Golf Notes May 22

Dudley Hart had no chance of winning the Colonial, but birdies on three of the last four holes certainly came in handy. Hart finished fourth, moved up 12 spots to No. 44 in the world ranking and should be a shoo-in for the U.S. Open.

This is the final week for players not already eligible to get into the U.S. Open without having to qualify.

After the Memorial Tournament, the U.S. Golf Association will take the top 50 from the world ranking and the top 10 from the PGA Tour money list.

Players on the money bubble include Compaq Classic winner K.J. Choi (19th) and Nissan Open winner Len Mattiace (21st). They need to finish at least third to have a chance of moving into the top 10.

The world ranking is a little more fickle, but no one is in a more precarious position than Charles Howell III, who is No. 50 and coming off consecutive missed cuts.

Ahead of Howell in the ranking are Matt Kuchar (47), Billy Andrade (48) and Mattiace (49), while John Huston (54) and Stuart Appleby (58) probably need a top-five finish at Muirfield Village.

Appleby, who has played in every major since 1997, helped himself by closing with a 64 at Colonial to tie for eighth, his first top-10 finish this year.

JACK'S CRACK

Tiger Woods has a chance to do something else Jack Nicklaus never could -- win the same PGA Tour event four straight years.

The first attempt comes this week at Nicklaus' own Memorial Tournament. Woods also will go for four straight victories at the NEC Invitational outside Seattle in August, and next year at the Bay Hill Invitational.

``The only time I ever had a chance to do that, they canceled the tournament,'' Nicklaus said. ``So, I never had a chance.''

Nicklaus won the Walt Disney World Open Invitational from 1971-73. The following year, however, the tournament switched to a team format for the next seven years.

``That really ticked me off,'' Nicklaus said.

Back then, Nicklaus probably wouldn't have known about the feat. The last player to win four straight was Walter Hagen at the PGA Championship from 1924-27.

``I never paid any attention to records,'' he said. ``I just went out and played golf.''

LOOKING UP

Jeff Julian arrived at the Memorial Tournament on a high note, and not just because he was given an exemption to play.

Julian, who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, made it through the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying last week in St. Louis.

``I needed that for myself to build confidence, because I've only played tour events and it's tough enough to play good out here,'' he said.

Julian birdied Nos. 15, 16 and 17 at Norwood Hills to shoot a 70 and advance to the 36-hole sectional qualifying June 4 at Boone Valley in St. Louis.

The Memorial is the fifth sponsor's exemption for Julian, who has not made a cut this year. He also plans to use them at the Kemper Open and the Greater Hartford Open.

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Don't count out the Hoss quite yet.

Hal Sutton has been besieged by questions about the state of his game in a Ryder Cup year, and for good reason. He was 138th on the money list heading into the Colonial, missed eight of his last 12 cuts and had to withdraw from the Masters with a rib injury.

``I'm doing all I can do. I get asked that question every week, and I'm pretty tired of it,'' he said. ``I'm going to try to answer that with my clubs.''

His tie for 12th at the Colonial -- his best finish this year -- was a small step.

``I've been hurt most of the year, but no one seems to want to believe me,'' Sutton said. ``This week, I hit the ball better than I have. But I had at least five three-putts, and just couldn't get over the hump.''

GROWING AUGUSTA

Companies linked to Augusta National have bought about 90 acres of land surrounding the golf course, although that doesn't mean another massive redesign is in the works.

The Augusta Chronicle reported the purchase Sunday, saying most of the land has been bought in neighborhoods west of Berckmans Road, across from Gates 6-10. The newspaper said at least 28 other homeowners have been approached about selling.

Augusta National spokesman Glenn Greenspan said the additional land would be used to support the Masters, such as parking and storage.

Last year, Augusta National swapped land with adjacent Augusta Country Club for a new tee on No. 13, part of an overhaul that added 285 yards to the golf course.

OLD NEWS

Morgan Pressel made history last year when, at age 12, she became the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open.

That record might only last one year.

Mina Harigae, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Salinas, Calif., who won the California Women's Amateur in November, made it through the first stage of qualifying last week. She now faces a 36-hole qualifier June 10.

Pressel also made it through the first stage. Last year, she turned 13 by the time the U.S. Women's Open was played. Pressel missed the cut at Pine Needles.

DIVOTS

The U.S. Open will be without a Nicklaus in the field for the first time since 1956. Jack Nicklaus played in every U.S. Open from 1957 to 2000, and son Gary qualified last year. However, neither Gary nor Michael Nicklaus made it out of the local qualifier last week at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., a course their father designed. ... Nick Faldo has received an exemption to play in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine for the 21st consecutive year. Unless he wins the Volvo PGA Championship in England this week, he likely will have to qualify for the U.S. Open.

STAT OF THE WEEK

International players won on all three of the PGA Tour circuits last week -- Nick Price of Zimbabwe at the Colonial, Isao Aoki of Japan at the Instinet Classic (seniors) and Zoran Zorkic of Yugoslavia at SAS Carolina Classic (Buy.com).

FINAL WORD

``There will always be a few who play golf for the golf. And there will always be a fair amount who play golf for a living.'' -- Jack Nicklaus.

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