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Notes, quotes and news from the world of golf
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
The story that started at La Costa when Tiger Woods won the Mercedes Championships in January and wound its way through a marvelous PGA Tour season became even more fascinating by year's end.
Youth reigned on the PGA Tour this year, and it wasn't just Woods.
Heading into the last regular-season event of the year at the Las Vegas Invitational, six of the players in the top 10 on the money list are age 28 or younger, and 17 of the 41 events this year were won by players under 30.
Woods, Justin Leonard, Ernie Els, David Duval, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson are the youngsters who have won more than $1.1 million this year.
Of those, Woods won four times with Leonard, Els, Duval and Mickelson winning twice each. Furyk was the only one without a victory.
Joining them as under-30 winners were Stuart Appleby, Stewart Cink, Paul Stankowski, Tim Herron and Gabriel Hjerstedt.
Three of the four major championships -- Masters (Woods), U.S. Open (Els) and British Open (Leonard) -- were won by players under 30 and the PGA Championship was won by Davis Love III, the "old man" at all of 33.
Three of the young guys -- Woods, Els and Duval -- won consecutive starts in 1997.
When Woods won the Mercedes and then overwhelmed the field by 12 strokes in the Masters the question was who would rise to meet his challenge. The answer as the Tour Championship looms next week is many.
More than a third of the players in Houston for the season-ending event will be under 30. It seems Woods will have no shortage of rivals for years to come.
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ON THE ROAD: Finally, a one-week break for Tom Lehman.
Lehman tied for 10th last week at the Disney Classic, completing a five-week road trip that included five tournaments in three continents and 26 time zones.
"I'm about ready to go home," Lehman said.
The journey started in San Antonio for the Texas Open, followed by a trip to Spain for the Ryder Cup. Then he went to Germany for the Volvo Masters, on to Japan for the Tokai Classic and then Orlando, Fla., for the Disney.
"I've got some good frequent flyer miles," he said.
He probably could have done without Disney, a tiring tournament because of the pro-am format for three days on three courses. But Lehman promised his kids he would take them to Disney World.
"One week of rest and I think I'll be in pretty good shape for the Tour Championship," he said.
Lehman is the defending champion, which begins Oct. 29 at Houston's Champions Golf Club.
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TIGER TALES: Woods said last week that he didn't pace himself properly in the beginning of the year and the numbers prove that to be true.
Woods played 20 of his first 34 rounds on the PGA Tour in 1997 in the 60s but has been below 70 in only 11 of 38 rounds beginning with the final round of the Colonial in May.
Despite tailing off slightly, Woods has already wrapped up Player of the Year as determined by the PGA of America's points system. With twice as many victories (four) this year as anyone plus his record-setting victory in the Masters, Woods is likely to receive the same honor in voting by his peers on the PGA Tour.
Woods trails Nick Price by .18 of a stroke per round in the race for the Vardon Trophy for best scoring average. And he leads Leonard by $497,039 in the race for the money title.
Woods has averaged a $102,661 check in each of his 19 starts this year. The second best in the world is Hale Irwin, who has averaged $101,493 in 21 starts on the Senior PGA Tour.
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Divots: The LPGA hired Leslie King to be director of communications and Tim McNulty as manager of public relations. ... Terry-Jo Myers, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour this year, was given the 1997 Heather Farr Player Award for overcoming an incurable bladder disorder and continuing her career. The award is named for the LPGA player who died from breast cancer in 1993. ... Fox Sports will televise a skins game involving Woods, Price, Mark O'Meara and Shigeki Maruyama Sunday evening Nov. 9 and Monday Nov. 10 from Japan. Woods is making a tour of Japan as part of a Nike promotion. ... John Daly, who is playing in the Las Vegas Invitational this week, has missed the cut in four of his last six events in his most recent return from alcohol rehab.
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