When the University Hospital-Utah Open ended Sunday afternoon, Mike Malaska was ahead. The only problem was, he wasn't ahead Saturday night when it counted.
Because of a deluge of rain and hail that hit the Willow Creek Country Club Sunday afternoon, the final round was canceled in progress and the tournament reverted to its Saturday standings. That meant Dennis Paulson was the lucky winner with a two-round total of 136 after 36 holes."This is by far the easiest tournament I've ever won," said Paulson, who has won nearly a dozen pro tournaments. "I know it's the first one I've ever won sitting on my butt, watching a golf tournament on TV."
Paulson, a 30-year-old from Palm Desert, Calif., had grabbed the lead after the second round, but he quickly lost it to Malaska, who birdied the first and third holes Sunday to jump ahead at 9-under. As they played the No. 4 hole together, the siren wailed, signaling suspension of play at 1:35 p.m.
Nearby lightning was the reason for the halt in play, but within 10 minutes, rain hit with a fury. It soon changed to hail, turning the fairways and greens white for several minutes.
The thunderstorm, which barely touched other parts of the valley, let up briefly, but just before 3:30 p.m. another downpour hit, turning fairways into rivers and bunkers into lakes (more than an inch of water fell in the area, according to the National Weather Service).
It was at this point, after consultation with course superintendent Mel Duke, who called the course "unplayable," that the tournament committee decided to cancel the final round. (Because of an agreement with the Franklin Quest Championship, which starts Monday, the tournament couldn't be completed Monday.)
The most disappointed player had to be Malaska, who couldn't even be consoled by his $11,900 second-place check. The Salt Lake native had come all the way from his temporary job in Japan to play the Utah Open, a tournament he had won as a 20-year-old amateur.
"It's a hard one to swallow," he said. "Nineteen years I've been trying to win this again, and I've never been in as good a position. And to be playing as well as I was . . . "
Malaska didn't doubt Duke's assessment of the course, but he felt the tournament committee could have waited a little longer to cancel the final round.
"I was surprised when they called me and said it was over," he said. "I thought they would wait a little longer. They should have definitely waited as long as they could. Sunshine-wise we still had another hour, until 5 or 5:30, to start again and still finish."
While Malaska questioned the early decision to call the tournament, one of his final-group playing partners, Andrew Pitts, didn't.
"It was definitely not playable," he said. "I rode back out there in a cart, and there is no way to play. Basically the fairways are under water. It's impossible to play. The tournament committee made the only decision they could have made."
Pitts would have liked to continue. He had just birdied No. 3 to go 7-under and was 18 feet away from another birdie at No. 4 when the original call came to halt play. "It's very disappointing. Who knows what might have happened?"
Although Paulson was happy to collect his $20,000 first-place check, he claimed he would have just as soon played the 18 holes Sunday and taken his chances.
"People think I'm lying, but I would have rather played. You'd always like it to be fair for everyone, and Mike was playing great," he said.
But others couldn't understand Paulson's logic. Asked if he would have wanted to play if he were in Paulson's shoes, fourth-place finisher Tom Stankowski replied, "Aw, heck no. I would have been praying for rain."
For Malaska, who heads back to work at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Schools in Japan next week, the 1993 Utah Open will always be a case of "What if?"
"It kind of leaves a sour taste," he said. "Win or lose I would have at least liked to have the chance to play."