News And Notes

>>>ALTERNATE UNIVERSE<<<

When the PGA field was first announced, Billy Andrade (below) was the seventh alternate. He was still third on the list on the Tuesday of tournament week when he went to see You, Me and Dupree. "When I came out [of the theater], I was in the tournament," said Andrade, who made the most of it by opening with rounds of 67 and 69 to tie for the lead. "I'm 42 years old, and I've been doing this for 19 years," he said. "Why not have fun and enjoy it?" Reality hit on Saturday, when he shot a six-over 78. He wound up as only the third-best alternate, finishing 41st. Here's how the alternates who made it into the field (in order of selection) fared.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

>>>BACK FROM THE DEAD<<<

JOHN DALY, whose first Tour victory came at the 1991 PGA (he missed the cut in 10 of the next 14, including last week's), suffered a massive heart attack and died on Aug. 15, according to a rumor that swept through the press tent before the tournament. The rumor was so prevalent that Daly fielded panic-stricken calls from his wife, agent and friends, and prompted the Chicago Sun-Times to print a story refuting Long John's demise. The paper's reporter found Daly in the Medinah parking lot smoking a cigarette. Said Daly, "I figured since I came back from the dead, I might as well smoke."

>>>ALSO<<<

THE PGA of America says it has no plans to tweak the Ryder Cup points system, even though there was a controversy last month when John Rollins accrued more points for winning the B.C. Open, held opposite the British Open, than Chris DiMarco earned for coming in second at Hoylake.... Captain Tom Lehman and 10 of the 12 players on the U.S. Ryder Cup team will take a chartered jet from this week's Bridgestone Invitational in Akron to Dublin for a few days of practice at the K Club. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have previous commitments and probably won't make the trip.

>>>PRETTY (MAY)FAIR COMEBACK<<<

TO SAY Billy Mayfair has had a difficult summer would be an understatement. Mayfair is close to finalizing a divorce from wife Tammy; his mother, Winona, is in a Phoenix-area hospital, recovering from a stroke and heart attack; and 12 days before the PGA, Mayfair had surgery to remove a cancerous testicle. Despite all the adversity Mayfair contended into the third round before finishing 37th. "Everything happened all at once," says the 40-year-old Mayfair. "Definitely, this has been the hardest year of life-changing things." The good news is that tests show the cancer hasn't spread, although Mayfair will have to return for additional testing every few months. The initial diagnosis of cancer scared Mayfair because he had lost one of his childhood friends, LPGA tour player Heather Farr, to the disease when she was only 28.

During the first round at Medinah, Mayfair got off to an amazing start, going six under through 12 holes. "I had tears in my eyes," he said. "I should be thankful simply to be here, and I am."

>>>LONG STORY SHORT<<<