Pavin Aftermath Really Added Up

Hey, Corey Pavin, how about some general comments?

“Good postseason,” Pavin said. “Oh, you mean about golf?”

That’s golf humor for you, opening-day style at La Costa, where the 1996 season got under way with the first round of the Mercedes Championships.

Pavin, whose off-season produced checks for $1.465 million in only three special events, got the on-season off to a flashy start here Thursday with a five-under-par 67.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Mark O’Meara, who pulled himself off the ski slopes to get here. Ben Crenshaw is in a trio at 69 with Scott Hoch and D.A. Weibring.

In the elite field of 30, all of them tournament winners last year, 18 were under par, but no one matched Pavin.

The U.S. Open champion toasted the front nine with a 31, even though he wasn’t too sure what to expect.

“You always feel a little bit out of sync [at the start of the season],” said Pavin, who nevertheless increased his string of bogey-free holes to 45.

Some players have called his clubs “garden tools,” but Pavin is raking in the money with them.

He won $1.3 million in 22 events last year, which certainly is very good, just not as impressive as playing three off-season events--two of them two-day tournaments--and making nearly $1.5 million.

Pavin said one of the reasons for his recent success is the new ball he is using.

“It goes further,” he said.

O’Meara came here from Deer Valley, Utah, where he was skiing with his family. Even there, however, he couldn’t completely tear himself away from golf. He packed a seven-iron and practiced his swing in his room.

On the slopes, O’Meara said he restrains himself.

“I try not to go psycho,” he said. “I’m not over there in the woods. I’m not trying to be Jean-Claude Killy.”

Crenshaw was just hoping to be like, well, Ben Crenshaw. Opening day of opening week can be unsettling, he said, if you let it.

“You start out hoping for the best, but one never knows about the first week,” Crenshaw said.

No matter what happens the first week, Pavin already knows what he will be doing for the next five--nothing. Well, at least no golf.

Maybe he needs the time to cash his checks.

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PGA Tour players voted Greg Norman player of the year, Jim Colbert senior tour player of the year and Jerry Kelly the Nike tour player of the year.

The awards were announced Thursday night. Gene Sarazen won the lifetime achievement award.