For a Surprise He Brought a Tiger to School

The many sides of Tiger Woods: golf’s greatest player . . . corporate steamroller . . . public icon . . . and, uh, show-and-tell guest at a sixth-grader’s school?

That would be Woods, all right, who last week was the featured presence at a high-powered Nike sales meeting one night and the next morning turned up as 12-year-old Cameron Murphy’s surprise guest at a student assembly at Pine Lake Middle School in Redmond, Wash.

Now this may not be the normal U.S. Open preparation, but Woods certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.

“It’s important to stay grounded and remember what’s important,” Woods said.

Murphy won a contest sponsored by EA Sports, a Woods backer, and the Cartoon Network to bring Woods to school. Murphy and four of his friends also received a free golf lesson from Woods at Sahalee Country Club, then rode to school with Woods in his limousine and sat on the stage as Woods spoke to some 300 students.

“Make a difference,” said Woods, who said he learned the lesson from his parents. “It’s hard, but you have to try.”

As for winning the Open, that’s also going to be hard, he said, before heading for his private jet to take him to Game 6 in the Laker-Trail Blazer playoff series at Portland, Ore.

And which side of Woods would we see after that?

That would be the golfer.

“Back to work,” Woods said.

TIGER’S WORLD

What kind of year has Woods had? Consider this: The PGA Tour lists 13 individual statistical categories and Woods is No. 1 in eight and second in a ninth.

Of course, the two most important statistical categories he dominates are victories (four) and money ($4,149,731).

How much money does that amount to? Arnold Palmer won 60 official PGA events and never made more than $184,065 in any year. Jack Nicklaus has played the PGA Tour since 1962 and his total prize money in 39 years is only about $1.5 million more than Woods has made in five months.

With nearly $15.5 million in less than four full years as a pro, Woods is already the leading money winner in PGA Tour history.

But one of Woods’ more amazing statistics is how he has played par-five holes. He is 87 under par on par fives--in only 36 rounds. That makes him No. 2 to Stephen Ames, who is 88 under, but who has played 20 more rounds than Woods.

For the record, there are only three par-five holes at Pebble Beach--No. 6, No. 14 and No. 18--because No. 2 will play as a par four for the Open.

NEW TUNE AT RIVIERA?

When Riviera Country Club lost out on its bid to host the 2005 U.S. Open, many figured that was the end of the line for Hogan’s Alley to ever stage another.

Not so fast, says USGA Executive Director David Fay.

“So often clubs show interest in hosting the U.S. Open and they finish third or second or fifth, they figure they can’t get over the hump,” Fay said. “It’s not a matter of if you don’t make it one year, you’re removed from consideration forever more.”

Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina was chosen as the 2005 site. Fay says Riviera was on the short list, but not the “very short list.” But Fay has long been a proponent of placing a U.S. Open in Southern California, which last staged an Open in 1948 at Riviera.

“[Riviera] is the strongest golf course in Southern California; it’s a wonderful design.”

The 1998 U.S. Senior Open at Riviera played to extremely small crowds, but Fay was not as interested in the attendance as he was in setup and logistics. He said he believes Riviera has the physical properties to host the Open, with all its tents and parking and logistical problems.

“I think there’s enough room,” Fay said.

Changes would have to be made in the course, said Fay, but not many of them.

“There are certainly lots of reasons for Riviera,” he said.

Deciding U.S. Open venues for 2006 and beyond is not on the agenda for the next USGA meeting, scheduled for Saturday, but it may be a topic of discussion at the next regularly scheduled meeting in October.

TIGER UPDATE

News item: Woods does not play this week’s Buick Classic in Harrison, N.Y.

Reaction: Guess that unnamed tournament director who said Woods’ deal with Buick commits him to play all Buick-titled events and keeps him from playing some regular tour events is sort of driving down the wrong road.

TOUR GUIDE

Let’s run it up the flagpole and see if anybody salutes it: The Buy.com Tour broke new ground this week when it hired its own public relations firm.

Hill & Knowlton was brought on to raise the profile of the tour, formerly the Nike Tour, and its players. The LPGA uses Cohn & Wolfe, but almost entirely to promote its 50th anniversary year, so this is believed to be the first time a pro golf tour has signed its own PR firm to work for the tour itself.

Buy.com, an Internet superstore site, also sponsors four players on its own tour, and that’s also a first. The players are Chris Zambri, Jaxon Brigman, Charlie Wi and last week’s winner, Jeff Hart.

NORMAN UPDATE

Golf clubs, wine, clothes, what’s left for Greg Norman to hawk? Why, yachts, of course. Norman and Oceanfast have a deal to build and market the Norman Expedition Yacht Series, which may be on the market in 2002.

ALCOTT UPDATE

Amy Alcott signed a two-year deal to play Orlimar’s woods and carry the logo bag. Alcott, an LPGA Hall of Fame player, says she already has been using the woods. Apparently, Alcott also has been in the woods a lot. She is No. 185 on the money list with $953.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS

You may remember Aree and Naree Song Wongluekiet, who played in the Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. They just turned 14 and they’re playing in this week’s LPGA event at Rochester, N.Y. (Alcott has club head covers that are older).

WATCH OUT FOR MARUYAMA

News item: Shigeki Maruyama shoots 58 in U.S. Open qualifying at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

Reaction: Which holes did he skip?

Actually, Maruyama played all of them, even though his 58 won’t go in the record book because it wasn’t in a PGA Tour event. However, the score by the 30-year-old Japanese is the lowest in U.S. Open sectional qualifying, which began in 1924.

Not only that, but it might mean Maruyama is a force to consider at Pebble Beach, because he is 22 under par in his last four events and has six top-10 finishes this year. He already has won $867,811.

Stay tuned.

HAPPY 50TH

In Golf Digest’s 50th anniversary issue, it lists the top 50 players of all time, chosen by a panel of experts.

Nicklaus is No. 1, followed by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Palmer, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Mickey Wright and Tom Watson.

For what it’s worth, Gene Sarazen is listed at No. 11, Woods at No. 12, Lee Trevino No. 14, Babe Zaharias No. 17 and Nancy Lopez No. 26.

CALLING MR. NICKLAUS

The prize money in the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge is being boosted nearly $140,000 to $800,000, and the winning three-player team’s share will rise from $300,000 to $450,000. In the field so far are the LPGA’s Karrie Webb, Phil Mickelson of the PGA Tour and Tom Kite and Watson of the Senior PGA Tour.

It hasn’t been announced yet, but Nicklaus will round out the Senior PGA Tour team in the event that will be taped in October at Lake Las Vegas and televised Dec. 23-24 on NBC. The challenge has raised $5.4 million for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

‘BEAR PIT’ UPDATE

Mark James’ self-proclaimed no-holds-barred Ryder Cup book found a new target this week when excerpts of James’ work in a London tabloid revealed a spirited slap at Tom Lehman.

James criticized Lehman for leading a charge of U.S. players to congratulate Justin Leonard on the 17th green on the last day of the United States’ comeback victory.

Wrote James: “Calls himself a man of God. That was the most disgraceful thing I’ve ever seen.”

James went on to write: “I thought it not so much a question of Lehman’s beliefs, more of an indication of moral downfall.

“He has always regarded himself as someone who upheld the values of the game . . . but . . . I will never be able to look on him in the same light again.”

At the Kemper Open, Lehman called James’ remarks “low class.”

Lehman said every story needs a good villain and he was glad James found one.

Said Lehman: “I hope he feels good about that. I also hope he feels good about making money off of taking shots at people’s character and integrity.”

And to think the next Ryder Cup is only 14 months away.