Golf Notes February 20

Hootie Johnson has a good memory -- and a sense of humor.

The chairman of Augusta National Golf Club last year announced sweeping changes to the home of the Masters, concerned that a combination of better players and better equipment stripped the par 4s of their difficulty.

Jack Nicklaus was among those who wondered when the lengthening of golf courses would ever end.

``Pretty soon,'' Nicklaus said last April, ``we'll be teeing off downtown somewhere.''

The six-time Masters champion was invited to join Augusta National last year, and he played the renovated course in November for a members tournament.

``Hootie took me over to the 18th tee, and there was a (yardage) marker on the tee that said, 'Downtown,''' Nicklaus said Tuesday.

Nicklaus had no complaints about the changes, designed to put a greater premium on accuracy off the tee.

``If you go there and look at it for the first time, you'll find that the golf course is great-looking and difficult,'' Nicklaus said. ``If you've been there before and notice the changes, you'll say, 'Wow!'

``The scores are going to be a lot higher,'' he said. ``It does favor the long hitter, without question. But the long hitter is going to have to hit it a lot straighter than he used to.''

Nicklaus still isn't sure if he'll play in the Masters because of his ailing back. He was on his way to San Diego to work with a physical therapist, and said he would try to play a few tournaments before the Masters to see if it's worth the effort.

RICH GET RICHER

Prize money is going up, and the World Golf Championships are keeping pace.

The purse for the Match Play Championship increased by $500,000 to $5.5 million this year, leaving only the Masters ($5.6 million) and The Players Championship and Tour Championship ($6 million) with richer purses.

The winner still gets $1 million, but second-place is up $50,000 to $550,000, while players who are beaten in the first round get a $2,500 increase to $27,500.

PRIORITIES IN ORDER

Cameron Beckman had a chance to get into the Match Play Championship, but decided to skip the Buick Invitational and his last chance to qualify.

Matt Gogel might need to play well at Doral or the Honda Classic to get into his first Masters. He has no plans to play.

Both players said it was more important to stick to a schedule and play when they're fresh than to add events for the sake of trying to get into a big tournament.

``I made a goal at the start of the year not to try to play myself into any tournament,'' said Beckman, who is No. 83 in the world ranking. ``I would only hurt myself.''

Gogel is now No. 59 in the world ranking -- the top 50 after the Honda Classic get invitations to the Masters. The Match Play Championship will be his best chance, and possibly last chance, to get to Augusta National.

``Cameron is in his fourth year, I'm in my third,'' Gogel said. ``You learn that you can't run around to events for a purpose. You've got to play the events that you're ready to play, and that you mentally want to play.''

SAND BAGGERS

Playing for UCLA has some perks, such as playing Bel-Air Country Club. But it wasn't an entirely free ride for the Bruins.

Scott McCarron said in exchange for playing the historic course, UCLA players had to carry buckets of sand and fill six divots on every hole. When they got to the green, they had to repair four pitch marks.

And whenever members were in sight, the Bruins had to wave them through.

``They would be eating lunch, and as soon as they saw us go off, they'd get their clubs,'' he said. ``It could take us eight hours to play Bel-Air.''

JUG UPDATE

The scorecard of David Duval's final-round 59 at the 1999 Bob Hope Classic is under lock and key. And that silver claret jug from winning the British Open last year at Royal Lytham & St. Annes?

On the counter in the golf shop at Pablo Creek, his home course in Jacksonville, Fla.

``I just wanted to let everybody see it,'' Duval said. ``I guess they've taken about a thousand pictures of people with it. I certainly wasn't going to carry it with me, so I felt I would leave it at home so people can enjoy the trophy.''

Between leaving Titleist and signing with Nike, Duval wore Pablo Creek golf shirts on tour and joked that he had to buy them himself.

So, will he charge the club for having the claret jug on display?

``Maybe I'll get a free bowl of soup,'' Duval said.

GIVING SPIRIT

Catherine Cartwright won't be the only winner when she plays well this year. The 18-year-old Floridian said she will donate her entire check from her first LPGA or Futures Tour winnings to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The foundation provides college scholarship grants and counseling to children of Special Operations personnel killed during the line of duty.

She also said she will give the foundation $25 for every birdie she makes this year. Cartwright is asking anyone interested to match her donations.

``I'm living my dream,'' she said. ``Let's help their children live theirs.''

DIVOTS

The LPGA Tour finally gets under way next week. For those who want a sneak preview, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb highlight a strong field Thursday at the Australian Ladies Masters. Webb will try to win her fifth straight title, something no golfer has ever done. ... Byron Nelson will receive the 2002 Donald Ross Award from the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The award is for those who have made significant contributions to golf and golf course architecture. ... The SBC Championship on the senior tour is moving to Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio on Oct. 18-30. Oak Hills was the site of the Texas Open for more than 20 years.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Mark O'Meara is No. 23 on the money list, one spot ahead of Tiger Woods.

FINAL WORD

``I should take my cell phone with me and call him from the first fairway after I've teed off.'' -- Woods, who is guaranteed $27,500 -- enough money to surpass O'Meara on the money list -- as soon as he tees off in the Match Play Championship.

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