GOLF / THOMAS BONK : Azinger, Couples, Mickelson Hoping to Return Soon

Comebacks are in the works for Paul Azinger, Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson.

Azinger, the 1993 PGA champion, might be back on the PGA Tour in two months if he continues to respond to treatment for cancer in his shoulder.

Payne Stewart said last week at the GTE Bryon Nelson tournament that Azinger told him he would like to return for the New England Classic July 21-24.

Doctors have treated Azinger’s cancer with chemotherapy and radiation therapy at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood. All Azinger has said is that he intends to defend his PGA title at Southern Hills in Tulsa Aug. 11-14.

Mickelson might be back for the Southwestern Bell Colonial in two weeks. He suffered a broken femur and ankle in a skiing accident in February.

Couples, beaten by Mickelson in a playoff at La Costa in January, is still a month to six weeks away, according to his agent. Couples suffered a herniated disk in March and has been rehabilitating his back in Dallas, where he has recently started to hit balls again.

Couples expects to be able to play in the U.S. Open June 21-24 at Oakmont Country Club, agent Len Roach said.

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FYI: Lee Janzen has not finished among the top 10 in a tournament since he won last year’s U.S. Open.

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FYI II: Seve Ballesteros won a tournament in Europe last week to qualify for the U.S. Open. The last foreign player to win the U.S. Open was David Graham of Australia in 1981 at Merion Golf Club.

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Parity: The PGA Tour has gone 18 weeks without a two-time winner, the longest streak in Tour history.

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A mouthful: The winner of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship today will earn $165,000, enough for about 235,000 McDonald’s cheeseburgers.

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New game: We know Andre Agassi can drill a forehand, but can he make a putt? The answer is forthcoming.

Joe Montana and George Brett are co-commissioners of the Pro Athletes Golf League, which kicks off a four-city tour in July at Minneapolis.

The league comprises current and former professional athletes and a so-called “core group” of players who endorse the league and compete: Agassi, Jim Brown, Marcus Allen, John Brodie, Rick Mears, Walter Payton, Brooks Robinson, Kyle Rote Jr., O.J. Simpson, James Worthy and Robin Yount.

Players are eligible for the league only if they have played at least five years and have been either an All-Star or been voted most valuable player.

Is it going to fly? ESPN has signed a multiyear contract to carry the league’s events.

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Psych job: From Dennis Paulson, after shooting consecutive rounds of 74-62-75-68: “If anybody tries to explain golf, they’re an idiot. Golf is a four-letter word.”

Golf Notes

The U.S. National Senior Open Golf Assn. will hold its 24th spring championship Tuesday through Thursday at the Citrus Course in La Quinta, Indian Wells Resort and Del Webb course in Sun City. . . . Next month’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania is sold out--22,500 daily and weekly packages. . . . The NFL Chill Celebrity Golf classic will be played May 23 at Braemar Country Club. Scheduled to play are Marcus Allen, Randall Cunningham, John Elway, Ronnie Lott, Warren Moon, Rodney Peete, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sedale Threatt, Dominique Wilkins and James Worthy. Proceeds from the event benefit reconstruction of schools in the San Fernando Valley damaged by the Jan. 17 earthquake. Details: (818) 367-3903.

Out in left field: The National Assn. of Left-handed Golfers and the World Assn. of Left-handed Golfers will cross irons in a combined tournament June 28-July 1 at PGA National in West Palm Beach, Fla. . . . A qualifying tournament for the Optimist Junior World Golf Championship for boys and girls 17 and younger will be played June 30 at Balboa Park. Details: (818) 709-4860. . . . The third Mike Garrett Golf Classic to benefit the youth of the Mike Garrett Foundation will be played Friday at Brookside Golf Course. Details: (310) 784-1806. . . . Defending champion Betsy King, Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan and Brandie Burton play for a $450,000 purse in the JCPenny/LPGA Skins Game May 28-29 at Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco, Tex. The players will donate 20% of their winnings to charity, with half of that going to the Easter Seal Society.