Se Ri Pak has been
playing Callaway clubs since she joined the LPGA Tour two years ago and
went on to win eight tournaments, including two majors.
Now, she may actually
get paid for using them.
Pak and Callaway
are moving closer to a deal, which would be the second major endorsement
for Pak since Samsung allowed IMG to take over her management. One industry
source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the deal could be
worth as much as $1 million over three years, depending on her performance.
Pak, who had been
playing the X-12s, switched to Callaway's new Hawkeye irons the day before
the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship, which she wound up winning in
a playoff over Karrie Webb and Laura Davies.
"It is not great
for me, because I didn't make any contract yet," she said in Las Vegas.
"Good for Callaway."
A key part of the
deal for Callaway is getting its logo on Pak's bag, along with part of
the shirt. Samsung, her primary sponsor, has the rights to her bag, hat
and shirt. Maxfli, which signed Pak to play its golf ball in June, has
a side of the hat.
Equally important
is that Callaway be able to use Pak in advertisements, which could be especially
effective in Asia.
MAMMOTH WHITE
SHARK: Greg Norman announced a partnership today with Mammothgolf.com
that he hopes will lead to the most extensive golf-related commerce and
content site on the World Wide Web.
Mammothgolf.com will
drive the e-commerce store for Shark.com, the golf and lifestyle Web site
that Norman launched in August, and will also fill orders for all merchandise
purchased at Shark.com.
Norman, meanwhile,
has taken an equity position in Mammoth Sports Group and will be its corporate
spokesman. He already has started producing an advertising campaign for
TV, radio, print and online media that will start in 2000.
Shark.com will also
provide Mammoth Sports Group with editorial content.
RANKIN' IT IN:
Judy Rankin, a 26-time winner on the LPGA Tour who still holds the record
with 25 top-10 finishes in a year, has been awarded the Patty Berg Award
for her contributions to women's golf.
"It means the world
to me to win this award," Rankin said. "First of all, because Patty was
the first woman professional golfer I met as a child. And secondly, it
comes via the LPGA, so it is very important to me and means a lot."
Rankin works as an
analyst for ESPN and ABC, and she was captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup teams
that won in 1996 and 1998.
The Patty Berg Award
is only the latest honor for Rankin. She recently was given the First Lady
of Golf honor by the PGA of America, and the William H. Richardson Award
by the Golf Writers Association of America.
TIGER AND MIKE:
In an interview with Golf Digest for the January issue, Tiger Woods described
how Michael Jordan will do anything for an advantage on the golf course
-- even pushing cigars.
"He tried to get
me to smoke one while we were playing golf last summer," Woods said. "I've
got allergies. He wanted to throw me off my game, maybe make me dizzy.
No thanks."
The two Nike poster
stars struck up a friendship when Woods turned pro and asked Jordan's advice
on handling stardom, among other things. Although he has replaced the retired
Jordan as perhaps the most recognizable active athlete, Woods is adjusting.
"I go out to dinner
or a movie, with buddies or my girlfriend, whenever I want," he told the
magazine. "I'm not new anymore. I'm not 6-foot-6, either, like M.J."
HALL OF FAME:
The World Golf Foundation has approved Nov. 20 as the date in 2000 for
the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine,
Fla. The ceremony previously was held in May 1998, when the new shrine
opened, and March 1999, to coincide with the end of the Legends of Golf
and the start of The Players Championship.
But that knocked
out the women, whose first major was played that week in California.
The only 2000 inductees
so far are Beth Daniel and Juli Inkster. No one was elected off the International
ballot, and the PGA Tour ballot results are not expected until January.
Greg Norman and Payne Stewart are considered the leading candidates for
election.
SENIORS MOVING:
For the first time in more than 60 years, the PGA Seniors' Championship
is leaving Florida.
The PGA Seniors will
be played in May 2001 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., which
previously has held the 1935 Ryder Cup Matches, the 1974 U.S. Amateur,
and the 1990 U.S. Senior Open.
Ridgewood will be
the first of many stops as the PGA of America takes its senior major around
the country. The tournament, which made its debut at Augusta National in
1937, has been in Florida since 1940 and at PGA National in Palm Beach
Gardens since 1982.
DIVOTS: The
Golf Channel plans to review Tiger Woods's season with a special called
"24 Hours with Tiger." It will start on 6 a.m. on Dec. 30 -- Woods's 24th
birthday -- and include such programs as his victories in the PGA Championship
and the Masters. ... The University of Washington alumni magazine, "Columns,"
has named Karsten Solheim one of the 100 most famous, fascinating and influential
alumni of the century. Solheim studied engineering for one year at Washington,
but had to leave when he could no longer pay tuition. ...British Open champion
Paul Lawrie has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Robert
Gordon University in his Scottish hometown of Aberdeen. Lawrie dropped
out of school to pursue a golf career and said he was shocked when notified
of the honor in the mail.
FINAL WORD:
"And I don't cook, either.
Not as long as they still deliver pizza." - Tiger Woods.
