If You Pair Them, Woods Will Not Go the Distance

Tiger Woods is considering a lower-key partner in next year’s AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after playing with actor Kevin Costner.

Woods finished a stroke behind Mark O’Meara in the tournament.

Claude “Butch” Harmon, Woods’ coach, said Woods likes Costner and considers him a friend.

“It’s difficult any time you play with a movie star.” Harmon said. “The seasoned veterans are used to it, but Tiger got irritated with some of the distractions that come with the tournament.”

It could have been worse for Tiger. He’s fortunate he wasn’t paired with Bill Murray.

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Add Tiger: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post on the Woods-Costner pairing at Pebble Beach:

“What a humbling experience that must have been for Kevin Costner to play with Tiger and to realize that the crowd that swelled around them wasn’t for him.”

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Trivia time: What is the Lakers’ regular-season record against Chicago since Michael Jordan joined the Bulls in the 1984-85 season?

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Cuckoo time: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune on the Bulls: “They close out their western road swing against the Sonics, Blazers and Lakers. Then comes the All-Star break, also known as ‘One Flew Over the Rodman’s Nest.’ ”

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Slow motion: Houston’s Charles Barkley on Utah’s John Stockton and Karl Malone, who rarely sit out games because of injuries:

“It doesn’t surprise me because of the way they play. They don’t run and don’t jump. They should never miss a game. If they ever ran a fast break or ran and dunked, they’d get hurt.”

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He’s back, sort of: Tom Chambers, 37, who signed with the Charlotte Hornets: “I think people thought I’d died and gone away or something.”

Comment from Tim Keown of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Not all of you, Tom, just that tiny part of you they call defense.”

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The spectator: Philadelphia goalie Garth Snow after the Flyers outshot the Phoenix Coyotes, 55-16, while winning, 4-1, in a recent game:

“I should have bought a ticket to the game. All the action was at the other end of the ice. I was just standing there.”

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Diplomatic comparison: New England Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the Boston Globe on the differences between Bill Parcells and his coach at Washington State, Mike Price:

“Mike wasn’t loud and abusive and some of the other things that Bill is. Both ways can work, but one’s a little bit easier to deal with.”

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Trivia answer: The Lakers have the edge, 13-12.

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And finally: David J. Neal of the Miami Herald reports that Florida Panther equipment manager Mark Brennan has a three pack-a-game habit and Panther Coach Doug MacLean and assistant coach Duane Sutter do a pack a day. The players follow suit.

No cause for alarm. No one is wheezing from smoking cigarettes. Chewing gum is the habit, and it’s estimated that the Panthers chew between $3,000 and $4,000 worth during the season.