Pate again contending after latest round of surgery
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Jerry Pate walked into the interview room after Saturday's second round of the Allianz Championship and started his press conference by rattling off a bunch of numbers.
This is as much of a routine for touring golfers as marking their ball before the first round and signing their scorecard afterward.
But Pate wasn't going over his birdies, the distances and the clubs used for such heroics, as so often is the case. Instead, he was recounting all the surgeries he has undergone.
That took a while.
"Let's see, the left shoulder, I've had five ... '85, '86, '87, '03 and '08," Pate said. "The right shoulder, one in '06. I also had my left knee once, in '08."
The dates came as easily to Pate as, say, "an 8-iron from 165 yards on the 14th hole." Then again, so much of the second half of his life has been filled with MRIs, hospital visits and rehabilitation.
In summation, that's six trips to the operating room for seven surgeries. When Pate won the 1976 U.S. Open at 23 and was runner-up in two other majors in the late 1970s, it seemed more likely he would have won seven majors in his career instead of going under anaesthesia that many times.
"Things were great for me as an athlete until I was 28," Pate said. "Since then, it seems like it's been nothing but surgery, rehab, play ... surgery, rehab, play. It seems like my career has been nothing but on again, off again."
Well, Pate is back on again, as evidenced by his performance the last two days at the Allianz Championship at Broken Sound Club. He held a share of the first-round lead after a 64 and, despite struggling on the back nine during his second-round 71, Pate finds himself just a shot behind sixty-something co-leaders Gil Morgan and Tom Jenkins entering Sunday's final round.
This is quite a performance for someone who is playing in just his second event since he underwent the dual left shoulder-left knee surgeries last July 25. On top of that, Pate is taking antibiotics this week for a nasty cold that almost forced him to withdraw.
Pate and health issues ... so what else is new?
Little wonder a victory this week would do more than decrease space in his trophy case.
"It would be pretty special considering the condition I'm in," Pate said. "I really didn't think I was going to be able to play this week. But I know my game is good enough. If I play the way I can and make some putts, there's no question I can win."
The injuries may have robbed Pate of some of the best years of his career, but not even they could take away his confidence. Pate has always believed in his abilities, even when he went 24 years without being handed an oversized check.
That self-belief was tested on Saturday's back nine, however, when he opened with a pair of off-line tee shots he called "the worst consecutive drives I've hit in the last 20-25 years."
At the downwind, par-4 10th, his drive hooked into the water. "I could have hit 1,000 balls and not hit one in the water there," he said, "but somehow I managed to."
Pate overcompensated at the par-5 11th, going right with his drive, leading to a second consecutive bogey. He recovered with two birdies in his next three holes and felt fortunate to be within a shot of the lead. It didn't hurt that playing partner Bernhard Langer, who at one point had a two-shot lead, played his last four holes in 4 over.
Pate showed in his first round he's still capable of taking it low. In five trips around Broken Sound the last two years, Pate has shot three rounds of 67 or lower.
"This is not a surprise," John Cook said. "It's not like he's some rookie kid nobody has ever of. He won a U.S. Open."
As with his career, Pate may have some unfinished business at Broken Sound. He led by one here last year entering the final round, but faded to ninth after a 73. When reminded of that Saturday, Pate chose to seek the positive of his position as a chaser.
"I'm kind of glad it's not déjà vu all over again," he said. "Maybe the result will also be different."
Having won eight times on the PGA TOUR and twice on the Champions Tour, it's understandable when Pate says he'll be disappointed if he doesn't win today. But he's learned what disappointments in life matter the most.
So go ahead and try to define Pate's career by his injuries and time lost. He won't play along, though. What's the point?
"What happens to you in life is destiny," Pate said. "You can possibly change your destiny in the future. You can't go back in the past and change anything."
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