TEEING OFF

Five things to look for on the professional golf scene:

1. The PGA Tour’s new cut rule got off to a rollicking start last week at the Sony Open, the first full-field event of the year, where 18 players made the cut but were still eliminated from weekend play.

That’s because of the tour’s new cut rule, called the MDF rule -- Made Cut and Did Not Finish. MDF, which made its debut at the Sony and is in effect for all full-field PGA Tour events, calls for the top 70 and ties to make the cut, but if the number of players exceeds 78, then it reverts to the closest number to 70 and only those players are eligible for the weekend.

At the Sony, 69 players were at one-under 139.

Charley Hoffman, the defending Hope champion, said the logic behind the rule is good, but it’s still a little confusing.

“I didn’t even know it, until it came up on the computer last week,” he said. “I didn’t know what it was.

“But the consensus, I see. Over the past three years, too many guys are making cuts and have to play threesomes and we play five-hour rounds on the weekends and it’s not fun for anybody.”

Sid Wilson, the tour’s vice president of player relations, has been busy explaining the MDF to players since the Sony, when the 18 players who made the cut really didn’t. The MDF got them.

“If I’m one of those guys, I don’t like the rule,” Wilson said. “But if you take them out of the context right now, the other guys say they don’t like going off two tees on the weekends.”

The cut policy has been in the works for two years and was finally approved by the Player Advisory Council and the player directors of the PGA Tour policy board in November. Players were advised of the rule in their communication packet, in an e-mail from Commissioner Tim Finchem, an online information site and in the 2008 Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations.

In the last six years, only two players have won tournaments after making the cut on the number -- Jose Maria Olazabal at the 2002 Buick Invitational and Brad Faxon in 2005 at the former Hartford Open.

2. You can be sure that Paul Wise, head pro at Hillcrest Country Club since 1979, is getting his game together in a hurry right about now. Wise was one of 74 Southern California section PGA club pros who showed up at Sycuan Resort in San Diego, playing for one spot in the field for next week’s Buick Invitational. He got it, with a bogey-free 67.

If that’s not enough news, then try this: Wise is 56, the oldest qualifier in tournament history.

“That’s the treat, at this time in my life,” said Wise, who hadn’t even tried to qualify the last 10 years for Torrey Pines, the Hope or Riviera, although he played all of them as the section champion in the early ‘80s.

3. There is a contest that will pair three celebrities with an amateur, and the group will play Torrey Pines the week before the U.S. Open. But comic George Lopez said he can’t imagine being one of the celebrities involved and that no one will break 100.

“From the back tees? Will not happen,” he said. “Do you understand what I’m saying? Terence Trent D’Arby will make a comeback and win a Grammy before that happens. Gary Coleman will be added to the cast of ‘Lost’ before that happens.”

4. There is a warehouse in Burbank packed with the memorabilia of Bob Hope, a lot of it related to golf, and a great deal of it destined for an exhibition at the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The show, called “Bob Hope: Shanks for the Memory,” will open in November at the Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.

“This is something I know would bring a great smile to his face,” said Hope’s daughter, Linda.

5. Arnold Palmer played his last Hope in 2002, his 42nd and final appearance in the tournament that he won five times. But even though Palmer isn’t here this week, his presence is still being felt, because he designed three of the four courses used in the rotation: the Palmer Course at PGA West, the Classic Club and new this year, SilverRock Resort.

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STAT OF THE WEEK

Daniel Chopra of Sweden, above, and K.J. Choi of South Korea -- both international players -- won the first two PGA Tour events of the year. But in the 48-year-history of the Bob Hope tournament, only three international players have won: Bruce Devlin of Australia in 1970, Jesper Parnevik of Sweden in 2000 and Mike Weir of Canada in 2003.

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THE TOURNAMENTS

PGA TOUR

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

When: Through Sunday.

Where: Palm Desert.

TV: Golf Channel (Today-Friday, noon-3 p.m., 6-9 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m., 7-10 p.m.).

LPGA/EUROPEAN/S. AFRICA

Women’s World Cup of Golf

When: Friday-Sunday.

Where: Sun City, South Africa.

TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 9:30 a.m.-noon; Saturday, midnight-1:30 a.m., 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Sunday, 1-2:30 a.m., 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Monday, 1-2:30 a.m.).

Format: Two-player teams representing 20 countries. Friday, better ball; Saturday, alternate shot; Sunday, better ball. Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst represent the U.S.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

MasterCard Championship

When: Friday-Sunday.

Where: Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 3:30-6 p.m., 9:30 p.m.-midnight; Saturday-Sunday, 4:30-7 p.m., 10:30 p.m.-1 a.m.).

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A SLICE OF LIFE

George Lopez, the host of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, said he learned a lot from his first year

as tournament host:

‘I learned to pace myself. And if

I keep my blood-alcohol level a

little bit under Lindsay Lohan’s,

I’ll have a great week.’