It’s Hardly a European Vacation for May

Bob May, phone home: With her son, professional golfer Bob May, playing on the PGA European Tour, Muriel May can only get information about how he’s doing in bits and pieces.

May, an executive assistant at the Southern California PGA’s office in Brea, depends mostly on cable’s Golf Channel and telephone calls from her son.

“It’s kind of tough,” she said, “because so many of our friends and people that we are involved with are golfers. People always ask about him and sometimes it’s hard to admit I haven’t talked to him yet.”

And when he does call, May prefers to talk about things other than golf. “It’s like we are his escape,” Muriel May said. “We keep him in touch with the home base.”

May grew up in La Habra, but now lives near Las Vegas with his wife and caddie Brenda--not that they are home very often.

This week they are returning to the states after a two-month stint in Europe. Muriel said they plan to return to Europe before coming back to prepare for PGA Tour qualifying school.

After finishing fourth on the Nike Tour money list with $132,000 in 1993, May was on the PGA Tour in 1994 but struggled. It wasn’t that he was playing poorly, but he was barely missing cuts and wound up 209th on the money list, making $31,079 in 31 events.

Last year, he played on the Asian and European tours and returned to Europe this year. It’s a career path that even his mother has a hard time keeping track of.

“It’s all such a blur,” Muriel May said, “with him in and out of the country so much.”

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May hasn’t been tearing up the European Tour, but he has been on a strong run lately. He has made four of the last five cuts and the only one he missed, the Volvo German Open, May was four-under par, missing the cut--which tied the tour record for lowest cut--by one stroke.

His best finish was a tie for 15th at the Hohe Brucke Open in Austria early last month. He finished 12 under and earned $3,378.

Before the One 2 One British Masters played over the weekend, May had earned 25,537 pounds. That puts him at 146th on the money list and about 25,000 short of what should be necessary to retain his European PGA card.

He was reminded of the shortfall in a Golf Channel interview last month and quipped: “Maybe if they’d take the weight off my body that I’ve put on and put it toward the money list, I’d be all right.”

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GolfExpo relocation: The SCPGA’s annual consumer show is moving to the recently renovated Long Beach Convention Center after seven years in Anaheim.

The 1996 event attracted 15,000 to the Anaheim Convention Center, but Long Beach offered more exhibit and parking space and a location that is more centrally located in the Southland, SCPGA officials said.

GolfExpo offers booths featuring products from the major golf manufacturers and apparel makers, a merchandise shop offering items with logos from local golf courses and free 10-minute lessons from PGA professionals.

The 1997 show will be March 7-9.

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Tiger Watch: Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Skins Game that will feature Tiger Woods, and established professionals Tom Watson, Fred Couples and John Daly.

A three-day ticket to the event--Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Rancho La Quinta Country Club--purchased before Oct. 4 costs $60.

Tickets purchased later cost $75. There is a Pro-Am Nov. 29 and the professionals play nine holes each of the next two days for a total purse of $540,000.

For more information or tickets, call (800) 914-9075.

Notes

Bob Emmons and Kevin McNece, assistant professionals at Yorba Linda and Mesa Verde country clubs, won the Southern California PGA Top Flite/La Mode Pro/Pro Scramble last week at Yorba Linda. Emmons and McNece shot 11-under-par 60 and won $900.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs weekly during the summer. Readers are encouraged to suggest items. Call (714) 966-5904, fax (714) 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.Beck@latimes.com