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Golf Notes October 3
The LPGA Tour will not have a Florida swing next year for the first time since
its inception in 1950. The number of tournaments on the 2002 schedule likely will
be about 38, the lowest since 1992.
When commissioner Ty Votaw outlined the future to a group of players last week
in Alabama, he also explained a shift in strategy -- sometimes, less can be more.
``Quality over quantity is the way to go,'' Votaw said. ``Part of it is the
economy. Part of it is attrition. Part of it is strategic on our part, not to
break our necks to replace a struggling event with another struggling event. We
want to present the strongest and most quality-driven product we can.''
It represents a big change from what former commissioner Jim Ritts referred
to as the ``more'' tour when he crammed 43 tournaments into the 1999 schedule,
nine of them with purses lower than $700,000 and many of them on substandard golf
courses.
Votaw is expected to release the first half of the 2002 schedule sometime in
the next two weeks, with the rest of it announced at the season-ending Tour Championship
in the middle of November.
The first major, the Nabisco, will be the last weekend in March but will not
be played opposite The Players Championship. The LPGA Championship will be one
week before the U.S. Open, while the U.S. Women's Open will move to the first
week in July.
While the number of tournaments will be reduced, the total prize money is expected
to remain at about $38 million, and possibly increase. Votaw believes fewer tournaments
will lead to consistently stronger fields and greater interest.
He also realizes there will be complaints from less proven players who want
more chances to earn money.
``We all have to pull in the same direction,'' he said.
BETHPAGE LOGO
The U.S. Golf Association has discontinued three items in its merchandise catalog,
all of them with a Bethpage logo that featured the Twin Towers as part of the
New York skyline.
The Black Course at Bethpage State Park is site of the 2002 U.S. Open.
USGA spokesman Craig Smith said the logos were on a jacket, an afghan and a
lapel pin.
``If anyone places an order, those items are no longer for sale,'' Smith said.
``We're trying to come up with another design.''
He said it was not clear what the USGA would do with the inventory.
The merchandise catalogs are mailed to thousands of USGA customers. The final
shipment was Sept. 10.
ROLLING THE DICE
Sponsors' exemptions for young players are hard to find this late in the year,
so the Invensys Classic tried something different. After awarding six spots in
the Las Vegas field, it held an 18-hole qualifier for the final two exemptions.
Eighteen out of 40 players accepted an invitation, and it proved to be quite
a show.
Former U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney birdied three of the final four holes
to post an 8-under 64 on the TPC at Summerlin and secure one of the spots. Joining
him was a familiar face -- James Driscoll, the runner-up to Quinney in last year's
U.S. Amateur that took 39 holes to decide.
Driscoll, playing in the same group with Quinney, birdied the final four holes
for a 64 and also earned a spot in the $4.5 million tournament.
GENERATIONS
Jack Nicklaus says it's impossible to compare generations, noting players used
to travel to the British Open by boat and traveled the PGA Tour by car.
But one difference caught his attention this year.
``These kids have things easy,'' he said. ``Kids call up to the Memorial and
say, 'How is your day-care center?' We had players making their schedules based
on day-care centers. You think I'm kidding? More than one golfer has called about
that.
``I'm happy to have lived in the era I did,'' Nicklaus concluded. ``And I'm
sure Tiger Woods and David Duval are happy to live in their era.''
ADIEU, JEAN
Two years ago, Jean Van de Velde stood on the 18th tee at Carnoustie needing
only a double bogey to win the British Open, which would have given him a five-year
exemption on the PGA Tour and a 10-year exemption in Europe.
Now, he could get kicked off the European tour for not playing enough tournaments
and might not have status anywhere without going to Q-school.
Van de Velde, who wound losing the Open in a playoff after a comical triple
bogey on the 72nd hole, has fallen to 155th on the PGA Tour money list and is
unlikely to retain his card. He is 146th on the money list in Europe.
Because he has played only six events in Europe, tour regulations stipulate
that he be ineligible for reinstatement for two years without written permission
from the executive director Ken Schofield.
As usual, the Frenchman is taking it all with a bit laissez-faire.
``What can you do?'' he said. ``I made up my mind after The Open to go to America
and set myself another challenge. It was not the easy route to take,and now I
find myself where I am.''
DIVOTS
The World Cup will be played next year on the Nicklaus Course at Vista Vallarta
in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It will be the seventh country to hold a World Golf
Championship event. ... Hall of Famer Juli Inkster and Canadian Nancy Harvey were
elected to the LPGA Tour's executive committee for three years. Tom Lehman resigned
from the PGA Tour's policy board, replaced by Tom Pernice Jr. ... Pine Valley's
offer to play golf Oct. 15 for $1,000 went so quickly that the New Jersey club
has scheduled a second day open to public. Pine Valley said it would hold a drawing
from the leftover entries to fill the Oct. 22 date. The club expects 260 players
over the two days, with 100 percent of the money going to the Twin Towers Fund.
... Joe Ozaki has decided to quit the PGA Tour after eight full seasons. The 45-year-old
player from Japan said the travel was starting to wear on him. Ozaki never finished
higher than 66th on the money list.
STAT OF THE WEEK: John Daly is No. 69 in the world rankings this week. He started
the season at No. 414.
FINAL WORD: ``I figure if I don't spend it, my daughters' husbands will.''
-- Paul Azinger on the money it costs for private jets.
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