Cart Rule Is Only Cloud for Finchem

Commissioner Tim Finchem had plenty of reason to smile as he summed up, in his annual state-of-the-tour address Friday, where the PGA Tour is and where it’s heading.

With increased revenue, strong competition and grass-roots interest, the sport never has been stronger, and Finchem’s speech was peppered with such words as “grow” and “bigness”.

But Finchem spent much of his time on another issue.

Casey Martin suffers from Klippel Trenaunay Weber Syndrome, a circulatory disorder, in his lower right leg. He has trouble walking and is suing the PGA Tour for the right to drive a cart in competition. He has received permission from the Nike Tour, which is overseen by the PGA, to use a cart in the first two events of the season.

“It’s really not an issue whether one player who has a particular disability should be allowed to ride a golf cart,” Finchem said. “This is an issue, first and foremost, about whether or not the courts should make the rules for the game or the governing bodies in the game get to make those rules.

“It is also, to some degree, about the question, I would admit, of walking and the extent to which walking is a part of the tradition of the game. We feel very strongly that it is. For over 500 years, it has been part of the game at the highest level. We think that endurance is a part of our sport.”

The suit will be heard in Eugene, Ore., starting Feb. 2.

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The PGA formally announced Bank of America as the sponsor for its eight West Coast events.

In a five-year commitment, Bank of America will supplement the purse of each event on the West Coast swing by $300,000. It also will award $100,000 to “The King of the Swing”--the money leader after the West Coast stop.

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Tiger Woods was formally announced as the 1997 PGA Tour player of the year.

Other winners: Hale Irwin (Senior Tour player of the year), Stewart Cink (PGA Tour rookie of the year), Arnold Palmer (lifetime achievement award).

Martha’s Kitchen which provides meals to disadvantaged people in lower Coachella Valley and benefits from the Bob Hope Classic, was named the PGA Tour’s charity of the year.