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My Shot Now that I've retired, my golf game will get what it really needs: some extra attention

I've come a long way as a golfer since the days when I played
with my buddies at Stanford. Back then, how we finished wasn't
as important as how much fun we had. Not that I played much. I
was always busy with baseball in the spring and football in the
fall, and I had to find time to study, too.

I was in the seventh grade, caddying for my mom and dad in
Pullman, Wash., when I first swung a club, but it wasn't until
the off-season after my rookie year with the Broncos that I
really got the bug. I've gotten my handicap down to a one, which
hasn't been easy because I never played during the football
season. I didn't have the time, plus I was always a little sore
from the games.

My strengths are driving--I hit one 380 yards in the thin air at
Edgewood Lake Tahoe to win a long-drive contest--and a sometimes
hot putter. My biggest weakness is consistency. I'll play well
one day, like two years ago when I made three eagles and shot a
64 at Cherry Hills, then the next day I'll play so poorly that
I'll stop counting. Because I've always had so little time to
practice, during my rounds I've kept track of where I've lost
shots and worked hardest on those things. It's important to
learn how to score even when you're not hitting the ball well.

Now that I'm retired, I can hit the course and still spend a lot
of time with my wife and four kids. It takes me awhile to get
into golf after the football season, but this year, after we won
the Super Bowl, I did a Maxfli commercial that got my juices
going. We shot it in L.A., and they gave me some new equipment.
You can't help but get excited about that--it's always the
arrow, never the Indian. Now I've got the time to use it.

John Elway shot a two-under-par 214 to tie for 4th in the 1998
Isuzu Celebrity Golf Championship at Edgewood Lake Tahoe.

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK