Golf Notes May 1st

The rookie season of 17-year-old sensation Ty Tryon hardly has gone according to plan, and not just because the high school junior has failed to make a cut.

``Not many PGA Tour players have had to combat tonsillitis and mononucleosis,'' said Jay Danzi, his agent at IMG.

That's what has kept Tryon out of action since the Bay Hill Invitational.

He was supposed to play the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta the week before the Masters, but withdrew with tonsillitis. Only recently did Tryon learn he also had mono, which prevents him from getting his tonsils removed.

He had to skip the Greater Greensboro Classic, played in his native North Carolina. He won't be in New Orleans this week. Worse yet, his high school prom is next week, which is why Tryon turned down a sponsor's exemption to the Byron Nelson Classic.

``The prom is questionable,'' Danzi said.

Also out is a trip to Germany for the Deustche Bank tournament, and Danzi said Tryon will not try to qualify for the U.S. Open.

``Our No. 1 priority is to get him healthy,'' Danzi said. ``I don't think he's played a round since Bay Hill. If he's feeling all right, he can hit balls and putt.''

Tryon became the youngest player to earn his PGA Tour card when he made it through all three stages of Q-school last year, although a tour policy keeps him from becoming a member until he turns 18 on June 2.

He was allowed seven sponsors' exemptions until then and already has used four (Phoenix, Doral, Honda Classic and Bay Hill). He won't have time to use all of them, but Tryon will have unlimited access to exemptions starting with the Buick Classic.

``It's been a difficult time, but he's always been a 'glass is half-full kind of guy.' He knows it's going to be a long career, and he just wants to gethealthy,'' Danzi said.

IRON MAN: When Dana Quigley tees it up at the Bruno's Memorial Classic this week in Alabama, he will break the Senior PGA Tour record with his 178th consecutive start.

Quigley tied Mike McCullough's record last week at The Tradition, where he tied for 27th with an even-par 288.

Since his streak began at the 1997 BankBoston Classic, Quigley has played 534 rounds and taken 39,552 strokes for an average score of 74.07. He hasearned $6,782,123.

SPANISH FEUD: Seve Ballesteros, who once touted the brilliant potential of Sergio Garcia, is now engaged in a bitter feud with the 22-year-old Garcia over his decision to skip the Seve Trophy.

Ballesteros, the two-time Masters and three-time British Open champion, accused Garcia of demanding appearance money to play in the Seve Trophy. Garcia denied asking for money, saying he was scheduled to play that week in Hilton Head.

Now, Garcia say it's his former mentor's responsibility to take the first step toward settling their differences.

``Seve will have to talk to me because he has said things that were not correct,'' Garcia said. ``If anything has to change, he maybe has to come and talk to me ... about what happened and maybe we can get everything straightened out.''

Ballesteros was stunned when asked whether he would seek out Garcia.

``You think I need to give an explanation?'' he said. ``Everything I said was 100 percent correct. If he wants to talk to me, I am very open. But I am the captain. He qualified for the tournament and he refused to play, so he is the one who is supposed to give an explanation, not the other way around.''

Perhaps the best solution is for the Royal & Ancient to put them in the samethreesome for the first two rounds of the British Open.

LAW OF AVERAGES: Dave Lancer of the PGA Tour noted last week that the previous six winners of the Greater Greensboro Classic were an average of 39 years old.

This year's winner was Rocco Mediate, who is 39.

WATSON RETURNS: Tom Watson finally gets a chance to see if can dominate the Senior British Open the same way he did in winning the British Open five times.

Watson's Senior British Open will be July 25-28 at Royal County Down Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

``My schedule, for one reason or another, has never made it possible for me to play the Senior British Open nor play a competitive round over The Royal County Down links,'' Watson said. ``This year, however, I was determined to do both and I have to say I am really looking forward to the opportunity.''

Watson won his five Opens on five courses -- Carnoustie, Turnberry,Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal Birkdale.

FINAL TOUCHES: After digging around through records that date to 1983, the PGA Tour found that Justin Leonard (2-over 73 at Hilton Head) was the only player to win a tournament without making a birdie in the final round.

Vijay Singh also went without a birdie in the final round in regulation when he won the 1995 Buick Classic in New York, although he did get one on the fifth playoff hole.

Also, Nick Faldo made 18 pars when he won the 1987 British Open at Muirfield, although that wasn't considered an official PGA Tour event at thetime.

DIVOTS: U.S. Amateur champion Bubba Dickerson didn't sound overly impressed after the two rounds he played with Tiger Woods at the Masters. ``I learned that he's real patient and he manages his game real well, and he just makes a lot of putts,'' Dickerson said. ``Other than those three things, he didn't do anything better than me all week.'' ... Nancy Lopez has been chosen to receive the First Lady of Golf award from the PGA of America. Lopez will be honored June 5 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Senior PGA Championship is being played that week at Firestone. ... Jack Nicklaus was 2under par on the front nine during the Tradition and 14 over on the back nine.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Davis Love III already has missed the cut five times in 12 tournaments this year, the most he has missed in a single season since hehad the weekend off seven times in 1994.

FINAL WORD: ``I was thinking Tiger Woods in the Masters -- finish the deal.'' -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe on his no-hitter against Tampa Bay.

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