Good Thing He’s Not in It for the Money

We know that Tiger Woods is many things. Golfer, fisherman, basketball and baseball fan, video game junkie, junk food junkie, millionaire.

But apparently we have underestimated him . . . literally.

He is going to be sport’s first $6-billion man.

That’s “B” as in “bonanza.”

Now Woods already has endorsement deals worth upward of $100 million and is renegotiating his landmark $40-million Nike deal that would reportedly include a percentage of sales. And at 24, he is also the all-time leader in PGA Tour money winnings at $16,264,859.

But $6 billion?

He is going to make that much in his career, according to the cover story in ESPN magazine, which broke down his earnings into simple-to-understand, multimillion-dollar segments.

Now follow closely.

PGA winnings: Prize money will grow; Woods will lead the pack until 30 and his winning rate will decline until he’s 50; he will have five dominant years and 10 declining seasons on the Senior Tour. According to the magazine, through age 65, Woods will make $1.17 billion here.

Worldwide winnings: He makes about 14% of his winnings in events that are not part of the PGA Tour, ESPN magazine says. He will make $207 million here.

Appearance fees: Future worldwide earnings, including percentage increases, give him $132 million here.

Endorsements: Add the Nike deal to his average endorsement income from 1997 through 1999, then increase the total at 8% a year until he’s 30, then attach the endorsement income to the same percentage increase as PGA winnings. The magazine pencils him in for $4.6 billion here.

Add it up and you’ve got $6.109 billion.

Of course, who is to say that Woods won’t get bored by the golf thing and try his hand at, well, acting, maybe?

CASEY MARTIN UPDATE

News item: The PGA Tour says it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the Casey Martin cart decision.

Reaction: Of course.

Martin won his landmark case that allowed him to play pro golf with the use of a cart in February 1998, so this has dragged on long enough.

Martin is disappointed that the PGA Tour hasn’t dropped the matter, but it insists it needs a resolution because there have been conflicting verdicts by other courts involving similar cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Meantime, Martin is No. 161 on the money list after 15 events. That means he isn’t so far out of the top 125, which is the cutoff for retaining his PGA Tour card for 2001.

Also, there is more good news. He is listed as No. 9 in People magazine’s list of the top 100 bachelors.

GO WEST

For what it’s worth, if Woods wins the Advil Western Open in Lemont, Ill., to defend the title he won last year, he would be the ninth player to win the event back-to-back.

The other eight: Willie Anderson, Jim Barnes, Walter Hagen, Ralph Guldahl, Sam Snead, Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Price.

Woods, by the way, will be in Ireland next week along with David Duval and Mark O’Meara to play a two-day charity pro-am at Limerick Golf Club. Woods also plans to do some fly fishing in Ireland.

MORE TIGER

Woods’ total of 26.80 points leads the Official World Ranking and not surprisingly is the highest total since the system was adopted. Duval is a distant No. 2 at 10.99 and Woods’ margin of 15.81 is the largest ever.

Also, Nike announced that its Woods spring 2001 line of clothing includes a new version of his famous “Sunday red” shirt. In the new line, the color of the shirt is sort of a burgundy color, called “Chianti.”

Apparently, merlot, zinfandel and cabernet were taken.

GO CARDINAL

Stanford is on a roll. Woods wins the U.S. Open and then former Stanford teammate Notah Begay wins the next two tournaments.

Which means what? It’s Woods’ turn at the Western Open?

TAKE TWO . . . OR 41

Just so nobody forgets, the name or logo of Advil can be seen in 41 places at the 18th green at Cog Hill, including a billboard-size sign on the corporate sky box roof.

‘BEAR PIT’ UPDATE

This sounds interesting: Nick Faldo says there will be a European players’ meeting next week at the Loch Lomond tournament in Scotland to discuss the appointment of Mark James as vice captain of next year’s Ryder Cup.

Faldo has already asked James to step down. Faldo told Sky Television: “I know a lot of players are asking for his resignation . . . they are outraged by it.”

James, Europe’s 1999 Ryder Cup captain, has been widely criticized for his views in his recount of the Brookline matches in his book, “Into The Bear Pit.”

TUNE IN TO ER

Want to know more about Greg Norman’s arthroscopic hip surgery? Well, you’re in luck, because now on Norman’s Web site, Shark.com, you can see images of a flexible chisel cutting at the three-inch tear in his labrum.

Still not enough? There is also a question-and-answer segment with the doctors, a personal note from Norman on his rehabilitation progress and even a two-minute video of the surgery itself.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

From Janice Moodie, asked how she would sleep Saturday night as the leader of the ShopRite Classic in Atlantic City, N.J.: “Being blond, I’ll just go back and think about nothing.”

She won, so it must have worked.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK II

From Jose Maria Olazabal, after the shaft of his driver broke when he bent it over his knee in a fit of anger at the Irish Open: “They don’t make them like they used to.”

NOT QUITE SIR PAUL

For what it’s worth, British Open champion Paul Lawrie was recently appointed a Member of the British Empire.

KING UPDATE

This would not be news, except that every time Arnold Palmer speaks, we would be well advised to listen. He has been saying for years that he is planning to cut back his schedule because his golf game is so shaky.

Palmer, 70, said it again last week at the U.S. Senior Open in Bethlehem, Pa., where he shot 76-82 and missed the cut.

Said Palmer: “It is getting to the end of the line.”

Maybe, but Palmer hasn’t competed seriously in years. His last senior tour victory was in 1988 and he hasn’t finished in the top 10 since 1993.

The fact is that it doesn’t matter what Palmer shoots, that it is a bonus to see him play and we want him around as long as the experience makes him happy.

PAK IT UP

Se Ri Pak is going for three in a row at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, which she has won the last two years. In 1999, she won a six-way playoff that included Karrie Webb, and in 1998, Pak won with a then-record 23-under. She shot a 70 in the first round Thursday and trails by three shots.

The Farr/Kroger is the last of five consecutive $1-million LPGA events. Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies are entered; Webb and Juli Inkster are not.

Meanwhile, rookie Grace Park continues moving up the ladder. She tied for second last week and won $88,564, which puts her at No. 12 on the LPGA money list with $287,441.

BUSINESS UPDATE

Costantino Rocca signed to play MacGregor clubs and to carry a logo bag and wear the logo on his sleeve. Hopefully, that won’t clash with his Club Med cap.

Also, Cornerstone Sports co-founder Rocky Hambric would like to coax Mark Brooks and Steve Flesch to his new representation agency, which already includes ex-Cornerstone clients Bob Tway and Brian Watts.