|
Golf Notes November 7
Greg Norman might not be a devout baseball fan, but he took a particular interest
in the Arizona Diamondbacks during the final two games of the World Series.
Resiliency has been one of Norman's hallmarks. Some of the bad rounds and bad
breaks that went against him -- such as Bob Tway holing a bunker shot on the 72nd
hole of the PGA Championship, or Larry Mize chipping in from 140 feet for birdie
in a playoff at the Masters -- never sent him into despair.
``What's done is done,'' Norman said. ``You cannot change history, even though
you want to blame yourself for some and blame history for others. I've never really
dwelled in the past. I've never worried about it.''
That came to mind when he watched Arizona stand on the verge of victory in
Games 4 and 5, only for the New York Yankees to get two-out, two-run homers in
the bottom of the ninth in both games and win in extra innings.
``When I watched the Diamondbacks, what happened in the ninth and in overtime,
I can relate to those guys,'' Norman said. ``I don't know the manager, but I wanted
to call and say, 'Hey, I've been there. Hold your head up and things will turn
around.'
``If they're resilient, they'll come back.''
Norman spoke about five hours before Game 7 started. Arizona rallied for two
runs in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series.
UNSEEN SHOT
One of the most memorable shots of the year was when Tiger Woods rolled in
a 60-foot birdie putt on the island-green 17th at Sawgrass in the third round
of The Players Championship.
The putt broke 6 feet to the left as it went down the ridge, then 6 feet to
the right and caught the edge of the cup for birdie.
It was listed on a Web site poll as one of the five best shots of the year.
Trouble is, it might not have been the best shot on that green -- on the same
day, no less.
``About an hour earlier, I had the same line -- only about 15 feet longer,''
Robert Allenby said. ``I was almost on the boards, and I holed the putt.''
Indeed, the rail-thin Aussie made birdie with a monster putt in the third round.
Of course, Allenby wasn't contending for the lead, and his putt was seen only
by the thousands of people crammed into the amphitheater around the green, not
a national TV audience.
Allenby can make his own case for best shot of the year -- a 3-wood from 225
yards in a cold rain at Riviera to within 5 feet for birdie to end a six-man playoff,
the largest in PGA Tour history for a 72-hole event.
``Oh, well,'' Allenby said. ``They don't give an award for that, anyway.''
HOCH AS IN SPOKE
One week, Scott Hoch was in the lucrative Williams World Challenge. The next
week, he was out. After a mild protest, the field for Tiger Woods' unofficial
tournament was expanded to accommodate him.
The top 12 players available from the world ranking qualify for the end-of-the-year
tournament, and the cutoff date was Oct. 1. But after the American Express Championship
was canceled because of the terrorist attacks, organizers decided to give players
a chance to make up for the lost week.
Hoch was the last player to qualify in the Oct. 1 rankings. One week later,
after he missed the cut at Kingsmill, he was bumped.
Hoch, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, complained that the qualifications
had been changed. As a compromise, officials decided to expanded the field from
16 to 18 players (with four wild-card selections).
Why go to so much trouble for a silly-season event?
``It was a matter of principle,'' Hoch said.
TOUR AWARDS
The ballots for PGA Tour awards went out Tuesday, and the players have two
to three weeks to cast their votes for player of the year, rookie of the year
and comeback player of the year.
Undetermined is where the awards will be handed out.
``We'll end up doing it on the West Coast again,'' commissioner Tim Finchem
said.
The tour has distributed its awards in three cities the past three years --
a luncheon at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla.; a dinner at Kapalula
during the Mercedes Championship; and last year at a press conference at Pebble
Beach.
Finchem has said he would like to have an annual awards presentation.
``We're still fiddling with it,'' he said. ``That question will be answered
in '03.''
MACKENZIE IN LINE
Reed Mackenzie has been nominated to serve a one-year term as president of
the U.S. Golf Association. The election will take place Feb. 2 at the USGA's annual
meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Mackenzie, a personal injury lawyer in Minneapolis who has been a rules official
at every U.S. Open since 1978, joined the USGA executive committee in 1992 after
serving as general chairman for the U.S. Open at Hazeltine, his home course.
He will succeed Trey Holland.
DIVOTS
Butch Harmon, the swing coach for Tiger Woods the past eight years, plans to
start working with Casey Martin. ``I want to help him get to where he'd like to
be, which is back on the PGA Tour,'' Harmon said. ... Bob Estes ended the season
with 25 straight rounds at par or better, the longest current streak on the PGA
Tour. Woods' streak of 52 consecutive rounds ended in the second round of the
Phoenix Open this year. ... The $94 that separated Woody Austin (No. 125) and
Bradley Hughes (No. 126) on the final PGA Tour money list was the smallest amount
since Pat McGowan finished $76 ahead of John Inman in 1989. ... Jack Nicklaus
and the PGA of America have created a $2 million endowment to provide teaching
grants to certified First Tee chapters that use PGA members or apprentices for
instruction. ... John Daly was the longest driver on the PGA Tour for the 10th
time in the past 11 years. Davis Love III was the only other player (1994) to
win the driving distance title since Daly's rookie season in 1991.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Cameron Beckman, who won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, was the only Q-school
graduate to finish in the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list.
FINAL WORD
``The season is over. It doesn't matter what's wrong.'' -- Justin Leonard after
a 77 in the final round of the Tour Championship.
Email
this page to a friend | Return to top of page
Genuity
International, sponsors Golf Today
|
