“If I take 62 out of the top 70 out of a field, do I have a better shot of winning? You’re damn, right I do.”
AUSTIN, Texas — As the unveiling of a framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund approaches its first anniversary without any major subsequent announcements, one major champion said it’s going to be nearly impossible to get the Tour and PIF-sponsored LIV Golf back on the same page.
Mark Brooks, who won the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club among his seven PGA Tour victories, called the current golf landscape “chaos” during a recent interview, adding that repairing any rifts between the two sides will be difficult, especially as both sides have become accustomed to their current arrangements.
Brooks was part of a movement to pull players together back in the 1990s called The Tour Players Association, of which he was the treasurer. Although it wasn’t a full-blown union, the idea was to bring players together to collectively bargain.
Mark Brooks kisses the Wanamaker trophy as photographers capture the moment after he beat Kenny Perry in a one-hole playoff to win the PGA Championship Sunday, Aug. 11, 1996, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
He thinks such a group could have helped avoid the current issues.
“I’m surprised it took this long for some kind of splintering to happen,” Brooks said, in advance of this year’s PGA Championship.
But while he understands how the signature events and LIV Golf events, both of which do not have a cut, came to be, he’s concerned with how weak it’s left some PGA Tour events on the current calendar.
“Some of these events are, let’s just call it, top 70 shallow,” Brooks said. “Below that they’re heavy. They’re not going into, you know, past champions like me. I’m not showing up on the eligibility list, they’re not going that kind of deep. But probably 15 events this year will be very light in terms of the top 70 and you go, well, does that mean anything? Absolutely it means something. Are you kidding me?
“If I take 62 out of the top 70 out of a field, do I have a better shot of winning? You’re damn, right I do.”
Although some have insisted progress is being made behind the scenes in ongoing conversations between PIF and the PGA Tour, those arrangements are strictly financial.
Brooks said he doesn’t see an avenue for players to fully reintegrate into the PGA Tour, and he added that he thinks most aren’t interested in such a move.
Also, now that the new league has changed the game, he doesn’t see how it ever becomes one again.
“I do think it’s absolutely chaos. I think putting pieces back together, putting humpty dumpty back on the wall, it’s going to be pretty tough,” he said. “Guys don’t want to come back. They don’t have a desire to come back.”
For that one week in 2000, they put on one of the greatest shows the game has ever seen.
Although he raised the Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla Golf Club in 1996, the seed for the first and only major championship in the long and storied career of Mark Brooks came on the opposite side of the continent in a moment the Texan would just as soon forget.
After the third round of the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Brooks was hot, the University of Texas product using a 69 on Saturday to march up the leaderboard and trail leader Gil Morgan by just one heading into the final 18 holes of play.
Brooks had three PGA Tour victories under his belt at this point: the 1988 Canon Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open and a pair of wins in 1991 at the K-Mart Greater Greensboro Open and Greater Milwaukee Open. But aside from a top-5 finish at the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah, he’d yet to get into serious contention at a major.
With the winds whipping like they often can on the Monterey Peninsula, Brooks folded in the final round, posting two double-bogeys on the front nine and finishing with an 84 that dropped him down the leaderboard. Fellow Texan Tom Kite navigated the blustery conditions and went on to win the title.
Brooks persevered after the devastation, and a lesson was learned. While major moments offer major rewards, it’s often just as important to relax and focus on the individual moments as it is to get caught up in the grandeur.
“That was my crash-and-burn majors experience,” Brooks said. “You realize it’s truly not life and death, right? It’s damn near it. But it’s truly not life and death. I think if you look back on a lot of guys, a lot of them went through something. The Watson meltdown at Carnoustie. You know, everybody probably had a meltdown somewhere.
“So I went in after that and made an assessment. Why did I break down? Most of the time it was because it had something to do with the way you were thinking. I didn’t adjust to the situation properly. They call them halftime adjustments, and when a guy doesn’t make the right halftime adjustments, you’re probably going to get your butt kicked. So that was all part of the learning process. And for me, that all came at Pebble Beach.”
The pain didn’t subside quickly. Brooks, now 63, admitted to feeling the gut punch after his final-round debacle for a lengthy stretch.
“It took several months. You’re doubting yourself. You don’t think you’re good enough,” Brooks said. “But I got to play with the winner, Tom Kite. So I watched it and it was interesting. He managed his ball really well. And, of course, his short game was phenomenal at that time. That’s when he was probably the best. And maybe for a period of time there he was the best at that.”
So armed with first-hand knowledge, when Brooks found himself in a similar situation four years later at the PGA Championship, running near the top of the leaderboard at Valhalla he had that experience to lean on. Of course, this year’s PGA Championship is at the same famous Louisville course.
In each of the first three rounds, Brooks was positioned just behind the leader. He was two shots behind Kentucky native Kenny Perry after the first round, sat in a tie for third behind Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard after the second round and was in a tie for second with Vijay Singh after the third.
Mark Brooks, right, and Kenny Perry, left, shake hands after Brooks won the PGA Championship after a one-hole playoff at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., Sunday, Aug. 11, 1996.
Russ Cochran, another local product, was two strokes up heading into the final round after a scintillating 65 on Saturday. The left-handed Cochran seemed well-positioned for his second PGA Tour victory and first major win, especially in light of his familiarity with the environs. Although to get across the finish line, he’d have to contend with a constellation of stars within four shots of the lead, including Mickelson, Singh, Leonard, Steve Elkington, Greg Norman and Nick Price.
And Brooks, who with his Pebble experience far off in the rearview, now had the ability to stay in the moment, even when a tough field was fluctuating up and down the leaderboard.
Paired with Brooks in the final grouping, Cochran faded early in the round while the Texan charged, using birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to get to 12 under.
“It was pretty clear early on that Russ was going south and he wasn’t going to have a chance to contend,” Brooks said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember one shot he had. I don’t remember all of mine, either. It’s kind of interesting because a lot of people remember who they played with. I’m not being rude, but I don’t remember who I played with many times. If you ask me in all my wins who I played with the last round, I usually don’t have a clue.
“The inconsequential shots, I don’t really remember. There are cliches, you know, ‘One shot at a time.‘ Well, you really play golf a shot ahead. You’re always playing one shot ahead, but you’re actually then focusing on the shot in front of you — period. I got really good at that. I mean if you said, ‘What’s your strength?‘ That was my strength and I had to learn whatever you want to call it, mind tricks. I had to use processes to compartmentalize situations. And I was always doing stuff to shorten the time or make the task seem attainable.”
With one native out of the way, Brooks had to focus on Perry, who also was comfortable navigating the Kentucky bluegrass. Using five birdies in seven holes, Perry charged ahead while Brooks gave three strokes back in a four-hole stretch.
But Perry posted a bogey at the par-5 18th hole, although he still held the lead at 11 under with a host of players within striking distance. One by one, however, they fell to the side. Defending champ Elkington found the bunker on 18 and missed a 10-footer that would have put him in a playoff. Singh made bogey on the final hole and missed the playoff by two. Tommy Tolles also made a charge and had an eagle putt on 18 that would have evened him up with Perry, but missed.
That’s when Brooks kept it simple. Needing a birdie on the final hole to get into sudden death, he knew his best chance was to play to the fat part of the bunker in front of the 18th green.
“That was the play all week,” Brooks said. “I was hitting my 3-wood well at the time. And I knew if I caught it at 102 percent I could carry that front bunker, but there was a 90 percent chance I was going to hit into the bunker. I knew that was the shot and I was only thinking one shot ahead.”
Brooks plunked it in the sand, hit his wedge to a few feet and drained a putt to force bonus golf. Perry, meanwhile, had neglected to hit the range with the title on the line and by the time the playoff started, he was cold and at a disadvantage.
Perry famously hooked his ball through the fairway on the first playoff hole while Brooks averted danger and reached the green in two. After Perry got caught in the rough on both his second and third shots, Brooks knew the trophy was his.
He has never talked about the championship with Perry, but sympathizes with the former Western Kentucky University star, especially since the questionable decision to forego practice swings while on TV has long been considered the wrong one.
“It’s been interesting to watch Kenny’s interviews much later in life. Dang, dude. I feel bad for him,” Brooks said.
“The thing that’s interesting is a lot of this is as much about sacrifice as it is hard work. I was a bit of party boy, you know, until I was about 29. After that U.S. Open, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since then. There’s more sacrificing than there is work, in my opinion. Yes, it’s physically exerting, no doubt. You’re out there hitting like 500 balls a day. It’s exhausting but it’s not comparable to a lot of manual labor things, right?
“But then you accomplish something. You win a tournament like the PGA Championship. It’s something special.”
What Brooks sees in the current landscape is a shift from the Tour’s authoritarian style to a few top players holding all the cards.
AUSTIN, Texas — With all the discussion and animosity that’s surrounded the PGA Tour-LIV Golf battle over the last 18 months, Austin resident and 1996 PGA Champion Mark Brooks wants to make sure he’s clear about one thing: he’s not against either of the current golf leagues. But he insists he is squarely in the corner of a group that hasn’t been collectively represented — at least properly, in his eyes — through golf’s civil war.
“I’m pro-player,” Brooks said this week. “I’ve always been in the corner of the players. There have been so many words thrown around. To use some classic terms, there have been a lot of turf wars, just people trying to protect themselves and their own turf. But I’m not sure the players, overall, have been heard from.”
Brooks offers an interesting perspective on the current squabble. His 803 starts are the most by any player in PGA Tour history, so he’s well-versed in Tour life and the organization’s management style. But while he did win seven times on Tour, including the major victory at Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club, he also often hovered outside the top 50, meaning he’d be omitted from the current list of designated events.
What Brooks sees in the current landscape is a shift from the Tour’s authoritarian style to a few top players holding all the cards. None of this is surprising, he said. But it could have been avoided.
“Look, the Tour has always been pretty heavy-handed in a lot of ways. They kept the schedule really full from January through November for the last 45 or 50 years, even knowing they’d lose to the NFL and college football each fall, just to make sure another entity didn’t come in and form a seasonal tour,” he said. “They didn’t want anyone else swooping in.”
That is why Brooks was part of a movement to pull players together back in the 1990s. The Tour Players Association, of which Brooks was the treasurer, wasn’t a union, per se, but was hoping to bring players together to collectively bargain. It ultimately disbanded, but the idea was to get numerous voices in the room.
Mark Brooks lines up a shot during the 1996 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in Palm Desert, California. Mandatory Credit: J. D. Cuban /Allsport
And now, with the Tour using an us-or-them approach with LIV Golf, Brooks thinks the majority of players have lost their say, with a few of the world’s top producers holding all the power.
Unlike other sports, which all have labor unions, golfers have technically maintained independent contractor status, and thus haven’t worked together.
“This is why we tried to put the players association together, for the very reasons that are happening now,” Brooks said. “We’ve seen a mini-coup on the PGA Tour, where 10 percent of the players are making the decisions. There were lots of players not invited into that room.
“They have alienated a lot of people. There are a lot of unhappy sponsors, tournament directors and half the players are confused or worried about their future.”
Brooks thinks the reactionary approach taken by the PGA Tour, with commissioner Jay Monahan ceding power to a group led by Rory McIlroy and others, has led to decisions that will ultimately hurt more players than it will help. It doesn’t impact him any longer. He’s now knee-deep in a number of other projects, including his 803 Golf hospitality project that welcomes guests to the University of Texas Golf Club.
But, Brooks said, the current system with a PGA Tour players advisory council offers little more than placation for those players outside the top 15 in the world rankings.
This could have been averted, however, if the association would have remained intact.
“A players association, in my opinion, could have shot down LIV Golf in an adult, cohesive manner. Guys wouldn’t bust the union. Are all unions great? No. But their premise is to protect the worker,” he said. “And what you have now is a few people protecting themselves and a number of others without any real say.”
He is, quite frankly, a fountain of knowledge with the energy to match.
AUSTIN, Texas — To see Mark Brooks work the room at the University of Texas Golf Club is to see someone who has been comfortable grinding through one of the longest careers in the history of professional golf.
On a recent balmy night, Brooks sauntered over to legendary Texas men’s golf coach John Fields to discuss a recent recruit, then swapped anecdotes with PGA Tour star and former Longhorn great Dylan Frittelli. He walked through the clubhouse, stopping to point out a picture of himself with Brandel Chamblee as the two were hoisting a college trophy. He breezed through the elaborate training facility on site with comments for anyone who’d listen.
He is, quite frankly, a fountain of knowledge with the energy to match.
So it might come as no surprise that while some who retire from the PGA Tour — on which Brooks made a record 803 starts — prefer to fade quietly into seclusion, making token appearances to keep their persona intact, Brooks has done the polar opposite. The seven-time PGA Tour champ and 1996 PGA Championship winner is looking to shake as many hands and help as many swings as possible.
He recently launched 803 Golf, which gives groups the opportunity to soak in his vast golf insight through a tailored experience while playing a truly memorable track.
The idea is simple — rather than forking over thousands of dollars to play 18 holes in a PGA Tour pro-am where the pro likely isn’t paying attention, Brooks suggests getting a small group together for a catered experience that includes overnight stays at the spacious UT Golf Club casitas, top-flight dining and facilities, as well as personalized instruction.
PGA Tour veteran and former Texas star Mark Brooks has started a new hospitality venture, 803 Golf, in which he provides an individual experience at the University of Texas Golf Club.
“The beauty of this is we can do whatever someone wants,” Brooks said. “Want to play 18 holes, then come down and have a campfire with some entertainment like Ray Benson? We can make that happen. Want to focus on all golf? We can talk and use everything on site at the club and analyze. It’s really whatever someone wants it to be. It can be a couple buddies getting together or a corporate outing.”
Brooks hasn’t gone this alone. Aside from partnering with the club, he’s called on his longtime friend and business partner Burt Baine, with whom he previously managed a number of courses. Baine, a native Texan, is currently the GM at Southwind in Memphis — the former site of a WGC event and now the first FedEx Cup playoff course. Baine is planning on jumping aboard 803 Golf full-time by the end of the year. And Brooks is also leaning on his daughter, Hallie Brooks-Johnson, for help with the customer experience.
But at the end of the day, the key component to 803 is Brooks — as affable, approachable and hard-working a star as you’ll ever meet. He’s willing to impart instruction tips, discuss the current state of the Tour, or rehash his victory at the Valhalla, where he beat Kenny Perry in a playoff for his lone major.
“It’s a great alternative if you price it out,” he said. “You say, OK, I can have a 50-person cocktail party. It’s gonna cost us almost as much as it would to have 12 people out here for two-and-a-half days. It’s a better buy, it’s a better way.
“My goal is, when they finish, I want people to say two things — you know, that was the best X amount of dollars I spent for that type of experience in my life. And when can I sign up again?”
Negotiations between the university and the city are ongoing, and organizers admitted there’s plenty of work left.
AUSTIN, Texas — As soon as Verne Lundquist got the call, he knew he had to be part of the fun. Not just to enjoy the company of his buddies, many of whom he remembers from his time at Austin High School, but to help save a vital greenspace in the center of one of the nation’s hottest housing markets.
That’s why Lundquist – the 81-year-old sports broadcasting legend – was one of the many stars Sunday night at Imagine Muny, a Texas-sized gala at the Moody Theater made famous by the TV show Austin City Limits. The event, which organizers say netted around $800,000 to help restore Lions Municipal Golf Course, was a bona fide success in terms of fundraising, but perhaps even greater was the awareness the evening brought to a cause that’s been dragging out for decades.
For those who’ve missed the backstory, the 141 acres on which Muny sits are extremely valuable. The City of Austin has conducted stakeholder meetings, asking for public input on zoning for the area, and boyhood friends Ben Crenshaw and Scott Sayers put together the Muny Conservancy, hoping to purchase the area for a reasonable price and preserve it for years to come.
The parcel is part of the 500 acres of University of Texas-owned land known as the Brackenridge Tract, and is considered the first fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon line. The city has leased 140 acres for Muny since 1936 and pays UT about $500,000 a year. If the parties don’t come to an understanding, the university could be free to lease the property to another entity, develop it or sell it.
Lukas Nelson waves after performing during the Imagine Muny gala at ACL Live’s Moody Theater on Sunday night. Nelson joined Eric Church, Asleep at the Wheel and Jimmie Vaughan. (Photo by Tyler Schmitt for the Muny Conservancy.)
But the outpouring of support at the event – which included appearances by musicians Eric Church, Lukas Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel, as well as a surprise visit by Jimmie Vaughan – certainly might help to lean opinions. Among those who were part of a special video presentation were celebrities Luke Wilson and Kyle Chandler. Sports personalities on hand included former PGA Tour pro Mark Brooks and former TCU head football coach and Texas special assistant Gary Patterson.
“Just look at this event. You get some sense of what this golf course, this beautiful place, means to so many people in this city,” Lundquist said while musical acts rotated through the famous theater’s stage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaSzsbUFcr0/
Lundquist – whose famous calls at the Masters include Jack Nicklaus’ birdie putt on 17 in 1986 that gave him the lead and Tiger Woods’ dramatic chip-in birdie on the 16th hole in 2005 – admittedly doesn’t get around like he used to. The national broadcaster lives in picturesque Steamboat Springs, Colorado, but he and his wife, Nancy, purchased a small condo in Austin three years ago and he comes back to his hometown for at least a few months each year.
“I’ve known Scott Sayers and Ben Crenshaw for more years than they want me to admit,” Lundquist said, noting that his sister was a year behind Crenshaw in high school. “Whenever we’re back here, we want to be here to support this place. It’s an amazing undertaking. Really it is.”
Sayers, who helped coordinate the event, said it was a smashing success on multiple levels.
Scotty Sayers, left, and Ben Crenshaw enjoy a laugh during the Imagine Muny gala at ACL Live’s Moody Theater on Sunday night. The event netted around $800,000 for renovations to Lions Municipal Golf Course. (Photo by Tyler Schmitt for the Muny Conservancy.)
“The musical guests and the finish to the thing were as good as I’ve ever seen,” Sayers said. “And we did what we hoped to do financially, to be able to make improvements to Muny, which was important. But the awareness is the key – we need folks from the city and the university to both realize this isn’t something for a small subset of people, or just a few folks who are interested. This is a place for the entire community. I think this proved that.”
The conservancy hopes to partner with the city to keep Muny in the best shape possible before any decisions are made by the university on potential permanent uses for the property. Recently, a fleet of 62 new golf carts was introduced at the course and a new roof was constructed on the clubhouse, all with help from the city. The money raised at Imagine Muny will help with more renovations and improvements.
But the final decision is yet to come. Negotiations between the university and the city are ongoing, and Sayers admitted there’s plenty of work left.
“This is a critical stretch, for sure,” he said. “We just hope that whatever develops that we keep all 141 acres as greenspace. If the conservancy gets the course, and we hope that happens, renovations will take time, but will be worth it. It’s a place that just means too much to so many people.”
