Columnist Dean Juipe: Fryatt, May in position for tour win

Dean Juipe

Monday, July 3, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It's a streak that has now run 10 years without interruption and it withstood another test Sunday.

But ... sometime ... perhaps in the very near future ... one of the five Las Vegans who play on the PGA Tour is going to come away with a victory. It has to happen, for the simple reason that -- as a group -- these guys are playing well and three of them have experienced life near the top of the leader board in the last two weeks.

But first, a flashback.

Robert Gamez, full of vim and vinegar as they used to say, startled the tour with a pair of victories during his rookie season in 1990. He won his first tournament as a professional (at Tucson) and followed that up with a dramatic win at Bay Hill two months later.

And that was the last time a Las Vegas native or resident won a PGA Tour event.

But if premonitions can be trusted, either Gamez or Edward Fryatt or Bob May or Craig Barlow or Chris Riley will snap that 10-year drought while we're still young enough to appreciate it.

May almost did it last week, tying for second at Memphis after leading the tournament for much of its final round. Bogeys at Nos. 12 and 14 knocked him from the top spot, although he still finished strong and took home $264,000; he also played well the previous week in the U.S. Open.

This past weekend it was Fryatt's name on the leader board and attracting national attention.

Playing at the annual tour stop at Hartford, Fryatt -- who had eight consecutive birdies during a round earlier this year at Doral -- vaulted into contention with rounds of 67, 64 and 66 before tailing off Sunday. He's having a productive season and, like May, has virtually assured retaining his tour card for the 2001 season.

En route to gaining some TV time at Hartford, Fryatt slipped past the majority of the field, including the tournament's first-day leader: Gamez. While he dropped back after opening with a 64, Gamez had to be encouraged by his play as he looks to regain the feel that made him an instant -- if fleeting -- celebrity a decade ago.

Gamez, 31, has confounded his local fans with an assortment of difficulties, ranging from putting problems to repercussions from a 1998 car accident. If he should win again, it will be a joyous day in Las Vegas.

Fryatt, 29, or May, 31, may beat him to it, and -- knowing both -- it's safe to say either one would be ecstatically reserved in the aftermath of a tour win. They're solid players who are earnestly humble, and it would be a thrill to see either one rewarded with a tour win after years of working the lesser tours while harboring PGA Tour ambitions.

Likewise, Barlow and Riley are extremely personable young men who have made their way to the tour and are paying their dues in one of the world's toughest professions. Barlow is in his third year on the tour and has finished as high as third (at the 1999 Buick Challenge), while Riley is capable of spectacular play and cashed a decent check at Hartford after a flurry of sub-70 rounds.

Sooner or later someone from the Las Vegas contingent is going to win. This being a gambling mecca, let's make Fryatt the betting favorite at 3-1, with May 5-1, Gamez 8-1, Barlow 12-1 and Riley 15-1.

In the best-case scenario, one of them will do it yet this year.