Golf Notes June 27

The Nabisco Championship, the first major of the season on the LPGA Tour, finally gets a date next year that will not go head-to-head with The Players Championship.

The only problem for LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw is finding ample network television time.

The Players Championship, televised by NBC, will move up one week earlier in 2002, to March 21-24. It will be the first time since 1990 that two PGA Tour events separated the Players from the Masters.

Nabisco will be played the following week, opposite the PGA Tour's Houston Open.

The problem? ABC Sports televises both.

Nabisco has to go second because it is played in California, and Votaw is resigned to the fact that event will get cable coverage (ESPN) for the first three rounds and portions of the final round.

Votaw said he is working with ABC and the PGA Tour to let the Houston Open finish at 5 p.m. EST, which will leave 90 minutes for the final round of Nabisco.

``We're working through those issues, but I think we'll be able to get it done,'' he said.

Another potential problem: The Houston Open has a history of playoffs, with five in the past nine years. That would further cut into network time for the Nabisco.

There is also speculation Tiger Woods might play the Houston Open, since he would still have a week off before the Masters.

``If I'm living right, Tiger will play Shell and win by 15 strokes andfinish in time, and we'll have a great lead-in going to Nabisco,'' Votaw said.

TRIVIA TIME

Tiger Woods is No. 1 in the world ranking for the 97th consecutive week, breaking the record held by Greg Norman.

Who ended Norman's streak at 96 weeks on April 20, 1997?

FLORIDA FAREWELL

The LPGA Tour has had a Florida Swing in the early part of its schedule every year since its inception in 1950.

The Sunshine State could be shut out next year.

The season-opener in Orlando is out because JC Penney decided to no longer sponsor golf. The Office Depot switched its sponsorship from Doral in Miami to Los Angeles. The Naples tournament is taking next year off until its new course is ready.

``We may have no events in January,'' Votaw said.

Doral is still looking for a title sponsor. Should it find one, Votaw said he will recommend that the tournament be played in April. Otherwise, the LPGA Tour will have one stop in Florida with the next tournament in Hawaii.

It's all part of Votaw's plan to cut back on the number of tournaments.

Former commissioner Jim Ritts built the schedule up to a high of 43 events, but several of those were never run properly and featured small purses.

``I see us going back to a 37- or 38-event schedule and having the month of January off with no Florida swing, so we can provide a tighter schedule overalland give our players more of an offseason,'' Votaw said.

CUT WATCH

Tiger Woods has missed only one cut in his career, the 1997 Canadian Open at Royal Montreal, and moved another tournament closer to Byron Nelson's record of 113 in a row by surviving another bad start at the Buick Classic before extending his streak to 71.

He's had some close calls, though.

Among the best ``cut watches'' are:

1999 Buick Invitational
He had a 71 in the second round and made the cut by two strokes. Woods shot 62-65 on the weekend to win.

2000 Buick Invitational
Woods was at even par at Torrey Pines, two below the eventual cut line, until he made five birdies and one great par save on the back nine for a 68. He was tied for the lead Sunday and wound up four strokes back.

2000 Canadian Open

The cut was even-par 144 and Woods was on the ropes until a birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle blitz. He shot 65 and went on to win.

2001 U.S. Open

A 74 in the first round followed by a 71 and at one point Woods was 11 strokes behind Retief Goosen -- the cut at the U.S. Open is top 60 and everyone within 10 shots of the lead. Woods made it, then had two 69s onthe weekend and tied for 12th.

FAMILY MAN

Greg Norman did not try to qualify for the U.S. Open because he promised his 18-year-old daughter a vacation after her graduation.

Norman once again has cited ``family first'' in announcing he will not play in the Australian Open, even though it will be played on a course he designed.

The Shark said his daughter, Morgan Leigh, will be returning home from college for the first time and he wants to spend Thanksgiving with the family.

``I've only got one daughter, and there's a lot of Australian Opens to play,'' Norman said. ``I'm disappointed because there is no better feeling than playing a golf tournament on a course you designed and built in your homestate. But my family comes first.''

IT'S ALL IN THE SHAFT

Since switching back to graphite shafts, Laura Davies won in Rochester, shot 64 in France and was in contention at the LPGA Championship.

Davies, who signed with Srixon this year when Marumann ran into financial problems, isn't sure why she had steels shafts in the first place.

``I went to the factory in Japan and they decided steel was the shaft for me,'' Davies said. ``I don't know anything about that stuff. Marumann alwayssent me new clubs, I used them and I won.''

TRIVIA ANSWER

Tom Lehman. Norman returned to No. 1 the following week.

DIVOTS

The international domination of the LPGA Tour is spilling into the majors. Meg Mallon is the only American to have won one of the last four majors (du Maurier). A foreign victory at the British Open would mean the first timeAmericans have been shut out in the majors over a year in LPGA history.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Tiger Woods finished out of the top 10 in the U.S. Open (T12) and Buick Classic (T16), the first time he has done that in consecutiveweeks since he tied for 18th in the Masters and at Hilton Head in 1999.

FINAL WORD

``I didn't have my A-game today, as Tiger would say. I didn't even have his C-game.'' -- Scott Hoch, after finishing second to Sergio Garcia in the Buick Classic.

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