No Question of Claim to Fame

The newest member of the World Golf Hall of Fame proved he belonged a long time ago, but there never was the correct category for 86-year-old “Terrible” Tommy Bolt.

The World Golf Foundation’s Veterans Committee made the selection, and when the announcement came Wednesday, Bolt probably celebrated by throwing a club into a lake.

Sure, Bolt won the 1958 U.S. Open at Southern Hills and 14 other times on the PGA Tour in a career that began in 1946. He also played on two Ryder Cup teams and won the Senior PGA Championship in 1969, but that’s not really how he earned his reputation.

It was his temper tantrums. They were legendary, classic and legion. To top it off, Bolt also had a flair for the dramatic, such as the time at the 1960 U.S. Open when he happened to hit two balls into a lake and then threw his driver in there for company.

Bolt, who claims his outbursts and pithy comments were intended only to provide golf reporters with “good copy,” says he actually was aiming at a carp.

Bolt once told his newspaper friends that his club company in Maplewood, N.J., had to keep two separate work shifts going to make enough clubs for Bolt because he destroyed so many.

Bolt says his reputation as a bad boy was because of his face. Besides, he says, Bobby Jones tossed more clubs than he ever did.

“I only threw four or five clubs in my whole life. You would think I had thrown them all. Bob Rosburg used to throw it like crazy. Jackie Burke used to raise hell. He was wild, but nobody would believe it because he had this little baby face.

“But I had this big jaw, this long chin. Something happened, I did something about it. I didn’t walk off like nothing happened.”

One thing certainly did not happen, Bolt says. After one particularly irritating day, he was supposed to have thrown his caddie and his bag in a lake.

“No, no, no,” Bolt says.

But Tommy Bolt in the Hall of Fame? Yes, yes, yes. It’s long overdue.

Monty Update

News item: Seve Ballesteros defeats Colin Montgomerie in a match-play event at the Seve Trophy--for the second year in a row.

Reaction: This is so over the top that it’s virtually certain to chase Monty back into his shell and mess him up so much that it might even make U.S. fans look good. Ballesteros shot a 78 and Montgomerie a 73, but because it wasn’t stroke play, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the 45-year-old Spaniard kept winning holes even though he hit balls so many places, Rand McNally should have been the tournament sponsor.

On one hole, Seve hit a pull hook off the tee and the ball traveled only 100 yards into some trees. However, Monty pushed his drive into the rough and the hole was halved. On another hole, Ballesteros drove his ball into some twigs and dead leaves and instead of taking a drop, he whacked the ball just short of the green and made par.

Said Thomas Bjorn, who played with Darren Clarke: “Every time we looked up, Monty was in the middle of the fairway, Seve was somewhere else and then we would see him halving and winning all these holes. It must be horrifying to play against.”

By the way, Monty is No. 31 in the Official World Ranking. Ballesteros is No. 1,240.

Tiger Update

It was an official announcement that was never made, but Tiger Woods has “officially” switched exclusively to the Nike forged Titanium driver. He started using a prototype of the driver with the 275 cubic centimeter head at Pebble Beach but didn’t sign off on the club until after the Masters.

Nike Golf chief Bob Wood said it’s good to have the top player in the world hitting your company’s driver.

Says Wood: “It’s incredible the direct impact he has on the attention the product gets.”

Shoe News

Annika Sorenstam has a deal with Callaway Golf to play its clubs, wear a logo on her headgear and shirt and a clothing deal with Cutter and Buck.

“But her feet are free,” Wood said.

Remember the red slip-ons that Sorenstam wore when she won at Mission Hills? She didn’t get paid for it because she doesn’t have an endorsement deal for shoes. But at the Masters, Sorenstam spent a lot of time with Nike Golf representatives, including Wood. But Wood said there’s no deal in the works, yet.

“She wears the shoes because she likes us,” he said. “I think she has got her eye on what we do.”

Good Move

It isn’t often that the USGA gets a pat on the back, but for the second year in a row, it deserves one for the way it handled Nancy Lopez.

You might remember when the USGA didn’t give Lopez a special exemption into the U.S. Open and was widely roasted for being cold and heartless. Now that Lopez is on her farewell tour, the warm and fuzzy USGA gave a special exemption to the 45-year-old, four-time Open runner-up and Hall of Fame member.

The U.S. Women’s Open is July 4-7 at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan.

Lopez was named Wednesday as the winner of the PGA of America’s First Lady of Golf Award. It’s given to a woman who has made significant contributions to the promotion of golf.

Sad Move

Last day for the 50-year-old Desert Inn Golf Club is June 29. Developer Steve Wynn is going to put a new resort on the site, including a Tom Fazio course that should open in 2004.

Tip Your Wait Staff

What we know about Hugh Baiocchi: South African, 55, seven-time winner on European PGA Tour, $4-million winner on Senior PGA Tour.

What we didn’t know about Baiocchi: He’s funny.

Perhaps he was being unintentionally funny in a recent question-and-answer session, but whatever his motivation, he came up with some lines worthy of a standup act.

For instance:

Q: If you could have a job outside of golf for a day, what would it be?

Baiocchi: “President Bush, so I could order people around.”

Q: If you weren’t a golfer, what sport could you see yourself playing?

Baiocchi: “A world-class tennis player because they don’t have to haul golf clubs around and they only have to carry a couple of rackets around and wear white shorts.”

Q: Did you have a favorite subject in school?

Baiocchi: “Probably Latin ... I couldn’t understand it and no one else seemed to either.”

That’s a Wrap

Jill McGill has declined Playboy’s offer to pose for the magazine. McGill finished second in Playboy.com poll of LPGA players that Internet readers would most like to see.

However, she has not kept her public relations acumen under wraps. McGill has had plenty of TV exposure lately, appearing on “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Unscripted.”

They Shoot, They Score

It’s still early, but if it holds up, Sorenstam’s 69.00 scoring average would be the lowest in LPGA history. She set the Vare Trophy record last year with a scoring average of 69.42. This season, Grace Park is second with 70.30, which would have won the Vare Trophy 44 of the 49 times it has been awarded.

Birdies, Bogeys, Pars

The celebrity panel for the 20th Padua Village classic Monday at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga includes Tom Lasorda, Pam Shriver, Rick Majerus and T.J. Simers.

Charles Barkley paid $200,000 to play a round of golf with Woods as part of last weekend’s Tiger Jam V, which raised more than $1 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation and Las Vegas and Los Angeles charities.

Joe Montana, Willie Mays, Ronnie Lott, Jim Plunkett, Tommy Smothers, Vida Blue and Susan Anton are among the celebrities expected to play in a charity event May 6 at Mayacama Golf Club near Healdsburg. The event benefits the Sonoma County Children’s Charities. Details: (707) 543-8040.