YEAR OF THE TIGER : In Two Months, Tiger Woods Has Made Everyone Else Look Like Amateurs

This will be remembered on the PGA Tour as the year that left-hander Phil Mickelson proved he has the right stuff, Greg Norman went down under at the Masters, Tom Watson won again after a nine-year drought and Renee Russo in the movie “Tin Cup” gave new definition to the term backswing.

And if you believe that, we’ve got some golf etiquette books by Happy Gilmore to sell you. Not that any of the above will soon be forgotten, but 1996 will be remembered above all else as the year the PGA Tour couldn’t hold that Tiger.

That Tiger, if you were on the Mir space station with Shannon Lucid and didn’t know, is a phenom from Cypress named Eldrick Woods who is too young at 20 to drink a beer but seasoned enough as a player to draw comparisons to Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. It seems likes only yesterday that he was an amateur.

Actually, it was only two months ago that Woods, coming off the NCAA championship as a Stanford sophomore and an unprecedented third-straight U.S. Amateur title, turned professional. With a goal of merely winning enough money to earn his PGA Tour card for 1997 by finishing among the top 125, thus avoiding the dreaded qualifying school, he has in seven tournaments:

* Become the only player to win twice before his 21st birthday since Horton Smith in 1928. Woods’ victories at Las Vegas and the Disney make him eligible for all PGA Tour events through 1999.

* Had five straight top-five finishes, the first player to achieve that since Curtis Strange in 1982.

* Scored in the 60s in 21 of 27 rounds with a low of 63 (twice) and a high of 73 (twice).

* Rocketed to 23rd on the money list with $734,794. That qualified him for this year’s grand finale, the $3-million Tour Championship today through Sunday at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. If he wins the $540,000 first prize in that tournament, reserved for the top 30 money winners, he could finish as high as No. 4 on the list with $1.27 million. Last year, David Duval set the rookie money record with $881,436 but needed 26 tournaments to do it.

“We knew Tiger would be good,” said Bill Calfee, executive vice president of competition for the PGA Tour. “We didn’t know he’d be this good this fast.”

Woods does not seem surprised. Although he had played in occasional professional events as a amateur since he was 16, starting with the 1992 L.A. Open, he had finished no higher than his 22nd in last summer’s British Open. But he never considered those tournaments measures of his ability.

“I was never able to get any feel at tour events as an amateur,” he said. “One week I’d play a junior event, the next I’d play Greg Norman. If I did play, I was in the majors when I was in school and had papers to write and tests to take.

“I figured if I started playing out here week after week after week, I’d get into a rhythm. And that’s what happened.”

Even before Woods turned pro, the tour was experiencing something of a renaissance. Some of the fortysomethings--or at least late thirtysomethings--who have won consistently such as Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Payne Stewart and Strange--were beginning to fade and new stars were emerging. Leading the youth movement were Southern Californian Mickelson and South African Ernie Els.

Although the golf world today seems to have an eye only for the Tiger, Mickelson is having a season equal to the potential he showed as a three-time NCAA champion at Arizona State. The native San Diegan is only 26 but has already won nine tournaments, including four this year. He is the leading money winner at $1,620,999 and could become the first player to surpass $2 million mark in one season with a win in Tulsa.

Els, 27, has won only three times, once this year, but he, unlike Mickelson, has a major championship with his 1994 U.S. Open title. Els also spreads himself over more continents. The winner of his third straight World Match Play Championship last weekend in Virginia Water, England, he is 14th on the PGA Tour money list this year with $804,944 but fourth in the Sony World Rankings to Mickelson’s eighth.

Unless they are afraid to look back to see Woods gaining on them, they could spot other outstanding young players. There have been 13 first-time winners on the PGA Tour this year. That is the most except for 1991, when there were 14. But unlike that year, when the only two who went on to stardom were Mickelson and John Daly, PGA Tour officials expect several of the new winners this year to continue to make an impact.

Besides Woods, that includes Steve Stricker, who has won twice; Tim Herron, who probably would have been rookie of the year if Woods has stayed in school; and Justin Leonard, who, with looks and carriage striking enough to make Cosmopolitan’s most eligible bachelor list, has considerable off-the-course earnings potential. A young player who has not won but is expected to soon and often is Duval, ninth on this money list with $913,479 after five top-three finishes.

Among the reasons PGA Tour officials give for the emergence of so many good youngsters is that players today are fitter not only physically but mentally and emotionally. All you have to do to understand what they mean is check out the number of sports psychologists making themselves available to players. Some have become as indispensable as caddies.

But perhaps the most significant factor is the development of sub-tours, especially the Nike Tour. The PGA Tour’s version of triple A in baseball, the Nike Tour has served as the proving ground for players such as 1996 British Open champion Tom Lehman, 1995 rookie of the year Woody Austin, three-time winner Jim Furyk, Jeff Maggert, Daly, Els, Stricker and Duval. The week before he won the BellSouth on the PGA Tour this season, Paul Stankowski won the Louisiana Open in Lafayette on the Nike Tour.

“It gives those players who don’t have their tour cards a chance to play in tour conditions,” PGA spokesman Dave Lancer said. “They learn how to compete in and win four-round tournaments. By the time they get out here, they’re battle tested.”

Tour officials expect 23-year-old Atlantan Stewart Cink to become an immediate contender on the tour next year after winning three tournaments and a record $251,699 on the 1996 Nike Tour. In the five PGA Tour tournaments he was allowed to play this year, he won $108,710 to finish a respectable 158th on the money list.

Nike also entered the major leagues in a big way this year. The total purse for the Nike Tour in 1996 was a little more than $6 million, less than the sports shoe and apparel company will pay each year of its five-year, $40-million endorsement contract with Woods.

From what Nike officials have seen so far, which is their swoosh displayed prominently on Woods’ shirt and cap in every weekend’s televised golf highlights, he is a bargain.

Other companies are lining up as Woods has signed more than $60 million in deals. Warner Books committed him last week to a $2.2-million, two-book contract. Deals with a soft drink company and restaurant chain are in the works.

Woods’ appeal is enormous. Other than the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the highest television ratings for golf this year were for Woods’ final-round charge in the U.S. Amateur. When he turned pro, ESPN announced it would cover the first two rounds of his first tournament in Milwaukee to supplement ABC’s weekend coverage.

Since then, the Golf Channel has virtually turned into the Tiger Channel, a development that could lead to increased exposure for the channel as it attempts to establish itself in the cable market.

With increased interest from television audiences, PGA Tour officials also expect the major networks to bid for more tournaments at higher rights fees.

Impact on the live gate also has been significant. Tournaments late in the season with attendance problems in the past, such as last week’s Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., had to print extra tickets when Woods entered.

Woods’ arrival could not have come at a more opportune time for PGA marketers because their previous No. 1 draw, Daly, is flailing again. It did not go unnoticed that Woods’ announcement that he would play in Lake Buena Vista made headlines in neighboring Orlando while Daly’s entry on the same day was briefly mentioned in the body of the story.

Except for his victory in the 1995 British Open, Daly has finished higher than 12th in only one tournament the last two years. That was a tie for 10th in this year’s Kemper Open.

The PGA Tour released a statement recently from Daly in which he admitted that he has resumed drinking--”a few beers on several occasions”--but he said that is not the reason for his poor play.

Tigermania is not merely hype. He has earned the attention with his play, scoring under par in 24 of 27 rounds.

Skeptics contend that Woods’ success has come against diluted fields because so many top players wind down their schedules late in the season. But Woods overtook Fred Couples and beat Davis Love III in a playoff to win at Las Vegas and outdueled Stewart for his victory in the Disney.

“All the accolades need to go to Tiger,” Stewart said. “This was the first time I’ve played with him. Everything I’ve heard about how mature he handles himself, how he handles his golf game, it was evident.”

Said Stricker: “He’s raised the bar. Everyone is going to have to get better.”

Look out. Woods said he’s just getting started.

“I’m hitting the ball pretty good, but not great,” he told reporters after winning last Sunday. “I haven’t had a great putting round yet.

“It may be surprising to you guys, but it’s not that surprising to the people who know me. “I haven’t really played my best yet.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Tiger Tracks

TIGER WOODS AS A PRO

GREATER MILWAUKEE OPEN

Aug. 29-Sept. 1

* Finish: Tied for 60th

* Scores: 67-69-73-68--277

* Earnings: $2,544

*

BELL CANADIAN OPEN

Oakville, Ontario--Sept. 5-8

* Finish: 11th

* Scores: 70-70-68--208

(Saturday rained out)

* Earnings: $37,500

*

QUAD CITY CLASSIC

Coal Valley, Ill. Sept. 12-15

* Finish: Tied for Fifth

* Scores: 69-64-67-72--272

* Earnings: $42,150

*

BC OPEN

Endicott, N.Y.. Sept. 19-22

* Finish: Tied for Third

* Scores: 68-66-66--200

(Fourth round rained out)

* Earnings: $58,000

*

LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL

Oct. 3-6

* Finish: First

* Scores: 70-63-68-6-64--332

(Defeated Davis Love III on first playoff hole)

* Earnings: $297,000

*

TEXAS OPEN

San Antonio, Oct. 10-13

* Finish: Third

* Scores: 69-68-73-67--277

* Earnings: $81,000

*

DISNEY CLASSIC

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Oct. 17-20

* Finish: First

* Scores: 69-63-69-66--267

* Earnings: $216,000

PGA MONEY LEADERS

(Top 30 Qualify for Tour Championship)

1. Phil Mickelson: 1,620,999

2. Mark Brooks: 1,379,896

3. Tom Lehman: 1,230,159

4. Mark O’Meara: 1,196,949

5. Steve Stricker: 1,176,739

6. Davis Love III: 1,137,939

7. Fred Couples: 1,128,694

8. Scott Hoch: ,980,764

9. David Duval: 913,479

10. Greg Norman: 891,237

11. Nick Faldo: 889,821

12. Justin Leonard: 841,140

13. Tommy Tollee: 819,989

14. Ernie Els: 804,944

15. Corey Pavin: 795,520

16. Kenny Perry: 781,079

17. Vijay Singh: 767,540

18. Michael Bradley: 766,825

19. Jeff Maggert: 755,455

20. Steve Jones: 751,844

21. John Cook: 750,260

22. Fred Funk: 744,734

23. Tiger Woods: 734,794

24. Brad Faxon: 731,050

25. Loren Roberts: 725,231

26. Jim Furyk: 675,350

27. Tom Watson: 659,238

28. Mark Calcavecchia: 565,251

29. Jeff Sluman: 562,528

30. Duffy Waldorf: 553,982

PGA MONEY LEADERS SINCE WOODS JOINED TOUR

1. Tiger Woods: 734,794

2. Dudley Hart: 341,570

3. Fred Funk: 313,549

4. David Ogrin: 295,871

5. Loren Roberts: 282,163

6. Michael Bradley: 247,221

7. Davis Love III: 244,220

8. Andrew Magee: 221,200

9. Ed Fiori: 220,634

10. David Duval: 181,630