Charles Appears to Be All Bark When It Comes to Golf Game

Charles Barkley of the Phoenix Suns told Golf Digest that he has a 14 handicap.

“Because of my size,” he said, “I have trouble with longer clubs. But my short game is fine. I have a lot of confidence in my hands. I have a good touch, and that’s what you need for short shots.”

Phil Mickelson, a fellow Arizonan who has played with Sir Charles and is one of the magazine’s playing editors, rolled his eyes when told of Barkley’s self-assessment.

“But he does try hard,” Mickelson said.

Trivia time: Which country won the first World Cup?

Age-old problem: Said Dick Pole, pitching coach of the San Francisco Giants, after suggesting that Giant pitcher Salomon Torres, 22, needed to work on his concentration: “It’s the same old story with him. It’s youth, but that youth thing gets old after a while.”

Double duty: After Swiss soccer Coach Roy Hodgson relaxed his controversial ban on sex for his players during the World Cup tournament, saying that wives would be allowed into the players’ hotel rooms after games against the United States and Colombia, the story ran in the Swiss tabloid Blick under the headline: “Roy’s Boys Can Do It Twice.”

Why should they be?Said tennis player Jeff Tarango, who is ranked No. 100: “I can’t imagine a guy out there who doesn’t think he can beat me. I don’t think anyone is intimidated by me.”

No argument here: When referee Victor Drakulich separated junior middleweights Julio Ceasar Green and Lonny Beasley during the 12th round of a closely contested fight last week in Las Vegas, he apparently pushed Beasley a little too hard.

Beasley fell flat on his back, didn’t get up, and was counted out by Drakulich, who was chased out of the ring by one of Beasley’s angry cornermen.

Said Drakulich: “If they’re not able to remain standing when you break them up, they shouldn’t be allowed to fight.”

Build a bunker, Don: Wrote Dave Kaplan of the New York Daily News, noting that Steve Carlton (329-244, 3.22 earned-run average) is headed for the Hall of Fame and Don Sutton (324-256, 3.26 ERA) is not: “Alas, Sutton was hardly the world thinker Carlton is.”

Hold your tongue: Wrote Bob Kravitz of the Rocky Mountain News: “It’s fine if Madonna wants to buy an NBA team, but I would hope she’d watch her language around the locker room.”

Too big a stretch: English golfer Peter Baker said of a stretching program he recently started: “I don’t enjoy it. Give me a paper and a bag of crisps (potato chips) and I’ll happily sit in front of the TV. Lying on the floor rolling around in funny positions doesn’t appeal to me, especially on my own.”

Trivia answer: Uruguay, in 1930.

Quotebook: Pitcher Charlie Hough of the Florida Marlins, after getting three hits in his first two starts: “It’s not my fault. The balls hit my bat.”