No local ties on the national scene? Guess again

By Gary Larrabee

Gary Larrabee

Who’s your favorite when watching the big boys on the boob tube? Tiger or Phil? Well, I’ve got some good men you should add to your rooting list this and every weekend, if you haven’t already, primarily because they’ve got compelling North Shore Golf connections. Their names? Tim Clark, Kevin Johnson, Ben Crane and James Driscoll.

I start with South Africa native Tim Clark, the conqueror of Tigers Woods at the Accenture Match Play in February, the 2006 Masters runner-up, and bridesmaid at the Crowne Plaza Colonial Invitation the end of May. Why root for Tim Clark? Well, because his affable brother, Raymond, and his family, are making their home in Beverly.

Raymond moved here from Northern Ireland in 2005 after Anglo Irish Bank promoted him to senior vice president in the Boston office. He devotes most of his free time to his wife and four young children, but rest assured he finds time to cheer on his only sibling. “The family is immensely proud of Tim,” says Raymond, a scratch player in his own right. “It’s quite incredible, astonishing really, to see where he’s come since he started swinging the club in our little village of Umkonaas. You have to admire his determination, the way he conducts himself on the course. He doesn’t hit it out there with the big boys (not at 5-7, 165 pounds), but he gets the most out of his game and he hasn’t let his success get to his head. He’s a regular nice guy who upholds the spirit of the game.”

Tim has yet to win on the PGA Tour, but he does have three European Tour victories and won last year’s Australian Open. The North Carolina State grad has won more than $12 million on the PGA Tour since 2005. Raymond speaks with Tim by phone at least twice a week. He caddied for Tim, then an amateur, at the 1998 Masters. They play together a few times a year, most conveniently when Tim plays in the Deutsche Bank on Labor Day weekend at TPC Boston. They teed it up last year at Boston Golf Club. This year Raymond hopes to tee it up with Tim on the North Shore.

“For a guy who can’t hit it as far as Michelle Wie and has physical limitations, Tim does just fine,” Raymond notes. “He makes up for his limitations with his heart and his head. Tiger and Adam Scott hit it fifty yards past Tim, but he still gets the job done with other strengths, like ball control.” ... and some unwavering support from his “bro” in Beverly.

No one playing any of the pro golf tours has deeper parental roots on the North Shore than Kevin Johnson, who won his fifth Nationwide Tour event May 31 and his sixth two weeks later, both in playoffs, his first wins in three years. His late great dad, Ken, of the Gardner Park Johnsons, was a Peabody High golf captain before becoming a prominent secondary school administrator and Hanover schools superintendent. His mom, Anne Clancey, hailed from North Salem and now resides near her son and his family in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

“I thought of my dad on that 72nd green (May 31),” said Kevin Johnson. “I knew I needed to make that five-foot birdie putt, so I said “Dad, if you’re up there pulling for me, get me through this birdie putt,’ and he did. I made it.”

The celebratory noise you might have heard from Donegal Circle in Danvers as Kevin birdied the 72nd hole and won in a playoff that day and 14 days later would have come from his uncle, Art Johnson, a long-time Danvers educator and today a member of the fabled Wenham CC 7 a.m. gang. “Kevin keeps plugging and shows he still has the right stuff to get back on the PGA Tour,” said Art. “He’s worked so hard at the game for so long (he’s 42, 3-time former All-America at Clemson, USGA Public Links champ), it’s great to see him remind us of his capabilities.”

The two victories moved Kevin up to second on the Nationwide Tour money list (a career-best $253,000 after winning a mere $35,000 the prior two years combined) and boosted his career earnings to $1 million-plus. The top 25 finishers on the Nationwide money list earn cards for the big show in 2010. That’s a given. A third Nationwide Tour win this year would gain him automatic exemption for the 2010 PGA Tour as well.

Lest we forget, keep PGA Tourist Ben Crane on your “A” rooting list. His aunt, Janet Crane, is a member of the Salem school committee. And the pride of Charles River GC, James Driscoll makes four. He lost a playoff at the Texas Open in early May, but first emerged as a player to watch when he won the 1993 Massachusetts Junior at Kernwood and later the Mass. Amateur at Myopia. That’s not to mention the fact that he was the medalist at testy Ipswich CC in 2002 when he fired a 2-under-par 70 on two hours sleep in a U.S. Open qualifier.

Gary Larrabee, the author of The Green and Gold Coast: The History of Golf on Boston's North Shore, 1893-2001, has been covering the North Shore/Greater Boston golf scene for 40 years. He has written centennial histories for Salem, Winchester and Wenham Country Clubs. Catch his golf segment every Saturday morning on the North Shore Sports Desk (104.9 FM) from 8 to 9 a.m.