If She Plays Blue Tees, It’ll Mean More Green

Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, on golfer Suzy Whaley, who qualified for next year’s Greater Hartford Open:

“There are two PGA tours now--the one Tiger is on, and the other one. And the other one is withering. Corporate sponsorship is drying up. Tournaments without Tiger are actually endangered species. There is a very technical scientific term for what a woman playing in a PGA tournament would do. The term is: cha-ching!

“Ultimately, this is about entertainment. Ben Brundred, the chairman of the Kemper Open, understood this 10 years ago when he invited Mark Rypien to play. Rypien shot something like 170 and didn’t make the cut. But he had one of the biggest galleries on the course, and they cheered his every shot. This is Mark Rypien times 1,000.

“More paying customers than have ever paid before will flock to the GHO if Suzy Whaley plays. More television viewers than have ever viewed the GHO before will tune in their TV sets if Suzy Whaley plays. [Memo to Ben Brundred: Book her now for next year’s Kemper.] And every one of them will root for her. She could shoot 100 and they would clap for her like she was Jack Nicklaus in his prime.”

Trivia time: Who is UCLA’s only Heisman Trophy winner?

He wants it both ways: Mac O’Grady in Southern California Golf magazine, on why he wanted to play in the B.C. Open in July as both a right-handed and left-handed golfer: “It would have been great publicity for the tournament. I would have had two bags and two caddies. I would even make sure I shot the same scores so I could play in the same group on the weekend.”

Ho hum: Art Spander of the Oakland Tribune writing on the lack of interest in California’s football team even after the Bears won their first three games: “Cal football is on the map once more, even if you need a magnifying glass to find it, the alumni aren’t particularly intrigued, and the rest of the Bay Area doesn’t seem to care.”

Cal’s 23-21 loss to Air Force on Saturday won’t help.

A real gamer: Somebody asked Arizona Cardinal receiver Frank Sanders if he could recall the last time his team rushed for 249 yards.

“I did it on PlayStation two weeks ago,” Sanders said. “Then again, I’m very good at PlayStation.”

Looking back: On this day in 1969, San Francisco’s Willie Mays became only the second major league player to hit 600 home runs with a two-run shot off Mike Corkins, giving the Giants a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Looking back again: On this day in 1987, the 1,585-member NFL Players Assn. went on strike after the Monday night game between New England and the New York Jets.

Trivia answer: Quarterback Gary Beban in 1967.

And finally: Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News said the Lions aren’t doing rookie Joey Harrington any favors by promoting him to starting quarterback.

“Maybe you feel bad for Mike McMahon, who did not get a fair shot, and might not get another here,” Wojnowski wrote. “But you should harbor similar empathy for Harrington, who completes the transition from Oregon Duck to sitting duck, as his head coach tries to avoid becoming a lame duck.”