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Golf Notes October 31
Greg Norman and Nick Faldo have been linked in golf history, whether they were
staging memorable duels in the majors or trading the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
It only seems fitting that they share another distinction in the twilight of their
careers.
Both have given up their PGA Tour membership for the 2002 season.
Norman and Faldo failed to play the required amount of tour events to retain
their membership. Now, they can play only 10 events next year, including the four
majors, before seeking reinstatement for 2003.
Norman is exempt through 2004 because of his 1994 victory in The Players Championship.
Because he is 45 and has made 150 cuts in his career, he was required to play
12 events, but fell one short.
Faldo's victory in the 1996 Masters came with a 10-year exemption. His minimum
is 15 events, but he played only 13 this year.
Henry Hughes, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, notified both of them recently
they were dangerously close to losing their membership. Neither added any events.
``If we had unusual circumstances that was unprecedented, the commissioner
has the ability to override and make an exception,'' Hughes said. ``But we don't
feel that's the situation.''
Not even the terrorist attacks?
``We're running our tournaments. People are traveling around the world,'' Hughes
said. ``We would be inconsistent to say it's fair for one player to not have to
travel and be exempt from an obligation he has.''
For Norman, it is only a minor inconvenience since he planned to play only
13 times this year, anyway. He had to withdraw from Doral with a 103-degree fever,
and from the British Open because a family friend died.
``Rather than deviating from my plan by playing in events that weren't already
on my schedule, I chose to finish the year with 11,'' Norman said on his website,
shark.com. ``If my change in membership status allows me to play on 10 or so in
the States, I'll just pick up a few other events overseas.''
Faldo has never played fewer than 15 events since he rejoined the PGA Tour.
The 44-year-old Englishman has not played on tour since the terrorist attacks,
and he noted that John Daly is the only American to have played overseas since
Sept. 11.
``If they are not coming this way,'' he said, ``why should I go that way?''
DOYLE'S DONATION
The Senior Tour has been called golf's greatest mulligan, but not for Allen
Doyle. He didn't turn pro until 1995 as a 47-year-old and earned only $245,923
in two seasons on the PGA Tour.
That's what made his donation this week one of the biggest in golf.
Doyle earned a $1 million tax-deferred annuity by winning the points-based
Charles Schwab Cup on the Senior Tour, and gave it all to charity.
``As soon as I convinced my wife that we were set financially, she was 100
percent behind it,'' Doyle said. ``It just felt like the fair thing to do. We've
been fortunate.''
The money will be paid out over 10 years to his alma maters (Norwich University
in Vermont and Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, Mass.); Habitat
For Humanity, St. Peters Catholic Church and Literacy Volunteers of America, all
in La Grange, Ga.; and 10-year scholarships for children of a police officer or
firefighter who died in the World Trade Center attacks.
Doyle won the money title this year with just over $2.5 million. In three years
on the Senior Tour, he has made over $6.5 million.
MIGHTY MATCH
Annika Sorenstam's comeback victory over Se Ri Pak in the World Ladies Match
Play Championship clinched the LPGA player of the year award.
Sorenstam, who won for the seventh time this year, now has 330.25 points for
66.25-point lead over Pak, and only 60 points are available for winning the season-ending
Tour Championship in two weeks.
It is the fourth time the 31-year-old Swede has won player of the year since
joining the LPGA Tour in 1994. Sorenstam also has a strong grip on the Vare Trophy
for the lowest scoring average, which would be her fourth scoring title.
Along with winning a major and becoming the first woman to shoot 59, Sorenstam
has finished in the top 10 in 75 percent of her tournaments (18 of 24), and led
the tour by hitting 80 percent of her greens in regulation.
EUROPEAN SCHEDULE
Only eight weeks separate the season-ending Tour Championship and the season-opening
Mercedes Championship on the PGA Tour. If that doesn't sound like much of an off-season,
consider the European tour.
The 2002 season actually starts Thanksgiving weekend with a new tournament
in Taiwan, and concludes 350 days later with the Volvo Masters in Spain.
Of course, there is a four-week gap in December, and the European tour doesn't
actually get to Europe until the third full week in March with the Madeira Island
Open. The schedule includes 44 events in 22 countries.
OH, BROTHER
Deane and Brenden Pappas won't be the first set of brothers competing on the
PGA Tour at the same time, but they became the first to graduate together from
the minor leagues.
Both finished in the top 15 on the Buy.com Tour's money list after its Tour
Championship. Brenden Pappas started the tournament 23rd on the money list, but
tied for second to earn $52,800 and secure his card.
DIVOTS
Tiger Woods showed up at the Tour Championship sporting a goatee. ``Just laziness,''
he said. ... Seventeen-year-old Ty Tryon advanced past the first stage of PGA
Tour qualifying school as a co-medalist. ``It's hard out here, but it's only as
hard as you make it,'' he said. Bryce Molder also got through the first stage.
... All signs point toward Hamilton Golf and Country Club getting the 2003 Canadian
Open. Club members gave overwhelming approval Monday night to play host to the
open for the first time since 1930. ... John Daly will skip the Pebble Beach National
Pro-Am next year and play the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne. Others in the
field are Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Davis Love III is 0-for-6 when playing in the final group this year. But he
ranks third in final-round scoring average.
FINAL WORD
``The level of the tour has gone a couple of steps up. It's a lot closer to
where Tiger is.'' -- Sergio Garcia.
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