Still young at heart: Q&A with witty Chi Chi

Senior golf is past tense, right? It's getting old, isn't it, losing its sizzle?

Arnold Palmer huffs and puffs to break 80, Jack Nicklaus talks more and more about playing less and less, Lee Trevino finds his way to the first tee about once a month.

Now Chi Chi Rodriguez tells us this is it for him, his final tour of the Champions Tour.

The senior circuit was supposed to be a showcase for the golden oldies, wasn't it, a final farewell fueled by wisecracks and cheap cigars?

So, why are its remaining star attractions, its heart and soul, literally being driven out?

That's what Juan Chi Chi Rodriguez would like to know.

A tour predicated on nostalgia, the Champions Tour continues to move progressively in another direction, the latest blow a ban on motorized carts that kicks in next year.

The ban will take the toll on the few leftovers from the tour's golden days, forcing out some like Rodriguez, who at 68 simply can't propel himself around a course day after day anymore.

Rodriguez, a winner 22 times as a senior, said the ban ensures this will be his last year as a player.

So, while there is still time, we pause to hear one more time from Chi Chi.

This is what we will miss:

"Most people will miss a putt for nothing," he said. "A little money and the weak are certain to miss.

"You could put horse manure on an ice-cream cone with a whip cream and a cherry on top and people will buy it if a top-30 touring pro is selling it."

The witticisms arrive in rapid-fire style, practiced and well-worn, but still a kick.

Question: What keeps you playing at 68?

Answer: When you retire, your wife gets twice as much husband and half as much money. I have to keep playing. But I do get a lot of encouragement, and that means a lot.

Question: Did you really begin playing by hitting tin cans with the limb of a guava tree in your native Puerto Rico?

Answer: Yes I did. I would make a hole at second base and another one at home plate, and I could get it in in 3 strokes. I just always loved the game. I never played for what I could make. I played to win. If you're playing just to make a living, you should go do something else. You've got to enjoy playing.

Question: You've been outspoken against the tour's new policy that will prohibit the use of carts after this year. Will this really drive you from the game?

Answer: I want to keep playing, but I won't play at all after this year. They are going to take away the carts, so that will do it. I think somebody might get a good lawyer and maybe something will be done, but I won't do it.

It just seems to me that once you start something, you don't go back on it. Those of us that have been out here should get to keep doing what we've been doing.