What's in a name? Ask Boomer and Punky

Boomer and Punky.

A rivalry that began 10 years ago was almost renewed last weekend in the LPGA Championship.

"Boomer" is Cristie Kerr, the 21-year-old from Miami who has been a professional since graduating high school three years ago. "Punky" is Kelli Kuehne, the Nike poster girl who has been living up to the hype the past four weeks.

How did the nicknames come about?

"I was this fat little kid who had this big Afro of a perm and real thick glasses, and back then I hit it a long ways by her," Kerr said. "I called her Punky because she has spunk in her. You can see that."

They met in junior golf and hardly hit it off. Both were talented, and Kerr was never bashful about saying so.

"I was a brat back then," Kerr said. ``I beat everybody. I thought when I was 10, I could take down the world."

They have remained best of friends -- Kerr will be in Kuehne's wedding in February -- even if their careers have taken different paths. Kerr won several junior events, but Kuehne won the USGA events, which are a step above everything else.

Kuehne broke through by winning the LPGA Corning Classic last month, then giving Juli Inkster a run for her money in the U.S. Open. Kerr's best finish is a tie for fourth, and she had never done better than 54th in a major until her tie for fifth in the LPGA Championship.

Still, Boomer believes it is only a matter of time before she catches up with Punky.

"I think it's going to be a rivalry for a long time," she said.

SARAZEN REBIRTH: The Sarazen World Open will return this year in an official capacity -- at least on the European Tour.

Played the past five years in Atlanta right after the Tour Championship, the Sarazen Open was in jeopardy of being phased out because of the final World Golf Championship event scheduled for Spain at the same time.

Instead, it will be played Oct. 14-17 just north of Barcelona and count as official money on the European Order of Merit.

"It is extremely gratifying to know that the spirit of Gene Sarazen will continue through the tournament he founded and loved so much," said Donald Panoz, founder of the Chateau Elan course, which previously held the event.

That's the good news.

The prize money will be only about one-third of the $2 million from last year. And the Sarazen Open will be played opposite the Cisco World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, where Mark O'Meara defeated Tiger Woods last year.

LPGA CHARITY: How can you tell you're at an LPGA major championship? Just look for the big balloon of Ronald McDonald on the clubhouse.

The women's majors take a hit for having title sponsors for all but the U.S. Open -- the Nabisco Dinah Shore, du Maurier Classic and last week's McDonald's LPGA Championship. That's simply a sign of the times.

Women's golf, without millions of dollars from television rights fees, has to have title sponsors to get purses like the record $1.4 million doled out last week in Delaware.

And if you can look past the clown, consider this: The LPGA Championship raised $2.2 million for Ronald McDonald House Charities, bringing the 19-year tournament total to $31.5 million raised for children's charities.

On the PGA Tour last year, only four tournaments raised more than $2.2 million for charities.

WILTED ROSE: OK, so it wasn't a holed wedge for birdie in the British Open.

Justin Rose was no less exuberant about getting up-and-down from a nasty lie in the second round of the European Grand Prix last week. The par on the 18th hole put him at even-par 144. By the end of the day, that was good enough to end one of the most notorious streaks on the European tour.

Rose finally made a cut.

"There has been more pressure on me to make my first cut than there is put on others to win," Rose said. "This time, I didn't deserve to be going home with my tail between my legs."

Rose says he will keep the ball next to the one that he used on the final hole at Royal Birkdale, where he tied for fourth.

"They have both been very important to me," he said.

By the way, Rose followed his first cut by shooting 82 in the third round.

SAMSUNG HOME: Although the Rainbow Foods Classic is no longer on the LPGA Tour, the best in women's golf will return to Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, Minn., for the Samsung World Championship.

The 16-player tournament will be Sept. 9-12. When Juli Inkster won it a year ago, the Samsung was played in central Florida the same week as the PGA Tour's Disney Classic in Orlando, Fla.

The field consists of the winners of the four majors, the Vare Trophy winner and leading money-winner from 1998, the defending champion, top players from Japan, Europe and current leaders on the money list.

DIVOTS: U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne spent a week in Spain with Sergio Garcia upon turning pro after the U.S. Open. He plans to make his professional debut in the Nike Greensboro Classic, with his first PGA Tour stop scheduled for the John Deere Classic. "If he takes some knocks out there, he won't get any sympathy in this family," said Ernie Kuehne, his father. ... Matt Gogel and Steve Gotsche are vying for the earliest promotions from the Nike Tour. Both have two victories. ... Laura Davies took 127 putts in the LPGA Championship. She finished seven strokes back of Juli Inkster, who required only 106 putts for four rounds.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Tiger Woods is leading the Byron Nelson Trophy race for low scoring average on the PGA Tour. He is at 68.79, ahead of David Duval (68.84). Duval had led for the first 21 weeks of the year.

FINAL WORD: ``So, what do you do out here?'' -- Cristie Kerr to golf analyst David Feherty, who was wearing a CBS hat and headset and carrying a CBS microphone during the third round of the LPGA Championship.

AP