UCLA Golfer Savors Tuesday With Tiger

By Thomas Bonk

Feb. 11, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

LA JOLLA — He showed up Tuesday on the first tee at Torrey Pines before 6:30 a.m. and waited. Chris Heintz had a plan.

The 19-year-old UCLA freshman, an amateur qualifier for the Buick Invitational, figured if he timed it just right, he could play a practice round with the only golfer who matters to him.

About 20 minutes later, the strategy worked out precisely as Heintz had hoped it would.

“He walked onto the tee, by himself, and I introduced myself to him,” Heintz said.

“He introduced himself to me, said ‘Hi, I’m Tiger Woods,’ as if Tiger Woods really needs any introduction. I said, ‘Excuse me, Tiger, mind if I join you? He said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ ”

And with that, away they went, just the two of them, in probably the unlikeliest practice pairing either one of them has had in quite a while.

In Heintz’s case, make that ever.

“If I have an idol in golf, it’s Tiger,” he said. “This was definitely a heavenly experience.”

The Brea Olinda High graduate is not the star on the Bruins’ golf team and usually plays as the sixth man, although he’s come on strong lately. Heintz is averaging 73.8 in 12 rounds so far and has two top-10 finishes in four tournaments.

Heintz is long on confidence, though, and even though he had never seen the course, he showed up at Torrey Pines on Oct. 25 and shot a 71, earning one of the amateur spots in the Buick event that begins here Thursday.

Heintz had never met Woods, either, before Tuesday morning, but that didn’t stop him from working up the nerve to wait for Tiger and ask to play a practice round with him.

“I knew there was always the element of rejection,” Heintz said. “I was prepared for him to say, ‘I’d rather play by myself.’ ”

But Woods agreed.

“I think I almost swallowed my tongue,” Heintz said.

Then they began and Heintz’s first tee shot sailed to the right. That, though, was only one of two fairways that Chuck Heintz said his son missed. The elder Heintz, of Simi Valley, said he’d served as the forecaddie for the group.

“With amateurs, you always need a forecaddie,” he explained.

Sometimes, even pros need one. Tiger could have used one on the first hole of the British Open at Royal St. George’s last year when he lost his ball. Chuck Heintz should have been in England last July.

In any event, carrying Chris Heintz’s bag as caddie was Tony Kewalramani, the assistant to Bruin head Coach O.D. Vincent. Kewalramani said the whole experience took him places.

“It was just like the last twosome of a major on Sunday, Chris playing with Tiger Woods,” he said.

Heintz said that he and Tiger didn’t chat much, although Woods always was quick to praise a well struck ball or a putt that traveled in the direction it was supposed to go. Woods also pointed out the usual pin placements for the week and how to get to them. He also offered some advice and encouragement to Heintz.

“He said, ‘Keep at it,’ and every time I hit a good shot, he’d say, ‘Well done.’ ”

During one break, Heintz said, Woods praised Stanford’s unbeaten basketball team. Woods was in Maples Pavilion when Stanford defeated Arizona at the buzzer on Saturday.

“Yeah, he made a few comments about the basketball team, bragging about it doing well. Our team, well, we’ve righted the ship a little bit, I think. But, yeah, he stuck that to me.”

Woods left Stanford after his sophomore year and was a pro at 20, but Heintz says he’s happy at UCLA, although he doesn’t have a major yet.

“Undeclared ... no, golf ... no, fun,” he said.

Now that he has played with Woods, the best thing that can happen this week has already happened, Heintz said.

But what he wants to do next is make the cut, play all four days and soak up as much as he can. He plays the first two days with pros Brian Bateman and Boyd Summerhays and they have the last tee time of the day Thursday.

That may make for a long day, but Heintz isn’t complaining.

“It’s just great to be here,” he said. “I’m going to try to learn as much as I can.”

Maybe, but for a freshman, he has already shown he’s ready for advanced classes in practice-round pairings.