That's entertainment: Tiger juggles ball, Nike juggles ad

Tiger Woods was killing time, doing some trick moves with a golf ball during filming of a Nike commercial. The result was an entirely different commercial that will surely add to his legend.

The original commercial featured Woods and a dozen or so people swinging in sequence at a driving range. That takes time to get the right camera angle and all the actors on the same page.

"These people were dying in the heat out there," Woods said. ``I said, 'You know what? I'm just going to try to entertain them.' So, I went over there and just started juggling the ball and doing weird stuff, and they were entertained."

So was the director.

He suggested getting Woods on tape bouncing the ball off his wedge and asked him for 28 seconds. It took only four takes to film the commercial, but only because Woods kept getting spooked as he got closer to the end.

"I kept messing up every time they said, 'OK, you got 10 seconds left!' I'd shank it right away," Woods said. "I said, 'Don't tell me that. Just tell me when I've got three, four, five seconds. I can switch and end it."'

After 28 seconds of bouncing his ball on the wedge, Woods turned and took a full swing as the ball was in the air and made astounding contact.

The only problem was the logo Nike used at the end of the commercial. By showing its golf "billboard," it made it seem as though Woods was endorsing the Nike ball, when he has a lucrative ball contract with Titleist.

Golf World magazine obtained a letter that IMG sent to Nike stating its disapproval of the billboard, and informing Nike it would be solely responsible for any damages resulting from the broadcast.

Nike changed the billboard, not that anyone noticed. The big question, which Woods answered last week during the Western Open, was whether it was real or an optical illusion.

"It's really not as hard as you might think if you grew up playing baseball," Woods said. "Hand-to-eye coordination -- same principle.''

BIG EASY IN AMERICA: Good news for the PGA Tour -- Ernie Els, newly married and a new father, is thinking about cutting his international schedule so he can play more in the United States.

"The real competition is in American nowadays," Els said.

Els has never played more than 19 PGA Tour events a year -- Tiger Woods and David Duval already have played 14 each -- but usually plays 25 events when his international schedule is included.

"I don't give myself a really good chance for money list and player of the year," he said. "I don't even think about it. I think if I play a bit more here, I'll have a chance of competing against these guys."

HARDING PLANS: The PGA Tour is closing in on a rotation for the Tour Championship that would include Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and Champions Golf Club in Houston, site of this year's tournament.

The surprise is Harding Park Golf Course, a public facility in San Francisco where Ken Venturi learned to play.

Under a plan announced last week, the city will refurbish the course in exchange for the right to manage Harding Park for 30 years. Along with adding length to the 6,400-yard course packed with Monterey cypress and pine trees, the city plans to convert the nine-hole course into a First Tee facility.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said the Tour Championship could be played at Harding as early as 2002 and return every third year. The tournament for the top 30 money-winners was last played in San Francisco at The Olympic Club in 1993 and 1994.

RK UPDATE: Grace Park birdied the last two holes to win the Carolina National Futures Classic by two strokes, giving the former U.S. Amateur champion her second victory in four starts on the Futures Tour.

Park earned $5,300 to move into ninth place on the Futures money list, which would be high enough to advance to the final stage of Q-school for the LPGA Tour. Should she finish in the top three on the money list, Park would get her card for next season.

HASKINS WINNER: Northwestern University sophomore Luke Donald, the NCAA individual champion, has won the Fred Haskins Award as college golf's outstanding player.

The honor marks a couple of firsts -- Donald is the first Big Ten player to win the award, and he is the first recipient from Haskins' native England. Haskins was born in Hoylake, England. He later was the pro for 34 years at the Country Club of Columbus, Ga., where he set up Saturday morning golf classes for children.

Donald is the first sophomore to win the award since Phil Mickelson in 1990.

INKSTER'S FEAT: While Juli Inkster won three straight U.S. Amateur titles long before Tiger Woods came along, the LPGA Tour media guide was incorrect in stating that Inkster was the first player to accomplish the trifecta.

Inkster was the fifth woman to win three in a row. The others were Beatrix Hoyt, Alexa Stirling Fraser, Glenna Collett Vare and Virignia Van Wie.

DIVOTS: The USGA is close to completing a deal to bring the 2004 U.S. Open to Shinnecock Hills, club officials say. It would be the fourth time for the Open to be played at Shinnecock, most recently in 1995 ... Michael Jordan has officially entered the Chicago Open, scheduled for Sept. 15-17 at Beverly Country Club. The Chicago Open used to be a regular PGA Tour stop in the 1930s and '40s. Gene Sarazen won the inaugural event in 1937 at Medinah. ... Tiger Woods and David Duval have played in 19 of the 26 PGA Tour events this year. At least one of them has finished in the top 20 in all but four of those tournaments.

STAT OF THE WEEK: In only his fifth season on the PGA Tour, David Duval already is 10th on the career PGA Tour money list with $9,415,526.

FINAL WORD: ``I can give him 10 points and we'll play to 11 -- and I'll give him the ball." -- Michael Jordan, on playing basketball against Tiger Woods.