Craig Stadler used a chain saw instead of a golf club when he decided to take a swing at an old nemesis.
A large Leyland Cypress tree, which contributed to Stadler's disqualification from a tournament in 1987, was felled Monday at Torrey Pines Golf Course by the San Diego native."It's been eight years. It's time to put it to rest," Stadler said.
For those eight years, Stadler has been dogged by questions about the freak occurrence, which took place during the third round of what was then known as the Andy Williams Open.
Stadler, among the third-round leaders, hit a tee shot on the South course's par-4, 384-yard 14th hole that nestled next to the tree. With a low branch impeding a regular swing, Stadler decided to hit the ensuing shot from his knees.
Using a towel to protect his turquoise-colored pants from the wet grass, Stadler chipped the shot back into the fairway.
Stadler, who now lives in Colorado, finished the round in second place behind George Burns.
But when NBC showed third-round highlights before Sunday's final round, including Stadler kneeling on the towel to hit his shot, viewers flooded the tournament press room with phone calls saying Stadler had violated a rule.
PGA officials reviewed the tape and decided Stadler had indeed broken rule 13-3, which prohibits "building a stance."
Stadler finished his round four shots behind George Burns, who won the event with a tournament-record, 22-under 266.
After signing his scorecard, Stadler was told by Tour officials of the infraction, which carries a two-shot penalty. He was subsequently disqualified because he did not assess the penalty.
It cost him $37,000 in prize money and left him angry.
So when Tom Wilson, a member of the tournament organizing committee, heard the tree was dying from a fungus, he came up with the idea of asking Stadler to do the honors.
Stadler, who won the Buick Invitational on the Torrey Pines course in 1994, readily agreed. With the PGA Championship beginning Thursday at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Monday was slated for Stadler's revenge.
Asked before he took the chain saw to his old nemesis if he had trained for the event, Stadler joked: "No. It doesn't look like it takes much. Just a little anger and an attitude."
Before applying the chain saw, Stadler re-created his kneeling stance with a golf club in his hand by the tree. Stadler then struck a pose holding the chain saw before he started cutting.
"I just hope I don't chop my arm off," he said.
Since city workers had prepped the tree by cutting away a number of large limbs, Stadler's contributions were somewhat anticlimactic. The man known as the Walrus took the chain saw and cut away a few large branches.
Workers then began cutting slices of the branches, which Stadler autographed for onlookers and surprised golfers in the midst of their rounds at the municipal course.
"Maybe now this can all be put behind," Stadler said.