Pitching Wedge Suits Rhoden as Well

The best celebrity golfer in the U.S. is Rick Rhoden, and if you don’t believe it, he’s going to throw a fastball under your chin.

When he pitched for the Dodgers, Rhoden had enough time during spring training to work his game down to a two handicap. Now, at 48, Rhoden is a scratch golfer or better who absolutely owns the celebrity golf circuit filled by athletes from fields of play besides golf.

Rhoden has won 37 celebrity tournaments and more than $1.75 million, plus he’s a five-time winner of the $500,000 American Century Celebrity Championship, which will be played this weekend at Lake Tahoe on NBC.

And you thought the only thing at Dodgertown were the baseball diamonds.

“I never took golf seriously, though, until we got in these events,” Rhoden said.

There aren’t many players who have a chance to win, according to Rhoden, who listed his chief competitors as Dan Quinn, Shane Rawley, John Elway, Dan Marino, Dick Anderson, Trent Dilfer and defending champion Al Del Greco.

He did not mention Charles Barkley, who has a swing that seems to be coming apart in about five different places.

“We have a lot of guys who don’t know how to score,” Rhoden said. “They’re great athletes and they can hit the ball a mile. I do everything pretty good.

“I don’t think I make as many mistakes. I get my share of bogeys, but I try to put it on the green, try to get a birdie, go on to the next hole.”

Rhoden played in the majors for 16 seasons, winning 151 games. He was in the World Series with the Dodgers when they lost to the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978, but it has been golf business since 1990. There are 15 events on the celebrity tour.

“You could be a season-ticket holder with the Broncos for years and never get as close to John Elway as you can at our golf events,” Rhoden said. “We have Hall of Famers and All-Stars from every sport.

“We also have more fun than we probably should be allowed.”

Tiger, Tiger, Everywhere

One day on his week off after playing in the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y. , Tiger Woods was spotted at 6:30 in the morning at Dunkin’ Donuts in Bangor, Maine.

At the same time, he was also seen as he fished for salmon on the Karluk River on Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Now, which of these two scenarios do you think is correct?

The Bangor Daily News quoted Lew Lima, the general manager of the doughnut shop, as saying he was 99.9% sure it was Woods.

“Tiger” and his companions ordered chocolate-covered doughnuts, juice and coffee.

Hey, sure sounds like Woods.

Anyway, Lima should have bet on that 0.1%, because it wasn’t Woods.

Actually, Woods was in Alaska and he was fishing for salmon. Bev Norwood of IMG says he is 100% sure it was Tiger, which ought to be good enough for Lima and everybody else.

There might not have been a Tiger sighting in Bangor, but there is certainly going to be one in Indio over Thanksgiving Day weekend at the Skins Game.

It hasn’t been officially announced, but Woods will play in the event as part of his new marketing agreement with the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, which televises the Skins Game.

It’s going to be a busy period for Woods, who has a crowded schedule: The WGC-EMC World Cup in Japan, Nov. 15-18; the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Hawaii, Nov. 20-21; and the Skins Game, Nov. 24-25.

The Name Game

News item: Florida 12-year-old changes first name to Lion in the hope that he can beat Tiger in the future.

Reaction: The zoo is full of those who think they can beat Tiger.

Full of Monty

That huge sigh of relief you heard last weekend was from Sam Torrance, the European Ryder Cup captain, after Colin Montgomerie’s victory in the Irish Open. Monty’s first win on the tour in more than a year moved him from 13th, which was captain’s pick territory, safely into the sixth position in the Ryder Cup point standings.

The European team is understandably counting heavily on Montgomerie.

Said Torrance: “Monty is my rock.”

(Insert your own sinking jokes here.)

Jas Kidding?

Montgomerie wasn’t the only one in the spotlight at the Irish Open.

Jas Vanstiphout, the Belgian brain coach who helped Retief Goosen win the U.S. Open, was fielding congratulations by the bushels, from such clients as Thomas Levet (who won the British Masters a month ago) and Andrew Coltart (who won two weeks ago) and also Seve Ballesteros and Darren Clarke.

Vanstiphout revealed how he helps his players: “I want them to be able to look at themselves in the mirror in the bathroom [and] have the guts to ask about the soft mental points . . .”

Memo to Vanstiphout: The mirror in the hall won’t do?

Get a Counselor

The quote of the week is from Jerry Kelly, on tying for seventh at the TPC at River Highlands in the Canon Greater Hartford Open: “It was a love-hate relationship--I loved being here and the course hated me.”

Go Fly a . . .

News item: Tom Kite fares better at the U.S. Open (tied for fifth) than the U.S. Senior Open (15th).

Reaction: He must have forgotten where he was.

The Book on Coaches

Mac O’Grady is rated as the top golf teacher in California, according to Golf Digest’s list of the top 50 in the U.S.

The list was made in a balloting of instructors.

Among others on the state list are Paul Runyan, Dean Reinmuth, Bill Harmon, Eddie Merrins of Bel-Air Country Club, Carl Welty of La Quinta, Jim Petralia of Oak Creek Golf club in Irvine and Roger Gunn of Tierra Rejada Golf Club in Moorpark.

Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Jim McLean rank 1-2-3 in the U.S.

Jack Lemmon, 1925-2001

Away from the sound stage and the back lot and the pressure of Hollywood, Jack Lemmon, who died last week at 76, found his refuge on the golf course. He was a passionate, although largely unsuccessful player.

Lemmon played in the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, known as the Bing Crosby Pro-Am before that, for 27 years.

He never made the cut. He played the Pebble Beach pro-am for the last time in 1999 when he was 73.

His pro playing partner for the last 17 years was Peter Jacobsen, who called Lemmon the link to the so-called Crosby Clambake days of the tournament. The event began in 1937 at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club near Del Mar in San Diego County and was moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947. It became the AT&T; in 1986.

The “Crosby” was held in high regard by Lemmon, who had a legion of stories about his Hollywood cronies and their golf games at Pebble Beach.

“I remember when Dean Martin hit a ball on the 18th toward one of the houses along the course,” Lemmon once said.

“He went to get his ball and kept going into the house and had a martini.”

Lemmon figured in one of the early televised moments at the Crosby, when broadcaster Jim McKay said:

“And now, here’s Jack Lemmon, about to hit that all-important eighth shot.”

Shark Sighting

Greg Norman is playing the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in two weeks, which means two things--one, he is serious about his golf, and two, he is getting an appearance fee.

There is nothing wrong with either, of course. And a return to form by one of golf’s most engaging figures would be most welcome . . . also unexpected.

Norman has missed the cut in his last two PGA Tour events, the Colonial and the Memorial, didn’t play in the U.S. Open and missed the cut at the Masters with rounds of 71-82.

Norman tied for fourth in his first appearance of the year, at Bay Hill, but has missed four cuts in seven tournaments since and hasn’t placed higher than a tie for 27th since April.

Maybe Norman can get his game together at the British Open at Lytham, since that’s where he tied for seventh in 1996 when Tom Lehman won.

Also in the field at Loch Lomond: Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Montgomerie, Lehman and Thomas Bjorn.

Selling Out

News item: The 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., is nearly sold out, 13 months before it is to be played.

Reaction: Plenty of fishing licenses still available.

Birdies, Bogeys, Pars

The Leukemia Society celebrity charity tournament will be played July 23 at Robinson Ranch. Details: (760) 632-7770.

William Rockwell, who made the finals of Dave Pelz’s 1997 World Putting Championship by putting with his bare feet, is hosting a charity tournament Aug. 5 at Carlton Oaks Country Club in Santee. Rockwell, 30, lost the use of his arms in a 1990 motorcycle accident. The event benefits Rockwell’s foundation, which aids the disabled. Details: (619) 248-8281.

The Battle at Bighorn isn’t the only special event involving Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam; they go head-to-head Oct. 9 at Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, a Pete Dye layout, as part of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf series.