Golf Notes April 18

Annika Sorenstam is not the only one with a streak on the line at the Longs Drugs Challenge.

Defending champion Juli Inkster is trying to become only the seventh woman to win the same tournament three years in a row. The most recent was Karrie Webb, who won the Australian Ladies Masters for three straight years ending in 2000. Laura Davies won the Standard Register Ping a record four years in a row, the streak ending in 1998.

And an Inkster win also would be the first by an American in 10 LPGA Tour stops this season.

Nancy Lopez found herself rooting for Pat Hurst last week in Los Angeles, not because of Sorenstam's streak but because "I want the Americans to win.''

"If I could play every week, I would try to beat those girls from all the other countries,'' Lopez said. "They're good friends of mine and good people, but I'm an American and I want the Americans to win.''

"This is our tour, and they're here as visitors,'' she said with a laugh. "You can only be a nice host for so long.''

TIGER TIDBITS

A few leftovers as Tiger Woods continues his month-long hibernation from competition.

• Since the start of the 1999 season, Woods has won 20 times on the PGA Tour. David Duval and Phil Mickelson are next in line with five victories each.

• The Masters was the first time Duval had finished in second place behind Woods, becoming his 24th victim in worldwide competition. Ernie Els has finished runner-up to Woods six times, the most of any player.

• The PGA Tour has offered a first-place check of $1 million or more in 10 tournaments, and Woods has won half of them -- the 2001 Masters, 2001 Players Championship, 1999 and 2000 NEC Invitational, and 1999 American Express Championship.

NOW HEAR THIS

What began as an experiment in Los Angeles could slowly become part of the LPGA Tour's landscape -- microphones on players.

The Golf Channel wants to fit as many as four players with microphones this week during the Longs Drugs Challenge so viewers can get an idea of the relationship players have with their caddies and how they think their way around the course.

The Golf Channel first used mikes on players during some Canadian Tour events. A week ago, ESPN2 fitted tournament host Amy Alcott for sound during The Office Depot.

"Our goal with this project was to give our viewer a greater appreciation of how the player thinks during competition and the emotional roller coaster many players go through during the course of a round,'' said Tony Tortorici, executive producer of TGC.

Since TGC provides more hours of LPGA Tour coverage than any other broadcast outlet, it's a safe bet the number of players who are miked will grow.

STROKES FOR STROKE

The birdie putts of Meg Mallon and Justin Leonard will have a little more riding on them during tournaments in May.

They will represent the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour in the seventh annual American Stroke Challenge. Bayer Aspirin will donate $1,500 for every birdie they make to the American Stroke Association.

Mallon is the defending champion, having made more birdies last May than Corey Pavin. In six years, the program has raised more than $1 million.

Both players have connections to stroke. Mallon's 76-year-old mother has suffered several mini-strokes during the past few years. Leonard's grandfather died of heart disease, which is a stroke-risk factor.

OVERLOOKED

The LPGA Tour omitted Shirley Englehorn when it listed the small group of players who had won at least four consecutive starts.

Annika Sorenstam joined Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright as the only women to win four straight tournaments on the schedule. Nancy Lopez, whose streak reached five in 1978, and Englehorn won four straight tournaments they entered.

Englehorn won in St. Louis in 1970, took the next week off and then won the next three, beating Whitworth in a playoff for the LPGA Championship and her fourth straight win. Those were the only tournaments she won that year.

EUROPEAN AFFAIR

Bernhard Langer is making the most of his return to a full PGA Tour schedule. The two-time Masters champion already has earned $936,311 in 10 tournaments this year, more than he made in 41 PGA Tour events over the past five years combined ($686,618).

Langer played only 10 events last year, and has not played a full tour schedule since 1989.

In his last three tournaments, he was third at The Players Championship, sixth at The Masters and tied for third at Hilton Head. And the one week he took off, Langer learned he had been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

DIVOTS

Stephen Lowe, an associate professor of history at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois, has won the U.S. Golf Association's International Book Award for "Sir Walter and Mr. Jones,'' a biographical chronicle of Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones. ... The Women's World Cup, won last year by Karrie Webb and Rachel Teske, is moving to the homeland of the defending champions. It will be played Nov. 30-Dec. 2 in Adelaide, Australia. The course will be determined later. ... The PGA of America and Golf Digest magazine will team up to offer free 10-minute golf lessons from over 4,000 PGA professionals during May. A list of professionals taking part in "Play Golf America'' can be found on PGA.com. ... The LPGA tournament in Phoenix is looking for a new co-title sponsor to replace Standard Register, which has relinquished it's sponsorship. That leaves Ping Golf has the only sponsor at one of the best stops on tour. This year's event featured 96 of the top 100 players on the money list, and a 59 by Annika Sorenstam.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Jack Nicklaus had 73 top-10 finishes in major championships. Tiger Woods, with 12, would have to finish in the top 10 of every major through the 2016 British Open to break the record. Woods has four top-10 finishes in The Masters, two in the U.S. Open, and three apiece in the British Open and PGA Championship.

FINAL WORD

"It makes me wonder where all the money went." -- Annika Sorenstam, whose victory in Los Angeles made her the career leader on the LPGA money list with $6,957,044.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page