Woods still hasn't signed that ball for charity
By Bob Verdi
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Tiger Woods has won six tournaments in less than
a year as a pro golfer. Tiger Woods won the Masters by 12 strokes.
Tiger Woods is favored to win the British Open this week. Tiger
Woods is the leading money-winner on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods has just about done it all, except sign that golf
ball for Billy Andrade.
"I don't sign golf balls," said Woods.
"He doesn't sign golf balls," said Andrade, "but
it's over, and it ended better than we could have hoped."
Indeed, they've just added up the numbers, and the sixth annual
Charities for Children tournament that Andrade recently co-hosted
with fellow pro Brad Faxon raised almost $350,000.
As usual, the midsummer event to benefit worthwhile causes
throughout New England attracted an array of sports and entertainment
celebrities, all of whom signed golf balls that became part of
a fancy display case, available for auction.
Joe Pesci and Glenn Frey, two of the famous people in the tournament,
split the $6,000 tab for that collection of golf balls surrounding
a photograph. Then they stood up and presented it as a gift to
Drew and Dixon Simmons.
"Standing ovation," Andrade recalled, "and a
lot of tears, too."
And who are Drew and Dixon Simmons?
"Brothers from Narragansett, R.I.," Andrade went
on. "Drew is 8, Dixon 11. Before our tournament, a plumber
from Massachusetts pledged $50,000 to the charity for signed golf
balls from every living Masters champion. We had every one except
one from Tiger. When Drew and Dixon read that we were having problems,
they got in touch with us."
Tiger Woods had played the 1995 U.S. Amateur in Rhode Island.
He was signing golf balls then and he signed one for the Simmons
brothers.
"They didn't care how valuable it might become,"
Andrade said. "They just donated it to help us out."
Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer ever, had no qualms about
signing a golf ball. In fact, after he sent an autographed Maxfli
to Charities for Children, Faxon contacted Nicklaus. Titleist
is a sponsor for the event. Would Jack, who has a contract with
Maxfli, mind signing a Titleist? Of course. Nicklaus sent another
ball in the mail.
Nicklaus also expressed polite dismay about Woods' refusal
to cooperate. It's one thing to sign golf balls for strangers,
who might turn around and sell the memento for personal profit.
But a fellow pro?
"Brad and I talked to Tiger after that happened,"
said Davis Love III. "Brad also wrote him a letter. Tiger
was very receptive. I want to make that known. He even thanked
us for pulling him aside and explaining the way things work.
"Tiger has a lot of friends on the Tour, and I think that
matters to him. Whether you're winning a lot out here, like he
is, or losing, there is sort of a code about helping other guys
out. I think Tiger cares about that. At least, I hope he does,
because the locker room can become a pretty chilly place if you're
not accepted."
Woods and Andrade played in last week's Motorola Western Open.
At one time, it appeared they might be paired. Wouldn't that have
been interesting?
"I said 'hi' to him and he said 'hi' to me, and that was
about it," Andrade said. "I don't feel like I did anything
wrong. But, like I said, it had a great ending at the tournament,
and it's over."
Yes and no.
"Tiger," Love said, "still hasn't signed that
ball for Billy."
(Bob Verdi is a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Write
to him at: Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago,
Ill. 60611.)
(c) 1997, Chicago Tribune.
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