Young Man, Old Hat Ideas

Instead of going away to a hotshot golf college—the normal route toward a pro career—Renner chose to attend a two-year community college in the desert. He didn't play golf there, nor had he in high school, figuring his time was better spent on a practice tee than driving two hours each way to some place like El Centro for a match against somebody who most likely shot 86 on his best day.

At 19 Renner turned pro. At 20 he qualified for the tour. He still has a pleasant innocence about what he found on the road. "I didn't know what to expect when I came out," he says. "I thought there might be more backbiting. After all, the tour is the essence of capitalism, the survival of the fittest. But I've never yet heard harsh words exchanged. I hope golf can stay like this. I hope it never gets like tennis. I'd hate to think I'd ever heckle Hale Irwin over a three-foot putt."

Sometimes Renner talks like a young man with an old man inside struggling to get out: "I want to be as professional as I can. I don't want to cut up in the locker room and act like a grammar school kid. I try to act older than I am." He seems to have a reason for everything he does and his decisions are firm. "Some guys think I'm eccentric, or that there's something wrong with me because I don't chase girls more often. But there's nothing in the world wrong with me. I just don't want to waste my time, or some girl's, on something that will only be one day or one night."

Often when he comes off a golf course, Renner goes looking for a public library in which to spend a couple of peaceful hours. "I like to read better than anything, and about anything. Right now I'm reading Galbraith's book on money. I'm not a voracious reader of fiction, but I probably read more magazines than anyone except the President. It has to do with their availability on airplanes. It is important to me not to be a dumb athlete. I want to be able to talk to my pro-am partners about something other than the speed of the greens."

Renner's ultimate goal is to be, "quite frankly, the best player on the face of the earth." But he has interim goals that he pursues one at a time, methodically, singlemindedly, until he has them nailed down. Last year, his first full year on the tour, he set out to make the top 60 on the money list. By mid-March he was on target, at which point he took stock of himself and decided that right then he needed a rest more than he needed another tournament and a chance to make a little more money. So he went home to Palm Springs and rested and practiced for nine days. When he came back to Greensboro in the last week of March, he was ready to attack again.

The first 60 golfers on the money-winning list are exempt from qualifying for the next year. The difference between No. 60 and No. 61 for a young, little-known player like Renner is the difference between living like a human being and trying to survive in the sweatbox of Monday qualifying—competing on Monday for the privilege of competing again Thursday for the privilege of just trying to make a living. By June, Renner was sure of being in the top 60 and had secured his immediate future.

Greensboro was his best tournament. He shot a 67 on Friday that put him only one stroke off the lead. After the third day he was in a three-way tie for the lead, and on Sunday all he needed was a par at the 18th hole to tie Seve Ballesteros . Instead, Renner hit his approach shot into a bunker, came out to within seven feet of the hole and then missed the putt. He had a tie with Fuzzy Zoeller for second and $22,200, but to an uncaring world he had blown a seven-foot putt on national TV and possibly an invitation to the Masters next week. He would have had that if he'd tied Ballesteros and beaten him in a playoff.

But Renner was by no means disconsolate. With the year hardly begun, he was already well on the way to his goal. Furthermore, he had learned something about how good he was. "I considered it a victory," he says. "I could play on national TV. I could be in contention through a whole tournament and not choke. And I found it was easier and more fun than I thought it would be. I couldn't wait to do it again."

Hubert Green , impressed with Renner's attitude, has said, "He's going to be one heck of a golfer." Tom Watson said recently, "He's serious. He has talent. He works hard on his game. I think it's only a matter of time till he wins." Others, however, say they see things in Renner's swing and his grip that could limit his potential. One veteran observer thinks it even possible Renner has already had his best year. But veteran observers have been wrong before. Arnold Palmer survived a hook grip, Jack Nicklaus a supposedly flying elbow, Billy Casper a dragging foot, Bobby Jones a loop, Walter Hagen a sway, and on and on back to Old Tom Morris .

Renner himself feels that the only thing standing between him and his heart's desire is physical strength. His weight, listed as 160 in the tour book, is obviously wishful thinking by at least a few pounds, but just as obviously, he has not finished growing. During the off months he did some careful weight lifting and rope skipping, convinced that if he wants to, he can become strong. On his record, he is probably right.