Players still reluctant to attend awards, unless they win.

The empty table set aside for players at the front of the ball room spoke volumes about the PGA Tour's problem getting them to attend its annual awards dinner. If they don't win, they won't come.

Never mind that it was held at the Ritz Carlton, where most players are staying this week.

Only 11 players in the field of 30 attended the dinner Saturday night, and five of them were either receiving awards or introducing award-winners. One player, asked if he was going, shrugged and said, "I didn't win anything, did I?"

The tour used to hold its awards dinner the week of the Mercedes when it was played at La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif. In 1998, it had a luncheon in November at the World Golf Village, which also was sparsely attended by players.

The song played on the piano when commissioner Tim Finchem was introduced seemed appropriate -- "You Can't Always Get What You Want," by the Rolling Stones, his favorite group.

Finchem is considering moving the 2000 awards presentation to New York in the late fall.

Maybe it would help if the tour created more awards, especially after this year. For the first time, one player won the three most important awards on the PGA and Senior Tour -- Tiger Woods and Bruce Fleisher swept player of the year, money title, and scoring average. Fleisher also won rookie of the year.

 

Mercedes Championship Day 4: Woods beats Els after playoff Final Scores Day 3: Els catched Woods to tie for lead Day 2: Woods leads by four after 66 Day 1: Parnevik leads by one in the wind Duval & Woods reluctant to talk about fitness Mercedes Championships: Did you know? Players still reluctant to attend awards, unless they win Grieving Palmer unsure about golf plans

STEWART AWARD: Finchem unveiled a prototype for the Payne Stewart Award, which will be presented at the Tour Championship for the player who exemplifies professionalism, presentation, charity work and golf traditions.

The trophy will be an image of Stewart, dressed in plus-fours and the tam o'shanter cap with his legs crossed.

Finchem shared one of the last conversations he had with Stewart before the U.S. Open champion died in a plane crash Oct. 25, the week of the Tour Championship.

"He was concerned to what extent our young players were dedicated to professionalism," Finchem said.

CHARITY BREAK: Actor John O'Hurley, host of the awards dinners, cracked that everything in which he took part seemed to get canceled -- "Seinfeld,'' on which he played J. Peterman, two soap operas, even the J. Peterman clothing catalog, which filed for bankruptcy.

A few minutes later, Brad Faxon came to the podium to present a volunteer award and added to O'Hurley list.

O'Hurley played in the CVS Charity Classic that Faxon and Billy Andrade put on last July, and that's being canceled, too. At least this year.

"We just need to take a year off," Faxon said later. "It's so hard to do. People give up so much of their time, we ask the same people for the same thing for auctions every year."

Faxon said he and Andrade would probably do a junior clinic or something unrelated to golf to raise money for children's and women's charities in theNew England area. They have raised over $1.65 million the past nine years.

SNOW BOUND: David Duval is sticking to the same winter schedule he had last year. That means as soon as the Mercedes Championships is over, he's off to Sun Valley for a week on the slopes.

And this time he'll have some company.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem plans to accompany Duval to Idaho for a few days.

Is that safe?

Finchem, a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, said the question was directed at the wrong person.

"I can still do my job with a broken arm," he said.

STILL BEEMING: Rich Beem has gotten off to a dubious start to 2000. His first round of the year was an 84, and he was 25 strokes out of the lead going into the final round of the Mercedes Championship.

So why was he smiling?

Don't forget, Beem was selling mobile phones and making about $100 a week only two years ago until he went back to work at an El Paso, Texas, country club, earned his PGA Tour card in Q-school and then won the Kemper Open.

The worst he can do this week is finish 30th in a field of 30 PGA Tour winners, and still take home $45,000.

"No question, I have the best job in the world," Beem said. "This is where you want to be. You're with the best players in one of the greatest spots in the world. I came here with a good attitude and told myself I was going tohave fun no matter what happened.''

AROUND THE WORLD: Ernie Els wins the award for making the longest journey to Kapalua for the Mercedes Championships. It wasn't even close.

Els and his family had to drive from their South African ranch in Fancourt to Cape Town. From there, they had a 14-hour flight to Miami. From there, it was a 5 1/2 -hour flight to Los Angeles in a private jet, then another 5 1/2 hours to Honolulu. The shortest leg was the last one, about 20 minutes to Maui.

"We were as far away as you can get," said his wife, Liezl.

Making the trip seem even longer was the fact that 8-month-old Samantha cried from Miami to Los Angeles.

And the journey isn't over. After Els plays the Sony Open next week in Honolulu, he'll continue westward to Australia for the week. He'll return to the United States next month to defend his title in the Nissan Open in Los Angeles.

DIVOTS: The official who introduces players as they approach the 18th green after each round is having quite a week. After describing Jesper Parnevik as the one in the "wild red pants'' on Thursday, he introduced the Swede in the third round as being from "Stockholm, Florida." ... For some perspective on the generous size of the fairways on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, consider No. 7. It measures close to 90 yards wide, which is enough to hold four fairways from Carnoustie. ... Casey Martin, who will make his cart-riding debut as a PGA Tour member in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, has received a sponsor's exemption to play the Phoenix Open.