Associated Press
Wednesday, May 31

POTOMAC, Md. -- The Kemper Open is the tournament of the first-time winner, with rookie Rich Beem's victory last year the most stunning of all.

	Scherrer

That little history lesson came up Wednesday as Tom Scherrer, who has no career PGA Tour victories, played in his fivesome in the pro-am.

"The guys I played with said there's a kind of history of a young unknown stepping up and winning," Scherrer said. "And they said, `This would be a nice week for you to do it.' And I said, `Absolutely.' I'm not going to argue with that one."

Scherrer, 29, would be as good a candidate as any to top Ernie Els and the rest of the field and collect a winner's check for the first time. He made the tour in 1996, but dropped back to the Nike Tour after just one year before earning his card again and returning in 1999.

Lately, he's been playing his best golf, and one could say perhaps he's due. He had a career-best finish in Tucson in February, tying for second place, and last week shot rounds of 69 and 71 in the Memorial before falling back over the weekend.

He also played well in his debut here last year, shooting a 1-over 285 on the TPC at Avenel course to tie for 41st while Beem was finishing an inspirational weekend.

"It was Rich's week," Scherrer said. "Hopefully my week will pop up here sometime."

Because he's had some modest success, it wouldn't be a total surprise if Scherrer won. It certainly wouldn't be in the league of the triumph of Beem, who at one time quit the game to sell cellular phones and never played on a national tour until a few months before last year's Kemper.

To match the magnitude of Beem's victory, the winner this week would have to be someone like John Rollins, a 24-year-old rookie who has missed the cut in six of his eight tournaments this year. Rollins, like Beem last year, had never visited Avenel until a few days before Thursday's first-round tee time.

"It's a great thought coming into a tournament knowing a lot of first-timers win here," Rollins said. "To win a tournament is obviously the No. 1 goal. You can't come out and say I want to finish in the top 100 (for the year) because you're setting your goals so low, chances are you will not achieve them."

The Kemper Open, renamed the Kemper Insurance Open this year, has produced eight first-time winners in 17 years: Fred Couples (1983), Greg Norman (1984), Bill Glasson (1985), Tom Byrum (1989), Billy Andrade (1991), Grant Waite (1993), Steve Stricker (1996) and Beem (1999).

Another shocker would be a repeat victory by Beem, who defends his title still seeking to rekindle the magic of a year ago.

"Everybody thought I was going to become a lot better instantly, a force to deal with week-in, week-out," said Beem, who has missed the cut in 10 of 15 tournaments this year. "But it just hasn't happened yet. I'm a slow learner I guess sometimes."

The Kemper's tradition of new winners comes in part because the tournament rarely has a stellar field. This year, Els is the only player in the world's top 10.

But there are plenty of familiar names, among them Justin Leonard, who won the Kemper and the British Open in 1997 but has only one victory since. Leonard has struggled at times this year, with no top-10 finishes until four rounds of 70 or better tied him for second at the Memorial.

"What a difference a week makes -- now all of a sudden I'm a favorite," Leonard said. "I kind of have a different mindset this week, having played well last week and not thinking about the way I've struggled during the year. I've got a nice fresh attitude coming in here."