To say golfer Mac O'Grady is colorful isn't going nearly far enough.
How do you describe a guy who completely changed his name at the age of 27, who once called PGA commissioner Deane Beman a "thief with a capital T," who went through the PGA qualifying school 17 times before making it, who plays nearly as well left-handed as right-handed, whose hero is Gandhi, who talks like a university professor, and who will soon publish five volumes on "Golf in the Cosmos," covering everything from the scientific to the mystical aspects of golf.You could definitely call him unique. Which would be better than Phillip McGleno, his name for most of his life until he changed it to Phillip McClelland O'Grady and changed his life along with it. But that's a whole other story.
O'Grady is in town for this week's University Hospital-Utah Open, which begins Friday at Willow Creek Country Club, following three days of pro-ams, and runs through Sunday.
If you ask him why he's playing in Utah for the first time, O'Grady will say it's because he is currently studying the birth of existence - geology, anthropology and astronomy. "Here I'm fascinated, doing my social anthropology assignment, studying man in another corner of the planet - man, woman, child, golfer, Mormon . . ." Then he points to the mountains behind him (geology), to people around the golf course (anthropology) and to the moon just coming over the east mountain and the sun setting in the west (astronomy) to prove his point.
Actually the main reason is that he's a good friend of Hidden Valley pro Don Johnson, who persuaded him to come up to Utah this week as he works on getting his game into shape after two years of back problems.
But O'Grady, who recently turned 40, will insist the social anthropology and geology and even botany are all part of it. "I've developed so many nice relationships the past three weeks. I feel like I'm Will Rogers in Little Town America. I'm adoring it."
Also he wants to play four weeks in a row to test his back, following three non-PGA tournaments in California (San Diego County Open, California State Open and Queen Mary Open).
The big question for many folks surprised to see him here is why is Mac O'Grady no longer playing the PGA Tour where he was so successful, winning over a million dollars? Is it because of his on-going feud with Commissioner Beman? Well, that doesn't help get him exemptions to tour events. The main reason is the back injury that has idled him for nearly two years.
O'Grady was a PGA star as recently as four years ago when he won more than $250,000, including the Tournament of Champions. Then he suddenly vanished, after missing the cut in every PGA tournament he played in for nine months.
He's played sparingly the last two years because of the back problems that have threatened to end his career permanently. He's been suffering from a slipped disc since 1988. He finally saw a doctor in March of 1989, who according to O'Grady said, "Sayonara, career."
O'Grady has a congenital condition called Spondylolisthesis. While doing a lot of sitting at a computer a few years ago, writing his books, he realized he had "a living, breathing San Andreas Fault in my back."
From May of 1988 to February of 1989, O'Grady never made a cut on the PGA Tour. When he went to Dr. Frank Jobe in Los Angeles, he was told he should be grateful he was able to be successful as long as he was.Ask Mac O'Grady for a minute of his time and he'll give you a half hour. Or perhaps 45 minutes.
After arriving at Willow Creek Country Club Tuesday afternoon to play in a special scramble with sponsors, O'Grady spent too long talking to some fans near the clubhouse. So when the 3:30 p.m. tee-off time came, he still had to go out on the driving range to hit some balls. He finally joined the group around 4. "He certainly marches to a different drummer," said one tournament official, waiting for him to show.
The scramble match ended after seven holes and O'Grady was supposed to play the last two holes on his own and come in. But for more than a half hour O'Grady couldn't be found. Finally he was spotted out in the middle of the No. 8 fairway, talking to two fans - total strangers - something about "transcending the subjective narcissism" and explaining what life lesson could be learned from a certain Twilight Zone episode ("The Man in the $4 room") from 30 years ago.
After the strangers left, he took another 45 minutes to talk near the 8th green as dusk settled over the course and tournament organizers wondered why he wasn't at their draw party on the Willow Creek patio.
There isn't anything O'Grady won't talk about either, whether it's his rough upbringing in West Los Angeles or negative opinions of fellow PGA Tour players or his poor relationship with Beman.O'Grady had what he termed a "dysfunctional" childhood, growing up in a family that included heavy drug use and a brother who went to prison. After his mother, with whom he had a tremendous relationship, died when he was 16, he moved out of the house.
By the age of 20 he was a golfing prodigy, ready to take on the PGA Tour. But after getting a sponsor, who got him a teacher, who tried to change his entire swing and mechanics around, O'Grady (McGleno at the time) lost his game and didn't get it back for years.
His life hit rock bottom in 1977. He was living in cars like a "street person." He lived briefly in an abandoned mansion near the Bel-Air Country Club, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night so as not to be seen. The worst was a two-month stay in a plywood box, 10' by 4' by 5' on a wall in in a garage along with his bicycle and a small battery lamp. "I was down and out in West L.A," he says.
But his life changed soon after when he met his wife-to-be, Fumiko Aoyagi, at - where else - a golf course. Shortly after that he changed his name, employing his mother's maiden name for his last name and one of his favorite teachers for his middle name, which is where "Mac" comes from.
In 1982, on his 17th attempt, which may be a record for futility as well as persistence, he finally qualified for his PGA card. By 1986 he won the Hartford Open and then the Tournament of Champions the following year.
His troubles with Beman started in 1985 when he was fined for verbally abusing a tournament volunteer, a charge O'Grady denied. Then he was fined for criticizing the conditions at a course and was fined again. When his fines were deducted from his earnings, he called Beman a thief as well as "a little Hitler."
These days O'Grady sounds more mellow in his attitude toward Beman when he says, "My troubles with him are behind me, I don't hold any grudges."
But then he gets into one of his philosophical modes and adds, "He got lost on the pathway. You can only pity him. You can only hope that one day the child and the golfing soul will turn back into his spirit once more."
Because of his back troubles, O'Grady has a new plan to return to the tour - to play as a left-hander. "I discovered my back doesn't bother me as a left-hander," he says.
He started tinkering with the left-handed golf swing back in 1977 when his game was so bad and actually played from the left side for 14 months (he has putted from the left side ever since). In 1988 he embarrassed some fellow pros in a shootout match, beating the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Fuzzy Zoeller and Tom Watson, playing left-handed.
"I could do it right now," he claims. "I don't quite have the same flexibility yet, but I'm getting closer. I need another year."
He played the last two holes at Willow Creek left-handed to save his aching back and hit shots that looked every bit as good as his right-handed shots. His bag contained 27 clubs, a full set of right and left-handed clubs, although he can only carry 14 for the tournament.
So does O'Grady have a chance to win this week? He says he's putting better than he ever has, which he's learned after all these years is the most important aspect of golf, along with attitude.
"I need to keep my chin up, looking to the tops of the mountains," he said. "I'm here to keep perpetuating this fascination and awe I have for life on the planet earth and the miracle of it all and how this little game called golf fits into that."