Wagner has all he needs to lead ACC golf tourney

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – People swarm Tim Tebow for his autograph. No one yells to John Elway at the driving range.

Oh, the contrasts of being the current Denver Broncos quarterback compared to the former. While Tebow has the imminent conclusion of the NFL lockout on his mind, Elway is ready to open his fifth Colorado restaurant – the latest at the Lodge at Vail.

Quarterbacks seem to do well at the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament. After play was over Saturday, Tony Romo was in second place and Chris Chandler in third.

Remaining atop the leader board is actor Jack Wagner.

Jack Wagner is the leader of the tournament for the second day in a row. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Dressed all in black, he looked more like he should be headlining the concert that night at Harveys.

One woman yelled to him, “You’re all I need.” Wagner’s 1985 ballad “All I Need” topped the Billboard Charts.

At 51, he still has a boyish appearance that makes women who followed his early acting career on “General Hospital” want to call him Frisco instead of Jack.

Charles Barkley is in the cellar, but not at the very bottom. That honor goes to Jay DeMarcus, with Jimmer Fredette separating the two.

Barkley looked a bit winded by the late afternoon, needing to summon a chair to sit in and have autograph seekers come to him one at a time on the putting green.

At the same time, Fredette, the rookie who signed with the Sacramento Kings, is walking the rope, signing everything put in front of him, smiling with fans for photos and looking about 10 years younger than his 22 years.

Asked how he likes like California, the New York native said, “Nice weather. Better than New York.”

While this tournament is about the golf for many of the players, for the fans it is part golf and part seeing their idols.

In an hour Joey Werblun, 13, of San Francisco secured 28 autographs. Elway was his most cherished signature at that point.

Guy Fieri of Food Network fame is using the woodfire oven on a trailer he built at his home in Santa Rosa to create pizzas fans at the driving range were raving about. Joe Theismann comes up to give his buddy a hug and then is asked what he wants on his pie.

“I’m a simple guy. I like tomatoes,” Theismann says. Fieri convinces him to put some barbecued chicken on his personal pizza.

For fans who don’t want to leave the action at the 17th hole, Jennifer Emkjer and Allie Brascia are delivering cocktails from the Edgewood concession. The UNR students work for a promotions company that sends them to different events to work.

The final round of the three-day tournament starts Sunday at Edgewood Tahoe at 8:05am with Deron Williams, Tim Brown and Mason Crosby.

Susan Wood contributed.

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