Snead Shows Again He’s a True Master

Maybe the most remarkable performance in the Masters came in the ceremonial nine-hole round played by Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead.

Snead, who will turn 75 next month, hit all nine greens while shooting a 40.

“If I had putted a lick, I would have had a good score,” said Snead, who has lost much of the sight in his right eye and has trouble lining up putts. “I four-putted the sixth and three-putted twice. On the seventh, I missed a three-footer. It was one of the best nine holes I’ve played tee to green in a long time.”

Said former Masters winner Bob Goalby, who was listening in: “I’ve played with Arnold Palmer, I’ve played with Jack Nicklaus and all the others, and the greatest player I ever saw was this man.”

More than one baseball scout predicted last year that Bo Jackson never would make it in the big leagues because he had the worst work habits they had ever seen.

Bo admits it.

“I’m not ashamed to say it,” the Kansas City outfielder said. “I never had to work hard at anything until I signed with the Royals. Everything before that had come easy and so simple.”

Recalling last year, he said: “I watched George Brett and Willie Wilson take batting practice, and they’d go up and just swat at the balls. I forgot that they had worked for years to reach that level, that they had worked hard in spring training just for that year. I saw what they were doing, and figured I could do the same thing. That was a mistake.”

Add Jackson: He now has hit more major league home runs than any Heisman Trophy winner in history. Vic Janowicz, the only other Heisman winner to play in the majors, hit two homers in 83 games with Pittsburgh in 1953-54.

Trivia Time: What does James Lofton have in common with Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson? (Answer to follow.)

San Diego Chargers’ scout Ron Nay, on Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth: “He’s the best inside linebacker to come out of the draft in the last 15 years.”

Add Bosworth: From Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka, saying he’s not interested in the Boz: “There wouldn’t be enough sunglasses to go around.”

Bosworth and Jim McMahon appeared together on the cover of Sports Illustrated last fall, both wearing sunglasses.

Add McMahon: Jan Stephenson, who played with him in the Dinah Shore pro-am, told The Sporting News: “He’s got tremendous potential. If he took just a couple of lessons, he could take 10 strokes off his score. He pulls the ball a little, comes over the top, and that’s why he hooks it.”

McMahon: “The reason for that is when I brought the club down last year, I had to bring it around my front porch. But my belly isn’t there anymore. Takes some getting used to.”

He’s down to 190 pounds, from 212.

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: Graig Nettles, a slugging sensation in spring training for Atlanta, is 0 for 5 as a pinch-hitter so far, but he has a stolen base. That’s one more than he stole all last year at San Diego.

Minnesota Twins’ General Manager Andy MacPhail, on why the club released Mickey Hatcher, now with the Dodgers: “When Mickey played every day for us, he contributed. But in the last three years, he couldn’t do it coming off the bench. He batted .172 as a pinch-hitter. That would have been his role this year.”

Trivia Answer: All three were NCAA long jump champions--Owens (Ohio State), 1935-36; Robinson (UCLA), 1940; Lofton (Stanford), 1978.

Quotebook

New York Knicks’ forward Bernard King, who has never had an agent and has just severed ties with his lawyer, asked if he will negotiate his next contract himself: “Why not? I’m a tremendous negotiator.”