Best to Drive Straight on This Course

Be careful where you drink nowadays, even at a golf course, especially if you’re driving a cart.

Paul Herriott, 41, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after an employee at Mills Creek Golf Course in Sandusky, Ohio, called police over a June 10 incident.

Herriott acknowledged he was drinking before going to the public course and while on the links.

He was driving near a putting green when he slammed into a post and sign. The sign was slightly bent and the golf cart had some scrapes. He said he thought he would get billed for the damage, not arrested.

That’s a very bad bogey.

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA finals record for steals in a game?

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What do you tell him? Oakland pitching coach Rick Peterson, on rookie Tim Hudson, who has command of a fastball, splitter, slider and changeup:

“The guy making the popcorn could be the pitching coach for Tim Hudson.”

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Rest stop: Mario Elie of the San Antonio Spurs is shooting for his third championship ring, which is some achievement for a guy who spent the early part of his career in some real backwater stops.

“When I’m home by myself, I think about playing in Portugal in a small farming town that closed at 8 o’clock,” Elie said. “It had one street light, and you’d wake up in the morning and women were walking cows on the side of the road.”

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His revenge: Tampa Bay closer Roberto Hernandez, on what it’s like to get the final batters when he doesn’t have his best stuff: “I walk off the mound and think, ‘Sucker.’ ”

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Financial gap: From the Gallery column of the Dallas Morning News: “Somebody put Byron Nelson’s 11-tournament winning streak on a computer and concluded that Nelson, who won 14.5% of total PGA purses in 1945, would have won more than

$19 million at today’s prices.

“Instead, he got $49,601 in cash and war bonds.”

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Finals gouge: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “The New York Post says scalpers are getting--hold on to your wallets--$4,000 each for the best seats at Madison Square Garden. In San Antonio, by comparison, comparable seats will set you back a mere $1,250.”

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Variety: From Ken Schrader, one of the top drivers who’ll compete in the Winston Cup race Sunday at Pocono, Pa.:

“Pocono is not one of my favorite places to race. The track is three straightaways of sheer boredom and three turns of sheer fear.”

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Trivia answer: Robert Horry, while playing for Houston against Orlando, with seven on June 9, 1995.

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And finally: Before the San Antonio-New York NBA final series began, Elie was quoted as saying: “Not disrespecting the Knicks, but this is probably the weakest team we’re going to play in the playoffs.”

The New York tabloids jumped on his quote, including this headline in the New York Post: “REMEMBER THE ELIE-MO!”