Pga Meets Generation X Twentysomething Gang Ready To Take On Golf’s Tradition-Rich Course In Pga Championship

The 79th PGA Championship will be played beginning Thursday upon one of the most tradition-rich, storied venues in the land, at the venerable West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club, which has played host to four U.S. Opens.

The Donald himself, the Big Apple’s own Donald Trump, is the type of high roller who antes up $40,000 and joins Winged Foot. But save the caviar and single-malt scotch. This hardly portends to be a stuffy shirt-and-tie affair.

Winged Foot is about to meet golf’s Generation X. And it promises to be a wonderful collision.

A group of brazen, young and confident golfers has been dominating the scene this season and is showing no signs of slowing down. Thirteen tournaments have been won by players in their 20s, and by twilight Sunday, for the first time since The Masters was placed on the docket in 1934, the majors could be swept by players in their 20s.

When Thursday morning arrives, it will not be difficult to get a good glimpse of golf’s bright days ahead: Tiger Woods (21) and Ernie Els (27) and Texan Justin Leonard (25) - reigning champions of the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, respectively - are grouped in the tournament’s marquee threesome.

Woods, Els and Leonard rank first, third and fourth, respectively, on the PGA Tour’s 1997 money list, and have plenty of solid company in their midst. Eleven-time winner Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Jim Furyk, Paul Stankowski, Stuart Appleby … all are twentysomething stars who are making an impact on a game more often ruled by more experienced veterans.

At Winged Foot, the question is this: Are we being treated to some Broadway screening of golf’s radiant future? Or is it here already?

“I hope it is the future of golf,” Leonard said. “It’s hard to say what is going to happen in the future. Obviously, the people you mentioned are great players now, and they all have very solid swings and no health problems. So I see that continuing. I hope to stay a part of that.”

Leonard stopped short, however, of saying the game is experiencing a complete changing of the guard. “I haven’t felt that,” he said. “I think that maybe you’re seeing guys coming out that aren’t so worried about, ‘Maybe I’m not supposed to be here. Maybe I’m not supposed to be doing this.”’

Today’s players are arriving to the PGA Tour with far more seasoning from junior and college competition than their elders ever gathered. The intimidation factor of being a youngster on the tour no longer is what it once was. Instead of paying dues, restless youths are cutting their way to the front of the line.

“I think it’s a generational thing,” Woods said. “When I was growing up and watching golf on TV, I used to see (Tom) Watson, (Lanny) Wadkins, and (Tom) Kite all playing really well. And every 10 or 15 years, you’re going to see a new generation of players coming out… . We’re going to be playing against each other for about 20 years, and that’s going to be neat.”

Neat, if you’re in your 20s, that is. The previous time Winged Foot played host to a major was 1984, when Fuzzy Zoeller ended Sunday’s play at the U.S. Open by playfully waving a white flag of surrender after Greg Norman, playing ahead, sank a monster putt at 18 to set up a playoff.

The way the youngsters have been playing, this time, there may not be enough flags to go around.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PGA Championship What: The 79th PGA Championship. When: Aug. 14-17. Where: The West Course of Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y., a 6,987-yard, par-70 A.W. Tillinghast design opened in 1923. Defending champion: Mark Brooks in a one-hole playoff with Kenny Perry. Most PGA Championships: Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus (5); Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead (3); 12 players with two. Lowest score: 267 (17 under par) by Steve Elkington and Colin Montgomerie in 1995 at Riviera Country Club. Elkington won playoff. Television:Thursday and Friday, TBS 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT; Saturday and Sunday, TBS 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.; CBS 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.