The over-40 crowd steals the spotlight in Memphis
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
The PGA TOUR stops in Memphis this week. That means only one thing: Elvis.
Sure, the world's greatest golfers are in town for a tournament, but this may be the only place in America where The King is still named Elvis, not Arnold. Elvis has been dead for nearly 32 years -- allegedly -- but you can bet your fried peanut butter and banana sandwich that no one will ever knock him off his sequined throne in his adopted hometown.
Since the St. Jude Classic is contested the week before the U.S. Open, some of the top-ranked players have taken the week off, but the field still includes Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Camilo Villegas. Despite these big names, several veterans were able to gain entry into the field.
The list includes quite a few older golfers, many of them who actually listened to Elvis sing on this thing called a "record player," an unwieldy contraption that played music on big Frisbee-sized thing made of vinyl. Perhaps you've seen one on the History Channel or in the Smithsonian, next to the rotary phone.
Older guys tend to play well in Memphis. Woody Austin won here in 2007 when he was 43. Nine of the top 24 finishers a year ago were 42 or older. With that in mind, we've taken some of the more "mature" players in this year's field and matched them with a hit Elvis song released in the year of their birth. It's just too bad that Davis Love III ("Viva Las Vegas" from 1964), Vijay Singh ("You're the Devil in Disguise" from 1963) and Tommy Armour III ("A Big Hunk O Love" from 1959) aren't participating this week.
In no particular order, here are some of the oldies, but goodies -- the songs and the golfers. Maybe the music can even used on the first tee in lieu of introductions, sort of like they do at baseball games when a players walks to home plate.
Loren Roberts: "The Boss of the Moss" was born in 1955, when Elvis was fixin' to (that's Southern and means "just about") break loose. His biggest hit of that year was "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," which sounds like a ballad about a twosome with troubles off the tee.
Bob Estes: A 2001 winner of the St. Jude, Bob was born in 1966 and claims music as one of his special interests. He'll love listening to the hit song "Spinout," the title cut to another one of the Elvis movies that the Academy of Motion Pictures disrespected, this year to give an Oscar to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Honestly, how could you ever pick Elizabeth Taylor over Shelley Fabares in anything?
Glen Day: The veteran was born in 1965, which is not a great time for Elvis. Glen's song: "Do The Clam," which reached No. 21 on the charts and can be heard in seafood restaurants from coast to coast.
Bob Tway: Born in 1959 and now eligible for the Champions Tour, Bob's song is "A Fool Such as I," which made it to No. 4 on the charts. Playing Memphis isn't a foolish act for Tway for three reasons: There's no Champions Tour event this week, he was in the top 25 in the St. Jude Classic last year, and it's starting to get really hot back home in Edmond, Okla.
Ronnie Black: His song ("King Creole" from 1958) also comes from a movie that is considered the finest Elvis ever made. (Seriously.) Black is the second-oldest player in the field and can even remember when the TOUR made an annual stop in Columbus, Ga. Black even won the Southern Open there one year.
Jeff Maggert: Elvis released "Blue Christmas" in 1964, the same year that Maggert was brought into the world. The song is a holiday favorite in shopping malls and Cracker Barrels around the world. It became popular again when a shorter version was brought back by Porky Pig, which you can probably find on YouTube. Maggert won the St. Jude Classic in 2006 when he was 42, which made for anything but a "Blue Christmas" that year.
Jesper Parnevik: Perhaps it's fitting that Jesper (born in 1965) gets "Puppet on a String," since the song had a Scandanavian undercurrent. The song is from the movie "G.I. Blues" and Elvis sings it as a lullaby to a little kid. The movie was solid Elvis fare, but -- again -- he received no love from Oscar. It's a dilemma to which Parnevik can relate; he was snubbed, too, despite his stellar work in "Who's Your Caddy?"
We could go on and on, but it's time to leave the building and Take Care of Business somewhere else. Thankyouverymuch.
Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.
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