Three's too many for Tiger
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
Tiger Woods said after returning from his month-long vacation following the Masters he had decided three consecutive tournaments was his limit. Seems like he knew what he was talking about.
Woods had his worst effort in his short pro career at the Memorial Tournament in almost every category.
His second-round 75 and final-round 74 were his highest scores of the year. The 67th-place finish was the worst in his 18 tournaments as a professional.
The $3,800 check was the smallest since the $3,500 in his very first event - the Greater Milwaukee Open.
Woods, who with endorsements, appearance fees and winnings will make about $25 million this year, now gets a week off to rest and practice before the U.S. Open. Perhaps he needs the rest.
During the last three weeks, Woods played in the Byron Nelson then flew from Dallas to New York to announce a deal with American Express then returned to Texas for the Colonial.
The Monday after the Colonial he played in a pro-am near Pittsburgh, receiving a $350,000 appearance fee, announced an endorsement deal with Rolex, flew to his home in Orlando, Fla., and showed up in Ohio for the Memorial on Wednesday.
His next burst of activity will include an announcement that he will have a regular column appear under his name in Golf Digest, then the U.S. Open from June 12-15, a youth clinic in New York on June 16 and then - most likely - the Buick Classic outside New York.
His next clinic will be in Chicago on June 30, leading to speculation that he will play the Western Open near there July 3-6.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The first Ryder Cup was played 70 years ago on June 3-4, 1927, at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. The United States defeated the team from Great Britain and Ireland 9-1/2-2-1/2.
The only living member from that match is Gene Sarazen.
"The Ryder Cup has gotten to be a big affair now," said Sarazen, a 95-year-old resident of Marco Island, Fla. "In our day, we paid all of our expenses and didn't get to travel on the Concorde. We traveled either by ship or plane. We were thrilled to death, however, to have the chance to face the best of the British at anytime."
Sarazen played in six Ryder Cups with an overall record of 7-2-3. He was 4-1-1 in singles competition.
The 32nd Ryder Cup will be at Valderrama Golf Club in Spain from Sept. 26-28.
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ON TOUR: The Golden Bear Tour, which was launched last year by Jack Nicklaus as a developmental circuit for the PGA Tour and the Nike Tour, starts its second season this week. The 1997 plan calls for an additional six tournaments, now totaling 18, and the prize money increased from $868,000 to $1,530,000. Play will be held on a series of courses in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie countries in Florida through the end of September.
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FROM THE HEART: The Bayer Aspirin Strokes Against Stroke campaign ended with the company donating $138,000 to the American Heart Association. The company donated $1,000 for every birdie made by Tom Kite, Nancy Lopez, Tom Weiskopf and Chris DiMarco in the month of May.
DiMarco lead the team with 54 birdies on the Nike Tour. Kite had 39, Lopez 36 and Weiskopf nine. Kite will present the check to an American Heart Association representative on Wednesday at the Kemper Open.
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WIDE WORLD OF GOLF: Shell's Wonderful World of Golf has its 1997 schedule with five new matches to be played over the summer and shown on ESPN in the fall.
The match between Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros in Santander, Spain, will be broadcast Sept. 30. Fred Couples and Tom Watson at Ireland's Mt. Juliet Golf and Country Club will be shown Oct. 8. Nick Faldo's confrontation with Tom Lehman at the Royal Westmoreland in Barbados follows on Oct. 15.
Colin Montgomerie takes on Phil Mickelson at The Lodge at Cordillera in Vail, Colo., and that will be aired Oct. 22. Finally, the Oct. 29 match will have Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller at Olympic Golf Course in San Francisco.
ESPN will also air five Shell's matches shown previously during the summer, including Faldo and Greg Norman and Nicklaus against Arnold Palmer.
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DIVOTS: Former President George Bush will receive the 1997 PGA Distinguished Service Award on Aug. 13 at the PGA Championship in Mamaroneck, N.Y. ... A survey in late May of more than 1,000 12-15-year-olds at the Harley Davidson Cafe in New York City found their heroes to be Tiger Woods and Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. ("Show me the money"). ... Tommy Armour became the first golf company to participate in the Indianapolis 500 when its logo appeared on the No. 27 car driven by Jim Guthrie. He completed 48 laps and finished 26th. ... Beginning June 1, the Doral Golf Resort - including the Blue Monster - will go spikeless. ... Ticket sales for the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club on June 19-22 near New York City are up 90 percent with more than 112,000 advance tickets sold. That's in part due to speculation that Tiger Woods will play.