Couples Says He’ll Play at Valencia

He hasn’t officially committed to play in the Nissan Open, but Fred Couples said Friday he’s going to be there. Couples recently played 13 holes at Valencia Country Club with club pro Rick Smith and said he loved the layout.

Couples said he plans to play Valencia again before the Nissan Open, Feb. 26-March 1. Couples won the tournament in 1990 and 1992 at Riviera.

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The PGA Tour issued a three-page statement, clarifying its stand in the Casey Martin case.

Martin, 25, has Klippel Trenaunay Weber Syndrome and cannot play golf without a golf cart, which the PGA Tour is permitting him to do until a hearing Feb. 2 on how the Americans With Disabilities Act applies to the use of a cart.

In its statement, the tour said it supports the act, but that the law was neither designed for nor intended to apply to competitors in professional sporting events.

Martin won the Nike Lakeland Classic last week while riding a cart. He missed the cut Friday in the Nike South Florida Classic.

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David Duval may be tied for third, but he’s leading the tournament in celebrity partners. So far he has played with Jerry Rice, Johnny Bench, Oscar De La Hoya and Greg Maddux. Duval’s partner today is Roger Clemens.

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Just can’t say goodbye? That would be Larry Nelson, who turned 50 last September and ended the year playing six senior events. But he also played in 18 regular tour events and finished 117th on the money list.

Nelson is going to spend most of his time on the Senior PGA Tour this year, but he can’t make himself quit the regular tour totally.

He shot a 69 Friday at Bermuda Dunes and is five under par through 54 holes. The Hope is one of four regular tour events Nelson will play this year. The others are the Doral, the Players Championship and the PGA.

“I still hit just as many good shots as I did 25 years ago,” Nelson said. “The problem is I hit a lot more bad shots than I did 25 years ago.”

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Chrysler has extended its sponsorship of the Bob Hope tournament through 2002. Prize money in 1998 is $2.3 million, up from $1.8 million last year.