Columnist Dean Juipe: Fryatt, May keep local fans waiting

Dean Juipe

Monday, July 30, 2001 | 10:41 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 has been 11 years since a Las Vegas resident won an event on the PGA Tour.

Eleven years and counting after both Edward Fryatt and Bob May came up short during Sunday's final round of the John Deere Classic in Silvas, Ill.

Fryatt had the lead in the tournament for a moment during the third round, while May was positioned just off the frontrunners' pace through two rounds. But things didn't go as well as either had hoped as the event played itself out and was eventually won by former U.S. Amateur champion David Gossett.

Robert Gamez was the last Las Vegan to win a PGA Tour event, in 1990. And, no, it doesn't seem like it was only yesterday.

It was about a year ago at this time that I wrote the Las Vegas drought was apt to be snapped at any minute, yet the streak persists. Can I ask, on behalf of Fryatt, May, Gamez, Craig Barlow, Chris Riley and Jeremy Anderson for a little more patience?

Last year's rather bold (and erroneous) prediction was the result of Fryatt and May playing splendidly for much of the summer. Fryatt had five top-10 finishes during the 2000 season and May had three, including an almost historic playoff loss to Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship.

Twelve months later the guys seem a little less threatening, yet it's a long season and they remain quality players.

Fryatt's going to win on the big tour some day or I'll surrender my columnist's license. He's 30 and has four international victories plus another on the Buy.com Tour. Last year he won $611,209, with a third at the MCI Classic standing as his top finish.

He hasn't played as well this season and was out of the all-important top 125 on the money list until contending at both the Deere and the B.C. Open the previous week.

The Deere was the perfect place for him to break through, as not only was Gossett the tournament's 15th first-time winner but eight of the players in the top 10 at the beginning of the day had never won a tour event. Yet Fryatt never recovered from closing Saturday's round with a double bogey and a bogey, and he was off the leader board (en route to a 72) by the time Sunday's TV telecast began.

Likewise, May failed to mount a charge and stayed out of the camera's sight. Now 32, he will always be fondly recalled by golf fans the world over for giving Woods a spirited tussle at last year's PGA, and he also had a second place finish at Memphis and a third at Reno.

He'll need to go some to match last year's $1.1 million in official earnings, yet he can't be written off simply because he hasn't won. These things take time.

Barlow, 29, didn't play in the Deere but he's in the midst of his fourth season on the tour and has proven during four Q-School stints that he's a battler. Still, his best shot at a victory remains a third in the 1999 Buick Challenge.

Gamez, 33, plays on the tour when he can and is forever mounting abbreviated comebacks. Who knows?

Riley and Anderson are young players still very much in the developmental stage. Both deserve the benefit of doubt.

But I wish one of these men would win one of these weeks, and not just for personal reasons. It would be a thrill for every golf fan in the valley.