Letdown Not Part of Tiger’s Game

Poor Tiger Woods. He was so tired after winning the PGA Championship last Sunday that all he could do when he got back home to Orlando was to flop on the couch and watch TV. He barely had energy to drag himself over to Mark O’Meara’s house for some tacos.

Then Woods has to haul himself onto his corporate jet and whoosh all the way to Akron, Ohio, for the first round of the $5-million NEC Invitational . . . where he promptly shot a 64 Thursday to take the lead.

And what did you expect? A fade? Well, Woods might not win this week, but the assumption that Woods would suffer a letdown shows just how little we really know about him. The fact is, he’s that good and we might as well get used to it.

He has finished out of the top 10 only three times this year, has won the last three major championships and set record scores in relation to par in each of them.

He has won four of the last five majors.

He has won seven of the 15 PGA Tour events he has played.

And there is something else Woods wants you to know: It’s still August.

“The year is not over yet,” he said. “I still would like to win a few more tournaments this year and play well. I still need to finish out the season.”

It seems like a fair goal. Woods, who has cracked the $18-million mark in career earnings, has made more money ($13.31 million) the last two seasons than anyone else has made in their career--except for Davis Love III.

His 15 victories in the last two years is the most in 50 years--since Sam Snead won 17 in 1949-50.

By the way, Woods is the defending champion in the NEC.

TIGER TV

Sunday’s fourth round of the PGA Championship on CBS had an 8.8 national rating and a 21 share--28% higher than last year’s PGA and its highest rating since 1971. An estimated 38.5 million watched all or part of the final round.

TIGER TV UPDATE, PART II

For what it’s worth, golf events with Woods contending or leading average a 4.7 rating, but 2.7 when he is either not contending or not playing.

MAY DAY UPDATE

Since he forced Woods into a playoff at the PGA Championship, Bob May has encountered new-found fame. He even had to change his listed telephone number in Las Vegas.

The children in his neighborhood put up a sign that read: “Subdivision of the PGA Champion runner-up.”

May, who is playing in the Reno-Tahoe Open, said he had more than 200 telephone messages when he got home from Louisville on Monday night.

May had made $121,000 on the PGA Tour until this year, but he has $1.23 million now, thanks largely to the $540,000 he made while becoming some sort of folk hero at the PGA.

“I have nothing to be disappointed about,” May said.

By the way, May intends to return all his phone messages.

“I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression that I don’t have time for them,” he said.

FUNNY STUFF

In case you missed it, David Letterman’s Top 10 list of Woods’ pet peeves, from this week’s “Late Show,” included these:

* No. 10: PGA’s pointless insistence I complete all 18 holes before they fork over cash.

* No. 5: Satan calls at all hours of the night to remind you of the agreement.

* No. 3: You play the best game of your life and it’s on CBS.

* No. 2: At press conference, not allowed to admit, “I kicked everyone’s [butt] because I’m much, much better than they are.”

BUSINESS UPDATE

News item: After nonprofit group sues, Nike admits Woods plays a version of golf ball not available in stores.

Reaction: No kidding. It’s not unusual for a player to use a ball that’s not always for sale to the public--and the ball Woods uses is on the USGA’s approved list. This issue probably won’t have any effect on sales, but Nike should have been more honest when it was brought up.

On Thursday, Nike announced the ball used by Woods will be available soon at retail.

Actually, the public probably wouldn’t want the ball Woods uses anyway because very few have the swing power to make the ball do what Woods does.

BUSINESS UPDATE II

Paul Azinger, Arnold Palmer, Eduardo Romero, Charles Howell and Brian Henninger are playing a new Callaway titanium prototype driver that has been approved by the USGA.

Insiders say it is a conforming version of the controversial ERC driver that the USGA banned. Callaway isn’t saying anything.

Stay tuned.

MOVING NEWS

As it turns out, the LPGA’s season-ending tournament in November that features the top 30 money winners isn’t going to be held at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas after all. The four-year-old event is looking for a new site now that developer Steve Wynn bought the Desert Inn and plans to level it.

Contenders to host the Arch Championship look like the Bali Hai course under construction next to Mandalay Bay on the Strip, Primm Valley in Stateline, Nev., and two courses in Florida--Donald Trump’s layout in West Palm Beach and The Villages near Vero Beach.

IMG WHIZ

Ever since Mark McCormack signed Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, International Management Group has led all of the representation businesses in attracting golfers.

Maybe that’s why what is happening at IMG these days is so puzzling.

First, Notah Begay III and Kelli Kuehne bailed out on IMG, which was also shut out on signing such highly regarded amateurs as Charlie Howell, Bruce Gossett, Hunter Haas and Beth Bauer.

Alistair Johnston of IMG doesn’t think it’s a problem.

“We represent 90% of the top 50 in the world,” he said. “I think our market share is pretty good.”

Johnson said IMG is adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude about new talent, signed and unsigned.

“I don’t think the recruiting season is over yet,” he said. “We still have some items in the fire.”

Aaron Baddeley, Hunter Mahan, Bryce Molder and Luke Donald are regarded as the current top crop of amateurs.

OVER HERE

So Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain says he is going to play the West Coast swing in 2001 and is hinting he might play the PGA Tour full time. There must be something in the water, because Olazabal isn’t the only one considering ditching the European Tour for these shores.

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark is apparently considering the same move. Jesper Parnevik of Sweden has played a full schedule, the PGA Tour-required 17 events, since 1994, Nick Faldo of England since 1995. Sergio Garcia of Spain began a full schedule in the U.S. this year.

So who is the big name still left in Europe? Why, it’s Colin Montgomerie, the seven-time leader in the Order of Merit, which is the European Tour’s money list.

The bottom line in the migration is that it might affect the Ryder Cup. If the players don’t play in Europe and thus miss out on Ryder Cup points, more of them would have to be captain’s picks and rules allow only two.

Montgomerie suggests six captain’s picks would be a good idea.

As a footnote, Parnevik has dropped his European Tour membership after a flap with the European tour. The NEC was supposed to be for Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup members, but the European Tour changed its rules and decided to send its top 12 money winners in non-Ryder Cup years.

That change left Parnevik and Garcia out of the field at the $5-million NEC. And it has left some bad feelings about the European Tour. Stay tuned.

THIS JUST IN

Proving that virtually anything is for sale, Invensys is not only the new title sponsor for the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas, but now also the “Official Automation Company” of the PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour and Buy.com Tour.

Congratulations all around.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf will host a clinic and nine-hole exhibition Sept. 30 at Robinson Ranch in Santa Clarita. The event benefits the Follow the Star Ministries and junior golf programs in the area. Details: (661) 252-0622.

Oscar De La Hoya, Steve Yeager, Charlie Hough, Tommy Davis, James Toney and Corey Nakatani are among the celebrities expected to play in the Heads Up Youth Foundation tournament Monday at Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier. Details: (818) 985-5474.

Hope International University will host a tournament Oct. 8-9 at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage. The event benefits the university’s scholarship fund. Details: (714) 879-3901.

The Dave Pelz Scoring Game tour will be held at Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club Sept. 6-7 and at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach Oct. 18-22. Details: (800) 735-9868.