Standing on the 15th tee at Hazeltine National in the final round of the 2002 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods was five shots off Rich Beem’s lead. He turned to caddy Steve Williams and said, “OK Stevie, if we birdie in from here we win this tournament.” It was typical of Tiger’s confidence but his logic was reasonable. He figured that if he could post a number then Beem, two holes behind, would buckle. Who was this guy anyway? He used to sell mobile phones, he’d been working in a pro shop just four years earlier, he’d struggled on the mini-tours, this was only his fourth Major. He’d surely collapse if the World Number 1 applied sufficient pressure, wouldn’t he?
The thing was: Rich Beem wasn’t intimidated by the situation, he wasn’t fazed by the threat of Tiger Woods; he’d faced more pressure than that in his life.
Beem graduated from New Mexico State University and turned pro in 1994. He took a job as an assistant professional at Sioux Falls Golf Club in South Dakota. His father, a PGA professional himself, had huge hopes for his son as a golfer and Rich felt the pressure of those expectations as he failed to make an impact on the Dakota mini tours. Beem fell out of love with the game and followed a girlfriend (who would later ditch him) to Seattle where he took a job as a mobile phone salesman.
Rich lasted less than a year in that position before golf drew him back in. He barely touched a club for eight months, but watching old rival Paul Stankowski win the 1996 BellSouth Classic on the PGA Tour inspired him to give the sport another try.
He went back to the mini tours and enjoyed a little success, so in late 1998 he decided to have a crack at PGA Tour Q-school. He made it through the first stage in 14th place, scraped through the second stage by the skin of his teeth and then gained his card in the third stage with a final round of 66. He had played 14 rounds of stress-filled golf simply to earn the chance to play on the PGA Tour – had Tiger ever felt pressure like that?
Beemer On Tour
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In his first season on the circuit, Beem came from nowhere to win the Kemper Open – it was a blessing and a curse. The victory secured his card for two seasons but it made him complacent. He was already known for taking a fairly colourful approach to his off-course lifestyle, but the extra fame (and cash) provided by the win allowed him to hit it rather hard for a while. A low point came when he was caught driving over the…
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