KITE'S FOCUS IS CRYSTAL CLEAR; EYE SURGERY GIVES HIM NEW VISION OF SUCCESS.Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer The new-look Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer. Kite was born in McKinney, Texas. He began playing golf at age 6 and won his first tournament at age 11. is also a new look by Kite. And maybe, for Kite. Laser optical surgery has not only improved his vision but probably put a few more PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". wins in his sight - considering that he won 19 tour events before last month's eye correction and finished in the top five of two majors last year at age 47. The 1992 U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
Biennial team golf event first held in 1927. It was originally played between teams of golfers from the U.S. and Britain; since 1979 players opposing the U.S. have been chosen from all of Europe. The trophy was donated by the British seed merchant Samuel Ryder. team captain, an enormously talented player who for years labored as the Mr. Magoo Mr. Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus (also famed in popular culture for his role as Thurston Howell III in the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island of the PGA Tour, has thrown away the coke-bottle eyeglasses eyeglasses or spectacles, instrument or device for aiding and correcting defective sight. Eyeglasses usually consist of a pair of lenses mounted in a frame to hold them in position before the eyes. he has been shackled with since age 12. In their place is nothing but statistically-better-than-perfect vision, courtesy of modern medical science and Kite's faith in it. ``Without glasses, I was close to 20-500 - 20-480'' Kite said, meaning he had to get within 20 feet to see what perfect vision would have allowed him to see at 480 feet. ``(Now) I'm 20-15 in both eyes,'' he said. Kite, who will play this week in the Nissan Open The Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. at Valencia Country Club, underwent his eye operation Jan. 22, calling the decision ``almost a no-brainer'' after he became convinced of the odds of success. ``It's obviously a very complicated procedure,'' he said, ``but for a patient, it's very simple . . . There's no pain and really no downside to the surgery, and it went very well for me. ``I went from corrected 20-20 with my glasses, even though as you know when you wear glasses, you never see exactly what you see in a controlled environment.'' The trouble with corrected 20-20, Kite said, was the kind of trouble glasses-wearers everywhere know only too well. And it was worse for him, because of his occupation. Wind and rain are constant bedevilers for people who wear glasses, but most of them can go indoors when it starts to blow or sprinkle. Not so the professional golfer. Kite talked about the old Kite during a weather break at this month's Buick Invitational The Buick Invitational, is a PGA Tour professional golf tournament played in the San Diego, California area in the early part of the Tour season, known as the "West Coast Swing. near San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . Outside, light but steady and lengthy rain forced the tournament to be reduced from 72 to 54 holes while wind occasionally whipped up whitecaps in the nearby Torrey Pines Torrey Pines can refer to:
Those were the conditions, Kite said, that had always been especially frustrating to him on a course. ``You have the wind at 20-30 miles per hour and this light rain that comes in (behind the eyeglasses) all the time and there's no way to shield yourself from that,'' he said. But that was then. Kite joyfully played in the rain without glasses at Torrey Pines, and his joy was only partly because of the fact he had worked in a first-round 63 before rain washed out the second round. ``I had a ball out there playing in the rain,'' he said during the break. ``It was difficult conditions . . . but coming from my viewpoint and my perspective, I feel like I had a big advantage over what I had before. ``Not that I had any advantage over any of the other players, because I don't. But at least I wasn't giving anything up to those guys.'' He's happy he made the switch and thinks other glasses-wearing pros might do so also. ``I see 20-15 now and before I was only seeing at best 20-20,'' Kite said. ``Even without the rain, I'm seeing better. Kite said the only time he has to wear glasses now is for reading. ``But that's because I'm over 40, he said. ``They didn't cure old age.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--2) Despite wearing glasses, Tom Kite did not let it get in the way of his success on the greens. After eye surgery last month, Kite no longer needs glasses, with his vision improving to 20-15. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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