Red-Hot Els Will Try to Keep Woods at Bay

Remember all the way back to last month when Scott McCarron was playing better than anyone? A three-putt bogey on the 72nd hole cost him at least a playoff at Riviera and a week later he was runner-up again in the $5.5-million match play event at La Costa.

Remember back to a couple of weeks ago when Chris DiMarco was playing better than anyone? He won at Phoenix, won the West Coast swing, opened with a 65 at Doral and then finished 79-75-73 to tie for 67th. Last week at the Honda Classic, he tied for 58th.

Last week, of course, was also when Ernie Els proved he is playing better than anyone. He won the European Tour event at Dubai to make it back-to-back wins, following his two-shot victory over Tiger Woods at Doral. Since the middle of January, Els has three victories (he won the Heineken Classic in Australia), and two other top 10s worldwide.

This week, it’s Bay Hill and its redesigned greens where Els runs into Woods again. The point is that the only thing longer than the golf season is the new 18th hole at Augusta National, and even though there’s always a fixation about who the best player in the world is, all we ever find out is who the best player is in one particular week.

Els has a fairly strong case for something more than that right now. Here is his record in stroke-play events worldwide since Jan. 20--ninth at the Dunhill Championship, fourth at the Johnnie Walker Classic, first at the Heineken Classic, first at Doral, first at Dubai. He’s up to No. 3 in the Official World Ranking and closing in on Phil Mickelson ... but there’s always Woods, isn’t there?

Tiger could have won his first tournament of the year at Doral if Els hadn’t gone off the deep end with a 17-under-par score the first three days.

At Bay Hill, Woods will be trying to win for the third consecutive year and then he defends his titles at the Players Championship and the Masters. So you have to say that Woods has plenty of chances to prove he’s playing better than anyone. Again.

*

Summit News

The LPGA broke new ground last weekend with its first so-called Player Summit, in Phoenix, where Commissioner Ty Votaw laid out a five-year strategic business plan that included a goal of increasing television viewership 10% each year. It remains to be seen whether a 50% increase at the end of five years is realistic, but give Votaw credit for thinking big.

The LPGA has never had a strategic business plan, for five years or five weeks, so this may require some time for the players to get used to it. By the way, attendance was mandatory--either show up or be fined $10,000. Votaw called for the players, among other things, to do a better job of marketing themselves and their golf. He said that one of the ways to accomplish that was to improve their appearance and to be more fan-friendly.

Said Votaw: “We have to do more to sell ourselves off the golf course. Then it becomes this circle of life: More fans means more sponsor interest means more value means higher ratings means more ad dollars and more money in players’ pockets.”

*

Calling Mr. Blackwell

And while we’re on the subject of who looks good (and bad), the April issue of Golf Magazine lists its picks--alphabetically, of course--for the best and worst-dressed players on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour.

The best-dressed include Woods (“Rarely goes out on a limb, but he is perfectly put together. Although we suggest he go down a size or two in the shirts”); Grace Park (“Would shine on the runaway as well as the fairway--especially when the belly button is covered”); and Mickelson (“He does it right, even with the visor”). The dreaded worst-dressed list includes Scott Hoch (“Is he wearing clothing or upholstery?”), Mardi Lunn (“She’s too fond of ill-fitting pants and tablecloth shirts”) and Jumbo Ozaki (“How does he get those shirts through customs?”).

*

Wine Enthusiast

News item: Following the success of fellow enologist Greg Norman, David Frost founds his own wine company and calls it (naturally) David Frost Wines. He dedicates his latest vintages to Arnold Palmer.

Reaction: Good choice. There’s nothing like vintage Arnold Palmer.

*

Survey Says

News item: In a golfdigest.com survey of more than 2000 readers, 51% said they would amputate the little toe on their left foot to become a member of Augusta National.

Reaction: What if Augusta National was more of a right foot place?

*

Ice Ace

News item: The fourth Drambuie World Ice Golf Championship will be held next week in Uummannaq, Greenland, amid glaciers and icebergs, and it’s anybody’s guess who will win.

Reaction: Go with the floe.

*

Charles in Charge

Charles Howell III, who is playing at Bay Hill, has made 23 consecutive cuts and he’s a combined 203 under par since last year’s U.S. Open at Southern Hills. In other Howell news, he says he will answer to Charles, Charlie and even Dude, but he doesn’t like Chuck

*

Jose Knows the Way

Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal is driving the ball a lot straighter. He admits to being directionally challenged in the past, but he sounds like he’s in a good mood now that he has corrected that flaw.

Said Olazabal: “I’m hitting it a little bit longer, mainly because I am hitting more times in the middle of the club face.”

*

Casey Update

He had a scare in January when infection set in after surgery on his right leg, but Casey Martin is feeling well enough to play golf. He missed the cut last week in Adelaide, Australia, in the first Buy.com tournament, but he’s playing this week in Christchurch, Australia.

Martin was invited to play both events by the Australasian Tour, which co-sanctions the tournaments with the Buy.com Tour.

*

Of Course

Tom Fazio, who directed the dramatic course changes at Augusta, is also having a big impact in Southern California. Fazio designed Pelican Hill at Newport Coast and the new layout at Shady Canyon in Irvine.

Pelican Hill is an ocean venue, and Shady Canyon is laid out in rugged terrain behind outcroppings of boulders. “It’s got a great feel and it’s about as different as you can get from an oceanfront course,” Fazio said. “It looks like it’s been there forever. That’s the job, to make it look that way.”

*

Back in Business

Located at the corner of Broadway and Dey St. in lower Manhattan, a golf retailer called World of Golf was heavily damaged during the attacks on the World Trade Center. On Friday, the store will reopen. “Where golf fit in, we were very sensitive,” owner David Braham said. “It’s just psychological. Now, people seem to be ready to go back to normal.”