Scorecard

A MATTER OF KLASS

The Ladies Professional Golfers Association has a knotty little problem, 10-year-old Beverly Klass, a California child who has been entering LPGA tournaments. Beverly, a fifth-grader, is a fine golfer, by 10-year-old standards, but she has no more place in a professional golf tournament than a midget did batting for the St. Louis Browns, and the suspicion is that the goal in each case is the same: publicity. Having put up with Beverly for three tournaments (she averaged 91 in the Dallas Civitan Open, 86 at St. Louis and 96 in the U.S. Open), Lennie Wirtz, the LPGA tournament director, tried to have her kept out of last week's Lady Carling Open in Baltimore on the grounds that her entry would violate Maryland's child labor laws. Not so, said the State, so Beverly played—and shot 86-92-92 to finish 63 shots behind winner Mickey Wright. Now the LPGA is changing its rules to prevent any professional who is not 18 years old from entering its tournaments.

Beverly's father, a Woodland Hills, Calif. contractor, says he does not think any such restrictive rule can be applied retroactively, and he is threatening to sue. The LPGA, with some sense of what is detrimental to the game, should have been wiser than to accept her initial entry at Dallas—and somebody in the Klass family deserves a spanking.

WINDY CITY

Some time ago Pablo Picasso designed a metal sculpture for the city of Chicago, and plans were to erect the five-story-tall, $300,000 structure in front of the new Civic Center. But now some local politicians feel they have a more apt idea. Instead of the Picasso they want a gigantic bronze of Ernie Banks, which would, they say, reflect the true spirit of the city. One of the mayor's aides says of Picasso's work: "If it's a bird or an animal they ought to put it in the zoo. If it is art, they ought to put it in the Art Institute."

Alderman John Hoellen introduced a resolution in the City Council last week to scrap Picasso's work and ship "the rising heap of rusting iron" back to France. He pointed out that Picasso is a Communist, and that the artist was possibly playing a joke on Chicagoans. " Picasso's work may be a heroic monument to some Barbary ape or some sort of Trojan dove," said Alderman Hoellen. "What we need is a statue to the eternal greatness of Chicago's own Achilles—Ernie Banks." If that metaphor seems mixed, remember that Banks was spiked in the heel in a game two weekends ago.

An opposing alderman argued meanwhile that Picasso's work is in the go-go spirit of the city, and in its way "is a monument to the Cubs and the Sox and everything they have accomplished this year." It would seem a politic assessment of Picasso.

THE ODYSSEY

Homer Shoop had a lifelong ambition—to play at Wimbledon. This year the 53-year-old North Webster, Ind. banker made it, appearing in the senior men's doubles with his friend Gardnar Mulloy, who had won that championship the past eight years. But sad to report, it was not quite as glorious an occasion as Homer had hoped. Using his underhand serve, he managed to score only one point for his side as he and Mulloy were beaten 6-1, 6-4. "I will never play with Homer again," said Mulloy, with a trace of a smile.

At match point a high lob had sailed over the net toward Homer; Mulloy shouted "cross," whereupon Homer made a loping rush, collided with his partner and knocked him down.