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NEWS AND NOTES
DALY TO SIGN WITH CALLAWAY
The biggest mover and shaker in the golf industry is betting
that John Daly can finally put his troubles behind him. Ely
Callaway, chairman and CEO of Callaway Golf, is expected to sign
Daly to an endorsement contract before next week's Memorial
Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, where Daly will make his first PGA
Tour start since withdrawing after the first round of the
Players Championship, in mid-March.
Daly, whose previous equipment sponsor, Wilson, canceled a $10
million contract with him three weeks ago, has already visited
Callaway Golf headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif., and tested the
company's clubs.
Considering the 31-year-old Daly's history, which includes a
recently completed six-week stay as an outpatient at the Betty
Ford Clinic in Palm Springs, Calif., for alcohol counseling, one
might question the wisdom of Callaway's move. But while he
wouldn't reveal the financial terms, Callaway did disclose that
a deal with Daly would have three conditions: Daly must quit
drinking; he must remain a member of an alcohol recovery program
and attend meetings at home and on the road; and he must stop
gambling and join Gamblers Anonymous.
Callaway is confident that Daly will meet those conditions. "Our
observation, to date, is that John is going to effectively take
care of his problems--one day at a time," says Callaway, who has
witnessed the effects of alcoholism on friends and family
members and has strong feelings about the disease. "We think he
understands his problems. I want to find a way to be helpful to
John."
NEW HIP JOLTS ARCHER
Since his right hip replacement surgery 13 months ago,
58-year-old George Archer has walked like a much older man. He
took small, shuffling steps last week as he moved from shot to
shot at the Cadillac NFL Classic at hilly Upper Montclair
Country Club in Clifton, N.J. But for 36 holes Archer, a 17-time
winner on the Senior tour, was as solid as ever over the ball,
shooting 67-72 to take a one-shot lead into the final round
before fading to 15th with a 77. Sixty-one-year-old Bruce
Crampton came on to win the tournament in sudden death over Hugh
Baiocchi.
On Friday, with the wind howling at 30 mph, Archer had what he
called one of the best wind rounds of his life, a five-under-par
gem that gave him a four-shot lead. Archer's new titanium hip
works wonderfully, but he has been bedeviled by inflammation in
the muscles and tendons around the 12-inch incision doctors made
to install it. Occasionally, when he makes a misstep or an
awkward turn, Archer gets what he calls "a bolt of lightning"
down his right leg. Sometimes the jolts incapacitate him for two
days.
Archer felt such a jolt on the 5th hole of the pro-am last
Thursday. "I broke my arm when I was a kid, and it never hurt
like that," Archer says. "I have a high pain threshold, but it
almost makes me cry. Had there been an official around, I
might've quit."
Instead he limped through the next 13 holes, bunting his ball
with half swings, then iced the hip all night. Stiff and sore on
Friday, Archer birdied seven of the first 11 holes. "This injury
is so frustrating," says Archer. "Some days you just feel like
going fishing. Then you go out and have a round like this. If I
couldn't hit the ball, I'd say O.K. and be done with it. But to
hit it as great as I am, off one leg really, makes me crazy."
Archer plans to play on the tour for at least two more years.
Meanwhile, he has been counseling other seniors on the
procedure. "Jack [Nicklaus] made a point to ask me about it,"
says Archer. "I told him he's got big old legs, so it wouldn't
be any problem."
PUTTING WOES PUT MONTY BACK ON THE RACK
Colin Montgomerie recently spent seven weeks in the U.S. hoping
to discover what he must do to win major championships. What he
learned is that he has to improve his short game, and he
returned to Scotland determined to work on it. Trouble is, he
took a case of the yips with him.
Montgomerie, who has led the European tour's money list the past
four years, ranks 42nd this season, mainly because of horrible
putting. He hit bottom two weeks ago at the Benson & Hedges
International in Thame, England, five-putting a green in the
final round and finishing 59th, 23 strokes behind winner
Bernhard Langer. Last week Montgomerie was 12th at the English
Open, in Ware, England. The event was won by Per-Ulrik Johansson
of Sweden.
Desperate for a cure, Montgomerie has been using a drill called
the Rack that he learned in his college days at Houston Baptist
from coach Dave Mannen. As part of his daily practice routine,
Montgomerie must make 100 two-foot putts in a row before he
calls it quits. "I shall be doing it until the end of the U.S.
Open," says Montgomerie. "I owe it to myself to try to win that
tournament."
TINY METHODIST FORGES A DIVISION III DYNASTY
Nothing sounds sweeter to Methodist College senior Mike Adamson
than the grumbling of a beaten opponent, especially one from a
Division I school who's unaware that Methodist, a Division III
college with an enrollment of 1,900 in Fayetteville, N.C., is a
golf powerhouse. "Lots of Division I teams have never heard of
us, and they get mad when we beat them," says Adamson, the 1996
Division III player of the year who ended his collegiate career
last weekend by helping Methodist win its seventh NCAA title in
the last eight years. "They don't like explaining how a Division
III team beat them."
Such explanations had to be made often this season. In 10
tournaments Methodist won six times, came in second twice and
had a pair of thirds. The Monarchs defeated 25 of the 26
Division I opponents they faced in those events and 57 of the 60
Division II foes. Their overall record: 146-6. In the Division
III final, at the Medallion Club in Westerville, Ohio, opposing
players and coaches speculated not on Methodist's chances of
winning a third straight title, but on the margin of victory. It
was a massacre. The Monarchs shot 1,191 for four rounds, 39 over
par, to beat runner-up Greensboro (N.C.) College by 35 shots.
The only surprise was that Adamson, who had won two events in
'97 and had a team-best 73.0 scoring average, didn't win the
individual crown. He three-putted the last hole to finish a
stroke behind teammate Brion McLaughlin, a freshman from
Anderson, Ind., who shot 297.
"I'm addicted to winning," says Methodist's coach, Steve Conley,
34, a three-time national coach of the year. "Once you're at the
top, anything less isn't the same." Conley needn't worry about a
drop-off. Although Methodist doesn't offer athletic
scholarships, its golf management program, which prepares
students majoring in business administration to be golf
professionals, draws top talent from across the country and
beyond. This year there were 222 students in the program,
including 18 women, from 32 states as well as Canada, Ireland,
Malaysia and the Philippines.
Competition for spots on the men's golf team is fierce. Whereas
25 play-ers would be a lot for tryouts at most colleges, 175
showed up for the first day of practice at Methodist last fall.
The women's team has also benefited, winning 10 of the last 12
national championships. Led by senior Jennifer Cieslak, the 1996
and '97 Division III player of the year, the Lady Monarchs were
second this season. "A lot of the big boys used to not know
where Methodist was," Conley says, "but most of them know us
now. We've earned their respect."
THE SHAG BAG
The rap on Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Trent Dilfer used to
be that he spent too much time in the off-season on the golf
course instead of studying his playbook. Dilfer showed more
dedication last year, when he threw for a career-high 12
touchdowns, but his golf game didn't suffer as a result. Last
week he won the NFL Players Championship at Upper Montclair
Country Club in Clifton, N.J., shooting a one-under-par 71 to
finish two shots ahead of New York Jets center Dave Alexander
and Baltimore Ravens tight end Brian Kinchen.... Bobby Wadkins
is winless in 22 years on the PGA Tour but has finished second
seven times. So far, that pattern has held on the Nike tour,
which Wadkins is playing regularly for the first time this
season. On Sunday he came in second for the second time this
year, finishing one stroke behind Jeff Julian in the Dominion
Open in Glen Allen, Va.... At the English Open, Jose Maria
Olazabal was 22nd, his worst finish in the seven starts he has
made since returning to golf in February.... Bruce Crampton set
the record for the Senior tour's longest stretch between
victories--five years, two months and 10 days--with his win at
the Cadillac NFL Classic. "To win anything at 61, even an
argument with your wife, is pretty good," said Crampton....
There were no surprises at the NCAA men's regionals. Top-ranked
UNLV won the West, No. 2 Oklahoma State won the Central, and No.
13 Auburn won the East. Without Tiger Woods, Stanford, 12th in
the West, did not advance to the finals (May 28-31 at Conway
Farms outside Chicago) for the first time since 1993.
COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK Daly will be required to go to support meetings whether he's at home or on the road. [John Daly playing golf]
COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND [Nancy Lopez lifting dumbbell]
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN F. GRIESHOP McLaughlin: The mightiest Monarch. [Brion McLaughlin playing golf]
40 DOWN, 15 TO GO
For the last six months 40-year-old Nancy Lopez has been on a
fitness crusade. With the help of trainer Leah Vann, Lopez has
shed 40 pounds and is down to 150. That's a lot to lose for
somebody who's only 5'5", but Lopez wants to lose 15 more
pounds. She has also toned up, thanks to two-hour workouts she
does six days a week. Here is a look at her regimen.
Diet: Lopez consumes only 1,200 calories a day, including a
maximum of 25 grams of fat. She eats fruits, vegetables, bagels,
pasta, chicken and low-fat chili. She avoids mayonnaise, cheese
and butter. Lopez also drinks lot of water and skim milk.
Exercise: The first hour of her routine is devoted to
cardiovascular work on a stationary bike, a treadmill and a
Stairmaster. (Lopez goes 30 minutes each on two of the three
devices.) Then she does 45 minutes of weightlifting,
concentrating on her upper and lower body on alternating days.
That's followed by 200 sit-ups, and she ends each session with
10 minutes of stretching.
THE NUMBER
1
Canadians among the 39 players earning cards at last week's
Canadian tour Q school, won by Grant Masson of the U.S. with a
record 22-under-par 265.
