But Can He Write a Headline for This Story?

Golf Digest’s current issue presents a dozen unusual feats performed by Tiger Woods--over and above the unusual feats he performs in one tournament after another.

He has taken batting practice with Ken Griffey Jr., hit zero gravity in an F-16 with the Thunderbirds and bungee-jumped backward from a 200-foot bridge.

And then there’s this business of making 200 one-handed six-foot putts.

“After about 20 balls, you’ll see a light patch going toward the hole,” Woods told the magazine. “Now you’re making the grain go that way. You just get up there and hit it. It’s not that hard.”

Right.

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It’s a gimme: Another of Woods’ feats was hitting a ball with a putter 200 yards. Of course, if you have to putt from that range, your approach game needs work.

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Trivia time: How many victories does Orel Hershiser need to overtake Dodger Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who got to Cooperstown with 209?

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Political games: Mike Littwin of the Rocky Mountain News believes Denver Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan was wrong to publicly endorse George W. Bush right outside the team’s headquarters.

“Shanahan might be the master of the two-minute offense, but maybe he should have thought this one over a little longer,” Littwin wrote.

“Even if it’s not illegal, it’s at least unseemly. I mean, is [Al] Gore now going after the Rockies’ vote? Are you going to see Pat Buchanan’s face on the Avalanche logo at center ice?”

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Alex or Rolex? Sometime in the not-too-distant future, Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez, 24, probably will sign the most lucrative contract in the history of sports.

That, he told the Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard, might not be the way it should be, but it’s the way it is.

“Baseball’s owners didn’t get where they are by being bad businessmen, right?” Rodriguez said. “You don’t get rich by making dumb decisions, right? I know athletes are so overpaid it’s ridiculous, but if the owners can keep giving out these mind-boggling contracts, how much money must they be making?”

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Alex again: LeBatard remains the most boggled onlooker of all.

“The most astounding thing isn’t that Rodriguez might sign a $150-million or $200-million contract when he becomes a free agent after this season,” he wrote.

“The most astounding thing is that, given his age, it might be his first $150-million or $200-million contract.”

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Knight court: While not excusing Indiana Coach Bob Knight’s latest reprehensible behavior, Dave Kindred of the Sporting News said he understands it.

“Knight’s mentality is a warrior’s, not a poet’s,” Kindred wrote. “His language is that of a foxhole, not a reading circle.”

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Trivia answer: Seven.

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And finally: Wall Street’s latest roller-coaster ride has caused the Denver Post’s Woody Paige to reflect on his own lack of market savvy.

“One time I heard on the radio that Dow Jones’ average had dropped 38 points,” he wrote. “I figured the White Sox third baseman was in a batting slump.”