John Daly has made only seven cuts this year, has not won since1995, and hasn't even finished in the top 10 since 1998. But he will
be among three players to represent the United States in the Dunhill Cup in two weeks at St. Andrews.
Part of that is because the sponsors love him. Daly is a big
draw, and he won the British Open at St. Andrews in 1995.
Teammate Tom Lehman is also a former Open champion.
But another reason Daly made the team is that officials are
having a hard time finding Americans to go to St. Andrews because
the Dunhill Cup is one week before the Presidents Cup.
"That's probably a factor,'' said Alistair Johnston, head of
worldwide golf operations for IMG, which operates the annual
matches. "I don't think there's any doubt that a congested
schedule made it a little difficult for all the candidates to make
themselves available.''
John Daly returns to St Andrews again.Allsport.
Despite his poor play on the PGA Tour, Daly is 8-1 in Dunhill
Cup matches and he was the only American to go 3-0 in 1998 -- on a
team that included Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara.
By going to Scotland, Daly is turning down a chance to play in
the $4.25 Las Vegas Invitational, which offers $765,000 to the
winner and more money for fifth place than he could make by winning
the Dunhill Cup.
"At this point in the season, prize money isn't as important," said Daly's agent, John Mascatello. "He would rather win the Dunhill Cup for the United States.''
TIME FOR A BREAK
Hal Sutton's resurgence since turning 40 didn't come easy. For the past couple of years, he has not gone more than three days without working on some aspect of his game.
Until now.
Sutton, who missed the cut in the Westin Texas Open, is taking the next
two weeks off until the Las Vegas Invitational and says he won't touch a club this week.
"That's something I haven't done in about three years,'' he
said Monday from his office in Shreveport, La. "Probably two or
three days is the longest I went without feeling like I had to work
on something.''
During that time, Sutton has not been horse riding, one of his
favorite pastimes. And about the only fishing he has done is for a
PGA Tour commercial.
"I haven't done any of that for two to three years because I'm
busting my (butt) to be the best I can be,'' he said. "There's no
time for that, and I don't see any time in the near future. I want
to be better next year than I've been this year.''
So why this break? Sutton said his 42-year-old body is telling
him it needs a short rest. He has been plagued by tendinitis in his
left ankle, which caused some back and hip problems as he tried to
play through it.
ROLE MODEL
For every kid who takes up golf because of Tiger Woods, there were plenty of others who were inspired by Arnold Palmer.
Consider this testimonial.
"When I was 11, I didn't have access to a golf course. I had
three cans in my backyard and I would hit whiffle balls and I would
try to emulate that swing of Arnold Palmer. Kids in those days and
all the way through the '60s and '70s, they wanted to be like
Arnold Palmer.''
That 11-year-old kid? PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem.
"Now, kids today want to be like Tiger Woods,'' the
commissioner said. "Different era, different styles, but the
impact on the game ... a very strong parallel. As big as Tiger
Woods is, I think Arnold in comparison to the rest of the tour was
bigger.
"But the impact on the game was very, very similar.''
DREAM MATCH
Ask if he could pick the opponent and location for his next Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match, Fred Couples wants Tiger Woods in Seattle.
"I'm getting older and going to be bypassed here, so I'd like
to play Tiger someday,'' Couples said.
Phil Mickelson, who defeated Couples in Oklahoma City earlier
this month, said he would like to play Sergio Garcia in Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico.
"As you saw in the Ryder Cup, he was very flamboyant when he
happened to win a match,'' Mickelson said. "I would like to have a
little go at him.''
There was one other reason Mickelson tabbed Garcia.
"I think,'' he said, "it's already arranged.''
JUMBO MANIA
Brian Watts played the first two rounds of the 1999 PGA Championship with Tiger Woods and saw the circus that comes with it. That was nothing new.
Watts spent several years playing in Japan, and said the way
galleries and the media respond to Jumbo Ozaki is similar.
"Except that here, we have 30, 40, 50,000 per day,'' he said.
"Over there, we don't have as many fans, but it's the same kind of
thing. Jumbo ... he's going to be the man to beat, and that's the
way Tiger is here.''
The big difference is that Watts didn't have to field as many
questions about Jumbo the way players are asked to assess the
impact of Woods.
Of course, there was a reason for that.
"I didn't have to do a bunch of interviews because I didn't
speak the language good enough,'' Watts said.
DIVOTS
Prince Andrew has been nominated as captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club for 2003-04, when the club celebrates its 250th anniversary. The Duke of York would be the fifth member of the Royal Family to be captain. ... For the first time in its 36-year history, only one American is in the field of the World Match Play Championship in England -- Bob May, who has never won on the PGA Tour. ... Lee Westwood needs only one more victory to match
the European Tour record of six wins in a season held by Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, and Colin Montgomerie. "It certainly will be a nice group to be in -- me and Seve,'' he said, making no mention of Faldo, a fellow Englishman, or Montgomerie, a Scot.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Tim Clark earned $100,080 for winning the Buy.com Boise Open on September 17. Ten years ago, when the Boise Open was part of the Hogan Tour, the tourney's entire purse was
$100,000.
FINAL WORD
"All I know is the IRS is sending me thank you notes every week. If I decide to take two weeks off, I imagine they'll send me a note telling me to get well soon.'' - Larry
Nelson, who leads the Senior Tour money list with $2,271,555.
