Wednesday, June 6, 2001
The only victories were on
the course
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
Tiger Woods and Karrie Webb could not have
asked for a better week. One inflicted even more psychological
damage on his so-called peers with a seven-stroke victory, the
other claimed the toughest championship in women's golf with equal
ease.
If only golf's leading organizations could
operate so smoothly.
Woods' biggest challenge at the Memorial
was staying awake. His final act before winning the tournament
for the third year in a row was to look over a scorecard that
added up to 66, his 15th consecutive round in the 60s.
The PGA Tour had to look over a 23-page
decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that not only ensured Casey
Martin a cart for as long as plays, but also shot down the tour's
unyielding belief that walking is an integral part of the game.
What followed was enough spin to make a
Pinnacle siphon back 40 feet on a brick-hard U.S. Open green.
The way commissioner Tim Finchem interpreted
the decision, Casey gets his cart and the tour gets to maintain
walking as a rule of competition.
He went so far as to suggest it could be
a “win-win.”
Right.
And Ernie Els could have won the U.S. Open
last year if he had just made a few putts.
The tour was never going to win this case,
no matter the outcome. Once it allowed itself to get sued, it
had little choice but to fight as long as it could.
At stake was the right to set rules for
its sport. The tour lost. The question was whether riding fundamentally
alters the nature of competition. The tour lost that one, too.
“As we have demonstrated, however,
the walking rule is at best peripheral,” Justice John Stevens
wrote in the 7-2 majority opinion.
The tour often boasts that it has the best
players in the world, and that its depth and competition make
it the toughest roster to join in sports. It should have realized,
then, that a Casey Martin comes along once in a lifetime, if not
longer.
The most amazing thing about Martin is not
that he can play golf with a shriveled right leg, but that he
could play at this level. Golf might get another Tiger Woods before
it gets another Casey Martin.
Which leads to one of the great ironies.
The tour said all along that the case was
never about Casey Martin. In the end, Finchem believes the tour
can maintain its walking rule because the Supreme Court opinion
was only about Casey Martin.
One day after the Martin ruling came word
that Greg Norman and Payne Stewart had been elected to the World
Golf Hall of Fame.
Norman was overdue. Forget about the majors
he lost and consider what he won — more than 70 tournaments
worldwide, two majors, five times the best scoring average on
tour, three times the money leader, No. 1 in the world rankings
longer than any other player.
One could argue that Stewart, who died in
a plane crash four months after winning the 1999 U.S. Open, was
an emotional pick. Larry Nelson was just as accomplished and has
never come close to election. Nick Price is far more accomplished
and got only 47.7 percent of the votes. Stewart received 67.5
percent.
The reason Stewart got in was because the
tour decided this year to lower the vote requirement from 75 percent
to 65 percent. A golf Hall of Fame has never been taken seriously,
and watering down the criteria will only make it a farce.
At least the U.S. Golf Association can correct
its mistakes.
It has been criticized the past two years
as a national body with a gender bias when reaching for the wallet
— prize money for the U.S. Open is $5 million, but the women
played for only $2.9 million last week.
As USGA executive director David Fay correctly
noted, that's entertainment.
The real discrimination is how it runs the
Women's Open. While the USGA requires 54 holes (18-hole local
qualifying, 36-hole sectional) for the men's championship, all
it takes is one good round to get in the Women's Open.
The USGA blames this on a fewer entries
and available courses for qualifying. That's no excuse for not
giving women a chance to prove themselves over 36 holes. Anything
can happen over 18 holes.
The result often is a weak Women's Open
field and a lot of rounds in the 80s.
Also, the USGA must stop these gimmick exhibitions
at its premier championship for women. Mia Hamm played a few holes
at Pine Needles, just as Michael Jordan did a year ago at the
Women's Open near Chicago.
Does anyone expect to see Garth Brooks at
Southern Hills?
The Society of St. Andrews golfers, later
known as the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, never had to deal
with carts or Hall of Fame criteria or celebrities when it first
gathered in 1754.
That was about as far-fetched as a refreshment
cart on the Old Course.
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