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Golf Notes December 5
What happens when you mix the PGA Tour with ``Mayberry RFD?'' Meet Boo Weekley,
one of the most colorful characters to emerge from Q-school.
``I don't know what the PGA is supposed to expect, because I ain't ever been
out there,'' he said in a syrupy Southern drawl. ``I just showed up being myself.''
Who's Boo?
Thomas Brent Weekley is from the Florida Panhandle town of Milton. He got his
nickname as a kid because he was enamored with ``Boo-Boo'' on the Yogi Bear cartoons.
He doesn't dress like a golfer. Weekley wears sneakers because golf shoes hurt
his feet, and rain pants because cotton pants cause him to break out in a rash.
``I know I don't wear the right attire for everybody, but that's just me,''
he said. ``Maybe I can run into some more pants that might be a little more suitable
for the tour. I'd like to bring out some camouflage. It they let me do that, it
wouldn't hurt my feelings at all.''
College experience?
``ABAC,'' he said, rattling off the acronym as if it were UCLA. That would
be Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, a two-year school in Tipton, Ga.
Previous employment?
He farmed cotton and soybeans, and operated a hydroblaster while working at
a chemical plant.
Priorities? In order.
Weekley was right on the cut line going into the final round and was asked
whether he expected the pressure to become more intense, and the significance
of getting his card.
``If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't,'' he said. ``All I can
do is go out and play golf and have fun with it.''
Oh, yes, he also has game. Weekley finished at 18-under 414, in a tie for 23rd.
TIGER PROOFING
Tiger Woods never has been a big fan of tournaments where rounds in the 60s
are required just to keep pace. So, expect to see some changes at his Williams
World Challenge next week.
Along with his duties as host, Woods has asked the superintendent at Sherwood
Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to raise the mowers.
``I made them grow the rough a little higher,'' he said on his Web site (tigerwoods.com).
``You can't just go out there and shoot 20 under. They're going to have to go
out there and play.''
A year ago, Davis Love III closed with a 64 for a two-stroke victory over Woods.
Love finished at 22-under 266.
TEAM MATCHES
Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper will be going for their fifth straight victory
this weekend in the Hyundai Team Matches, and both have a little extra incentive.
``We're in the middle of starting construction on our house, and Juli is in
the middle of expansion,'' Pepper said. ``I think that'll probably take care of
it.''
Each has won $400,000 over the past four years in the Hyundai, the only tournament
that features competition among all three tours.
Inkster-Pepper will go against Karrie Webb-Kelly Robbins, Janice Moodie-Lorie
Kane and Grace Park-Wendy Ward. Moodie replaced Se Ri Pak, who is with her ailing
father in South Korea.
From the PGA Tour, defending champions Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf will compete
against the teams of Fred Couples-Mark Calcavecchia, David Toms-Steve Flesch and
Joe Durant-Skip Kendall.
Tom Watson will be going for his third straight seniors victory, this time
with a different partner. Andy North has replaced Jack Nicklaus, whose back is
sore. Other senior teams are Bruce Fleisher-Arnold Palmer, Allen Doyle-Dana Quigley
and Gary McCord-Tom Kite.
The tournament is at Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point, Calif.
DUNHILL LINKS
The Dunhill Links Challenge, the European tour's version of the Pebble Beach
National Pro-Am, is back on the schedule for next year and in a timely spot on
the calendar -- the week after the Ryder Cup.
``The overwhelming support for the event, from both professional and amateur
participants alike, was the deciding factor,'' tournament spokesman Iain Banner
said.
Paul Lawrie won the inaugural event -- at $5 million, the richest in Europe
-- in dramatic fashion by holing a 60-foot putt from the Valley of Sin on the
18th hole at St. Andrews.
The other courses in the rotation are Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. The tournament
was criticized for its weather delays and pro-am format, a novelty in tradition-rich
Scotland.
What remains to be seen is whether any Americans -- already in Europe for the
World Golf Championship (Ireland) and Ryder Cup (England) -- will stay an extra
week.
Several top players don't like going to Pebble for one reason -- bad weather.
DIVOTS
Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are playing in the Vodacom Players Championship
in South Africa. It will be Els' last chance to avoid his first winless year since
1991. ... Nancy Lopez will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in
February. ... Nissan has signed on for another four years as title sponsor of
the Los Angeles Open at Riviera, through 2006. ... The stable of players using
Nike Golf's new clubs is growing. Mark Brooks, John Cook, Glen Day, Brian Gay
and Franklin Langham all have signed deals to play the clubs next year. All five
already had ball, shoe and glove deals with Nike. ... Annika Sorenstam and Karrie
Webb won't wait until the official start of the LPGA Tour season to resume their
rivalry. Both plan to play in the Australian Ladies Masters the week before the
LPGA kicks off in Hawaii. ... Jim Butz is the 2001 winner of the Ernie Sabayrac
Award for lifetime contributions to the golf industry. Butz has spent 53 years
in golf. He is a former assistant executive director of the PGA of America and
now is secretary of the Association of Golf Exhibitors.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Stephen Allan, Danny Ellis, Lee Porter and Brent Schwarzrock are the only players
who have made it through Q-school the last two years.
FINAL WORD
``Everybody used to say that golfers peak when they are 35. I might be retired
at 35.'' -- Ty Tryon, 17, after becoming the youngest player to get his PGA Tour
card.
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