Columnist Dean Juipe: ‘Footnote’ designation stymies May

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 | 10:07 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.

For those with but a hardened view of the sport, to this point in time Bob May is simply a footnote in the career of Tiger Woods.

He was, after all, the man who provided Woods with perhaps his greatest head-to-head challenge, in last year's PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky. May matched Woods virtually shot for shot down the stretch and into a three-hole playoff before losing by a stroke in one of the most dramatic golf spectacles in history.

In the ensuing 14 months Woods has added seven victories, including five this year.

Yet May, a resident of Las Vegas, remains winless in what is now three full years on the PGA Tour.

If he hasn't yet matched the public's expectations of him following his duel with Tiger, it's not that he hasn't tried.

"They can put all these great expectations on me, and that's fine," May said Thursday after a second-round 66 at Southern Highlands left him on the periphery of the Invensys Classic leader board at nine under par. "I've had similar expectations for myself for many years."

A star player as a junior -- at 16 he qualified for the old Los Angeles Open in 1985 -- and an all-American at Oklahoma State, May has had a stellar career and at the age of 33 might just be coming into his prime. But pro golf is a tough game and victories -- which are the ultimate measuring stick of success at this level -- are hard to come by, Woods' achievements notwithstanding.

And his lack of a tour win clearly leaves May underappreciated on the whole. I sensed it bothered him, too, after he called his 2001 season "kind of a lost year" in spite of $484,356 in earnings and the No. 92 spot on the current money list.

He needs a pick-me-up, which his caddie, former Los Prados pro Keith Flatt, indirectly tried to provide as he and May made the turn at Southern Highlands. "I think he'll get four more on the back," Flatt said, referring to May's birdie count for the day, which stood at two at the time of his forecast.

As if on cue, May went four under on his back nine and carded a 66 that left his followers -- which on this day included his wife, mother and father -- fairly jubilant.

"Maybe he should have said I was going to get five or six," May later said with a laugh after being apprised of Flatt's prediction, insinuating that he would have posted a lower number if only his caddie had called on him to do it.

Battling a back/hip/groin pull ailment that requires him to do both an hour of advance stretching and post-round exercises with local physical therapist Keith Kleven, May actually had 18 birdie putts in the midst of his 66. He was on target, even if everything failed to fall.

"You can't win the tournament the first two days," he said, "but I feel all right and I'm hitting the ball OK. Maybe I can close with something stronger."

He has finished 22nd, 13th and 16th in the three most recent Las Vegas tournaments, and his familiarity with the courses here has to be seen as a plus as he continues to pursue his first tour win.

More so than most, he needs a victory.

It may be the only way to solve this peculiar identity crisis he finds himself in as a result of his tango with Tiger.