A one-of-a-kind competitor By BRADY BINGHAM_ Standard-Examiner staff To label Ogden golf professional Jimmy Blair eccentric is like saying Michael Jordan is athletic. It falls extremely short of the mark. To say the sometimes ornery, hard-to-get-along-with Blair is a just another successful golfer wouldn't be a complete description either Or, to think the former Western Athletic Conference champion from BYU earned his status by building, developing and maintaining the tremendously popular Mulligan's North golf facility would also be a short-sided portrayal. But add all the stories and depictions together and it's easy to understand why Blair is among to most recognized figures in Utah golf and certainly in Northern Utah. He owns a pair of goats named Snickers and Oreo. He drives a bright yellow vintage Corvette. During tournaments, he often wears a matching yellow hat and distinctively absurd clothes that would set off the fashion police alarm from miles away. There are even stories about Blair showing up to tournaments wearing his golf shirt turned inside-out. With those flashy clothes, Blair likes to wear Dr. Martin's instead of the patented leather golf spikes preferred by most professional players. "Sometimes I'll wear just one golf shoe when it's slippery so I don't fall on my keyster," admits Blair, never denying claims of being a bit of an odd duck. "That's just Jimmy being Jimmy," said Logan's Brett Wayment, who often travels with Blair to several mini-tour events every year, including a trip to PGA Tour qualifying school every season. At a tournament several years ago in Palm Springs, Calif., Blair hot-footed it back to Utah, leaving Wayment stranded in the desert. "He said he had to get back for his daughter's piano recital, or something like that," Wayment joked. "He said to me, 'You can find a ride back, can't you?'" BRIAN NICHOLSON/Standard-Examiner Jimmy Blair putts on the seventh hole at East Bay during the Provo Open earlier this week. Wayment has since forgiven Blair and continues to travel with him to out-of-state tournaments. However, Wayment said that he and other golfers who travel with Blair have learned to take the keys. "I think (being strange) helps him. He likes being that way. He likes the flashy clothes. He enjoys not being like anyone else," Wayment said. "He's always been his own man," agreed Utah Golf Association executive director Joe Watts, who has admired Blair's ability on the golf course since his youth and last year named Blair the UGA Golfer of the Year. "He's always said whatever's on his mind and done things his own way, letting the cookies crumble where they may. "He's always been very brash," Watts added. "He's turned a lot of people off. But he's also won a lot of friends. Not only through winning but by the things he's done for the game, he's won a lot of admiration." Watts told a story about how Blair turned himself in for an unusual rule violation at the U.S. Open. "I can't remember exactly what the violation was, but I believe to this day the USGA refers to a decision called the Blair Rule. "He's just always been a great competitor and a true sportsman," added Watts. Blair's competitiveness began as a diminutive youth, fighting to prove he could play the game as well as the big kids. After winning numerous amateur tournaments as a teenager, Blair captured the crown jewel of amateur golf in the state, winning the 1973 Utah State Amateur at Wasatch Mountain golf course. He parlayed that success into a spot on the extremely competitive Brigham Young University golf team, where he won two Western Athletic Conference Championships playing beside players like Mike Reid, Pat McGowan, Mike Brannan and Jim Nelford. "Being small, I think he was always trying to prove he belonged," said Blair's BYU coach Karl Tucker. "He was a little slow to come around, not wanting much teaching. But once I got his confidence, he became one of our best players." Tucker said his favorite story about Blair came while playing in a tournament in Albuquerque. "Jimmy hit his second shot in the weeds and went over to look for it," Tucker said. "He found a rattlesnake back in there and tried to take a swat at it with his wedge. Suddenly, I see Jimmy come running out across the fairway, scared to June 3, 2001 114