TAYLOR MADE FOR PRESIDENT

If you're a Republican and a golfer, the best thing about the
1996 presidential election is that it won't be contested at
match play.

This year's crop of GOP contenders are, as golfers, no threat to
incumbent Democrat and 16-something-handicap Bill Clinton. In
fact, only one of the Republicans, long shot (for president, not
on the golf course) Morry Taylor of Michigan, 1 has any kind
of a game.

Although Taylor barely makes a blip in the polls, he is prepared
to tee it up anyplace, anytime, with any of the GOP hopefuls.

"My game's not as good as Dan Quayle's," he says, "but I'd beat
any one of the other presidential candidates." Taylor, whose
campaign slogan is, appropriately, Taylor Made for President,
belongs to Lochmoor Country Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.,
and Quincy Country Club in Quincy, Ill. When he isn't running
for the nation's highest office, Taylor serves as president and
CEO of Titan Wheel International in Des Moines, a multinational
company that manufactures wheels for Caterpillar farm implements
and, of course, golf carts. Here's the skinny on the golf games,
or lack thereof, of the other Republicans.

--MATTHEW RUDY

COLOR PHOTO: COURTESY OF MORRY TAYLOR [Morry Taylor]

COLOR PHOTO: DENNIS BRACK/BLACKSTAR 2Dick LugarThe senator from Indiana might be the only candidate capable of playing Taylor without getting strokes. His handlers say Lugar doesn't play much but add ominously, "He played in college." If he carries a one-iron, all bets are off. [Dick Lugar]

COLOR PHOTO: STEVE LISS3Pat Buchanan He's not a player but did caddie as a youngster (and reportedly first met Richard Nixon--for whom he later worked as a speechwriter--on a golf course). [Pat Buchanan]

COLOR PHOTO: C. JOHNSON 4Lamar Alexander The former Secretary of Education from Tennessee never took lessons. [Lamar Alexander]

COLOR PHOTO: TERRY ASHE/GAMMA LIAISON5Bob DoleWar injuries ruled out golf for the Senate majority leader from Kansas but did not stop Dole from hefting a club recently at a press conference as he mused about where President Clinton was spending his free time during the budget crisis. [Bob Dole]

COLOR PHOTO: DENIS PAQUIN/AP 6Malcolm [Steve] ForbesSure, he's the son of a Harley-driving billionaire but apparently did not lead the country club life. [Malcolm [Steve] Forbes]

COLOR PHOTO: TERRY ASHE/GAMMA LIAISON7Phil GrammA press aide wants the world to know that the Texan "flat-out doesn't play." [Phil Gramm]