News & Notes

Powerball Blues
Rookie Caroline Blaylock drives the ball a mile but has trouble making a dollar

They call her Mighty Mouse. Caroline Blaylock, a rookie who stands 5'7" and weighs 125 pounds, leads the LPGA in driving distance with a 267-yard average—almost eight yards better than anyone else—without really trying. "I'm longer than the stats show because I rarely hit driver on the measuring holes," says the 25-year-old from Cartersville, Ga., who hits her three-wood about 245. In winning last month's LPGA long-drive contest, Blaylock used her driver to unleash pokes of 317 and 322 yards. At Furman in 1994 the three-time All-America hit a 337-yarder, topping the runner-up by 47 yards, to win one of her three straight NCAA long-drive titles.

"I can't explain where my power comes from," says Blaylock, whose frame resembles Annika Sorenstam's more than John Daly's, "but it probably started with the circus." When she was a kid watching trapeze artists climb ropes in the big top, she bet her mom a banana split that she could do the same. It took four weeks of biceps-busting practice, but young Caroline won her just dessert. She went on to star as a swimmer and basketball player at Darlington High in Rome, Ga., but never quit building upper-body strength by climbing rope. "It was my hobby," she says. "There wasn't much else to do in my little town."

She has yet to climb high in the pro ranks. In 12 LPGA tournaments she has earned only $17,832. The tour's top driver ranks 180th in driving accuracy and 170th in putting. "I found out fast that they don't pay for how far you hit it," says Blaylock, who would gladly jump through flaming hoops if it would help her make a few putts.

More Power
Mark on the Ball

Asked who might be the longest hitter in golf, Billy Andrade picks a man known for hitting balls 140 yards. " Mark McGwire is as long as Tiger Woods," Andrade says of his occasional pro-am partner, "and that's with no attention to his equipment. What would he do with a driver he could really hit?" The golfer met the St. Louis Cardinals basher a decade ago when they were partners at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. "He drove it to places that would make your head spin," says Andrade, who has also witnessed several driving-range sessions reminiscent of McGwire's batting-practice power shows. "After he got warmed up, got a good sweat going, he started hitting balls over the fence at the end of the range. Everyone oohed and aahed"

McGwire played golf at Damien High in Claremont, Calif. "Loved it," says the slugger, who has a bulging disk in his back that limits his golf. "Sometimes I play in the winter with my son, Matt, but that's about it these days." How far does he hit his drives? "Mid-300s," he says modestly. "But golf's much harder than baseball. I admire guys who make a living at it."

"I equate Mac with Freddie Couples. They both just love to play," Andrade says. "When you're a superstar, though, you have to deal with the media, with everything outside the game, and neither of them likes that." As he approaches Roger Maris's home run record, McGwire may pine for the comparative solitude of Couples's life.

Tot Shot
Another Ace Amateur

Wearing his trusty Tiger Woods T-shirt, five-year-old Matthew Stuart played golf with his dad last week. On the 7th hole at Fox Ridge Country Club in Vincennes, Ind., the kindergartner stepped up to the ladies' tee, pulled a Scooby-Doo headcover off his 34-inch driver and knocked his tee shot 86 yards into the cup. "It wasn't a line drive. Matthew hit a nice arching shot that bounced once and rolled in," says his dad, Troy, a purchasing manager for a furniture company. Golf has been part of the boy's life since infancy, when Troy would take Matthew and his diaper bag to the course with him. After graduating to a golf bag filled with a set of cut-down clubs, Matthew started playing this year. The nine-hole round that featured his ace was his fourth outing. He shot 65.