Looking Good With one electrifying shot, Gil Morgan proved he's the man to beat on the Senior tour

Shortly before teeing off in the MasterCard Championship in
Hawaii a month ago, Gil Morgan, that noted doctor of optometry,
said he thought there was no reason he couldn't do as well this
year as he did in 1997, which was very well indeed. His six wins
helped him to more than $2 million in prize money, considerably
more than he could have charged patients for prescribing
bifocals. However, Hale Irwin, who does not relinquish the
spotlight easily, did even better, winning nine times and
earning $2,343,364, a record on any tour, anywhere.

Morgan backed his Hawaiian optimism by winning that tournament,
which was for '97 champions only. Sorry, Hale, you're one down.
And last week, at the LG Championship in Naples, Fla., Morgan
emerged from a Sunday free-for-all to win again, pitching in for
an eagle on the 18th hole to beat out a small platoon of
players, many of whom are headed for the Senior tour's Hall of
Fame.

The final round began with Jim Albus apparently in control.
Albus, 57, had opened with a 67, followed with a 70 and had gone
to bed on Saturday with a four-stroke lead over Raymond Floyd,
who, having gone winless last year for the first time since
turning 50, seemed ready for a change. Albus admitted that he
didn't know how his game would hold up after two years without a
win, and, sure enough, on Sunday he bogeyed three of the first
six holes. For his pursuers, the game was on.

Throughout the rest of the round, played in balmy, breezy
weather after two days of light rain and biting winds, the
battle for the lead was a donnybrook, with as many as six
players in contention. Floyd was there, but shaky putting led to
bogeys at 12 and 13. Irwin closed fast with birdies at 17 and
18, establishing three under as the score to beat. Jim Colbert
birdied 18 to match it. Tom Wargo lurked a shot off the lead,
but got no closer.

Over the final holes, the tournament became a two-man duel
between Morgan and Dale Douglass, a quiet 61-year-old veteran
who only golf cognoscenti would know has won 11 times and ranks
10th on the alltime Senior money list. When Douglass dropped a
20-foot putt at 16, he broke clear of the field at four under
par. With the par-5 18th a reasonably easy birdie hole, Douglass
had essentially killed off Irwin and Colbert--but not Morgan. At
16, a stroke behind, he sank virtually the same putt that
Douglass had. Tie ball game. Both parred 17 and Douglass, one
group ahead of Morgan, could not get his birdie at 18.

Now it was Morgan's turn. Going for the green in two, Morgan hit
his approach short, barely avoiding the pond guarding the left
front of the green. Birdie seemed a 50-50 proposition at best.
From medium rough, Morgan swung and watched as his ball landed
on the green and rolled for perhaps 20 feet before hitting the
flagstick and dropping squarely into the cup for an eagle 3. Did
you catch that, Hale? Gil has you 2 down.

"I never thought I was in the tournament until I came to the
last few holes," said Morgan in what for him was a major
address. "I guess that shows what can happen if you keep
plugging."

For Albus, who shot 77, the final round was a bitter pill. In
1990 he had left a secure life as a club pro at Piping Rock in
Westbury, N.Y., to try his luck on the tour and almost
immediately struck gold, winning the 1991 Senior Players
Championship. In 1992 he was nicknamed Iron Man after playing
every round of every Senior event. Two years later he finished
third on the money list with more than $1.2 million in earnings.
Everything was blue skies.

But for the last two years Albus's life has been an episode from
General Hospital. First came a neck operation that sidelined him
for two months. A year ago he fractured an ankle and was out for
another two months. If the events of last week proved anything,
it is that he's again healthy and, potentially, a winner.

Which is what Floyd would like to be. Seniors Skins and
Father-Son games aside, Floyd flopped last year. One television
commentator reported last week that "Raymond once again has that
look in his eye," but in Naples he sounded like a lamb.
"Everybody is trying to read that I'm hungry," Floyd says, "but
I don't have the time to do what it takes for me to be at the
top of my game. Nor do I have the desire."

It was a sentiment echoed by Lee Trevino, who finished a dozen
shots off the pace. "No, I'm not motivated," he said. "My goals?
I don't have any. I've done 'em. Achieved them. Are you supposed
to just grind your tail off until you fall over dead? I want to
enjoy myself."

So until the next wave of young 50s rolls in--Tom Kite, Lanny
Wadkins and Tom Watson all become members late in 1999--it looks
as if Morgan and, with the doctor's permission, Irwin, will have
center stage to themselves.

COLOR PHOTO: BILL FRAKES EAGLE EYE Hoping to birdie 18, Morgan went one better. [Gil Morgan golfing]