Golf : O’Grady Says He’s Not Returning to Sawgrass

The Tournament Players Course at Sawgrass, where the Players Championship is being played, is not universally liked. In fact, Mac O’Grady said he wouldn’t ever come back. He said this after shooting a 79.

“I’ll never show up again,” O’Grady said. “The only reason I came this year was out of courtesy to the players. This will never be a major (tournament) because of the golf course it is played on.”

O’Grady is not a fan of TPC courses, which sort of figures, since he also is not a fan of PGA Commissioner Deane Beman, the force behind these courses. Although O’Grady will not criticize Beman in public again, he and Beman spent most of the summer feuding two years ago.

And Payne Stewart, even though he shot a seven-under-par 65 in the second-round, refused to back off his criticism of the TPC, which he called a “fabricated” course.

Even Australian Greg Norman took a few well-placed shots at Sawgrass, unfavorably comparing the Players event to the Masters.

“You don’t see any tented areas there (at Augusta National),” said Norman. “None of this stuff like you see here.”

The Players tournament features two rows of tented viewing areas for favored customers. Called “stadium chalets,” the elevated areas are at the 17th and 18th greens.

Norman said he prefers venues like the Masters. “Traditions and stuff are still an important part of golf,” he said. “But they’re a major part of the Masters. It’s special.”

Add Norman: Seve Ballesteros of Spain would like the PGA to soften its stand and allow him to play as few tournaments as he wants and still be part of the Tour. Norman thinks the PGA should stay firm.

“He’s not God, really,” Norman said.

The PGA asks that foreign players play in a minimum of 15 Tour events to keep their cards.

“If the rules did change, I’d be the happiest guy in the world because it would be much easier for me,” Norman said. “But I don’t think they should. Seve is in a class by himself, but if you start relaxing rules for one guy, you have to do it for everybody.”

Add O’Grady: Why does he play with a white putter?

“You’ve got to take everybody back to the days when everything was clean. The ball is white, the inside of the hole is white, the putter is white. So when you look down to putt for the last time, that’s called color conditioning programming. You see the good things. “Come on, I deserve this.”

The scariest hole at TPC-Sawgrass is probably No. 17. It’s just 132 yards to the flag, but the green is an island.

In the water surrounding it are golf balls and--an alligator named Alfred.

So far, Alfred has not made an appearance at the Players Championship, but he was spotted last week, before the tournament, and appeared to have grown quite a bit since last year.

“He’s bashful,” said David Lancer, a PGA spokesman. “When he sees so many people around, he just hides out.”

Alfred dines on fish from the pond at No. 17, as well as slow birds, which probably mistake him for a log.

“Actually, he’ll eat anything,” Lancer said.

Anything?

“You don’t want to know,” Lancer said.

Two weeks later, Brad Faxon is still trying to live down his first tee shot at the Honda tournament.

A sea gull picked up his ball and moved it 40 yards. Faxon replaced the ball. Bruce Fleisher, playing in the same group, then birdied the hole.

Since then, that hole has been referred to as the double-birdie hole.

There seems to be no shortage of celebrities for the Nabisco Dinah Shore pro-am, which will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at Mission Hills.

Scheduled to play are Gerald Ford, Jack Lemmon, Buddy Rogers, Efrem Zimbalist, Phil Harris, Harvey Korman, Les Brown, Claude Akins, Charles Schultz and Cheryl Ladd, not to mention hostess Dinah Shore.

Sports figures who will play are Jim McMahon, Jim Plunkett, O. J. Simpson, Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Bench, Lawrence Taylor, Frank Gifford, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Rod Laver, Bobby Orr, Don Meredith, Dan Fouts, Kenny Easley, Bill Kilmer and Joe Garagiola.

For what it’s worth: Arnold Palmer is the most admired golfer of all time, and Norman is the best of the current players.

Those are the results of a poll of 245 golf writers conducted by the Travelers Companies. Palmer was chosen by 48% of them as the golfer they most admire. Nicklaus was second with 24%.

Norman was the winner in two categories. He edged Ballesteros as the sport’s best player, and, on 26% of the ballots, was selected as the most charismatic player. Fuzzy Zoeller was runner-up in the charismatic category with 19%.

Norman was also picked as the favorite to win the Masters next month.

Other findings:

--Seventy-three percent of the writers believe the United States has better professional players than Europe.

--Stewart, distinguishable by his knickers, was an overwhelming choice as the best dressed golfer, drawing 60% of the vote. Norman, with 7%, was second.

--Ballesteros edged Lanny Wadkins as today’s best clutch golfer, 15% to 14%.

Golf Notes

Bill O’Connor has won the Riviera club championship for the seventh time, defeating runner-up Bob Greig by nine strokes. Playing from the championship tees, O’Connor shot a 72-hole score of 309. . . . The dates have been changed for the $2-million Nabisco Championships of Golf at Pebble Beach. The event will run Nov. 10-13.

The Sixth Padua Village Golf Tournament is scheduled April 25 at Red Hill Country Club in Cucamonga. Padua Village, a nonprofit organization, is a residential living center for developmentally disabled young adults. . . . Cal State Fullerton is inaugurating a golf tournament to raise scholarship funds for Latino youths. The event, the Hispanic Scholarship Golf Tournament, will be played April 11 at Rancho San Joaquin Golf Club in Irvine.