4/30/2023 0 Comments Rich beem el paso![]() His greatest challenge is staying at an even keel all the time, especially when adversity hits him.”īeem’s place at the 91st PGA Championship is secure because all former champions are invited. “I know he’s working hard on his game right now,” said Bill Eschenbrenner, Beem’s longtime friend and the former club professional at El Paso Country Club. I’ve had more fun doing it this year than any other time.”ĭuring an inconsistent season, Beem has sprinkled in four top-15 finishes, trying to gain some traction heading into this year’s PGA. “Why am I above that now just because I’ve won a major championship? Nobody should think they’re above that,” he said. Yet Beem, a self-deprecating wit who spoon feeds quotes, embraces the chore with realism and humility. ![]() “I’m plugging along the best I can,” he said.īecause he failed to finish in the top 125 on last year’s money list, Beem had two choices in 2009: Go back to qualifying school to improve his standing or cold call tournament directors for invitations.īefitting a former salesman, Beem chose the latter option, writing letters and showing up early during the week to play pro-amateur events, work the banquet rooms and glad-hand host committees to earn a spot in the field.Īn agenda front-loaded with duties typically reserved for rookies hardly resembles that of a major champion. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges,” he said. 1 player has won 36 tournaments, including five more majors, pushing his career Grand Slam total to 14.Beem, 38, acknowledged the opposing trajectories of the careers that intersected that weekend in Minnesota. The 2002 PGA Championship was Woods’ first runner-up finish at a major, a bitter disappointment for the then-reigning Masters and U.S. Hoping to get his game untracked for his triumphant return, Beem has missed the cut eight times in his past 12 events. He has just four top-10 finishes since 2006 and his best showing at a major was a tie for 15th at the 2003 Masters. Since his magical romp through Hazeltine, Beem’s best finish is second at the 2005 BellSouth Classic. Beem has not won another tournament, descending back into the Tour’s middle class and eventually fading into the shadows. Most impressive, he outwilled Tiger Woods, withstanding a furious back-nine charge by the fiercest clutch performer on the planet.īeem’s victory earned him $990,000, guest appearances on “The Today Show” and “Late Show with David Letterman,” five years of exemptions and a place among golf’s elite. 18, 2002, with the galleries and an international television audience expecting him to make good on his threat to vomit under the pressure, Beem gulped Pepto-Bismol on the tee boxes to settle his nervous stomach and outplayed veterans Justin Leonard and Fred Funk. “It takes you a while to get over not being able to repeat it, but I tell you what, once you get over it, there’s nothing better.”īeem’s ascension was stunning because he entered the 2002 PGA ranked 73rd in the world and took down a field that featured a record 98 of the top 100 players. If you don’t win another tournament the rest of your life, that’s the way it goes,” Beem said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to let it go. He is totally secure with his unlikely place in golf history and utterly content soliciting tournament exemptions while raising two kids with his wife, Sara, in Austin, Texas.
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