Associated Press
Wednesday, August 23

RENO, Nev. -- People stopped him in airports, a man picked up his $200 dinner check, his formerly listed telephone number has been disconnected, and the kids in his Las Vegas neighborhood have erected a sign declaring it the "Subdivision of the PGA Champion runner-up."

"After Sunday's play, things changed quite a bit," said Bob May, 31, the runner-up to Tiger Woods after a gutsy 72-hole tie and three-hole playoff in the PGA Championship.

May is among the favorites at this week's Reno-Tahoe Open, and suddenly among the favorites of golf fans everywhere.

Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, May didn't think anybody would recognize him at the Louisville airport at dawn Monday as he prepared to fly home to Las Vegas.

"It took about two minutes," he told reporters Wednesday at the Montreux Golf and Country Club in southwest Reno.

The same thing happened during his layover in Cincinnati.

"People were coming up saying, 'Good playing. Great going. We're really happy to see you playing well. Can we have your autograph?' " May said.

"I was kind of surprised so many people recognized who I was. It was a neat feeling. But I can just imagine what Tiger has to go through. It is such a small scale of what he has to do, I thought, 'Boy, I could see how he could get overwhelmed with it,' " May said.

May returned home Monday night to about 200 telephone messages.

"I had people calling me from New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas. I had no idea who they were. They were just calling to say 'Good playing.' I had a listed phone number," he said.

The down side was he'd been away from home for two weeks and wanted to spend some time with his wife and 3-year-old son before flying off again to Reno.

And when a Texan called at 6 a.m. Tuesday to wish him well, "it got to be a little much."

"Granted, I wouldn't want to change it for anything," May said.

"To have the opportunity for people to call and say it was such a great sporting event and thank me for putting on a good challenge, I feel very privileged," he said.

May played on the PGA Tour briefly in 1994, then moved to the European Tour before returning this year to the U.S.

And while he began this year with only $121,00 in career earnings on the PGA Tour, he now has passed the $1 million mark, thanks to the $540,000 check from the PGA Championship. He also finished in a tie for second this year to Notah Begay III at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

May said the outpouring of support seems to stem from the excitement generated by the hard-fought duel with Woods.

"I don't think it's an anti-Tiger thing at all," May said.

For example, an anonymous man picked up the dinner tab Tuesday night for his rack of lamb and his guest's meals at Brick's, an upscale restaurant in Reno.

"He sent over a little note that said it was about time somebody stepped up and challenged" Woods, he said.

May said he's gradually returning telephone calls because he doesn't want anyone to "get the wrong impression that I don't have time for them."

He awoke at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday and spent four hours on the phone before heading for the golf course.

At Valhalla, after losing to Woods by one stroke, he did interviews until nearly 11 p.m.

"Mentally I was beat up by the end of the day. But I wanted to grant any and all interviews. I didn't want people to think I was a snob or pushing people off," he said.

May said he's reviewed his round against Woods, and thinks he could have shot a 63 and won if he'd putted a little better. But he finished with three 66s, including a 5-under 31 on the back nine Sunday.

"I have nothing to be disappointed about," May said. "My plan was to play against the golf course, not Tiger Woods. ... I didn't win the tournament. But I didn't lose it either. He beat me."