Saturday, November
2, 2002
Price
expects everyone at Presidents Cup
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Nick
Price won't be satisfied if Tiger Woods shows up at the Presidents
Cup in South Africa next year unless the rest of the top Americans
join him.
Global golf has taken
a beating over the last couple of years, dating to the 1998 Presidents
Cup in Melbourne in early December, when some Americans complained
about having to travel so far around the holidays.
Several players skipped
the Match Play Championship in Australia last year. Others skipped
the American Express Championship when it was in Spain.
The Presidents Cup
will be in South Africa next November, and already there is speculation
that not everyone who qualifies will make the trip.
"I hope the
top players do go," Price said. "If they only realize
what good they're doing by going there, not only golf in South
Africa, but the juniors that come watch. It's going to be a big
deal."
The Presidents Cup
was patterned after the Ryder Cup, a match-play event featuring
the United States against players from everywhere in the world
except Europe.
The International
team handed the Americans their worst loss in team play in 1998
at Royal Melbourne, 20 1/2-11 1/2. The United States won in 2000
at the Robert Trent Jones Club in Virginia by claiming 21 1/2
of the 32 points.
Woods has not said
whether he will play in the Presidents Cup, although he has not
said anything that indicates he will skip it.
What if Woods played,
but not all 10 of the players who qualify?
"No," Price
said. "They've got to be the best team. It's not anyone's
duty to do that. They don't have to. If they realize how much
good they're doing for golf. ... It's only one week out of their
lives."
___
NO CHARLES ATLAS:@
Charles Howell III has been working out almost as long as he's
been playing golf and eating whatever he likes.
He still can't seem
to add any weight to his 153-pound frame.
"I've tried
everything I can do to gain weight," Howell said. "I
eat all the time. I drink very high-calorie milkshakes right before
I go to bed and sleep on them with absolutely no physical activity
after they have been consumed. That doesn't work."
Howell said he even
has made milkshakes and left them by his bed in case he wakes
up in the middle of the night.
"It's hopeless,"
he said.
Someone suggested
he drink more beer.
Howell had never
tasted alcohol until winning the Michelob Championship. The tradition
at Michelob is for the winner to drink one of the sponsor's beers.
Howell felt he had no choice, took one swig and figured he had
enough.
___
MONTY TO HOGAN:@
Colin Montgomerie made news Friday without even playing.
The seven-time winner
of the Order of Merit announced he was changing equipment from
Callaway Golf to the Ben Hogan Co.
Montgomerie has been
with Callaway since 1995.
He began using the
new four-piece Hogan Apex Tour golf ball while playing with Bernhard
Langer during the Ryder Cup. Monty used the Hogan ball even during
his singles match, and went shopping around for a better deal.
"He came to
us after he won two consecutive Orders of Merit, and he proceeded
to win five more in a row," Callaway spokesman Larry Dorman
said. "We think we had a very good relationship, a productive
partnership, and we hope he feels the same way."
Terms of the Hogan
contract were not disclosed, although it was believed Montgomerie
was earning at least $1 million a year with Callaway.
Under his Hogan deal,
he will play the golf ball and the Apex irons.
"The Ben Hogan
golf balls and irons have a great reputation, so I am very much
looking forward to teeing up with them in the new year,"
he said.
___
DIVOTS:@ Temperatures
are expected to continue dropping through the weekend, with highs
forecast for 59 on Saturday and 56 on Sunday. Tee times have been
moved up two hours Saturday (9:15 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.) for television,
leading to possible frost delays. ... No one has shot better than
65 or worse than 74 through the first two rounds. ... PGA Tour
officials were marking several areas of the fairway as ground
under repair late Friday evening, an indication they will try
to get away from the lift, clean and place rule that has been
in effect the first two days.
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