Close to Daly, but no Mercedes
THE WOODLANDS — Eric Wilkins of Conroe came within 1 yard of matching John Daly’s long drive of 278 yards and that close to winning a one-year lease of a Mercedes, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz of The Woodands.
Twelve competitors, including NFL tight end Owen Daniels, hit three golf balls each on the driving range after the completion of Friday’s first round in the Insperity Invitational.
If any of the 12 outdrove Daly and stayed within the grid, the person with the longest drive would have possession of a Mercedes for one year.
“I thought about going up to them and say, ’Hey give me a thousand bucks, all 12 of you competitors, let me make 12 thousand in cash.’ Ya’ll go ahead, and I’ll just top one,” said Daly, who opened the 54-hole tournament with a 4-under-par 68 for a share of fourth place. “Things like this is what tournaments like to have, and it gives people an opportunity.
“I kind of hoped somebody would have beat me. (For someone) to drive a Mercedes for a year.”
Driving into a stiff breeze, Daly hit first, and on his second drive, ripped a drive of 278 yards.
That was the distance to beat.
Wilkins’ first drive traveled 250 yards, followed by one of 277 yards.
His third attempt went out of bounds, and that was his final attempt to beat Daly.
“I’m just happy to be hitting balls with John Daly,” said Wilkins, 30, who works in development at Bluejack National and played high school golf at Jersey Village. “It’s surreal. I don’t even know how to describe it.
“I can’t believe today even happened. It’s crazy. I will never forget this day. It’s all good with me.”
Andres Anzaldua, who plays golf for The Woodlands High School, had drives of 272 and 270 yards.
Jamie Lynn of Carlton Woods had a long drive of 269 yards.
Star-studded field for event
For the sixth consecutive year, golf legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino will participate in the 3M Greats of Golf competition on Saturday.
The trio will start after the final group of the day tees off, at approximately 12:30 p.m.
The threesome will play an 18-hole scramble format against three other teams composed of David Graham, Tom Weiskopf and Tony Jacklin; Hale Irwin, Charles Coody and Dave Stockton; Fuzzy Zoeller, Ben Crenshaw and Bill Rogers.
Those 12 golfers, seven who are World Golf Hall of Fame members, have combined for 213 PGA Tour wins and 49 major championship titles.
Brooks recalls victory in 1996
Mark Brooks, who is four shots back of first-round leader Tom Lehman, won on The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course in 1996.
It is one of seven PGA Tour wins for Brooks, who won the PGA Championship in 1996.
The key for Brooks winning the Shell Houston Open that year?
“I kept it out of the lakes,” Brooks said. And making putts. “What I remember the most from 1996, I didn’t hit it that well that week,” Brooks said. “It wasn’t one of my best ball-striking weeks, but for some reason my putter went crazy. I made a ton of putts that week; I just putted great.”
Odds and ends
Colin Montgomerie’s 1-under-par 71 was his 31st consecutive belowpar round. … Defending champion Jesper Parnevik opened with a 71 and shares 22nd place. … Mark Calcavecchia one-putted 12 holes and his 24 putts were fewest of the round. … Carlos Franco was the only player to birdie all four par-5s. … Jeff Maggert, a resident of The Woodlands, shot a 2-under-par 70 for his eighth straight below-par round on this course. … The most difficult hole was the 190-yard par-3 14th hole, which yielded four birdies. … Steve Lowery withdrew from the tournament after his round of 11-over-par 83.