Riviera Seems to Be on Tiger’s Busy Schedule

It’s time for the Tiger Countdown....

Three weeks ago, Tiger Woods was on Maui in Hawaii playing the season-opening Mercedes Championships.

Two weeks ago, he was in New Zealand playing the country’s Open championship for no other reason than he was given $2 million to show up and he wanted to do something nice for his Kiwi caddie.

Last week, he was on the Gold Coast of Australia, just hanging out.

This week, he is in Orlando, at his home at Isleworth.

And next week, Tiger will be back at work at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

It’s the first of what appear to be four tournaments in a row for Woods, who follows Pebble Beach with the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, then probably the Nissan Open at Riviera (although he hasn’t made it official), and finally the $5-million Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa.

It’s a busy schedule, but it also doesn’t involve much travel, which should help Riviera’s case. At Pebble, Woods will once again team with former Stanford teammate Jerry Chang, plus buddy Mark O’Meara and Irish businessman Dermott Desmond. Woods says he is ready for Pebble Beach and the rigors of a celebrity pro-am.

“I know it’s going to be a long week, spiky greens, six-hour rounds, the weather lousy,” he said.

“I’m just going to go down there with the idea of trying to have some fun.”

Woods tied for sixth in New Zealand and said there’s nothing wrong with his putting.

“I just need to putt on better greens,” he said.

Chances are he’s not going to find them anytime soon because bumpy greens are par for the course everywhere he might play before the tour heads for Florida the first weekend of March.

Smoke Signals

They got lucky over the weekend at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where Phil Mickelson had no problem with five days of play, 90 holes, four courses, 127 other pros and even a one-hole playoff to win the tournament, averaging seven birdies a round. He’s a proven winner and a good champion, but when you have a tournament such as the Hope that is nothing but a flat-out race to see who gets to 30 under par the quickest, you sometimes don’t get that kind of winner.

With that in mind, the Hope’s board of directors is working behind the scenes trying to come up with a way to make the tournament tougher before somebody gets to 40 under. (A 40 under, by the way, would look something like this: 64-64-64-64-64. At this time, the golf is officially a joke.)

What is being considered is sure to be controversial: Saying goodbye to Indian Wells Country Club.

The course is scenic, but short--at 6,478 yards, it’s the shortest course on the PGA Tour. Indian Wells also is historic, but outdated, at least for big-time tournament play and all the extra tents and hospitality and extra room required. Indian Wells has been part of the Hope for 43 years, beginning with Arnold Palmer’s victory in the first tournament in 1960. But it is simply too easy, and it’s also so short that it takes the driver out of many players’ bags.

The other courses are acceptable, if not heavyweights, but that’s not so bad. The Palmer Course at PGA West and Bermuda Dunes are regulars and La Quinta and Tamarisk take turns, and that’s an acceptable lineup.

Of course, Joe Durant shot a record 36 under last year with the Palmer Course as the host course and it’s also where David Duval shot 59 in 1999.

Mike Milthorpe, the tournament director, says the Hope is what it is, at least for the present time.

“It’s something the event has lived with for 30 years, the low scores,” he said. “With the advancements in technology and the old courses, there’s not much one can do.”

Just what course the Hope could move to and eliminate Indian Wells is not known and probably couldn’t happen until 2004 at the earliest. Tournament officials are paying attention to the times, though, Milthorpe said.

“I guess that’s something the executive committee will decide--where we want to be in five years.”

A good guess would be anywhere but Indian Wells.

Honk

Question: Why did some officials at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic say they were relieved David Berganio didn’t win?

Answer: He was wearing a cap with a Buick logo.

(Nothing personal, just business, the Hope people say).

Good-Time Charlie

Is Charles Howell III the next big thing?

It was pretty funny when Sports Illustrated predicted last week that Howell, 22, is going to suffer a sophomore slump in his second year on the PGA Tour ... especially when he already has tied for fourth in his opener at the Sony Open and then tied for sixth (at 26 under par) at the Hope.

“I didn’t see that, but I don’t think so,” said Howell, one of the most unusual players on the PGA Tour--unusual because he actually likes reporters. What’s not to like about writers who can’t find anything wrong with a guy? Howell absolutely splatters the golf ball. He hits it so hard and far and draws rave reviews from peers such as Fred Couples, Brandel Chamblee and Rocco Mediate.

“He called me Mr. Chamblee,” said Mr. Chamblee.

One of the more unassuming characters on the PGA Tour, Howell had enough reasons to come on a lot stronger in the ego department. A two-time first-team All-American at Oklahoma State, Howell won the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards and set a record of 23 under when he won the NCAA title. Last year, Howell made the cut in 20 of 24 events and won $1.5 million to earn his tour card for 2002.

Howell, who grew up near Augusta Country Club, had a storied junior career that included a hard-fought loss to Woods in the 1996 U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge. Howell doesn’t mind the pressure of being singled out for potential stardom or being compared to Woods, for that matter.

“There’s always expectations, but if people aren’t saying it, then they don’t think you’re very good,” he said. “I like being in that role. It won’t change me a whole lot and hopefully it won’t change the way I look at things.

“There’s going to be some days where you think you’re better than Tiger Woods, there’s going to be days you can’t come close to him, but overall, I take that as a compliment.”

Pop the Cork

News item: Berringer signs on as the title sponsor of the Senior PGA Tour event at Silverado Country Club in Napa.

Reaction: It’s a good move for the often-grumpy senior pros, who now have the chance to trade their Whine List for the Wine List.

Tiger Update

Here is news that proves once again that there’s never enough of Woods to go around, virtual reality or the real thing.

It’s apparently not enough that he’s on PC games, plus PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Now Woods is heading for the video arcade.

Soon, you can drop your tokens in the slot and play with Woods. For replays, you probably have to beat him in the Masters.

Match Game

The merits of match play are always a lively debate. The good thing about match play is that so much rides on each match and if you lose, you’re out.

That’s also the bad thing about match play. Sometimes, the stars are gone long before the weekend TV. The chance of going out early is why Woods and so few of the top players traveled to Australia to play last year’s tournament.

This year’s tournament is back at La Costa, which will certainly make a difference in the field. The $5-million Accenture World Match Play event isn’t until next month, but unless the official rankings of the top 64 players change, the first round has some intriguing matchups, including Woods-John Cook, John Daly-Colin Montgomerie, Robert Allenby-Stuart Appleby and Paul Azinger-Hal Sutton.

Riviera Update

As expected, the Nissan Open is getting an assist from the World Match Play event at La Costa the week after Riviera. International players who have signed up to play Riviera include defending champion Allenby, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke, Bernhard Langer, Jose Coceres, Thomas Bjorn, Lee Westwood, Nick Price, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal and Toru Taniguichi.

Mediocre is Bad

Tom Purtzer, who turned 50 six weeks ago, is joining the Senior PGA Tour next week at the Royal Caribbean Classic. Purtzer has long been sought after for swing help by the pros and now he’ll be able to play with guys his own age.

Purtzer says he’ll have to get used to playing 54-hole events instead of 72-hole events.

“You don’t have that extra day to make up for a mediocre round,” he said.

Note to Tom: No offense, but what tour have you been watching lately? Mediocre rounds don’t cut it anymore on the PGA Tour.

A case in point is Mickelson, who shot a two-under 70 on Friday and dropped 13 places at the Hope. Good thing he went 65-64 on the weekend.

And Jay Haas goes 63-68-68-63 and a mediocre 74 on Sunday drops him from first to a tie for 16th.