Toughest Test in Golfdom

Nancy Lopez has made it, and Amy Alcott figures to get in, but it’s possible nobody else currently playing on the women’s tour will make it into the LPGA Hall of Fame. That’s how tough they have made it.

Is it too tough? Some critics think so. They wonder how you can leave out people like Pat Bradley, the first woman to win $2 million and a winner of six major tournaments; or Hollis Stacy, three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion; or Donna Caponi, winner of four majors. And what of Sandra Palmer, Judy Rankin, Beth Daniel, Sally Little, Patty Sheehan and Jan Stephenson?

To qualify, a woman must either win 30 tournaments, including two different majors; 35 tournaments, including one major, or 40 tournaments, with no majors.

Bradley has a chance. She’s won 21 tournaments, so she needs nine more wins. She’s 36 years old, however. Poor JoAnne Carner didn’t qualify until she was 43, even though she had won five U.S. Amateurs and two U.S. Opens.

To the critics, all-time winner Kathy Whitworth has this to say: “We don’t want just everybody in there. It boils down to what you want it to be. No other person is involved in you getting there. And if you get there, it’s great.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Norm Ellenberger, back in basketball as an assistant at Texas El Paso after being driven out by the scandal at New Mexico, said the low point of his exile was when he did a commercial for an Albuquerque cleaning company that began: “Hi, this is Norm Ellenberger. We’ve all had a little dirt swept under our carpets from time to time.”

Trivia Time: Before Bobby Thomson hit the pennant-winning homer off Ralph Branca in 1951, when was the last time he had homered off Branca? (Answer below.)

Just Asking: Were the wire services serious when they suggested that the Dodgers avenged their 1962 playoff loss to the Giants by winning that replay in Phoenix Sunday? If so, when does the World Series start?

Slumber Party: To protest the 9:38 p.m. start of the Ohio State-Michigan State game Monday night to accommodate ESPN, members of the Ohio State pep band wore pajamas and played the theme from “Late Night with David Letterman.”

For What It’s Worth: Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian has passed the legendary Adolph Rupp in winning percentage and now is No. 2 on the all-time list.

The top 10: 1. Clair Bee (Long Island) .827; 2. Jerry Tarkanian (Nevada Las Vegas) .823; 3. Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) .822; 4. John Wooden (UCLA) .805; 5. Dean Smith (North Carolina) .772; 6. Phog Allen (Kansas) .768; 7. George Keogan (Notre Dame) .767; 8. Jack Ramsay (St. Joseph’s) .765; 9. Frank Keaney (Rhode Island) .765; 10. Denny Crum (Louisville) .764.

If Nevada Las Vegas goes all the way to win the NCAA title without the loss of another game, Tarkanian will be No. 1 at .828.

Trivia Answer: Thomson had hit a two-run homer off Branca in the first game of the three-game playoff series, won by the Giants, 3-1.

Quotebook

Georgetown basketball Coach John Thompson, on his new act as the conference and NCAA tournaments approach: “I’m not cuddling them anymore. I’m fussing and yelling.”