Maybe I don't think I can come out here and beat the bigger percentage of these players. But I think I could reach a level . . . The way I played the first eight holes, it's just a step up to reach a pretty competitive level on this tour. Much as Bench would like to make this step, he is not driven to do so. His post-baseball career consists largely of motivational speeches and personal appearances, by airports and autographs and adulation.
Golf amounts to an afterthought.
His life allows him the luxury to treat his hobby as recreation instead of religion. If Bench has short-changed his talent to chase other goals, the same might be said of an old catcher named Jack Nicklaus. I'm four or five shots away from being competitive. I should come in here at 72, at my worst. He shot a 76 Friday because he overshot the green at Nos.