Players sound ready

Gary McCord has elicited the help of a nuclear physicist in

preparation of Tuesday’s closest to the pin competition off the top

of the Newport Beach Marriott.

McCord, the 1999 Toshiba Senior Classic champion, along with Fuzzy

Zoeller, John Jacobs and David Feherty, will each hit a ball from the

top of the hotel -- a height of 162 feet and distance of 115 yards --

to the par-4 second green at Newport Beach Country Club.

“We are going to raise the roof, so to speak,” McCord said. I’ve

never done anything like this before, but those other guys don’t have

a chance.”

Enter Lew Keller, a nuclear physicist from Stanford.

“He understands parabolic inertia, angular momentum of a golf ball

as well as rate of decline and will also factor in humidity and wind

direction,” McCord said. “I think it’s somewhere between a 7-iron and

a sand wedge, but I’m awash in equations right now and won’t know for

sure until Tuesday. Stay tuned.”

The event will also be a first for Zoeller, a 10-time winner on

the PGA Tour, including Masters and U.S. Open titles.

“I’m not Spiderman by any means. I’m definitely going to take the

elevator up to the top,” Zoeller said. “When they came to me and

asked me to do it, I had to say yes. I’m not quite sure how I’ll go

about judging the elevation for the shot.”

The player with the closest shot receives $2,000 to be donated to

his favorite charity while other participants each earn $1,000 for a

selected charity. Marriott is donating the $5,000 purse.

-- Bryce Alderton