Columnist Peter Benton: Furyk makes bogey with appearance fee

Peter Benton

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

For the thousands out there who do not know me, please don't worry about it. According to the dozens who do know me, I am considered a rather strange, somewhat acerbic fellow who you are probably a lot better off not knowing at all.

You see, I like to get into other people's shoes and try to figure out what I would do in their place, how would I think, and what would I do differently.

Today I am in the shoes of current U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. Just to fill in the picture completely, Furyk also won the Buick Open, the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, along with $5,182,865 in official money last year.

Exactly what he picked up in unofficial money (no doubt more millions) we will never know, but rest assured it was far more than many could make in a lifetime.

My beef with Furyk is why would he request (according to an European PGA source) an appearance fee for $400,000 to compete in this year's Dubai Desert Classic in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

This is where Furyk and I differ and where his shoes are becoming somewhat tight on me. I abhor greed just as much as I do meanness, and it appears rather obvious (without knowing all the facts, I admit) that we have both of these traits going here.

Let's face it. The guy is incredibly rich, and to request money to compete in a tournament is, to me, tantamount to prostituting oneself. Admittedly he is not by any means the only person doing this, but boy, it sure gets my goat. It seems that the more some people have the more they want.

You're probably asking yourself now how I would differ from him if I was he. Well, for starters, if I wanted to travel overseas and play in some of the exotic places as these guys are privileged to do, I would pack up my clubs, arrange the necessary schedule and take off.

I am sure that professionals such as Furyk do not realize how fortunate and privileged they are. In the main, they have not had to go without too much in life. Their apprenticeship, as opposed to say that of a plumber, electrician, et al, did not consist of five years grinding away and learning a trade at minimal money.

The shoes I would like to wear next would be those of someone like journeyman golfer, Esteban Toledo. Here's a guy whose been around for ever, plodding along and playing the game he obviously loves very much. No major titles for him -- in fact no titles whatsoever on the U.S. PGA Tour for this native of Mexicalli, Mexico.

I think it would be incredibly interesting to compare his way of life to that of Furyk. They both do the same thing only the latter does it better, receives all the perks and yet still wants more; whereas Toledo works just as hard, or maybe harder, with the relatively meagre fruits of his labor coming the old fashioned way -- he earns it.

Having stated all this, if my life was to swapped for either one, it would be Furyk's. But, I think I would definitely do some things differently.

Long and fellow SouthShore professional Wes Weston fired 4-under 68s over the par-72 layout, with Long winning on the first playoff hole. Host pro Doug Castellari and his 71 took third place.

In the pro-am segment of play, a one low net and one low gross of foursome, Long, along with amateurs Perry Klein, Justin Bor and Mark Andrus prevailed with a 130. Weston's team of Jeff Koznick, Dennis Parva and Fred Demerast followed at 131, while in third spot with 133 was Jerry Roberts (Walters Golf) and partners John Kirovac, Greg and Mike Maddux.

David Hahn and his 72 won low gross for the amateurs and Ruben Ferrera's 68 won low net.