Arnie makes room for Steve Prugh

Steve Prugh never thought of himself as the next Arnold Palmer.

Until maybe this week.

And even if it’s a conspiracy of circumstance and timing, hey, a guy will take what he can get.

The phone call came bright and early one morning from the U.S. Golf Association, which was filling the last openings for the U.S. Senior Open championships which begins Thursday in Hutchinson, Kansas. Prugh, the head pro at Manito Golf and Country Club, was one of the first alternates on the USGA’s list by virtue of a runner-up finish in the area sectional in Oregon a month ago.

“You’re now in the field,” the USGA functionary advised. “Do you want to play?”

“Absolutely,” Prugh replied.

“That’s great,” said Mr. USGA. “You have some pretty big shoes to fill. Arnold Palmer canceled 15 minutes ago and you’re taking his spot.”

Big shoes to fill? How could he be sure that Arnie wasn’t just holding the tee time until Prugh could get a flight?

Now, maybe the Kansas gallery hound who plops down $110 for his tournament ticket and sees Steve Prugh’s name where Arnold Palmer was supposed to be will feel a little like the Broadway show-goer who discovers Gilbert Gottfried subbing for Nathan Lane. Chances are, the USGA has already redeployed its crowd control infantry to another threesome.

Prugh, however, is beyond thrilled. And why not?

He’s there with all the usual suspects – Peter Jacobsen, Hale Irwin, Bruce Lietzke, all former champs. Gary McCord, the scourge of Augusta. Tom Watson and Gary Player, with a mere 17 major championships on the main tour among them. First-round playing partner Graham Marsh won in 1997.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “The opportunity to play on the big stage – the nervousness of it, the spirit, to feel what it’s like playing with guys you’ve watched on TV – is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

He also wondered if maybe his best shot had come and gone.

Prugh has played in the U.S. Amateur and reached the sectionals in U.S. Open qualifying, but upon turning 50 a couple of years ago figured the Senior Open would have to satisfy his big-time golf Jones. He was second alternate out of the Northwest sectional that year “and played crummy last year, but I really focused on it this year and thought I had a great chance,” he said.

And he did. He shot 72 at Pumpkin Ridge’s Witches Hollow course in the one-round sectional, the day’s best score. But so did Fred Haney. And then Prugh bogeyed the first playoff hole.

That was that, sort of.

There are 42 sectionals for the Senior Open and 16 of them advance just the winner. But the alternates from those sites are generally near the top of the list – the Oregon runner-up has been added to the field four of the past five years, for instance. And when Palmer, now 76, decided his game wasn’t up to playing in a national championship or that he wasn’t up to hoofing it around the course in 90-degree heat, or both, Prugh had his opportunity.

He’s both hopeful and realistic about his chances.

As in the U.S. Open, where club pros can earn their way in to challenge Tiger or Phil, the playing field is not exactly level.

“There’s no question,” said Prugh. “For Tom Watson to step up to the tee on Thursday morning, it’s going to be the nth time he’s played in a situation like this. He’s going to be very comfortable. For me, it’s something new and exciting. I’m going to have to work at keeping my emotions in check, and that’s a big part of something like this.

“The more comfortable you are, the more you’re accustomed to it, the better you’re bound to do.”

Of course, it would help if Prugh’s game showed up, too.

He has some. He was seventh in the Washington Open – “against the young guys,” he said – just four strokes out of first. He slipped to 25th in the Oregon Open, “but I was tied for third going into the last day and just had a terrible stretch between Nos. 10 and 15 – I was five over par. I’m taking that as a good learning experience. I let my swing get a little carried away and that’s something I worked on this week.

“If you look at my tournament career, such as it is, I played pretty good in the late 1980s and early ‘90s and then when my children were growing up and playing, I didn’t have that much time to work on it,” he said. “Now my youngest is 21 and my wife and I are empty nesters so I have more opportunities to practice and play.”

And to get advice. Sons Corey and Alex have played a good deal more tournament golf in recent years than their father – Alex, a senior at Washington, just returned from the British Amateur, for instance – and so they’re full of wisdom and eager to pass it on.

“Actually, they just laugh – they hit the ball so far past me,” Prugh said. “But they’ve been telling me to hit one shot at a time, live in the present and not to worry – to just deal with what you can.”

In other words, just what he’s been telling them for years.

“Right, it’s just stuff that’s getting recycled,” he laughed.

If only they’d known it was coming from the next Arnold Palmer.