Andrade cleans up

Dean Juipe

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000 | 10 a.m.

Billy Andrade's 2000 Invensys Classic title, by the numbers:

It was a critical moment in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas and here was Billy Andrade berating himself.

"Noooo," he exclaimed, his tee shot Sunday at No. 14 in flight and destined for trouble. After it came to rest under a tree to the left of the par-3 hole at the TPC at Summerlin, Andrade extended a diatribe that could have aired on the Disney Channel.

"Golly," he said. "I can't believe I did that. What a dummy. That's stupid, just stupid."

A cuss word almost slipped out under his breath but Andrade held it in. One stroke later, he had his karmic reward.

"That was big, real big," he said afterward of salvaging par on the hole, the result of an exquisitely played soft lob shot that rolled within four feet of the cup and allowed Andrade to walk away with a par. He protected the one-shot lead he held at the time and soon thereafter upped it to two.

A meaningless bogey at No. 18 aside, he finished the PGA Tour event with a 68 on his scorecard, a tear in his eye and $765,000 in his pocket as its 2000 champion.

"I'm speechless," he said more than once, his season saved not only by the victory but by leaping from No. 159 to No. 43 in earnings. Instead of having to participate in Qualifying School to retain the PGA privileges he has held since 1988, Andrade could bask in the glow of a timely win and a significant check.

"I can't tell you how excited I am," he said, although the joyous hug he put on his wife, Jody, spoke for itself. "Wow. I'm ecstatic to win here."

It keeps him from the rigors of Q-School and allows him to ask for a refund on the $4,000 fee he had already submitted. Better yet, it rejuvenates a good-natured man who had lost confidence in himself.

"Writing that check for Q-School was a real slap in the face for me," he said. "It was part of what had been a pretty lousy year for me."

He said he realized the depths he had stumbled to during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville in mid-August, when ESPN asked him to be an on-air analyst in an event he had come to expect to play.

"I went from playing in all four majors every year to the lowest point of my career this year when I wasn't eligible for any of them," Andrade said. "You start to really appreciate things when you lose something you once had."

His fourth career victory but first since 1998 boosted Andrade's 2000 earnings to $952,027 and to $5.4 million in 13 years on the PGA Tour.

He credited New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens for encouraging him with a Saturday phone call from the team's dressing room. "He was on the phone for a half hour chewing me out," Andrade said. "It was a great pep talk. He told me to go and play like I'm supposed to."

Clemens, who whispered his instructions to his old friend and then struck out 15 Seattle Mariners, and Andrade go back to when the revered pitcher was with the Boston Red Sox. Andrade, a New Englander, struck up an association that he obviously has come to cherish.

He also cherishes this win in Las Vegas.

"I worked as hard on my game this year as any in my career and it's just now starting to pay off," he said. "My emotions have been so up and down. But I went out today to win this golf tournament, and that's what I did."

Truth is, four holes into the final round he appeared to be little more than an afterthought, having taken two quick bogeys and having fallen four strokes off then-leader Tom Byrum's front-running pace. But Andrade regrouped while Byrum went into a holding pattern, and by the back nine it was clear who in the day's final group was playing well enough to win and who wasn't.

A birdie at No. 11 moved Andrade into a tie for the lead with Jonathan Kaye and another at No. 13 had him in the lead alone. From there on in, it was his tournament to win or lose.

That beautiful save at No. 14 -- Andrade had to remove his cap to get under the tree and address the shot that likely won the tournament for him -- kept him in front and two more birdies, at Nos. 16 and 17, all but wrapped it up.

He did, however, have to add some element of suspense by hitting his tee shot at No. 18 into the canyon that runs along the left side. But after taking a penalty stroke he hit to the green and safely two-putted for victory in the $4.25 million event that was played under pristine conditions and 78-degree weather Sunday.

"I didn't see anybody lighting it up ahead of us," Andrade recalled of his feeling on the back nine. "I just needed to get into a flow, and I did. I told my caddy 'This is what it's all about' and I was playing to win because I knew that was what Phil (Mickelson) and everyone else was doing."

Mickelson, a three-time winner on the tour this year and its second-leading money winner, opened the day four shots behind Andrade and Byrum but inched up the board and entertained thoughts of winning.

"At No. 15 I felt I was in great shape and might win," Mickelson said. "I had birdied 14 and felt if I could get two more it would be good enough to get in a playoff."

Instead, Mickelson had a three-putt bogey at No. 17 "that killed the whole plan." He posted a 66 and took second place alone, winning $459,000 to bump his yearly total to $3.8 million.

Byrum, who led after the third and fourth rounds, never got it going and closed with a 72 to finish in a tie for ninth. His check of $114,750 was some consolation, however, as it moved him from No. 125 to No. 103 on the money list and secured his card for 2001.

"I hit some bad shots," Byrum said. "I just didn't have it. I met one of my goals for the week, but I kind of wanted to hang in there a little better."

Of the players behind Andrade and Mickelson on the final leader board, only a couple were in serious contention for the championship. Kaye, who was second here in 1999, tied the course's tournament record with a 62 and tied for third with Stewart Cink. But Kaye was playing slightly earlier in the day, making his final score a mere target for those who played later, while Cink never threatened for the lead while quietly carding a 66.

Likewise, neither Scott McCarron nor Shawn Micheel, who played in the group directly in front of Andrade and Byrum, could match their Saturday scores and they finished tied for fifth with Chris DiMarco and John Cook.

But McCarron and Micheel, each of whom won $149,281, moved into the comfort zone on the money list after opening the week in precarious positions. McCarron advanced from No. 123 to No. 94, while Micheel moved from No. 130 to No. 98.

Only the top 125 retain their full playing privileges for the following year.

Of the Las Vegas-based players on the tour, Bob May (now No. 29), Edward Fryatt (No. 72) and Chris Riley (No. 74) are safe for another year, while Robert Gamez won $10,738 this week to inch up to No. 143.

Missing the cut here and slipping two notches to No. 149 was Craig Barlow.

"Obviously I don't like the position I've put myself in," Barlow said Sunday as he worked on his putting stroke at the TPC despite no longer being in the playing field. "But pressure's all about what you put on yourself, so if I worry too much about the money list it'll only make things worse.

"The PGA Tour is as rewarding as it can be frustrating."

The defending champion in Las Vegas, three-time tournament winner Jim Furyk, could testify on Barlow's behalf. Furyk recovered from an opening 70 that had him on the defensive to finish in a tie for 17th.

The tournament's first-round leader, Bruce Lietzke, self-destructed after his opening 63 and took home only $20,453 with a tie for 36th.

On the amateur side, Hugh Hathcock, a 16-handicapper out of Valdosta, Ga., took first place, while 12-handicapper Roy Carter of Toledo finished second. There were 432 amateurs in the field for the marathon five-day event.

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