Presidential Aspirations

By Jim Moriarty
Photo By J.D. Cuban January 19, 2007

In the run-up to the biennial blow-out frequently referred to as the Ryder Cup, one of the prominent names on the list of sub-30-year-olds with a substantial upside was Lucas Glover. Several times, most notably at the Buick Open and the PGA Championship, Glover fired and fell back in his attempt to earn a spot among the doomed Americans. And no one who didn't make the crossing, not even an old pro like Davis Love III, wanted to be there more.

"I just think the purest, most passionate thing we can do as golfers is represent our country," says the 27-year-old Glover in a South Carolina drawl as smooth as sweet tea. "That's the No. 1 goal starting Jan. 1."

If making the U.S. team would have been an honor, not making it may have been an even better, if bitter, lesson. At the Buick, outside Flint, Mich., Glover was in the final twosome with Tiger Woods. "That was the first time I'd played with him in a tournament -- or ever," Glover says. "That was about [my] only legitimate chance to win all year. And he had to play bad for me to do it. But I was in contention, two back, on Sunday with Tiger. Pretty cool. Then all the Ryder Cup stuff."

On that particular Sunday Tiger did as Tiger does, making a bunch of birdies early to separate himself. "Now, I'm five back through five," Glover recalls. "Instead of trying to win the golf tournament, I thought, 'Boy, if I can just finish second or third and get those Ryder Cup points.' I never do that, and I did it that day. I was lucky to get it around in even and got lapped."

Two weeks later Glover shot 66 to tie for the first-round lead in the PGA at Medinah CC, but he finished 74-77-72 and wound up T-46. Despite being among the top 10 in Ryder Cup points virtually all year, he finished 14th in the standings and was disappointed when Tom Lehman did not make him a captain's pick. "I didn't perform, and I didn't deserve it," Glover says. "I really didn't. I wanted to get picked so bad, but in the back of my mind, when I sat down and thought about it, I didn't play well enough the last two months. I wouldn't have picked me either. That was hard to tell myself, but I had to."

Glover got similar tough love from his new teacher, Butch Harmon. "He said, 'Don't worry about it. We've got work to do. If we do the right work, you'll be there next time.' Good enough for me," Glover says. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Harmon sort of inherited Glover from his brother when Lucas' longtime teacher, Dick Harmon, died suddenly from heart failure almost a year ago in Palm Springs while visiting another brother, Bill. Butch sees the same potential in Glover his brother did. "When you think about the American players in that 25-to-29 age group," he says, "Lucas might be the best. He needs to get a little bit better at everything, and he knows that. By better, I mean more consistent."

The loss of his mentor last February was a body blow that undoubtedly slowed Glover much of last season. When Dick passed away, the first phone call Bill made, after family, was to Glover. "I think he missed Dick more as a person than golf-wise," said Bill of the former teacher and pupil. "I can only speak from Dick's aspect. He talked about Lucas as a proud father would talk about a son. When he spoke of Lucas Glover, he was speaking about a person he thought was special in the way he treated people. They truly liked each other ? loved each other, would be the right word."

Glover still can barely talk about his old teacher without his eyes misting over. "I remember one story [Dick] would tell," recalls Glover. " 'You always take care of the little people because they're what make the world go round.' He was right. The guys in his bag room, he bought some of them teeth. He was a life teacher first for me. A pretty amazing man."

Friends of Glover, such as former Clemson teammates Charles Warren and Jonathan Byrd, will tell you what you see with Lucas is what you get, which is all well and good, once you get past the stereotypes. After Glover holed a bunker shot on the last green to edge Tom Pernice Jr. in the 2005 Funai Classic at Walt Disney Resort, Pernice said, "I kid him all the time because I just call him 'Redneck.' He's a young guy and very naive. My hat's off to him, though. Nobody realizes the kid made a $2 million birdie at the final hole of qualifying school [in 2004]. The guy makes birdie on one of the toughest holes you'll ever have to play, gets his card on the nose and now he's in the top 30."