Any player who has raved
that Callaway's new -- and USGA non-conforming -- ERC driver gives them as much
as 30 extra yards off the tee must not have been involved in an unscientific
study conducted by Golf Digest.
The magazine organized
a test of the new club by asking a top tour player with at least one major championship
to try it out. The player requested anonymity.
Measuring nine solid drives
with each driver, the test revealed the ERC averaged 6.9 yards more carry and
2.4 yards more roll than Callaway's Hawk Eye. Complete results will be available
in this week's issue of sister publication Golf World.
Of particular interest
is that Golf Digest used a 9-degree model, which has not been submitted
to the USGA to measure for spring-like effect. The non-conforming model is an
11-degree driver.
The magazine used the 9-degree
driver because that's the loft used by most tour players.
O'MEARA
IN MACAU
Mark O'Meara stands a reasonable
chance this week of winning for the first time since beating Tiger Woods in the
World Match Play Championship in England at the end of his spectacular 1998 season.
No, he's not in the GTE
Byron Nelson Classic.
O'Meara, who has missed
the Nelson just once since 1987, is playing in the Macau Open.
"It's a treat for me to
play in different parts of the world," he said.
O'Meara will be going up
against the Asian PGA Tour's top players -- Kyi Hla Han of Myanmar, the leading
money-winner last year; Yeh Wei-tze of Taiwan, who leads this year's money list;
and fellow American Gerry Norquist, who plays the European Tour.
The total purse is $200,000.
VOLUNTEER
DUTY
The Home Depot Invitational
raises more than $100,000 for 22 charities around Charlotte, N.C. Just as significant
was the contribution that came from the volunteers who worked the Senior PGA
Tour event last week.
They pitched in $2,350
for the Latrobe (Pa.) Area Hospital Charitable Foundation in memory of Winnie
Palmer, the wife of Arnold Palmer who died of cancer in November.
"Through the years, Arnold
has done so much for golf as well as charities in the greater Charlotte area,"
said David Kale, tournament volunteer chairman. "We wanted to help in some small
way by making a contribution to a cause very close to his heart."
WEDGIE'S
WORLD
Brian "Wedgie" Alexander,
the caddie who has stuck with John Daly through some rather lean years, has found
a new line of work.
Alexander showed up on
the range at the Nelson Classic today sporting credentials as a tour representative
for an upstart equipment company.
"I just needed some stability,"
Alexander said.
A steady paycheck will
come with it. In 11 events this year, Daly has missed five cuts and withdrew
from another. His best finish is a tie for 16th, with official earnings of $79,512.
SEVE SHOW
The best example that the
score is ultimately all that matters comes from none other than Seve Ballesteros.
In the second round of
the French Open, Ballesteros hit one tee shot so far left that it cleared a lake
and landed in the adjacent fairway, some 100 yards off target. From there, Ballesteros
hit a 9-iron to 6 feet and made the birdie.
"I hit it only three times.
That's what counts," Ballesteros said.
This from the same man
who, when asked what happened on a four-putt, once said, "I miss the putt. I
miss the putt. I miss the putt. I hole the putt."
WONDER WEBB
Karrie Webb is pretty heroic
off the course, too.
Along with winning six
times in eight starts this year, the 25-year-old Aussie recently wrote a letter
and included a $1,000 check to a 26-year-old weekend radio disc jockey in West
Palm Beach, Fla., who was paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident.
The DJ, Jonathan LaVarnway,
had no medical insurance.
Paralysis is important
to Webb. Her only coach, Kelvin Haller, is a quadriplegic, and Webb recently
announced her first charity pro-am to raise money for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis
Foundation.
CADDIE SHACK
The only one who might
have suffered more than Ernie Els and David Duval at The Masters was Kieran Docherty,
the caddie for Carlos Franco who tore the ACL in his right knee during the third
round at Augusta.
At least Els and Duval
will get another crack at a major.
"Doc," who first started
working with Franco on the Japanese tour and lives in British Columbia, may not
be able to have surgery until the fall because he's classified as a "non-emergency."
The alternative is paying $13,000 for the operation in Seattle.
Along with carrying the
bag the past five years, Docherty is the travel agent, chauffeur and business
manager for Franco, who speaks little English. Both speak a little Japanese.
In the meantime, Jimmy
Johnson filled in during the Compaq Classic, although Docherty is expected to
return when he recovers.
"Unless he goes out and
wins five in a row with this guy," Docherty told the Vancouver Sun last
week. "Then I'm done."
One down, four to go.
DIVOTS
Hale Irwin is the latest
to have Lasik eye surgery, along with his daughter, son and son-in-law. "Now
we all walk around the house smiling and saying, 'Nice to see you' to each other.'
It's the ultimate family togetherness story." ... With CNBC taking over coverage
of the Senior PGA Tour next year, LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw is hopeful that
will lead to more of his tournaments on ESPN. ... Meg Mallon got this year's
American Stroke Challenge off to a good start last week by making 13 birdies
in the Philips Invitational. Bayer Aspirin is donating $1,500 to stroke research
for every birdie made by Mallon and Corey Pavin in the month of May. Pavin took
last week off, but is playing in the Byron Nelson this week. ... Ernie Els and
Fred Couples both withdrew from the Nelson Classic citing back problems. Craig
Stadler also withdrew because of sore ribs.
STAT OF
THE WEEK
Colin Montgomerie could
move up to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week by winning the
Benson & Hedges at The Belfry, and having David Duval finish worse than 15th
in the Nelson Classic.
FINAL WORD
"I've been trying to do
that for years." - Tiger Woods, after 8-year-old Michael Ready hit a shot that
almost hit a photographer during Woods's youth clinic in Oklahoma City.
