Oh, There May Be Bad Days Ahead : Golf: Bobby May, now 24, issues some words of warning for young guns Ted Oh and Tiger Woods.

Bobby May was in the players’ dining room Friday at Riviera Country Club, about an hour before the second round of the Nissan Los Angeles Open was postponed and the tournament cut to 54 holes, when he was introduced to 16-year-old Ted Oh.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. May,” Oh said.

That shook some reality into May. He’s not used to being called “Mr.” Most people still call him Bobby. But it reminded him that he is 24, and still trying to earn that PGA Tour card.

Eight years have passed since May, then a junior at Los Altos High, was the youngest ever to play in the L.A. Open, a talented 16-year-old with a can’t-miss label.

It was going to be four years of college and all of the NCAA championships and All-American honors that went with it, and then off to make his mark as a pro.

It’s similar to the positions of junior stars Oh and Tiger Woods.

But there is a difference.

When May played in the L.A. Open in 1985, he had to qualify for one of two spots against other amateurs.

When Oh, a junior from Torrance High, qualified for one of four spots last Monday at Los Serranos, he shot a 68 and had to beat out professionals.

Oh is not only the youngest player to qualify for the L.A. Open against pros, he also believes he is the first Korean to play in a tour event. The tour doesn’t keep such records.

Woods, 17, is playing in the event for the second time, but got in each time with an invitation.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think he has a lot of talent,” May said of Woods. “But it isn’t that easy to get into a pro event. I wish, when I was that age, I could have made up my schedule around four or five tour events.”

The road from prodigy to a tour star is not as smooth as it looks through 16-year-old eyes, according to May.

Oh, who will play in a high school match on Monday, has little doubt about his future.

“I will make it on the PGA Tour,” he said, not sounding boastful, but confident because his progression has been rapid since he began playing five years ago.

Woods also has made it clear that he expects stardom for himself.

Eight years ago, Bobby May was also certain that he would be a PGA star.

He started to realize he wasn’t the greatest junior golfer in the world when he began getting beat regularly at Oklahoma State.

He wound up winning only two events in college, made second-team All-American and played on an NCAA championship team as a senior.

That’s not a bad record for a college player, but it’s a letdown for one who expected to be a four-time All-American and thought he would win the NCAA and U.S. Amateur titles.

In the real world of golf, he twice has failed to qualify for the tour and has taken his game to Asia and Europe to get the experience he believes he must have to earn his playing card.

He has lost his sponsor and will support himself this year on the Nike Tour, which graduates its top 10 money winners to the regular tour.

“All I need is a break, one good week,” he says. “A high finish here could set up the rest of my year. A win would set up my future.”

May looks back and realizes what Woods and Oh are going through this week.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for them, and they should be overwhelmed just to be on the same course with these great players. I know I was.”

What May doesn’t like is young players who don’t exhibit the proper respect for professionals.

“When you’re young, you don’t have a lot of fear, you aren’t afraid of any shot and you also will say anything that pops into your head,” May said. “You tend to think before you speak as you get older.

“I was pretty cocky, too, when I was that young, but I kept those thoughts to myself.”

But golf, being the game that it is, has a way of getting even, according to May.

“You keep winning and people keep building you up until the plateau is so high, there’s no way to go but down,” he said. “But sometimes you have to get knocked down before you can go up again.”

May likes the attitude of Oh, who is quiet on the course but makes a lot of noise with his clubs.

Oh, who defeated Woods in Southern Section play last season, says Tiger has earned his accolades.

“Yes, I did beat him in CIF, but he wins just about every place else,” Oh says. “But it’s not just me. Tiger beats everybody.”

Although Oh would like to think his game and nerves will hold up enough to make the cut this week, he acknowledges that he can’t help comparing his scores to Woods’.

Oh shot a 73 in the first round, one better than Woods and two better than May.

“I probably would have shot lower if I had been putting better,” Oh said. “But I can’t complain because I was hitting some of the best shots in my life. That’s the way golf is.

“Besides, it’s just fun to be out here. I was nervous on the first tee, but after I hit one of the best drives of my life, I relaxed and felt better.”

Oh considers himself and Woods friendly rivals.

“Tiger has been good for junior golf because of all of the attention he brings to it,” Oh said. “It doesn’t bother me. He deserves the attention. He’s been playing at least 10 years longer than I have, so I’m still learning the game.”

But Oh, a 5-foot-9, 143-pounder who says he is hitting the ball longer than his professional partners, Jaime Gomez and Ted Tryba, is a fast learner and is improving quickly.

Although he doesn’t think his length off the tee is anything special, he did reach Riviera’s 447-yard 18th with a driver and a seven-iron. And he doesn’t consider the 578-yard 17th unreachable in two on a dry day.

Oh’s problem might be that he doesn’t realize how good he really is.

Bobby May says that’s the way it should be at 16.

* CONDENSATION

Friday’s round was postponed after rain and the tournament will be shortened for the first time. C7