Insider: Clicking chemistry breeds Skins Game success
By Vartan Kupelian, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
It was a line straight out of the movies. They made Fuzzy Zoeller an offer he couldn't refuse.
"They called me and said, 'Would you mind playing with Ben Crenshaw," Zoeller recalled. "What? Do you think I'm crazy? Of course I want Ben Crenshaw."
That was three years ago and the partnership has flourished at the Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game. The 2009 champions will be together again as one of the four teams vying for $770,000 in Skins prize money this week on the second leg of the Champions Tour's Hawaii journey.
All eight players in the field are major winners, led by defending champions Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. They'll be joined by three-time Champions Tour Player of the Year Bernhard Langer and Mark O'Meara, and for the second year a Fred Couples-Nick Price entry.
The two-man teams will play a unique alternate shot format. The first six holes are worth $30,000 each, with increases to $40,000 for the next six holes and $50,000 for the Nos. 13-17. The 18th hole is worth a $100,000 Super Skin. Ten percent of all the winnings will be donated to the charity of a player's choice.
The front nine will be played Saturday, the back nine Sunday on the Robert Trent Jones Sr. course opened in 1962. Ka'anapali is 6,700 yards with par 71 and plenty of pedigree. The course was host to the Champions Tour's Ka'anapali Classic for 14 years, the most recent of a long list of events. Past champions at Ka'anapali include Nicklaus, Arnold Player, Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez, all Champions Tour legends.
The team format for the Skins Game was adopted in 2006. Zoeller needed a new partner after an injury KO'd his original sidekick, Peter Jacobsen.
"When I started playing with Peter Jacobsen, I thought I got a tremendous draw, because he and I clicked right away," Zoeller said. "Now when Peter broke down, as us older players tend to do ... I go from a guy with a suspect putter to a guy who is the best putter in the world."
In addition to the title they won in 2009 with a tournament record 12 Skins on the back nine, Zoeller and Crenshaw were runners-up last year to Nicklaus and Watson.
For Zoeller and Crenshaw, both Masters champions, the synergy was immediate.
"I'm not going to lie to you, our connection, and our camaraderie, have been great," Zoeller said. "It has been a pleasure playing with him the past two years and we look forward to this year's event. I'm one of the fortunate ones. Not many people have the opportunity to play with Ben Crenshaw, or a Nicklaus, Watson, Nick Price, or Freddy Couples or a Gary Player and the opportunity I've had to play with all those players over the years has just been tremendous."
Crenshaw brings his signature velvety putting stroke. Zoeller brings an intangible. It's what makes the partnership click.
"Fuzzy's the ideal partner for the Champions Skins Game," Crenshaw said. "He's loose all the time, his temperament never changes and he hits the ball so solid. He'll get his chances in this format. He actually calms you down and we've done well together in this event. We're looking forward to it."
Nicklaus and Watson will again be attempting to do what they've done so much and so well over the years -- claim a Skins Game title. Nicklaus will be playing in his 21st Skins Game. He holds 11 career Skins Game records, including most career skins (111) and most career money ($2,605,000). His 73 front-nine skins are more than every other competitor's total skins.
Watson will tee it up for his eighth Skins Game, with victories every three years beginning in 2004. Nicklaus and Watson are playing together for the seventh straight time.
"We're the old team," said Watson, 61, who is 10 years younger than Nicklaus. "I hope they set the tees a little shorter.
"It's always special to play with Jack. He's always been the guy I've looked up to. We've partnered many times in other events and enjoy each other's company. It will be nice to have him as my partner again."
By the way, the age factor won't garner the Nicklaus-Watson duo any sympathy. As defending champions, they're the gold standard this week and the team to beat - never mind how old they are. Watson proved again last week at the Mitsubishia Electric Championship that he'll give no quarter when he finished third at 19-under behind winner John Cook and Tom Lehman.
"Nicklaus and Watson are always going to be a factor," Price said.
Price also expects his partner, Couples, to make some adjustments after his Champions Skins debut in 2009. Price and Couples finished third with $95,000 despite some erratic play by Couples off the tee.
"I really don't see him driving the ball poorly," Price said. "I think it will come down to who make the most putts, and I'm excited. I think we are going to have an exciting two days."
Couples called Ka'anapali "a great little alternate-shot course.
"It's tricky and tough," he said. "I learned last year. I hit bombs away, and I left Nick in the rough, so I might try to get it a little more in the fairway this year."
Champions Tour Insider Vartan Kupelian is a freelance contributor for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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