Parnevik Isn't Alien to 'Spaceman' Lee

By THOMAS BONK

Sept. 12, 1997 12 AM PT

Do not think that the Ryder Cup isn’t big news in Craftsbury, Vt., home of maple syrup, snow shovels and flannel shirts.

Craftsbury is also home to Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the former Boston Red Sox left-hander and avid golfer, who isn’t a bit concerned that Jesper “the Swedish Spaceman” Parnevik might be horning in on his nickname territory.

“There’s only one Spaceman, I think,” Lee said. “But I don’t use

copyrights or anything.”

Lee, 50, pitched 14 years in the major leagues with Boston and Montreal and had a 119-90 record. He also enjoyed a reputation as a . . . shall we say . . . free spirit?

When Lee ran for president on the Rhinoceros Party ticket in 1988, his political agenda included turning the White House into a Mexican restaurant. Lee also called for the elimination of chairs so we could have a nation that stood up for itself.

Parnevik, of course, has his own personal platform. He eats volcanic sand to cleanse his system, wears glasses with blinking lights to connect the left side of his brain to the right, believes in reincarnation and wears skin-tight Popsicle-purple pants and a cap with a flipped-up bill.

It’s sort of a kindred look, Lee said.

“He definitely is kind of a clone,” Lee said. “He looks like he could be my son.”

Lee recalled his own dress code in the major leagues: “Beard, army fatigue cutoffs, sandals . . . no one did that.”

No one else thought of it, except possibly Che Guevara. Last weekend, Lee was in Montreal as part of a 27-game charity softball tour with former major leaguers Bill Madlock, John Tudor and Ron LeFlore that raised money for burn centers in Canada. Lee, who plays golf to a 12 handicap, also watched part of the Canadian Open at Royal Montreal, where scores of apple trees line the fairways.

“At least the pros could eat their way out of the rough,” Lee said.

Lee will be watching the upcoming Ryder Cup with special interest in Parnevik, sort of one Spaceman to another. He also is considering a new business venture. He would bottle his own brand of maple syrup from the 1,700 maple trees on his property.

“We’d call it Spaceman Syrup,” Lee said. “It’s out of this world.”

TIGER UPDATE

Equipment news: Tiger Woods has switched drivers, from Cobra to a Titleist model with a titanium head and steel shaft. He continues to use Mizuno irons.

TIGER’S SIX PACK

Since he turned pro a little more than a year ago, Woods has won six times on the PGA Tour. No one else has won more than twice in the same span.

INTRIGUING LIST

For what it’s worth, a special issue of People magazine featured its list of the 100 most intriguing people of the century and seven sports figures made it.

Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Vince Lombardi, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Michael Jordan and, yes, Woods.

NOW, A FULL NELSON

Two days after blowing out the 50 candles on his birthday cake, Larry Nelson tees it up this morning as a full-fledged member of the Senior PGA Tour. Nelson, like most of the senior pros, is searching for two things: money and fun.

A two-time PGA champion and the 1983 U.S. Open winner in his 23-year PGA Tour career, Nelson is making his senior debut in the Boone Valley Classic at Augusta, Mo. Nelson knew he was in the right place as soon as he looked around the locker room.

“All of a sudden, it felt like I was kind of home,” Nelson said. “I knew more people out here than I did on the other tour.

“I was at Memphis this year and was in the player hospitality room and there must have been 50 people in there and I knew one person. If there were 50 people in a room out here, I’d probably know every one of them.”

Nelson made a special mention of such players as Miller Barber, Don January, Bruce Crampton, Gay Brewer, Al Geiberger and George Archer, who were on the PGA Tour when Nelson turned pro in 1974.

Besides the fellowship, of course there is the money. Nelson’s goal is to earn a place in the Senior Tour Championship, Nov. 6-9. To accomplish that, Nelson must finish in the top 31 money winners . . . and he’s sort of getting a late start.

His schedule calls for him to play five consecutive weeks, then take stock of the money list. Buddy Allin is currently No. 31 on the money list with $372,742.

“I know that’s a lofty goal,” said Nelson, who is No. 99 on the PGA Tour money list with $196,981.

RALPHS FILLS CART

Prize money for the Ralphs Senior Classic has been raised $200,000 to $1 million for the event at Wilshire Country Club, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Of the 44 Senior PGA Tour events, 31 have purses of at least $1 million.

Gil Morgan is the defending champion. He won last year 11 days after turning 50. Morgan has won four times in 1997 and made $1.3 million.

In 23 senior tournaments, Morgan has five victories. He won four times in 24 years on the PGA Tour.

Ray Floyd, Graham Marsh, Dave Stockton and John Bland have committed and Nelson and Johnny Miller are considered strong possibilities to enter.

OUT OF BOUNDS

Remember all of the speculation about golf being played at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia? Well, forget it.

Richard Palfreyman, media director for the Sydney Games organizing committee, told the Australian Associated Press that reports of golf being part of the 2000 Games are “absolutely, unquestionably wrong.”

The last time golf was part of the Olympic program was in St. Louis in 1904. Well, once every century, what the heck?

HOWARD HAS LEUKEMIA

Barclay Howard, the 44-year-old Scot who was the low amateur at the British Open, is to begin chemotherapy after it was discovered he has leukemia.

Howard apparently began to feel ill while playing the Walker Cup in August in New York and blood tests revealed leukemia.

Jeff “Squeeky” Medlen, Nick Price’s caddie, died of leukemia this summer. He was 42.

CASHING IN

Chris Johnson’s victory last weekend in the LPGA Safeway Championship was her second of the year--she also won her first major in May at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

Now, forget about the titles. Think about the money. Johnson earned $82,500 for her victory at Portland and moved into fourth place on the season earnings list with $612,835. That’s nearly triple her best previous total for a year.

STREAKING

For everyone keeping score at home, it was another successful week for Vijay Singh. He made it to the weekend at the Canadian Open to push his consecutive streak of cuts made to 45. But Byron Nelson is still safe: He has the record of 113.

FINALLY

Steve Jones won the Canadian Open, his first victory since the Phoenix Open in January, and he seemed to enjoy it, even though he couldn’t understand many of the comments yelled at him in French.

Said Jones: “I just smiled and said, ‘Merci beaucoup.’ ”

HE’S NO COOK

After leading the European Masters through 54 holes, Nick Faldo closed with a 70 and finished tied for sixth. He blamed the greens. He just couldn’t sink his teeth into them, Faldo said.

“The greens today were soft underneath and crusty on top--a bit like my omelets.”

RIGHT, SAYS KITE

Tom Kite said he thinks the European Ryder Cup team made the right decision by dumping Miguel Angel Martin.

“Even those people who sympathize with Miguel, and there are a lot of them on both sides of the ocean, know the reality is that they [the Europeans] are trying to field the best team they can,” said Kite, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain.

“You can’t wait [until the day before the Ryder Cup to finalize the team]. I think you need a couple of weeks to get everything done.”

Martin, who hasn’t played since July because of an injured wrist, lost his place to Jose Maria Olazabal after European captain Seve Ballesteros told him to play 18 holes to prove his fitness and Martin refused.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

Garth Brooks, John Anderson, Toby Keith, Tracy Lawrence, Neal McCoy, John Michael Montgomery, Buck Owens, Kevin Sharp, Aaron Tippin, Rick Trevino and Clay Walker are some of those playing in the 15th Academy of Country Music Bill Boyd golf classic at De Bell Golf Course in Burbank Oct. 20. The event benefits the T.J. Martell Foundation, the Neil Bogart Memorial Laboratory and the Los Angeles Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. Details: (213) 462-2351. . . . The Help Brain Injured Children charity pro-am will be played Sept. 22 at Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights. Details: (562) 694-5655. . . . Edward Turner III, 13, of Los Angeles, won the 12-13 age group title at the Wittnauer Optimist International Junior golf championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

INFOSTAT

Automatic qualifiers for PGA Tour tournament fields, in order of priority:

1. Winners of PGA Championship or U.S. Open before 1970 or in the last 10 calendar years.

2. Winners of The Players’ Championship in the last 10 calendar years.

3. Winners of the World Series of Golf in the last 10 calendar years.

4. Winners of the Masters in the last 10 calendar years.

5. Winners of the British Open since 1990.

6. The leader in the PGA official money list in each of the last five years.

7. Winners of PGA Tour-approved events in the last two calendar years.

8. Members of the last Ryder Cup team.

9. Players among the top 50 in career earnings at the end of the last calendar year can use a one-time exemption the following year.