TOUR a lot more fun with 'Cuz' around  PGATOUR.com Contributor He was the Boo Weekley of the PGA TOUR when Boo was in high school with Heath Slocum and Bubba Watson. If Boo is the "monarch of Milton, Fla.," then Neal Lancaster is the "King of Smithfield, N.C."  Neal Lancaster (WireImage)
Lancaster isn't known for wearing rain pants on sunny days but he has been a character on the TOUR for the better part of two decades. For years "Cuz" has been considered one of the most talented players on the the circuit. His ball striking has never been in question and neither has his sense of humor. Neal is one of those guys who are funny without even trying. If he and David Feherty spoke the same language, they would make one heck of a comedy team. Lancaster's approach to the game has never been what you would call conventional. In his bio in the PGA TOUR media guide, there is no collegiate affiliation although he did give college a try for a couple of months. It is rumored that Neal could have played college basketball coming out of high school. Neal dispels the rumor by suggesting that the older he gets, the better he was. He once said in his pronounced Carolina drawl, "to hear some people tell it, I was 6'8" back then, too." Lancaster played this week at the AT&T Classic out of the past Champions Category, which will give him limited access to the TOUR this year. I had not seen Neal this year. His only two previous starts came at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Mayakoba Golf Classic where he made his only TOUR cut of the year. When I ran into Lancaster early in the week, he appeared to be hobbling just a bit. He said that he had "trolling motor knee" from running his bass boat around the edges of the Johnston County lake behind his house. In case you don't know all the words to "A Country Boy Can Survive," a trolling motor is a small electric motor that attaches to the front of a bass boat used for holding the boat in position of maneuvering around the shoreline. After that kind of preparation, it is no wonder that Lancaster shot four rounds of par or better in Atlanta and finished the tournament at six under par. It is easily his best finish since the B.C. Open in 2005. Through his years on the TOUR, including his lone win at the EDS Byron Nelson back in 1994, Lancaster has been on of the TOUR's great all-time characters. That win came in a five-man playoff when the tournament was shortened to 36 holes due to weather. Lancaster claims that he won the "half Nelson". When we spoke to him on the PGA TOUR Network, he had limited expectations of his chances on the weekend. "Well, I'll play this weekend and pick up my eight thousand, that's a whole lot better than I've been doin'." As it turns out, Lancaster made nearly six times that. Lancaster's talent has never been in question. He is the only man to post a sub-30 round for nine holes in the U.S. Open and he has done it twice. In his career he has made over 300 TOUR cuts. There were opportunities to climb back into the winner's circle, but so far that second victory has eluded him. In an era of political correctness, Lancaster is an equal opportunity amusement. Success and failures have never defined him. His hometown of Smithfield was far more influential in that regard. I will venture to say that Lancaster is the only player in TOUR history to ever have a wild bobcat as a pet. His unassuming country boy manner makes him a storyteller who may fit in more appropriately on stage with Larry the Cable Guy than in locker rooms on the PGA TOUR. Stories from Lancaster and about him can be heard annually on Tuesday of the Wyndham Championship where he hosts a Pig Picken for the players and TOUR reps. Hopefully, we won't have to wait until August to see him again. The TOUR is a lot more fun when he is around. |
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