He Had Butterflies Thinking About a Mole in One

Golfer Bryan Gorman of Chula Vista was addressing his approach shot to the 16th green during the final round of the recent Long Beach Open when he suddenly backed away from the ball.

Was it the swirling wind? The ominous green-side bunker?

Hardly.

“I see this huge bird, pin-high, coming right toward me about 15 feet off the ground,” said Gorman, who was playing with the leaders. “Then I see it has something in its mouth. And then it drops it right in front of me, this dead mole.”

Or was it a baby gopher?

“I don’t know,” Gorman said. “But it had really big teeth.”

Gorman used his wedge to flick the rodent aside, then saw blood on his club and wiped it on the grass.

“The thing some people didn’t see was when I got back over the ball, one of those little butterflies lands on it. But I hit the green and made par,” said Gorman, who was a shot off the lead before the final round but shot a 73 and fell into a tie for 10th.

“I’d say it was pretty bizarre.”

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Trivia time: If Mark McGwire, traded last week to the St. Louis Cardinals, stays in the National League next season, what record held by Darrell Evans might he tie?

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They never used to call: The unlisted phone number issued four months ago to Bernadette Foyle of Vancouver, Canada, was the Canucks’ number for 25 years until the team moved its offices in 1995.

But it was no problem until last week when Mark Messier signed. (After all, the Canucks missed the playoffs.)

“Since Messier signed, the calls have been crazy,” said Foyle, adding that they begin as early as 5 a.m., some of them from Japan.

“I’m not a hockey fan,” Foyle said. “I should phone the Canucks and have them give me a ticket after all this.”

If she uses a 1994 phone book, she’ll never get through.

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Add Messier: Some fans in New York--even some journalists--were acting like jilted lovers after Messier left. People in Vancouver, many of them tired of seeing Canada’s game fly south, clearly relished that.

“When a city of 1.8 million ‘disses’ one of 23 million, it feels pretty good,” said Tod Leiweke, an executive vice president of Orca Bay, the company that operates the Canucks.

Leiweke, by the way, is the brother of Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ president.

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Trivia answer: Evans is the only player to have hit 40 home runs in a season in each league. He had 41 for Atlanta in 1973 and 40 for Detroit in 1985.

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And finally: In observing the first anniversary of the Atlanta Olympics, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has taken a daily look back at the Games.

From the “I didn’t really mean it” department came this quote from British rower Steven Redgrave, who retired after having won gold medals in four consecutive Olympics: “If you see me anywhere near a boat, shoot me.”

Better not. Redgrave is training for the Sydney Games in 2000.