But Would He Swing to the Right or the Left?

The latest edition of Travel & Leisure Golf magazine has Tiger Woods on the cover with this headline: “Swing-Vote Special: President Woods -- It Could Happen.”

Inside, the headline reads, “Run, Tiger, Run,” with this subhead: “It’s no joke: Top political strategists think Woods could one day be a formidable political player -- even president of the United States.”

One problem, though, is pointed out in the story by John Paul Newport: “First and foremost, he would have to want to seek office.”

Add Tiger: Woods declined to comment for the article, but a few years ago he was asked whether he’d want to be president.

“I’d rather play golf,” he said. “When you’re president, it’s kind of hard to play golf.”

Maybe so. But 14 of the last 17 presidents have been golfers.

Trivia time: Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter were the only non-golfers among the last 17 presidents. Who was the first president to play golf regularly?

It’s not art imitating art: Bob Costas, on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” Wednesday night, critiqued Terrell Owens’ impersonation of Ray Lewis’ pregame dance.

“When I first saw it, I thought what Owens was doing was graceless and tasteless,” Costas said, “until I realized that the signature move he was mocking was graceless and tasteless.”

A time to celebrate: University of Washington Athletic Director Todd Turner announced Monday that football Coach Keith Gilbertson would step down at the end of the season.

Gilbertson, asked how his players had reacted to the announcement, said in the Seattle Times that “when they stopped cheering, they carried Todd out on their shoulders.”

Blue humor: Van Earl Wright, who had Boise State Coach Dan Hawkins as a guest on XTRA (1150), said, “I’ve heard rumors that birds have died like kamikazes, thinking the blue turf [of the school’s stadium] was actually water.”

Replied Hawkins: “I’m going to expose you just a little bit, because, as I’ve told everybody, how many ponds have you seen where there are white lines?”

A little less heat: The NFL’s Dolphins (1-7) are feeling the heat around Miami, but it could be worse. The excitement surrounding the NBA’s Miami Heat has drawn some attention away from the Dolphins.

“The best thing that’s happened to the Dolphins is Shaquille O’Neal,” ABC’s Al Michaels said.

Looking back: On this day in 2000, Cal State Northridge, before it dropped football, lost to Cal State Sacramento, 64-61, in the highest scoring Division I-AA game in NCAA history.

Trivia answer: William Howard Taft, who at 355 pounds had to have caddies tee up his ball.

And finally: Bob Hope used to complain about playing golf with President Eisenhower, saying, “There are so many Secret Service agents around, I can’t cheat.”

*

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.