The Week Aug. 3-9

Along for the Ryder

Tom Lehman's runner-up finish in the Buick Open, no great shakes
in even years, sent tremors from Britain to Brookline in this
odd one. Partly due to the Ryder Cup points race, the otherwise
starless final-round telecast of the Buick fetched a 3.7
overnight rating--pretty good compared with the 4.2 the Buick
got with Tiger Woods in contention in '98. This week's Cup
qualifier, a.k.a. the PGA, is the last for U.S. players.

PGA Tom Pernice Jr., who shot a final-round 65 to beat Lehman,
Ted Tryba and Bob Tway by one in the Buick Open at Warwick Hills
Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich., is the third
first-time winner in the last three weeks.... David Duval
reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the World Ranking even though he and
Woods took the week off.... John Daly pulled out of the PGA and
was replaced by 1989 runner-up Mike Reid.... Shinnecock Hills in
Southampton, N.Y., will host its fourth U.S. Open in 2004.

LPGA Led by Mardi Lunn, Australians swept the top three places
at the areaWeb.com Challenge at Pleasant Valley Country Club in
Sutton, Mass. Lunn beat Jan Stephenson by one and Rachel
Hetherington by two. Aussies have been victorious in nine of 26
events in '99.... Grace Park, who won for the fourth time in
eight starts on the Futures tour at the Briarwood Open in York,
Pa., has sponsors' exemptions into two LPGA events next month:
the State Farm Rail Classic and the Safeway Championship.

SENIOR Bruce Fleisher, winner of the Lightpath Long Island
Classic in Jericho, N.Y., by two strokes over Allen Doyle, has
won one out of every four starts, a ratio second only to that of
Karrie Webb, who has won one out of three on the LPGA tour.

ALSO Aree Wongluekiet, 13, became the USGA's youngest champ ever
when she defeated 16-year-old Nancy Abiecunas, 2 up, in the U.S.
Junior final in Owings Mills, Md.... Laura Davies beat Maria
Hjorth by parring the second playoff hole to win the McDonald's
WPGA Championship.... Colin Montgomerie cruised to a nine-stroke
victory in the Volvo Scandinavian Masters.

golfplus.cnnsi.com

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY J.D. CUBAN Double trouble Only 13, the Wongluekiet twins, Aree (right) and Naree, rule junior golf.

UP and Down

Ryder Cup PGA Championship
Tom Lehman David Duval
Wongluekiets Kuehnes
LPGA Aussies PGA Tour Aussies
Mike Reid John Daly