Stankowski’s Vision Now in Focus

Maybe only a few had a clue, but Paul Stankowski was pretty sure he was headed for golf’s big time once he fixed that one nagging problem. He couldn’t see the ball . . . not very well, anyway.

The nearsighted Stankowski had worn glasses since 1990 but knew he couldn’t go on forever having to turn his head to see the line on those six-foot putts. So he tried contact lenses to start the 1996 season.

And before you could say eye chart, Stankowski was off and running. He could tell the

difference the first time he played wearing his new disposable soft lenses.

“I shot a million under,” he said.

Not quite, but this 27-year-old from Oxnard has had victory in his sights quite a few times in the last 12 months. During that time, Stankowski has won five tournaments--in Georgia, Japan, Louisiana and two in Hawaii.

Only two of them, the 1996 BellSouth and last week’s United Airlines Hawaiian Open, are PGA Tour events, but a win is a win, and Stankowski is a winner nobody saw coming.

As the nearsighted, goateed guy with the clothes perfect for either the golf course or a little clam-digging on the beach might say: “Way cool.”

Stankowski was pegged as some sort of golfer-come-beatnik/surfer dude last year after he won in Atlanta and had this reaction: “Wow, this is cool!”

Stankowski thinks it’s an amusing reputation.

“I am a younger guy, and I want to be different,” he said. “You know, the younger fans yell at me, ‘Hey, nice goatee.’ It’s like a Generation X basic thing. What Tiger [Woods] does for minorities and young people in general, hey, that’s what it’s all about.

“If I can wear a goatee and be a role model, awesome. It brings a different look to the tour.”

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Stankowski can play golf too. He has had two trips through qualifying school but wound up making nearly $400,000 last year, his third on the tour, including his victory at the BellSouth. That’s where he paid the $500 entry fee, got into the field as the last alternate and wound up winning.

This year, Stankowski is No. 6 on the money list with $278,298, busy piling up Ryder Cup points and not even reading his putts or lining himself up at address. Stankowski leaves that to caddie Rich Mayo.

It’s also Mayo’s job to talk to him during the round so he doesn’t have to spend too much time thinking about golf. Between shots at Hawaii, where he beat Mike Reid and Jim Furyk in a playoff, Stankowski talked to Mayo, watched the waves, looked for whales and checked out the para-sailors.

“It works for me,” Stankowski said. “If I start thinking too much about golf, I’m a basket case.”

In the meantime, Stankowski looks more like a hammock case. He’s like the message on the front of his Tommy Bahama golf shirts: Relax.

“What a perfect slogan for me,” he said. “I’m probably the most relaxed guy out here.”

EARL WOODS UPDATE

Earl Woods, the father of Tiger Woods, underwent successful heart bypass surgery Wednesday afternoon at UCLA Medical Center, according to a spokesman for IMG.

The younger Woods, who was at the hospital during the procedure, has not yet committed to play next week’s Nissan Open and has until the end of play today at the Tucson Chrysler Classic to make up his mind.

The spokesman said that Woods’ decision about playing Riviera depends on his father’s condition.

Meanwhile, anticipating that Woods will indeed play, more than 200 media applications have been processed for the tournament. That is double the usual number.

DAILY WITH DALY

So how serious is John Daly about his golf?

Daly, who is playing at Tucson this weekend, said he is settled down in his life and he has the evidence to prove it.

“I’ve gone three years without a fine or suspension, and I haven’t got into any trouble,” Daly said. “I’m proud of that.”

If that’s true, then Daly can turn his attention to his golf game, which he said really isn’t that far from settling down too.

“Now, if I could just start playing good golf again, maybe win a tournament or two, I think people would stop bringing up that other stuff.”

The other stuff? Daly went almost three years without drinking but began drinking beer again last fall. He was treated in 1993 at Sierra Tucson, an alcohol-rehabilitation center.

Even though he freely admits drinking again, he said he doesn’t come close to matching his consumption level of before. In fact, Daly said he’s weary of talking about it.

“Sometimes I have one, sometimes I don’t,” Daly said. “I guess I’m worn out from talking about it. I’d just like to forget about it. And, truthfully, I think it would be a dead issue if I’d been playing better golf the past two years.”

Daly is averaging 308.5 yards to lead the PGA Tour driving statistics. He has made two cuts in three tournaments so far, including a tie for seventh at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic where he was 23 under par and still 10 shots behind winner John Cook.

Daly won the 1995 British Open but has had only three top-10 finishes since and fell to No. 121 on the money list last year.

In any event, Daly said he is confident things are going to turn around for him on the golf course. However, Payne Stewart isn’t sure Daly is working hard enough on his game.

“John is John,” Stewart said. “I don’t see him on the range after a round or chipping and putting, either. Heck, for all I know, maybe he’s doing it in his hotel room.

“And I hear he’s drinking again. What does that say? Nothing against John. I wish him the best. I hope his demons are behind him.”

Daly, who shot a 71 Thursday at Tucson, said he plays for his fans, the ones who cheer for his larger-than-life drives and a matching personality. But he also knows he is under scrutiny. He simply doesn’t care too much.

“I suppose I could worry about what people think, but I don’t,” he said. “I know my game is coming around, and good things are going to happen this year.”

NAME OF THE GAME

The engraver for the trophy at this weekend’s PGA Tour event in Tucson has had a busy career. The hardest part probably has been getting the name of the thing right.

Beginning in 1945, the Tucson tournament has been known, in order, as the Tucson Open, the Home of the Sun Invitational, the Tucson Open again, the Dean Martin Tucson Open, the NBC Tucson Open, the Joe Garagiola Tucson Open, the Seiko-Tucson Match Play Championships, the Seiko-Tucson Open, the Northern Telecom Tucson Open, the Northern Telecom Open, the Nortel Open, and new for this year, the Tucson Chrysler Classic.

SENIORS: RAY DID IT

When Ray Floyd was asked to redo the Blue Course at Doral Resort and Country Club, he added 56 bunkers, including one on the left edge of the 18th fairway--near the landing area of the so-called Blue Monster.

“It will be interesting to see what some of the younger players say,” said Floyd, who has won the tournament three times. “If I couldn’t handle the heat, I would not have accepted this job.”

LPGA: HONEYMOONERS

Annika Sorenstam may have closed with a 73, missed enough birdie chances to fill an aviary, needed 35 putts and lost the Los Angeles Women’s Championship by two shots, but she wasn’t exactly in despair.

It’s for good reasons. Next week she and David Esch are going to Bermuda for their honeymoon, and this weekend, she is playing a tournament in Hawaii. Sorenstam will thus complete the rare Bermuda Triangle.

“Or whatever you call it,” Sorenstam said.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

If aliens try to invade Riviera on Sunday, we’ve got it covered. Will Smith of “Independence Day” is one of the celebrities playing in the Nissan Open Celebrity-Am from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Also scheduled to play are Kelsey Grammer, Randy Quaid, Richard Crenna, Johnny Mathis, Jack Wagner, Elke Sommer, Pat Boone, Wayne Rogers, Tom Poston, Jack Carter, Arte Johnson, Norm Crosby, Elgin Baylor, James Worthy and Jim Plunkett. Admission is free with a donation of a new or used golf club for the “Clubs for Kids” program.

Gary Player will be out three weeks after undergoing hernia surgery.

Hall of Fame member Billy Casper, who won the U.S. Open in 1959 and 1966 and the Masters in 1970, will be the former champion honored at the Nissan Open for his victories in 1968 and 1970. Casper’s 1968 win was at Brookside in Pasadena, where he defeated Arnold Palmer by three shots.

Said Casper: “A lot of the players complained at Brookside, but of course, I didn’t.”

The Masters invited 14 first-time players into the field: Robert Allenby, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley, Stewart Cink, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Yoshinori Kaneko, Jesper Parnevik, Clarence Rose, Tommy Tolles, Lee Westwood and amateurs Warren Bladon, Tim Hogarth, John Miller and Steve Scott.

Bladon is the British Amateur champion. Hogarth is from Van Nuys and won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links. Miller won the 1996 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Scott, a University of Florida sophomore, was runner-up to Woods in the 1996 U.S. Amateur.