This Week

February 18-24

PGA
Tucson Chrysler Classic, Tucson National, Tucson
Jeff Sluman's first-round 75 last year was the second-worst
start ever by a winner

Senior
American Express Invitational, TPC at Prestancia, Sarasota, Fla.
Jack Nicklaus should be a draw even though he hasn't won in
almost two years

LPGA
Cup Noodles Ladies Hawaiian Open, Kapolei Golf Course, Kapolei,
Hawaii
Last year Hawaii got so windy that Annika Sorenstam won with a
final-round 73

PGA Tour
NAME THAT TOURNAMENT

Question: What do Dean Martin, NBC, Joe Garagiola, Seiko,
Northern Telecom and Chrysler have in common? All have affixed
their names at some point to the Tucson stop on the PGA Tour, a
53-year-old event that rivals Prince, Roseanne and the Raiders
in the dubious-name-change department. This year it's the Tucson
Chrysler Classic for a second straight time, which is more
mileage than the tournament got out of Home of the Sun
Invitational, its name in 1961. Tucson has yet to name a sponsor
for next year's event, which has the misfortune of being
scheduled the same week as the inaugural World Match Play
Championship. Despite this and the goofy conquistador's helmet
awarded to the winner, Tucson is a pretty good event,
particularly for Phil Mickelson, who's had three of his 12 Tour
victories here, including his '91 win as an amateur. Tucson was
also the site of two other notable beginnings: Robert Gamez, the
1990 champ, was the last player to win in his first Tour start,
and Lee Janzen notched the first of his seven titles here in
'92. Although Gamez is missing, Janzen is back, along with
mighty mite Jeff Sluman, the defending champ, and such big names
as David Duval, Tom Lehman and Justin Leonard.
--ABC, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, 4 PM

Senior Tour
A FIELD FIT FOR THE HALL OF FAME

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer haven't played in the same tour
event since the U.S. Senior Open last June, but at the American
Express each will charge 6,876-yard Prestancia looking for his
11th Senior victory. It's a nostalgic convergence that might
make fans forget about those other two guys in the field, Hale
Irwin and Gil Morgan. Renowned elocutionist Yogi Berra might
call it deja vu all over again. Yogi's on hand this week, as are
Mark (the Bird) Fidrych, Goose Gossage, Mudcat Grant and other
members of the species homo-plate resurrectus, all playing in
Thursday's pro-am. This year's AmEx has more Hall of Fame
baseball players (nine) than Hall of Fame golfers (seven) and a
total of 54 former big leaguers in the field. Morgan, who won
the MasterCard Championship in January, will earn extra credit
as the Senior tour's Plastic Man if he wins the AmEx this week.
No player has won both events in the same year.
--ESPN, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, 5:30 PM

LPGA Tour
SUNDAY'S A DAY OF REST

The Cup Noodles, one of 10 54-hole tournaments on the women's
tour this season, will boast such top talent as Laura Davies,
Chris Johnson, Betsy King, Michelle McGann, Kelly Robbins and
defending champion Annika Sorenstam. Nevertheless, this is one
week when you won't hear the bromide, "The tournament really
begins on the back nine on Sunday." At the Cup Noodles, golfers
will be a hemisphere away by then. After completing their third
round on Saturday at 6,056-yard, par-72 Kapolei, most players
will head for the airport. United's daily nonstop flight from
Los Angeles to Sydney will make a special stop that night,
touching down around midnight in Honolulu to scoop up the Cup
Noodles gang and zip the women Down Under to the next stop on
the LPGA schedule, the Australian Masters.

OFF COURSE
Getting Down and Dirty On the Nike Tour

Documentary filmmakers highlight the hazards of the pro game in
The Road: Life on the Nike Tour, an hourlong special that tracks
three players during "40,000 miles of fast food, slow progress
and endless nights in cheap hotels." The film follows Chris
DiMarco, Michael Clark II and Darron Stiles during the 1997
season. You'll laugh along with DiMarco, but the struggles of
Clark and Stiles aren't funny. Says coproducer Jay Kossoff, "We
delved into what it takes to be a golfer. Not for the Greg
Normans of the world, but for guys blowing their house funds."
GOLF CHANNEL, MONDAY, 4 PM

Flashback
THE IRON MAN'S DESERT BLITZ

A quarter century ago at the Tucson Classic, Bruce (Iron Man)
Crampton waited out frost delays in the first and final rounds
and won by five strokes. It was his second consecutive
victory--he had taken the Phoenix Open the week before--and
helped propel him to a sensational season in which he won two
more tournaments, claimed the Vardon Trophy and became the fifth
man in Tour history to surpass $1 million in career earnings
(behind Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus and Lee
Trevino). Between 1962 and '63 Crampton played in 38 consecutive
events, hence the nickname. Age still hasn't cramped his style.
At 62 the Australian is as steely as ever. Last year he won his
20th Senior tour event, the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic, to become
the third-oldest player ever to win a Senior tournament.

COLOR ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION BY JEFF WONG [Golfers walk a road curved like a Nike Swoosh logo]