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By Mark Wright
Young Teams With Rice Again -- and Two Mormon Golfers
Young Teams With Rice Again -- and Two Mormon Golfers
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- Although they didn't set any records, and
even though they were on opposing teams, it was good to see Steve
Young and Jerry Rice playing together once again. Former SF 49ers
teammates Young and Rice both appeared last week at the AT&T Pebble
Beach National Pro-Am Golf Tournament held at Spyglass.
While Young and Rice have occasionally played golf with one another,
they've never before participated together in an event like this. Of
the two, Rice is reportedly the better golfer, carrying a 7-handicap,
while Young is listed with a 15-handicap. On this day, however,
neither one established themselves as credible threats to Tiger
Woods. Rice did have a few good shots, including a long distance
50-foot putt that dropped neatly into the cup. Even though Young
struggled at times and commented that he was "all over the place," he
was relaxed, friendly, and obviously enjoying himself. While no one
was keeping score, it was clear that Young and Rice signed more
autographs than they sank putts and made more friends than birdies.
Watching Steve Young on the course, it's also obvious that golf takes
a back seat to being a husband and a dad. Since his temple wedding
and the birth of his first child last year, Young has been very
involved with his family and fatherhood. Not only was this the first
time that Young had been golfing in several months, when his wife
Barbara and son Braeden arrived on the 8th green Young called a
"time-out" to greet them. Then, on the 9th tee, Young got Rice into
the act when both of them spent a few minutes in the gallery admiring
young Braeden. After visiting with Young's family, Young and Rice
spent some quality time on the links discussing fatherhood.
Apparently, Young was looking for some pointers on fighting off the
fatigue that comes with late-night feedings and around-the-clock
cuddling.
Another indication of Young's devotion to his family appeared at the
end of the day's golfing. While Rice headed out to hit a few balls at
the driving range, Young apparently had a different agenda. Young
asked, "Where's my wife?" as soon as he putted out on the final
green. Then he turned to some reporters and members of the galley and
promised to play better the next day.
As an interesting side note, Jerry Rice was the only non-Mormon of
the foursome and the only athlete in the group not to play collegiate
sports at Brigham Young University. The other three golfers in Rice's
foursome were all LDS athletes of some renown. Young, a star
quarterback at BYU, and Rice were teamed with two well-known Mormon
golfers, PGA touring pro Mike Reid and Andy Miller, son of golfing
superstar Johnny Miller. Pro golfer Mike Reid played college golf at
BYU and, along with Johnny Miller, is one of the most famous golfers
to graduate from BYU. During his long and successful career on the
PGA Tour, Reid won the World Series of Golf, finished second at the
PGA, and finished third in the Masters. A Collegiate
All-American,Andy Miller also played for the BYU golf team along with
his two brothers Todd and Scott. Recently graduated from BYU, Andy
hopes to follow in his father's footsteps and make a name for himself
on the PGA tour.
Source:
For Young and Rice, AT&T nothing like their glory days
San Francisco Chronicle 2Feb01 S2
By Gwen Knapp
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