Mulder finds competitive edge in golf

By Tod Leonard

Friday, March 11, 2011 at 9:41 a.m.

Mark Mulder insists that he’s not nearly as serious about golf as he was about pitching in the major leagues. It’s hard to argue with that, given that Mulder won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals and was a two-time All-Star in a nine-year career.
It’s just that he’s so impressively successful on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, he must be trying harder than he lets on.
“Don’t get me wrong, I take it serious,” Mulder said on the phone this week, "but I compete out of sheer boredom. It gives me something to do. When I come out to these things, I want to enjoy myself.”
Mulder is in San Diego for the weekend to compete in the Golf Channel Tour’s inaugural San Diego Open. Sixty-one local golfers are among a field of 180 from 21 states set to play in the 36-hole tournament at Maderas Golf Club and the Rancho Bernardo Inn.
The Golf Channel stages local tour events in numerous cities, but this is considered a “major” on the circuit. Thus the presence of Mulder, a Scottsdale, Ariz., resident who has dominated the Golf Channel Tour.
Possessing a zero handicap, Mulder won seven tournaments in the Championship Flight last year, including the Western Invitational at Sandpiper in Santa Barbara. This season, he has four Phoenix-area wins and impressive 72.25 stroke average in tournament play.
“These major tournaments are fun,” Mulder said. “You get a lot better players, and it makes for a flat-out better time. But I don’t see myself getting too serious about golf. If I did, I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much.”
Mulder, 33, who played the bulk of his career in Oakland and led the American League in wins (21) in 2001, officially left baseball in February 2010, though rotator cuff injuries had limited him since early 2005.
He regularly traveled with golf clubs in his baseball career, and he got to play at some of the country’s finest courses, including Augusta National and Pine Valley.
“I never played on the day before a game or on a game day because I never wanted anyone to be able to question that golf hurt my pitching,” Mulder said.
Now Mulder is a member at Whisper Rock, the Phil Mickelson-designed course in Scottsdale that is home to many PGA Tour players. Mulder gushes in his appreciation for the skill of tour players.
“The work these guys put in is so much different from baseball,” he said. “There were only so many pitches I could throw before it was bad for my arm. These guys can practice for hours and hours, and a lot of them do.”
Among Mulder’s favorite playing partners is Torrey Pines High alum Pat Perez.
“I’ve probably played a hundred rounds with Pat and have never beaten him,” Mulder said. “That’s crazy. You’d think I’d have one career round. But he can shoot 69 with his eyes closed. I can’t do that.”