passion."

Aaron pauses, then tells an amusing story about a fishing expedition he went on last fall that caused arthritis to flare up in his hand.

"I'm not an avid fisherman," he explained. "We fished for about three hours.

"The cost of casting and doing the same motion over and over again ... you see this tape on my right hand? I have arthritis, in these fingers."

Aaron rubbed the bandages around his fingers, belted out a warm laugh then added, "And after fishing for about two hours, my right hand was so sore, I had to stop and put it into a cooler of beer. We overdid it, you see."

It's a safe guess he didn't listen to the voice. But it sounds like he had a wonderful time.