Chapman's journey to the PGA gets a bit longer
Roger Chapman
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- Roger Chapman waited a long time for his first trip to the PGA Championship.
So a little - OK, long - delay on Sunday didn't damper Chapman's spirits.
Chapman - who won the U.S. Senior Open Championship and Senior PGA Championship earlier this year - left London at noon on Sunday and didn't get in to the Kiawah Island area until 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
After spending 14 hours in the Washington-Dulles International Airport - where his 5 p.m. EDT flight to Charleston, S.C. was delayed at least seven times - Chapman had to make a mad dash to the Ronald Reagan Airport in Arlington, Va. and catch a flight into Savannah, Ga., where he'd land and take a two-hour courtesy car ride into the Kiawah area.
Oh, without his suitcase, clubs and everything else. (They did show up around 8 p.m. Monday night.)
"So I have not had the chance to look at the course," quipped Chapman, making his first appearance at the PGA Championship.
Chapman never expected to be back at a major championship - at least not one off the senior circuit.
"I thought my last Open Championship in 2002 was going to be - that was it," said Chapman.
"I hadn't thought of being at a U.S. PGA or a U.S. Open, which I'll be in next year, so the only one missing is the Masters. I wonder if there's an invitation."
Chapman is in a no-lose situation this week at Kiawah, with few expectations from both himself and the golf world.
"My first PGA Championship, really looking forward to it. It's on a fantastic course. I did tell a lie. I have played it on Xbox with my son Sunday morning, so I got a bit of a feel to it."
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