Court Ruling May Signal Martin’s Last Ride

No one knows for sure what the Supreme Court will say when it rules on the PGA Tour’s appeal of the Casey Martin case, but there are signs in one of the rival camps that they are expecting the worst: Park that cart.

Insiders believe that the Supreme Court will rule soon, possibly either Tuesday or Wednesday, and there are indications that the Martin side is resigned to the fact that the PGA Tour will win its appeal before the high court.

Martin is in South Carolina playing a Buy.com Tour event this week, but his agent has already planned a conference call with reporters as soon as the verdict is reached. Martin said recently he doesn’t feel too comfortable with what the court ruling would be, simply because of the tone of the judges’ questions during oral arguments in January.

While Martin’s parents, Melinda and King, and his brother Cameron seem to be bracing for the worst as they wait in Eugene., Ore., for the ruling, there have been news leaks out of the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., that would indicate a favorable ruling for golf’s establishment.

According to some reports, Commissioner Tim Finchem has said privately that the justices have reached a decision and that the only holdup is that the opinion must be written before it is announced. Also, that the tour expects to take a public relations hit over the verdict and that it would not make an exception for Martin to allow him to continue to use a cart as long as his career lasts.

Chances are, that wouldn’t be long anyway. However, should Martin, 29, not be allowed to ride a cart, his professional career would be over immediately because he simply cannot walk the golf course.

The former Stanford star, who successfully sued the tour for the right to use a cart in 1998 under the Americans with Disabilities Act, was born with a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg that makes it painful and difficult to walk. His tibia is weakened and could break.

The PGA Tour believes it has the right to set its own rules and that walking is one of those rules. Besides, the tour also asked for a clarification of what is actually permitted under the law as a result of a different court’s ruling that denied use of a cart to a disabled Indiana pro.

If the tour wins, two things happen right away: Martin’s career ends and the tour starts getting slammed big time on the public relations front.

But at the same time, there are many thoughtful journalists and resolute pros (Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer to name two), who believe the tour is absolutely correct in its stance.

Meanwhile, the Martin camp is fuming silently over what it considers renewed media slights against what they consider a suddenly more vulnerable Casey, now that the tour seems on the verge of closing out with a victory in one of the more complicated and sad sagas that golf has seen in quite a while.

BYOW (WALLET)

Want to sponsor a PGA Tour event? Better start getting your checkbook limbered up.

According to a report in SportsBusiness Journal, title-sponsor deals have risen about 50% this year to about $6 million and they’re going to be even higher next year.

MONEY NEWS

News item: Prize money for the British Open at Royal Lytham is being raised about $700,000 to about $4.95 million.

Reaction: That still makes the British Open the lowest-paying of the four majors and behind the Players Championship and the three World Golf Championship events.

On the other hand, what’s having your name on the Claret Jug worth?

SENIOR UPDATE

Meanwhile, there seem to be some serious rumblings on the Senior PGA Tour that extend far beyond worries about nearly invisible ratings on CNBC (moved from ESPN this year), fleeing sponsors and tiny galleries.

As many as seven events could go by the wayside in 2002 and one of them, the Gold Rush Classic in Sacramento, may be in danger of not being played this September. The Transamerica at Napa doesn’t have a sponsor after this year’s event and neither does the Las Vegas Senior Classic.

Others that may be in trouble: Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami.

OPEN AND SHUT?

Greg Norman has played the U.S. Open 18 times. Fred Couples has played it 17 times. But it looks as if neither is going to show up at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club in June for another appearance, unless they step on it, and quickly.

Neither has an exemption to play the tournament, June 14-17. The best advice for them to try to get one? Start playing better, and be quick about it.

Here’s why: The USGA changed its criteria this year for awarding exemptions, expanding from the top 20 in the world rankings to the top 50, as of May 28.

Couples was No. 27 in February, but he has dropped to No. 60. Norman is No. 56 after missing the cut at the Masters and tying for 38th at the WorldCom Classic.

Neither Norman nor Couples entered this week’s Greater Greensboro Open to try to move up in the rankings, but they still have a little time left. However, there is one other way they could get to Tulsa, without having to qualify.

The Open holds back some special invitations, such as the one Norman received last year. Couples hasn’t needed one, but he may start now.

DULLSVILLE

So how deathly dull does the Greensboro tournament promise to be? Consider that only four of the top 25 in the rankings showed up, with No. 9 Hal Sutton the highest-ranking player. The others are No. 12 Jim Furyk, No. 18 Mark Calcavecchia and No. 23 Stewart Cink.

UNQUOTABLE

News item: The usually forthright Annika Sorenstam, trying to win her fifth consecutive tournament, ties for 43rd at Sacramento with a final-round 75 and says, “After a day like today, it motivates me to win.”

Reaction: Then what exactly motivated you when you won those four in a row? It sure wasn’t from shooting 75s, because you didn’t have any. This is a classic example of athlete mumbo-jumbo--a push-button response, for sure, when a simple “I stunk, but it’s the first time since, when, January?” would have sufficed.

QUOTABLE

And while we’re on the subject of quotes, here’s a much better one from Bruce Fleisher after he missed three four-foot birdie putts at the Las Vegas Senior Classic--but still won.

Said Fleisher: “I was putting like I didn’t need the money.”

Here’s believing he did, that he can somehow find a way to spend the $210,000 he made.

FITNESS BUSINESS

Fleisher went to doctors after being exhausted at the end of last year and was measured to have 24% body fat. So he lost 20 pounds through workouts (mostly riding a stationary bike) and diet (no breads or oils).

PAK IT IN

In case you missed it, Se Ri Pak is quietly putting together a great year. Her victory at Lincoln, Calif., was her second in 2001, plus she has been second in two Sorenstam victories. Pak is No. 2 on the money list, ahead of Karrie Webb.

ADD SALT, PEPPER

Also, in case you missed it, Seve Ballesteros was in the news last week, albeit briefly. On his way to missing the cut at the Spanish Open, Ballesteros got in trouble for hacking at some ice plants where his ball had landed after one of his patented visit-the-world drives.

Said tournament director Miguel Viador: “He repeatedly and violently swung his club, thrashing the plant.”

Hey, maybe they should give Ballesteros a break. He probably was just whipping up a nice chopped salad.

Ballesteros, by the way, is only 44, but he hasn’t won since the 1995 Spanish Open, hasn’t made a cut at a major since the 1996 Masters and has missed five cuts in six events this year.

YES, JUSTIN TIME

Remember the swing changes Justin Leonard has been struggling with since he put them in this year?

Leonard had missed three cuts in his last four tournaments, but came through with his best result so far at Houston, where he tied for fourth.

He credits not practicing (four hours a day) and not thinking (about each swing).

“It’s good enough to give me some . . . nights that I won’t be facing some of those internal questions the way I have the last few months,” he said.

Yeah, internal questions are tough . . day, night, whenever.

GOOD NEWS FOR TIGER

It looks as if Tiger Woods is indeed going to set a record for an appearance fee: $2.5 million to play the New Zealand Open.

Now, if that sounds like a lot of dough, it is, because the prize money for the tournament is about $500,000. They’re going to play it at Paraparaumu Beach, but for the money he’s getting, Woods could buy the tournament and play in, say, Miami Beach, closer to home.

THE EARLY LINE

In case you’re looking ahead, the three top candidates so far to captain the 2005 European Ryder Cup team at the K Club in Ireland appear to be Christy O’Connor Jr., Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy--all Irish.

Woe be unto the European Ryder Cup committee member who fails to chose an Irishman for the job.

And, for your information, Paul Azinger would be 45 in 2005, which seems to fill the PGA of America’s want list for a Ryder Cup captain quite nicely.

SIGN HERE

When he played the Masters in a logo-less cap, Chris Perry called himself “Blank Man.” That’s probably going to change now that Perry has signed with Signature Sports.

Jim Lehman’s company (he is Tom Lehman’s brother) also signed Garrett Willis, who won at Tucson in February.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

Harry McCarthy, 84, the head pro at Balboa Park Golf Course from 1957 until he retired in 1987 and a 50-year member of the PGA of America, died Sunday in Fountain Valley. McCarthy, who was honored by the Southern California PGA as its 1982 pro of the year, also ran junior golf programs at Balboa Park. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. May 3 at Balboa Park Golf Course.

Joe Mantegna is the honorary chairman of the Achievable Foundation celebrity tournament May 7 at Malibu Country Club. The event benefits the Achievable Foundation, which assists the developmentally disabled. Details: (310) 258-4191.

Marcus Allen, Terry Bradshaw, Don Cheadle, Marshall Faulk, Tony Siragusa, Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Dan Marino, Junior Seau, Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor and Thurman Thomas are among the celebrities expected to play in the third Eric Dickerson Celebrity tournament May 21 at Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier. The event benefits the American Diabetes Assn. Details: (323) 799-2890, ext. 7449.

Mike Lansford, Dennis Harrah, Tom Flores, Marlin Briscoe, Willie Buchanon, John “Blue Moon” Odom, Jim Tunney and Dr. Sammy Lee are among the early entries in the 19th Vince Ferragamo Foundation celebrity tournament June 5 at Los Coyotes in Buena Park. The event benefits the Special Olympics. Details: (714) 633-1099.