Woods Doesn’t Sign Off on 66, so He’s Disqualified in Pro-Am

The Oops Award on Wednesday went to none other than Tiger Woods, who shot a 66 to win the pro-am but didn’t turn in his card and was disqualified.

That cost him the $1,000 winner’s check, which probably doesn’t matter a great deal to Woods, who has shoelaces worth that much.

Steve Jones also had a memorable day in the pro-am. He played his first nine holes, the back nine, in one over, then shot 11 over on the front--with two birdies.

Jones also had a nine on the par-three No. 3 and an eight on the par-three No. 7.

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He had top-10 finishes in the Masters and the PGA and he won the British Open, so Justin Leonard has got majors on his mind, right? Well, sort of.

“I’m just trying to play well,” he said. “I’ve always put emphasis on winning majors, as everybody does, but I’m just trying to find ways to improve my game.

“We’re all out here to try to win tournaments. But if that’s my one goal, to win majors, I’m going to be disappointed a lot of times.”

Leonard, 25, has been identified as an important part of professional golf’s youth movement. If Woods has dominated the exposure, it doesn’t matter to Leonard.

“I think Tiger has taken the attention off everybody,” he said. “Whether that is a help or not, I don’t know. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m just honored that somebody wants to ask me a couple of questions.”

Maybe so, but that’s not how Leonard responded last year at the MasterCard Colonial after he shot a first-round 64 and got upset when most of the questions he fielded were about Woods.

Leonard will be working his way toward the Masters by playing at Doral, Bay Hill and the Players Championship. He finished tied for second last week at Tucson, tied for 25th at La Costa, tied for 27th at Phoenix and missed the cut at Torrey Pines.

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Last year when Leonard won the British Open at Troon, his parents, Nancy and Larry, didn’t go. When Leonard defends his title this year at Royal Birkdale, his parents will be in attendance.

Said Leonard: “I’m superstitious, but not quite that superstitious.”

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Dennis Paulson shot a five-under-par 67 at Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Course and Danny Carroll shot a five-under 66 at Green River Golf Club to win the final two Nissan Open spots in qualifying.

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Today’s worst fact: The first bogey of the tournament can be found in the 1998 Nissan Open media guide in the section called “Facts and Firsts”--”This year will mark the 33rd tournament hosted by Riviera.”

This may come as a shock to Valencia Country Club. Besides that, Riviera already has hosted the tournament 36 times.

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Valencia is the 11th course to serve as the site for what began as the Los Angeles Open in 1926. The others are the Los Angeles Country Club, El Caballero, Wilshire Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club, Griffith Park, Fox Hills Country Club, Inglewood Country Club, Rancho Park, Brookside and Riviera.

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Tournament officials estimate 5,000 gallons of water was pumped off the course in 24 hours to get it ready for Tuesday’s practice rounds.

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David Duval’s victory last week at Tucson was his fourth win in his last eight events, which is the best streak since 1994, when Nick Price turned the trick. Woods won four times in 10 tournaments during parts of the 1996 and 1997 seasons and five times in 12 tournaments.

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Is this the kiss of death? The Nissan/Los Angeles Open has lost only one round because of bad weather in its 72-year history.