|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Coming up short Stadler adds another second-place finish at Houston
Posted: Friday May 05, 2000 06:42 PM
When the young cats are away, the old mice will play. In a field without 20-something powerhouses like Tiger Woods, David Duval and Phil Mickelson, seven of the top 10 finishers at last weekend's Houston Open were at least 38 years old, including 46-year-old runnerup Craig Stadler and 44-year-olds Loren Roberts, Scott Hoch and Brad Fabel. Stadler has now had two runner-up finishes at Houston without winning. The record for the most times finishing second in an official event without winning it is seven by Jack Nicklaus at the Canadian Open, followed by Payne Stewart's five runner-ups at the Honda Classic. In a major championship, Tom Weiskopf was second four times at the Masters, and Sam Snead had four very sad runner-ups at the U.S. Open. Whoa, NellieThe hottest player on the Senior Tour? It's got to be Larry Nelson. In his last 16 rounds, Nelson has shot in the 60s 12 times, leading to one victory and three second-place finishes. Monty's missesColin Montgomerie is going through putting woes. He was scheduled to play at Houston last week, but withdrew at the last minute, admitting he had a better chance of regaining his confidence against European Tour competition. Still, he finished a frustrating fifth in Spain, missing short putts all the way. Afterward, he was brusquely Monty, saying, "It's all mental and the whole game is mental, and I don't look happy, do I?" Bigger Hall neededNow that Judy Rankin's 26 career victories have been acknowledged as worthy of the LPGA Hall of Fame -- and by extension, the World Golf Hall of Fame -- the membership should as soon as possible vote in two other past greats: Donna Caponi, who won 24 tournaments including four major championships, and Jane Blalock, who won 27 regular events. Whose drivingIs the Callaway ERC driver about to cause a serious fissure between the U.S. Golf Association and the R&A? The USGA has banned the club for having too much spring-like effect, but the R&A, which governs golf everywhere but the United States and Mexico, has not ruled on the club. Last week, 14 of the drivers were played on the European Tour while four more were played on the Japanese tour. The R&A says it values uniformity in the rules and intends to make a decision soon, but if competitors are allowed to use the driver at the British Open, things will get very complicated indeed.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jaime Diaz covers the golf beat and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's Pro Golf Weekly.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
