Insider: Presidents have loved life on PGA TOUR
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
Brad Faxon and his father were playing the 13th hole during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when he saw the limousines driving down the cart path.
"That's my partner," Hale Irwin said by way of introduction. And George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, got out of one of the sleek, black cars with his wife Barbara to walk several holes with the better half of his pro-am team.
"I was, like, this is unbelievable," Faxon said, smiling last week at the memory. "My father made a 20-footer for par, net birdie, and he jumped up and down he was so happy. And Mrs. Bush put her arm around him and said, 'You're my favorite golfer in the whole world.
"He was beaming. Beaming."
Ever since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a member at Augusta National, popularized the game, the nation's chief executives have gravitated to golf as a recreational pursuit. How many photos did we see of Barack Obama, sworn in as the nation's 44th President today, playing golf on his Hawaiian vacation last month?
Some, like the 41st President, have even been brave enough to put their skills on display at PGA TOUR events like the one at Pebble Beach. President George H.W. Bush also played in the 1995 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic with former Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton, the sitting Chief Executive, as well as Arnold Palmer and Scott Hoch.
Winning Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams have been honored at the White House and President George W. Bush has invited some of the players competing in the AT&T National to his annual Fourth of July celebration. He is among four Chief Executives to serve as honorary chairmen of the Presidents Cup.
TOUR pros like Faxon, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Davis Love III are among those who have been fortunate enough to develop Presidential friendships. All four have spent time at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Love first met Bush in 1995 when the President and his wife Barbara went to Sea Island, Ga., where they had honeymooned, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Love, Bush and Sea Island CEO Bill Jones III played golf together while Love's mom, Penta, played with the First Lady.
"Typical of him, he said, 'Hey, why don't you come to dinner with us?'" Love said. "We said, 'Well, it's your wedding anniversary.' And he says, "Everybody's coming.' He had people flying in. It was more like a party than a getaway.
"I didn't realize it then, but that's the way his whole life is."
Faxon's first invitation to Kennebunkport came in 2002 after the 41st President was honored with the Francis Ouimet Award presented by the Massachusetts Golf Association. He had presented Bush, whose father was a former USGA president, with a signature Scotty Cameron putter that night and the invitation was extended.
"I said, oh that would be great. I'd love to," Faxon said. "The next day, his assistant calls. And I'm like, how did he get my phone number? Oh yeah, I guess he's the president. ...
"It was fantastic. We drove up through the gates at Kennebunkport, which was one of the biggest thrills of our lives. He met us at the front door, he came up and pulled our suitcases out and carried them up the stairs. And he said, 'You're going to sleep in the yellow room. That's where the President was last week.'"
Faxon played golf with Bush several times that week and tied the course record of 61 at Cape Arundel while Love has been close a few times. Both pros think they were probably more nervous than Bush the first time they played together.
"He's used to playing with a whole bunch of pros and celebrities," Love said. "What's amazing about him is he wants to be out there to have the camaraderie and fun and watch you play well. The big deal when we go to his course is breaking the course record. He just wants to see the game played. It's not really that he has to be on stage."
"As his wife Barbara says, he's a name-dropper," Faxon agreed. "He likes to tell all the stories of all the people that he knows, just like we do, right? That's one of the most fun things."
Faxon may have owned a share of the course record, but Love reigns when it comes to fishing. He looks forward to fishing with President George W. Bush -- who has given up playing golf while soldiers are fighting overseas -- after he leaves office. He especially enjoys fly fishing in front of the family's Maine home.
"His chef, the guy who takes care of his house, says I have the house record for catching the most off the rocks," Love said, smiling. "He said, 'Mr. President, you may be concerned about the course record, but this man right here, he catches more fish. I see him every morning when I'm fixing breakfast."
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Bush is 84 now, and he was walking with a cane at the inauguration Tuesday. The man who celebrated his 80th birthday by jumping out of an airplane doesn't play much golf anymore, but he loves to ride and coach. He was never much at getting tips from the pros, though.
"He says, if I practice, I break out in hives," Faxon said. "He says that every time. You know what he's going to say, but you still laugh at him."
There is genuine affection in each man's voice when they talk about the 41st President. Faxon and Love have met other Chief Executives and were impressed at how dynamic they are. But former President George H.W. Bush is special to both.
"It's like your grandpa," Love said. "That's what I always tell people. Look. I certainly don't agree with everything ... that they've done. But you can't not like them. You can't not be attached to him if you get to know them."
"It's the thing I'm the most proud of in my life, to have this relationship with them," Faxon said. "It's the coolest thing, because I think, as ... George says, he's the most decent man he's ever met in his life. I love that description of him because he's everything you would ever want in a person."
INSIDER NOTES
• Zach Johnson has never been a West Coast kind of guy. Until this year, that is.
Johnson is the only player to pick up top-10s in each of the first two events of the year -- and Sunday's win at the Sony Open in Hawaii was as good as it gets. He also tied for sixth at the season-opening, winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship.
With the exception of a third place at the 2006 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Johnson had never finished higher than 20th during what has been known as the West Coast swing.
"I feel great," Johnson, who won his fifth TOUR event on Sunday, said. "My performance on the West Coast, the start of the year, has not been great. So playing well last week, especially, I think that certainly catapulted me into this week." ...
• Adam Scott hadn't had a top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR since he tied for eighth at the Wachovia Championship last year. That's why he was so pleased by his tie for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
"It's been a long time since I've been in the hunt in anything," Scott, who closed with a 64, said. "It was nice to get on the back nine and have a chance and get the competitive nerves going again."
He left Hawaii on Sunday night to fly to Qatar where he will defend his title at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dophin Energy. He's energized about playing again after some personal issues distracted him last year, and he's excited to see what might happen once his dislocated kneecap is completely rehabilitated,
"Well, my goal is to come out and get off to a bit of a start state-side for the FedExCup, because I'm going to take a month off after Qatar to get my knee back to 100 percent," Scott said.
"So almost got the job done. I was close, and certainly it was important I think for me to play well in these first three weeks to get my mind back to where I like it to be, thinking about golf and playing the TOUR.
"I'm really motivated and I feel like the drive is back."
The knee kept Scott, an avid surfer, from even contemplating riding the waves when he went to the famous North Shore of Oahu last Wednesday. Asked whether he'd rather have a round like the 64 he shot Sunday or a chance to surf, Scott didn't hesitate.
"A round like today, because I know I'd survive today's round," he said. "I went up and looked at the waves on Wednesday, and I saw some 15- and 20-foot sets, and I was pretty sure I'd be happy to paddle out in that before I saw them up close. We were right on the point at Waimea Bay at somebody's house. I'd have to rethink the 20-foot set."
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