Gin-rummy buddies Bryant and Nielsen hope to deal out Sunday upset

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SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Brad Bryant and Lonnie Nielsen may look all chummy at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, but don't let it fool you. Many years ago they would battle hand-to-hand in friendly games of gin rummy, and Bryant hasn't forgotten the outcome.

"I never, ever beat him," Bryant said. "It's one of those things. So he's been walking around with some of my money for a long, long time and I'm hoping he makes some of it back for me this week."

It looks like the two long-time pals will make it back and then some. After a second-round 60 on Saturday, the pair will lead the hunt to catch Tom Watson and Andy North on Sunday. Bryant and Nielsen sit tied with Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler at 19 under par after two days at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, and four behind the leaders.

The Bryant/Nielsen pairing began on the 10th hole Saturday and birdied eight times on their first nine. Bryant converted birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, then Nielsen tucked a sweet 7-iron just 10 feet from the pin, making the putt for their third birdie in three holes.

"That's kind of nice to get both guys involved and both feeling like you're a part of it. Then Brad just took off running," Nielsen said. "He just hit one great shot after another."

"Almost in the bushes," Bryant interrupted. "Brad hit in the bushes."

Nielsen didn't agree with that.

"He almost birdied into the house and I managed to birdie on the last [the ninth hole] and gosh, it was fun. It's amazing when it gets going because they just start adding up so fast, one after another."

The group then made the turn and closed in 32 strokes after blistering the front in 28. Bryant birdied No. 1 then Nielsen holed an 18-yard pitch from the back of the green for a birdie 3 on the par-4 second hole.

"You look back on the day and say, 'where could things have gone wrong?' And when he pitched that ball in, it really was a two-shot swing for us so that was the shot of the day for the team," Bryant said.

They've been friends for countless years, since their mini-tour days and especially after both turned professional in 1976 and joined the PGA TOUR in 1978.

"We were usually down the hall from each other on the road on the PGA TOUR," Bryant said. "For 25 weeks a year, we were neighbors."

After five years, Nielsen left the PGA TOUR in 1983, opting instead to become a PGA Professional and Director of Golf at Crag Burn Golf Club near Buffalo, N.Y. He won 32 times in PGA of America tournaments.

The two didn't reunite on the pro circuit until Bryant joined the Champions Tour in 2005 (Nielsen beat him to the 50-and-over tour by two years). Two years later, Nielsen and Bryant each wrote remarkable chapters in their career record books.

Two days after his 54th birthday, Nielsen captured his maiden Champions Tour victory at the 2007 Commerce Bank Championship. Bryant wouldn't have missed his friend's first professional win for the world.

"He and I have been friends for so long that, when he won last year, I was standing right at the edge of the green with his wife Mary Jo," Bryant recalled.

Mere seconds after Nielsen's win in New York, which qualified him for the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, Bryant snatched him up as a teammate for this week's event.

"I got him before he even got to the scoring tent. I looked at him and I said, 'That puts us in the Legends.' He said, 'Okay, we'll do it.' And I held him to it."

Bryant could relate to Nielsen's long wait for that elusive first title. Bryant's lone win on the PGA TOUR occurred in 1995, his 18th year on the PGA TOUR. That was his 475th start.

Bryant's first major didn't come until last year, when he watched Tom Watson falter at the U.S. Senior Open and lose a three-stroke advantage on the final day. The affable Bryant remained solid and steady and captured the trophy by three shots.

That was Bryant's fourth win on the Champions Tour. The pair would love another official win this week, but implored that they've enjoyed the opportunity more than anything.

"It's been great fun. This was always a tournament that was tough to sit out," Nielsen said. "...It's nice to be a part of this event and it's really nice having a partner like Brad at my side. I'm thrilled to be here.

"This is a real highlight of my career, to be playing amongst the legends of the game."

Bryant thinks his friend should look in the mirror to find a golfing legend.

"Lonnie left the TOUR to go be a club professional and was what, two times, three times, five times Club Pro of the Year?" Bryant said.

When told Nielsen was in fact named the PGA National Club Professional of the Year in 1986-87 and 1989, the feat wasn't lost on Bryant.

"Only three [times], that's still quite an achievement in itself. You're in an organization of 40,000 people and he was No. 1 three times. That's pretty good. He's a legend as well."

And who knows? Both could have "Legends winner" in front of their name come Sunday evening.