Former Sixers boss Croce in his new element on the golf course

"I want to beat Mark [who's a 7]. I want to beat his [teenage] son, that little SOB. He's damn good."

Benevento, whose relationship with Croce goes way back, sounds sincerely shocked by all this.

Did we mention that Pat actually cracked a rib on his left side from hitting the ground too hard?

"He always said he didn't have the time, didn't have the desire," Benevento said. "Now he's having so much fun with it. He's immersed himself. I really think the tipping point was getting to spend some quality time with his son. But you don't go from a 34 to a 14 like that. It doesn't happen. That's Pat Croce.

"I just see his life changing. You learn a lot about a person on the golf course, and a lot about yourself. He spent 3 straight days with our pro, Bucky Kenneff. Called it Camp Croce. Worked with him from 9 'til noon. Then we'd go play 18 after lunch.

"It's changed our relationship. I've never seen more of him.

"[Recently] we played a match at Philly Country Club with one of my buddies from down here and one of Pat's friends. It comes down to the 18th hole, which is to the right of the clubhouse. There's a huge wedding going on, and people started to notice who he is, the buzz is going around, cameras start clicking. We win, so there's Pat and his guy paying off by doing pushups in front of all these people. It was something."

Croce already has been to Scotland, where he played (among others) St. Andrews, Muirfield, Carnoustie and Prestwick. He's also done Pine Valley, Augusta National and Merion. Being him has perks. He hasn't made it to the Monterey Peninsula yet, but it's high on the list. The possibilities have no boundries.

Imagine that.

"I left enough skull-and-crossbone balls over there [in Scotland], they're going to think Pirates raided them," Croce said. "I lived in whatever they call that stuff. Gorse, or heather. I had a great game, my best game, at Muirfield. The wind, and the ambiance. At Carnoustie, I hit that snake of a canal like every other hole."

Uh, the natives refer to it as the Burn.

"Well, it burned me," he noted.

Maybe so, but there's always the next time.

"That's what's good about it," Croce said. "You have to put the bad shots and the bad holes behind you. The ball's not coming at you. It's just sitting there. Being an athlete, you don't like to be embarrassed. You're 100 yards away, how can I not get it there? That's what's cool about it. Anyone can do it."

Even someone who drove to Chester Valley Country Club when he was a sophomore at West Chester University - to shine shoes.

"I knew nothing [about golf]," Croce recalled. "And I didn't care. I did it for the money. Then I'd leave. To me, it was just a job."

It has become quite an adventure. *