But He Wasn’t the First Golfer to Stew Over His Lack of Skill

There is hardly a golfer alive who hasn’t, at one time or another, used a Mulligan--a second shot from the same place from which he had hit a poor shot.

Author Henry Beard claims to have discovered diaries of Thomas Mulligan, the fourth Earl of Murphy, who Beard contends invented the Mulligan--the most famous name, he says, in golf.

Among the choice bits Beard “discovered” were Mulligan’s rules of golf etiquette. Some of them:

1. Always replace divots in the fairways and rake footprints in the sand trap even if you have to move your ball to do so.

2. Always give faster players some reason, no matter how lame, for why you won’t let them play through.

3. Never use another player’s ball on the same hole where you stole it.

4. Don’t cut in on a hole if both the tee and green are occupied and someone is in the fairway.

5. Remember that it only takes a few extra seconds to pick up a wedge left on the green by a group of slower players in front of you and throw it deep into the woods.

*

Trivia time: After moving from Minneapolis, the Lakers made their first home in the Sports Arena. When it was unavailable for a 1961 playoff game, where did they play a home game?

*

Lonely Rocket: To say that Robert Horry took the canceled trade to Detroit hard is an understatement.

“I feel like the kid in ‘Home Alone’ whose parents deserted him,” Horry said when he returned to Houston after the trade for Sean Elliott was voided.

*

Mourned: The Charlotte Hornets managed to hang tough when Larry Johnson was sidelined because of injuries, but they fell apart when Alonzo Mourning suffered a calf injury.

With Mourning, the defensive intimidator, in the lineup, opponents averaged 107.2 points and shot 46.3%. Without Mourning, they averaged 115.5 points and shot 51.5%.

*

It’s about time: The late Terry Sawchuk, who holds the NHL record for victories for a goaltender (435) and shutouts (103) will finally be honored.

Sawchuk, who played for the Kings near the end of his career, will have his No. 1 retired by the Detroit Red Wings on March 6.

Sawchuk, who was rookie of the year in 1951, won the Vezina Trophy three times. He died in 1970.

*

In so many words: When Margaret Farnum, chief administrative officer of the Coliseum Commission, received the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Assn.’s High-Five Award, she said:

“As (Olympic diving champion) Pat McCormick said (in 1956) when she was named The Times’ woman athlete of the year, I can only think of two words to say: Thanks.”

*

He’s a fan: After watching Indiana beat Purdue, 82-80, Saturday night, New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner called himself a “Knightomaniac.”

“I just think he’s the greatest coach in basketball or anything else,” said Steinbrenner, who sat at courtside. “This is the first time I’ve been in the General’s headquarters, so to speak.”

Steinbrenner said he isn’t nearly as good at what he does as the Indiana basketball coach is at what he does.

“We have a lot of the same feelings,” Steinbrenner said. “I love the way his players are still wearing the right kind of basketball pants and the way they don’t have their names on their uniforms. He’s a real traditionalist.”

But could he manage the Yankees?

*

Trivia answer: Shrine Auditorium.

*

Quotebook: Center Danny Schayes, when asked how he liked being with the Milwaukee Bucks: “I don’t get to play. The team stinks. My wife lives in Denver. And it’s been 20 below all year.”