FROM his customary position in the CBS commentary box, Ken Venturi permitted himself a gentle chuckle. "Now there's a guy with a great sense of humour and I reckon he's got a really bad deal from the London tabloids," remarked the former US Open champion as a vaguely familiar face dominated the television screen. Could this long haired, latter day hippie in the baseball cap really be Nick Faldo?
It surely could: the same Nick Faldo who is set to engage in what has become for him the rare exercise of defending a title. On the Blue Monster course starting on February 29th, the winner of five major championships will be attempting to retain the Doral Ryder Open in which he had a 15 under par winning total of 273 last year.
Though he has made only the odd appearance in Europe over the last 14 months, Faldo's relationship with the British media remains decidedly fragile. This was exemplified by their reaction to his odd get up on the Saturday of the recent Pebble Beach Pro Am when he caddied for his amateur partner, Huey Lewis, in a celebrity shoot out.
Instead of simply acknowledging it as Faldo engaging in a charming bit of fun, the Daily Mail, for instance, didn't know quite how to react. Their caption story suggested that "Observers were unsure whether the golfer was trying to duck recognition or simply keep off the rain when he strode out on the course." The story concluded: "But one person didn't care. His 20 year old girlfriend Brenna Cepelak watched him admiringly from her place in the crowd."
As it happens, his relationship with the American college golfer culminating in a split last October from his second wife, Gill, has made it extremely difficult for Faldo to resume any sort of a reasonable relationship with the British tabloids, certainly in the immediate future. The fact is that he was furious at the way they harassed Cepelak at the University of Arizona, where she was number one on the women's golf team in 1994.
He is reported to have first met her while competing in the Tucson Open last January when she and her Arizona team mates worked as spotters for the American sports cable station, ESPN, who were televising the event. When their friendship became public, Cepelak issued this statement: "Following the statement made in the United Kingdom by Nick and Gill Faldo and with the intense media interest that has been created, I wish to confirm that Nick and I are good friends.
"I request privacy to enable me to concentrate on my golf and studies. Neither my family, friends nor I will be available for further comment." That, Cepelak hoped, would be the end of the matter. Some hope!
Six British tabloid newspapers and four television stations set up camp in the Arizona desert to cover the story of the "other woman." According to Butch, Henry, overseer of the university's golf programmes: "Princess Di doesn't get this kind of attention. They (the British reporters) have gone so far as to put her life in jeopardy. These people are swine.
Rick LaRose, who coaches both the men's and women's golf teams at Arizona State said: "When it comes to ethics, it's definitely a different deal with the British media. I don't know where they get some of their stuff. The bad thing is they are affecting someone's life in a very detrimental way.
College authorities were particularly angered by the action of two British photographers who forced their way into Cepelak's classroom and refused to leave when requested. Apparently after their fifth warning, they pushed their way past a teacher's assistant and started snapping. At that point the police were called and the photographers were arrested.
The media frenzy became so hectic during the USPGA Tour Championship in which Faldo was competing at Southern Hills, Tulsa, on October 26th to 29th, that tournament officials arranged to have Bob Cotton, a holidaying local policeman and 11 handicap golfer, act as the Englishman's bodyguard for the week. At the end of it all, Faldo took a philosophical view of the circus. "I've got to live my own life and not be ruled by the media," he said.
There was no need for Faldo to duck recognition at Pebble Beach where he was among his newfound American friends. I can recall days at the British Open and various other events on this side of the Atlantic when the US media seemed less than enamoured of the same Mr Faldo. But in fairness to them, their attitude has softened appreciably, now that the unpredictable Englishman has become a leading member of their tour.
Meanwhile, Faldo will be anxious to do well at Doral. He likes to retain titles, as enthusiasts in this country would have observed when he captured successive Irish Opens in 1991, 1992 and 1993. And when Bernhard Langer relieved him of the title in 1994, he seemed to have no great difficulty in absenting himself from Mount Juliet last July. But the majors remain his prime target, which means that a non winnings performance at Doral will be quite acceptable to him if it contains the right pointers towards a fruitful US Masters in April.
There is no doubt but that Faldo has a facility for shooting himself in the foot where the British media are concerned. And in the wake of his marriage breakup, the hunger of the London tabloids will remain virtually insatiable by the time the Masters comes around, and the US Open at Oakland Hills in June. Indeed, he is certain to be under formidable pressure even as far hence as July, when the British Open returns to Royal Lytham and St Annes.
His performance in the Ryder Cup reflected an amazing stoicism, given that off the course, he and his wife Gill had to go through the charade of presenting themselves as a loving couple, while arrangements for a divorce settlement were already at an advanced stage. One recalls that the tabloids were whipped very firmly into line on that occasion by the skipper, Bernard Gallacher, and his preamble about golf questions only.
Meanwhile, he has also had to cope with some stinging criticism from his peers, notably from five times British Open champion, Peter Thomson. When asked if it diminished Faldo as a player to have his caddie, Fanny Sunesson line up his shots, Thomson replied: "It certainly does. It's pathetic really. It shocks me. Anyone who needs such specific assistance is not a top player."
Widely regarded as the ultimate professional, those comments would have hurt him, for the same reason that he was thrilled to be congratulated by Seve Ballesteros after his RyderCup victory over Curtis Strange. Whether positive or negative, the opinions of the Spaniard and the Australian would command Faldo's respect, because of their formidable achievements in the game.
Now in his 21st season as a tournament professional and with 37 international victories to his credit, there is no sense in which one could view this as a coming of age, a milestone of golfing maturity. Rather has it sparked a hankening after the good old days. "I've got to get my back together, the way it was in 1990 and 1992," said Faldo, "That means getting my short game into shape and the only way to do that is to play more rounds of golf."
The Pebble Beach hippy projected the warm, even carefree side of an extremely complex character, whose golf was once as immaculate as his wardrobe.
Who knows, Faldo may have been trying to tell us something. Perhaps his begraggled appearance reflected a struggling game. If so, the road to Doral and onwards to Augusta may be a decidedly bumpy one.
. Australian Glenn Joyner overcame fierce winds and an injured wrist to shoot a 70 and take a three stroke lead on 137 after two rounds of the £150,000 Ford Open in Adelaide yesterday. Compatriot Bradley Hughes, second at four under 140, three behind Joyner, compared the conditions to the 1987 Australian Open played at the Royal Melbourne course, which was cancelled.
