Golf : Azinger Is Solid Pick as Top Up-and-Coming American Player

Ever since Curtis Strange won the U.S. Open, the question of who is the world’s best golfer has required a slightly longer answer. Strange joined Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman and Sandy Lyle as likely candidates. But there is always another question still waiting to be answered: “Who is the next great American golfer?”

Paul Azinger wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Azinger, 28, may have all the qualifications, a major championship notwithstanding. Even Strange knew how that felt until he won the first major of his career in Brookline, Mass., in June.

In the last 13 months, Azinger has come close to winning two majors. He led the 1987 British Open after 70 holes and lost. And two weeks ago, he led the PGA after both the second and third rounds, only to lose again when non-winner Jeff Sluman shot a final-round 65.

Azinger played well in one other major, the U.S. Open, where he finished in a tie for fifth, three shots behind Strange and Nick Faldo. No one shot better than his 66 in the final round Sunday at The Country Club, but Azinger’s 76 on Saturday ruined his chances. In the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s, Azinger finished in a tie for 47th, 21 shots behind Ballesteros. He missed the cut at the Masters.

There is some compelling evidence in Azinger’s corner nonetheless. He was the 1987 PGA player of the year when he won three tournaments and $822,481, more money than anyone except Strange.

Azinger has won once in 1988, which may not be too bad because with eight first-time winners, this year’s PGA Tour has turned out to be a haven for upset winners. Even so, Azinger is seventh on the money list with $481,050.

Even though money and victories are probably the best ways to measure success, Azinger has picked up a fan in Arnold Palmer, with whom he was paired in the first two rounds of the PGA. “I was really impressed,” Palmer said. “He continually hit the critical shot every time he needed it. He played very well. Paul did a beautiful job, even if he didn’t win. He has a lot of the characteristics of a really good player.”

Of course, there are dissenters. Tom Watson, for one, isn’t sold on Azinger.

“He’s a good player, but there is a question about his grip,” Watson said. “If there is anything negative to say about Paul, it’s his grip. He tends to turn the club over sometimes.”

Watson explained that he and others believe Azinger’s left hand to be turned too far clockwise on the shaft. Watson called it the “Harley” grip, comparing it to holding the throttle on a motorcycle.

“But Lee Trevino’s played with the same grip his whole life, so who’s to say?” Watson said.

Add Watson: Although he didn’t challenge at the PGA, the only major Watson has not won, at least he made the cut and extended his streak of cuts made in major championships to 14.

There have been 36 major events played in this decade, and Watson has missed the cut in only two of them. Ben Crenshaw has made the cut in 13 straight majors.

Watson, 38, needs only to win the PGA to join some exclusive golf company, the four men who have victories in the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus have done it.

Last add Watson: Watson, a golf course architect as well as a player, who had a hand in designing the Links at Spanish Bay, isn’t particularly fond of Pete Dye, the designer the players love to hate. Dye has been critical of the courses that players-turned-designers come up with. Dye said they would be so flat, no one would play them.

“Pete’s a little crazy. I think everybody agrees with that,” Watson said.

Watson also called Dye’s course creations a disservice to golf.

“The whole idea of golf is recovery,” Watson said. “You make a mistake and you recover. But Pete’s whole idea is no recovery. If you get into trouble, there’s no recovery.”

Watson said he couldn’t fully understand how some golf course developers choose designers.

“Reputation, I guess,” he said. “They’re like lemmings.”

Whatever happened to Ian Woosnam?

Widely touted at the beginning of the year as Europe’s greatest player, the 5-foot 4-inch Woosnam, dubbed Wee Woosie, missed the cut in all three major championships played in the United States--the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA. Woosnam’s best major, therefore, was automatically the British Open, where the Welshman tied for 36th, 13 shots behind winner Seve Ballesteros.

The Santa Barbara Open has quietly attracted a strong field. Jan Stephenson will be back to defend her title in the $300,000 LPGA event, which will be played Sept. 22-25.

Other entries are Amy Alcott, Ayako Okamoto, Liselotte Neumann, Colleen Walker, Sally Little and Pat Bradley.

The tournament, which benefits Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will be played at Sandpiper Golf Club in Goleta and La Purisima in Lompoc.

Women’s professional golf, which has been taking a few hard hits recently, with big-time sponsors such as MasterCard pulling out, is making a little bit of a comeback this weekend. Actually, some player is going to be the big winner.

When the Nestle’s World Championship of women’s golf is decided today, she will receive $81,500, the biggest first prize in women’s golf.

So what is the biggest first prize in men’s golf? The winner of the Nabisco Championships in November at Pebble Beach will get $360,000.

For anyone who has to wait and wait and wait to play on a public course, consider the problems in Honolulu, where at the Ala Wai course the regulars will tell you they feel lucky when they’re able to play a round there.

Ala Wai, a public course near Waikiki on Oahu, is a rare bargain. Faced with paying up to $85 at a private course, golfers are known to camp out to play these 18 holes for $4 on weekdays and $6 on weekends.

That’s the upside. The downside is that the demand at Ala Wai is so great that 198,656 rounds were played last year--an average of 544 a day--leading the National Golf Foundation to call it the busiest course in the world. The national average for an 18-hole public course is 50,000 rounds a year, according to the NGF.

Getting reservations for Ala Wai is a matter of luck. A computerized phone reservation system receives 35,000 calls an hour, and a day’s 100 tee times are gone in less than an hour.

Golf Notes

Billy Casper, the second golfer--Arnold Palmer was the first--to win $1 million in prize money on the PGA Tour and also a millionaire on the Senior Tour, is the host of his invitational tournament Tuesday at Los Coyotes Country Club. . . . Shawn McEntee, the assistant pro at La Quinta Hotel Golf Club who won the Southern California PGA sectional championship at Brentwood, earned exemptions for the Los Angeles Open, the San Diego Open and the Bob Hope.

The Second Venice Open, to benefit Santa Monica’s 1988 Arts Festival, will be held Monday at Riviera Country Club. For information, contact Christine Anderson at (213) 936-1447. . . . Jeff Leonard won the El Caballero Country Club championship for the third year in a row, defeating his brother, Rob. . . . Chris Prato defeated David Belfer for the Penmar Golf Club championship, 3 and 1. . . . Richard Fritsch and James Fischer won the Los Serranos Lakes men’s Golf Club partners’ best ball tournament. Peggy Hogan of Santa Barbara defended her championship at the 54-hole Women’s Public Links Golf Assn. tournament at Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club. . . . Steve Gregg won in the top division at the Los Angeles County Beach Lifeguard Assn. tournament at Porter Valley CC.

San Diego area charities will receive more than $300,000 in prize money from the MONY Tournament of Champions and the MONY T of C team in the Nabisco Grand Prix. . . . A Southern California PGA team, led by Joon Lee of Los Coyotes, won the 16th Junior America’s Cup in Ogden, Utah.

James Harris, former Ram quarterback, and Ollie Matson, former Ram and Cardinal star, are the first entries in the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce tournament, which will be played Oct. 27 at Montebello golf course. . . . An estimated 300 junior golfers between 7 and 17 will play in the Kids for Kids junior golf tournament to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of the Palm Springs area. The event is scheduled Dec. 22-23 at Indian Wells Country Club, Rancho Mirage Country Club, Monterey Country Club and Marriott Desert Springs Resort.

American Golf Corp. of Santa Monica has named Bruce Baker, Dave Seidl and Geary Leathers vice presidents of operations. American Golf is the nation’s largest golf course management company. . . . The Beverly Hills Women’s Golf Club, which is accepting new members, will have an open meeting Sept. 14 at La Cienega Park Community Center. Club members will also conduct a clinic and offer tips on putting, chipping and teeing off. . . . Starter Sandy Margolis and 15 others from the Sepulveda golf complex earned CPR certificates after taking a CPR training class conducted by the Beverly Hills Fire Dept.