Rodriguez Leads in People Skills

The fans flock around his cart with posters, programs, balls and hats in hand.

Chi Chi Rodriguez has just finished the second round of the Ralphs Senior Classic at one-over-par, 10 strokes off the lead at the time, but you can’t tell by looking at him.

With his trademark Panama hat pushed back on his head, Chi Chi graciously signs each autograph until there are no more requests.

He does it with a smile--more of a rakish grin when it comes to Rodriguez--offering jokes and quips while he signs away.

Chi Chi is holding court.

Rodriguez will hold court once again on Monday at 11 a.m. during the EMC Golf Skills Challenge at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. He and seven other golf professionals from the PGA and Senior PGA tours will compete in the made-for-television event.

They will be tested in nine skills ranging from driving distance to putting, all on the par-5 ninth hole at the Ojai resort.

Despite a field that includes long-hitting John Daly and putting wizards Brad Faxon and Jim Furyk, Rodriguez has a surprise pick as the favorite.

“It could be me, why not?” he said. “At least I’m the people’s favorite, I know that.”

Rodriguez, Daly, Furyk and Faxon will be joined by Oxnard native Paul Stankowski, Gary Player, Billy Andrade and Peter Jacobsen.

The field is stellar. Among the eight golfers, there are 90 PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour victories, including 11 major championships.

Stankowski and Faxon have won on the PGA Tour this season and along with Furyk are competing in the PGA Tour Championship this weekend in Houston--a tournament for the top 30 money winners on tour. Faxon and Furyk competed on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in September.

Despite the high quality of players and the $500,000 purse, Monday’s event is not about the competition.

“It’s about having fun,” Rodriguez said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of jabbing out there. It’s kind of a show like the Skins Game used to be before it got so serious.”

Each player will wear a wireless lapel microphone which will broadcast their voices on speakers set up along the hole.

“We try and showcase each golfer’s personality,” said Mark Greenslit, head professional at Ojai Valley Inn. “And from that standpoint we have some good people.”

Stankowski, Jacobsen and Player are all well-known for their on-course bantering with television cameras and the galleries, but Rodriguez is king when it comes to that department.

The laid-back Puerto Rican legend, who is famed for brandishing his putter like a fencing foil, remembers last year’s Skills Challenge when he ribbed Tom Lehman after Lehman had just completed a season that would earn him PGA player of the year honors.

“I told him now that he has so much money he should start dressing better,” Rodriguez said.

Players won’t be judged on their choice of garb. They will, however, be judged on their individual golf skills. The categories are: long drive, mid-iron shot, pitch shot, fairway bunker shot, long greenside bunker shot, trouble shot, putting, greenside bunker and short iron shot.

Each player will have three shots from each situation and prize money is awarded in each category. The overall winner earns an additional $50,000.

Rodriguez, who said the sand shots are his strength, has played in five of the six Skills Challenges since the event’s inception.

“They didn’t invite any seniors one year,” Rodriguez said. “And they found it was a flat show. The chemistry gets better with us old guys out there.”

There’s also some good play. Rodriguez has fond memories of his first skills challenge. On a 120-yard shot, he hit two shots that landed exactly three feet, seven inches from the hole.

Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, which will host the EMC Skills challenge again next year, hosted a regular Senior PGA Tour event from 1991-1996.

“This is a little different than a regular tour event,” said Thad Hyland, general manager at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. “The players have a lot of fun with each other.”

Which is precisely why Rodriguez, who won the senior tour event at Ojai in 1991, is looking forward to playing.

“Those guys are all my buddies,” he said with a mischievous grin and chuckle. “I’m looking forward to it.”