May 30, 2002 4 min read

POTOMAC, Md. (AP) – Tiger Woods would have looked out of place here, anyway. After all, the biggest names on the course are past-their-prime stars Greg Norman and Fred Couples, who would like to see a new tour for the fading over-40s. Only three players – Jose Maria Olazabal, Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard – are in the top 20 on the PGA Tour’s current money list.

Besides, 95 golfers in the 156-player field have never won a single tour event, and recent history suggests one of them will steal the show once play begins Thursday at the Kemper Insurance Open.

“A lot of guys who haven’t won before can look at that and use that as an incentive, myself included,” said J.J. Henry, who finished second here as a tour rookie last year. “For me, this is a special place. It was my first real taste of what it was like to compete to win a tour event.”

The Kemper has produced 12 first-time tour winners, including Couples (1983) and Norman (1984), and has added a new name to the tour winner’s circle for three years running: Rich Beem (1999), Tom Scherrer (2000) and Frank Lickliter (2001).

A reputation as a cradle of champions is a nice novelty for a tournament seemingly destined to stay below the tour’s upper echelon, but organizers wouldn’t mind a bit more glamour. They thought perhaps they had it this year when Woods set the nation’s capital abuzz by saying there was a 50-50 chance he’d be making his Kemper debut.

The tournament made contingency plans for Woods’ security, and interest from non-golfing fans spiked. The anticipation was similar to 1998, when Woods actually committed to playing before pulling out with a back twinge.

This time, the heartbreak came on the last possible signup day – last Friday – when Woods finally declared he wasn’t coming because he wanted two weeks of rest before the U.S. Open.

So the Kemper again is left with an interesting potpourri of talent – plus human interest stories Jeff Julian and Casey Martin – but nothing that would remotely scare a major. Couples is a crowd favorite, but he hasn’t won anything in four years and has pushed the idea of a Majors Tour for major championship winners over the age of 37.

“I can’t just come in here and tell you that I’m going to play great, because I haven’t in a long time,” Couples said. “Now I get excited to finish in the top 20 at a tournament, whereas before I was disappointed.”

It’s a long way from 1983, when Couples won a five-way playoff at the Kemper for his first tour victory. Back then, the tournament was played at the nearby Congressional Country Club, before the 1987 move to the new – and not-yet-ready – TPC at Avenel. The horrendous playing conditions those first two years chased the big names away, and many have been slow to return.

“It’s hard to get players to play,” said Couples, who came here only twice during the 1990s. “The U.S. Open’s in a couple of weeks. I know the field’s not probably how they would like it. A lot of tournaments have fields stronger, weaker.

“I think the golf course is great. I did not like it at first – it was rock hard. After seeing it today, it really was in perfect shape.”

Julian and Martin both received sponsor’s exemptions. Martin, whose right leg is withered by a circulatory disorder, will be playing his first tour event of the year. A Supreme Court decision allows him to use a cart, but he had more surgery on his leg over the winter and has missed the cut in four Buy.com Tour events this year.

Julian, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, is using his sixth of seven available sponsor’s exemptions. He has yet to make a cut this year, but he shot 69 and 66 in the first two rounds here a year ago.

The player to watch, however, might be defending champion Lickliter, who overhauled his game last fall because he didn’t want to become a one-hit wonder. He has played well in recent weeks, and his eagerness was evident at his news conference on Wednesday: Instead of relaxing in his big wingback chair, as most golfers do, he leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs and a light in his eyes.

“I’m doing some incredible things on the golf course,” Lickliter said. “It’s been real exciting – it’s just taken a little while.”