Golf Notes May 9

Justin Leonard, the hero of the 1999 Ryder Cup, has his work cut out for him if he wants to join the U.S. team in England this September.

Leonard, who made a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th green at The Country Club two years ago, is 22nd on the points list -- and the season is getting shorter each week.

Making the Ryder Cup team is a high priority, but Leonard figures it will be a byproduct of his performance, starting this week in the Byron Nelson Classic.

The Nelson is the first of four events in a row for Leonard as he heads toward the U.S. Open.

"These four tournaments will play a significant role in the way I'm playing going into the majors this summer,'' he said. "The way I play in the majors this summer will probably decide whether I make the Ryder Cup team.''

Leonard has made significant changes in his game by shortening his swing and eliminating excessive movement. He had two top-10s to start the season, but then missed the cut in five of his next nine events, his best finish a tied for 27th.

It started to turn around three weeks ago with a tie for fourth in the Houston Open, and Leonard says he is finally feeling comfortable with the changes.

"I've got a good feeling about my game, about the tournaments that are coming up,'' he said. "I'm just really looking forward to this week and this whole summer.''

O'MEARA'S MOTHER

The heart problems of Mark O'Meara's mother had been weighing heavily on him since The Players Championship at the end of March. On Friday, Nelda O'Meara died in Orlando, Fla., at age 71.

Funeral services were this morning. Tiger Woods attended, delaying his arrival for the Byron Nelson Classic.

O'Meara, who in 1998 became the oldest man to win two majors in a year at 41, has not won since that season. He is missing the Nelson Classic for the second straight year after having played in it 12 of the previous 13 years.

KIWI TIGER

Add another country to Tiger Woods's worldwide itinerary.

While a formal announcement is not expected until next week, Woods will go to Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club next year to play in the New Zealand Open, making it the 13th country where he's played official tournaments since turning professional five years ago.

The New Zealand Open will be played Jan. 10-13, the week after the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes Championships in Hawaii. Getting Woods to New Zealand didn't come cheaply -- he is said to be receiving at least $2 million in appearance money.

The other countries he has played in: the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Argentina. He also played in Ireland last year in an exhibition.

DUVAL'S ROAD

The last two legs of the Texas swing could be David Duval's final tuneup for the U.S. Open.

Duval is playing the Byron Nelson Classic and the Colonial next week in Fort Worth, but will miss the Memorial because one of his best friends is getting married. He doesn't plan to play the Kemper Open or the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., so he could go to the U.S. Open without having played in three weeks.

Is that a problem?

"It didn't seem to be a problem at the last one,'' Duval said.

That would be The Masters, where Duval finished runner-up to Tiger Woods despite missing four weeks with tendinitis in his right wrist.

BACK TO TROON

The British Open will return to Royal Troon in 2004 for the eighth time, which should bode well for the Americans.

Justin Leonard won his only major at Royal Troon in 1997, closing with a 65 for a three-stroke victory over Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik. He became the fifth straight American to win at Troon, joining Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Weiskopf (1973), and Arnold Palmer (1962).

TIGER SHOTS

For the past 35 years, IMG founder Mark McCormack has published a tome called "The World of Professional Golf.'' It includes summaries of every event on every tour around the world, and ends with a "Shot of the Year'' on the back cover.

He figured last year was too good to limit it to one shot. Instead, he offered a dozen great shots from the same player -- IMG client Tiger Woods.

Two of the shots were putts from the PGA Championship -- the 8-footer to save par on the 15th hole, and the 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole, which Woods chased all the way to the hole (that image made the cover).

McCormack's favorite was Woods's 6-iron from 218 yards out of a bunker and over water on the last hole of the Canadian Open.

"It put an exclamation point behind his year of incredible shots,'' he wrote.

NICKLAUS ADVICE

One of the more insightful stories in "Jack Nicklaus: His March Through the Majors,'' comes from Johnny Miller, who noticed that longtime Nicklaus caddie Angelo Argea didn't read greens, step off the yardage or help with club selection.

"What exactly do you do for Jack?'' Miller asked him.

"He asked me to do two things,'' Argea replied. "When he's not playing well, one, remind him that he's the best golfer out there. And two, that there's plenty of holes left.''

The retrospective on Nicklaus's career in the majors was put on sale today. The three hours of programming on the DVD version includes unedited interviews with Nicklaus at The Masters and PGA Championship.

DIVOTS

Davis Love III withdrew from the Byron Nelson Classic because of a neck injury, the second straight tournament he has had to skip. ... Annika Sorenstam needs to earn just $60,332 over her next four tournaments to become the fastest woman to reach $1 million in a season. The record is 13 tournaments, set by Karrie Webb last year.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Tiger Woods has earned 13 of his 27 victories on the PGA Tour in three states - Florida (5), California (4), and Ohio (4).

FINAL WORD

"It's higher than the Senior Open, which is a huge improvement and a good step forward.'' - LPGA player Emilee Klein, on the $2.9 million purse for the U.S. Women's Open, which is still only 58 percent of the men's U.S. Open purse of $5 million.

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