Not a Great Player, Now a Grape Player

When Duffy Waldorf took a look around a house in Santa Clarita that he and his wife, Vicky, were thinking about buying, he was most interested in the backyard and a storage room near the washer and dryer.

With his four kids, the backyard was a necessity. With his wine collection, a place to keep it was equally important.

“I said, ‘As long as this place has five bedrooms, we can live here,’ ” Waldorf said.

These are the salad days for Waldorf, 41, a four-time winner who has made more than $8.2 million in his 17-year career after being selected college player of the year at UCLA in 1985.

Waldorf might not be slowing down to smell the roses, but at this stage of his life, he is taking time to check the cork, inspect the clarity and swirl the glass for the bouquet. Let’s just say that wine occupies a large cellar in Duffy’s heart.

His 2,000-bottle collection may be growing.

“I’m always looking for the next exciting wine-growing region,” he said.

Golfers and wine are not exactly a new combination. Greg Norman lends his name to produce a brand and so does Ernie Els. David Frost makes wine from his own vineyards. Soon, they may have company in the winemaking business. Waldorf said he and Kirk Triplett are discussing putting out a label.

Waldorf said they already had decided upon a name -- “Journeyman Red.”

Said Duffy: “That’s kind of what we are in golf.”

Even after Triplett won last week at Reno?

“Without a doubt, he changed the whole design of the partnership,” Waldorf said.

Next month, Waldorf and Fred Couples will offer their wine expertise to help raise funds for the Highland Hall Waldorf School Scholarship Fund when they will be hosts of a wine tasting and auction Sept. 13. They hope to raise as much as $125,000. Details: (818) 349-1394.

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The newspaper lead of the week is from John Hopkins of the Times of London, about Darren Clarke’s victory Sunday at the NEC Invitational.

Wrote Hopkins: “Darren Clarke knows the outside of a cigar, the inside of a Ferrari and the bottom of a glass of Guinness. What is there not to like about a man who can play golf so well without giving the impression that, to do so, he has to forswear all the weaknesses and enjoyable rituals of his life?”

Tiger Woods on Clarke’s four-shot victory at Firestone Country Club: “He’s either playing great and winning tournaments or missing cuts. That’s the way Darren is.”

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Tom Watson completes the cycle of being the first to play in all nine of the majors on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour in one year when he begins play this week at the Tradition. He will have traveled 20,400 miles to do so.

Speaking of senior tour players, there’s another one breaking in this week. Sam Torrance will play in the Scottish Senior Open, five days after celebrating his 50th birthday. Torrance, the 2002 Ryder Cup captain, won 21 times on the European Tour.

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Why would Callaway Golf sign NASCAR Winston Cup driver Rusty Wallace to an endorsement deal?

Maybe because NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport, with an estimated 75 million fans. Or that NASCAR-branded retail merchandise sales reached $1 billion last year. Or maybe there’s another reason.

“He’s the first real, live driver we’ve had that’s won 54 times,” said Larry Dorman, a Callaway vice president.

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More Callaway news: The company is the stalking horse bidder for Top-Flite, with an offer of $125 million that may rise when another bidder takes a seat at the table for next Wednesday’s bidding for the assets of Top-Flite.

It’s probably going to be TaylorMade-adidas, which filed a $135-million bid Wednesday, although the bid will be evaluated before the process goes through. And although Callaway’s bid is less, it might be more, said company chief Ron Drapeau.

“The devil is in the details,” said Drapeau, who pointed out that the bank involved in the bankruptcy proceedings estimated the value of the Callaway bid at $175 million.

In addition, Drapeau said Callaway would retain almost all Top-Flite employees to curtail severance expenses to the creditors and would collect receivables, or money owed, for the creditors.

To sweeten its bid, Callaway says it would continue contracts with PGA Tour players who would otherwise lose their endorsements with Top-Flite, which also operated Hogan Golf and Strata balls.

The players involved include U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, plus Justin Leonard, Hal Sutton, Bernhard Langer and Lee Trevino.

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From the “Ask Greg” page of Norman’s Web site, shark.com, this question: Does it surprise you that so many players of your generation say you were the best of your time?

Norman’s response: “I’ve got to say yes. Yes and no, because in my own mind I thought I was at a level that was very special.”

In other words, Norman’s not surprised so many players agreed with his lofty assessment of himself.

But, two major titles? That puts Norman one ahead of Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem.

Next week, maybe we will get this potential question and answer: How did you blow such a big lead and lose to Nick Faldo on the last day of the 1996 Masters?

Norman’s hypothetical response: “I was at a level that wasn’t very special.”