Major Tournament Is Still a Minor TV Event

The Nabisco Dinah Shore, one of the LPGA’s four major tournaments of the year, is far from a major event on television--because of its sports competition this weekend.

If it’s not the men’s Final Four, it’s the women’s Final Four. The Dinah Shore isn’t even the week’s top golf event. That distinction belongs to The Players Championship in Florida, where the winner makes $900,000, or just short of the entire $1-million purse at the Dinah.

LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw said there are ongoing discussions with Nabisco about changing the date of the Dinah Shore so there are no scheduling conflicts.

“We’re talking,” Votaw said. “We talk every year.”

So is there a chance of changing the dates as early as 2000?

“That’s going to take a lot more talking,” he said.

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The 80-player cut is the second-highest total in the event’s history. There were 81 in 1993 when Helen Alfredsson won and in 1996 when Patty Sheehan won.

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Michelle McGann, a diabetic, is playing the Dinah Shore with a new type of insulin pump that eliminates her need to have insulin injections during play.

McGann shot a third-round 74 and she is at five-over 221.

Her mother, a registered nurse, followed McGann’s round, as did a second nurse. Buddy McGann caddied for his daughter.

“It’s a bit like running a stock car race,” the elder McGann said. “Michelle has to have enough fuel in her body to play the entire round. But this new insulin pump really helps make things easier.”

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The LPGA tournament at Glendale has gone through two name changes and is now looking for a new home.

The Valley of the Stars Championship--formerly the Los Angeles Women’s Championship--is probably leaving Oakmont Country Club now that its three-year deal to stage the tournament at that site has expired.

AJ Sports, the tournament contract holder, is seeking another site and it is doubtful the event will return to Oakmont. Jim Webb, LPGA Tour deputy commissioner, said he expects the tournament to remain in the Los Angeles area and retain its mid-February dates.