Sifford Records Another First

All Charlie Sifford ever wanted to do was play on the PGA Tour.

Sure, he jokes now that his goal all along was to become enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but that’s because he can after learning last week that he has been selected for induction.

But that is a peripheral accolade. Sifford wanted only to play, something he didn’t get to do on the PGA Tour until 1960, when he was 39.

Sifford, 81, was the first African American to play a PGA Tour event. For years he toiled in obscurity as he scraped together enough money to survive by playing in mini-tour events and hustling players at local courses.

His integration of the PGA Tour received far less attention than Jackie Robinson received for breaking the baseball color barrier in 1947, but that doesn’t mean it was any easier.

Back then, the tour had a Caucasian-only clause, and Sifford broke it by playing in a North Carolina event.

He doesn’t like to talk about what he had to endure, but there are well-known stories of death threats, fans kicking his ball into difficult lies and even the time he found human excrement in the cup when he arrived at the green.

“I had some bad days and some tough days, but like everything, it worked out just fine,” Sifford said.

Sifford won two PGA Tour events, never won a major and never was allowed to play in the Masters. Those numbers pale in comparison with the records of other Hall of Fame members, but he is just as worthy of induction.

It is another color barrier broken for Sifford, who will be the first African American enshrined.

“It’s a wonderful honor, one that I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Sifford said.

But not something he considered a priority. In fact, his autobiography, published in 1992, says as much. Its title?

“Just Let Me Play.”

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Phil Mickelson received numerous phone calls and appearance requests after his victory at the Masters, but one in particular caught him off guard.

Boxing promoter Don King called and offered him ringside seats to a fight in New York. Mickelson couldn’t go.

“I didn’t know he had anything to do with golf,” Mickelson said.

Mickelson is playing this week at the HP Classic of New Orleans, his first tournament since winning the green jacket April 11. Speaking of the green jacket, Mickelson left it at home in San Diego.

“It’s time to put it on a hanger and get back to work,” he said.

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This will be the swan song for English Turn Golf and Country Club, site of the New Orleans event since 1990. Next year it moves to the TPC of Louisiana, a Pete Dye design.

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Annika Sorenstam acknowledged this week that she had planned on making a transition away from golf if she accomplished her goal of winning all four majors this year.

“Maybe that was a little greedy,” she said. “Maybe that was not meant to happen, but that’s the way I look at it.”

Sorenstam, 33, has hinted about retirement for several years but said not winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship -- the year’s first major -- has renewed her hunger to compete.

“It was a little frustrating,” said Sorenstam, who has three victories in tournaments worldwide this year, with a 13th-place finish at the Kraft Nabisco. “It doesn’t make me upset, but it makes me practice harder and makes me really appreciate what it takes to win a major.”

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Tiger Woods said the highlight of his four-day Army training at Ft. Bragg two weeks ago was jumping out of an airplane.

Woods couldn’t go into the details of his training but said he was issued a uniform, attended several briefings, fired weapons and ran with the troops.

“Jumping out of a plane is really weird,” Woods wrote in his monthly newsletter on TigerWoods.com. “You’re going 120 miles per hour, but it just feels like you’re floating in air.”

Woods said he gained a greater understanding of the sacrifices made by military personnel.

“Most of us take what they do for granted,” he wrote. “You can’t believe the dedication they have. The enthusiasm to serve our country was amazing, everyone from Special Forces to the cook.”

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Any future ties in the President’s Cup will result in a co-championship rather than a playoff.

The bylaws were changed after last year’s competition in South Africa, in which the teams tied after regulation and then sent Woods and Ernie Els out for a playoff to decide the outcome.

After three holes failed to determine a winner, captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to share the championship -- a move that set the precedent for future ties.

Nicklaus and Player have agreed to return as captains for the 2005 matches.

“I know that Gary and I both feel like we have a little unfinished business to take care of after last time,” Nicklaus said.

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Nicklaus, 64, hinted at the Masters that he was thinking about retirement and he was at it again Wednesday.

“I’m about done playing golf,” the 64-year-old Nicklaus said at the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am at the Cliffs in South Carolina. He’s competing in the event with his four sons.

“I haven’t made up my mind whether I’m going to play any more this year after the Memorial tournament” in June, Nicklaus said.

At the Masters, the six-time champion said it was likely that he would not play at Augusta National in 2005.

“I know I can’t compete at the level I used to compete,” Nicklaus said. “If I go out and finish in the top 10, and that’s a great week, then I know it’s time to hang up your spikes.”

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The purse for the British Open has increased nearly $1 million to $7.2 million, with a winner’s share of $1.3 million -- up from the $1.12 million Ben Curtis won last year.

Mickelson won $1.17 million this month at the Masters. The purses for the U.S. Open and PGA Championship have not yet been announced, but Jim Furyk and Shaun Micheel each won $1.08 million for their respective victories last year.

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The PGA of America is sponsoring Free Lesson month throughout May. Selected PGA professionals will offer free 10-minute lessons as part of the Play Golf America program designed to bolster participation. To find a participating instructor, visit www.playgolfamerica.com.... Former NFL stars Eric Dickerson and Christian Okoye and actors Joe Pesci, Joe Mantegna and Kelsey Grammer are among those scheduled to play in the 33rd annual L.A. Police Celebrity Golf tournament Saturday at Rancho Park. Admission is $5. Information: (213) 847-4239.

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Associated Press contributed to this report. Thomas Bonk is on vacation.