The Beat

Too bad the name Tiger Beat is taken: The buzz last week was that Hearst, publisher of Esquire and Good Housekeeping, has been working on a magazine devoted to Tiger Woods. Although Woods's reps denied knowledge of the project, Hearst insiders confirmed such a work had been discussed. Not everyone is convinced that a Tiger-zine would be a sure thing. "Let's face it," says pro golfer Peter Jacobsen, "there's not much to Tiger's life right now besides winning tournaments. I can see it now—first issue: 'Why I prefer cotton pique to cotton weave.' Second issue: 'Should your glove match your shoes?' Third issue: 'Why chicks dig Buicks.' "...Before he left for the Australian Open, Andre Agassi purchased a $23 million house in Tiburon, just outside San Francisco. Agassi bought the 10,000-square-foot mansion—which includes six bedrooms, eight baths, a home theater, two pools, a helipad and a tennis court—from cell-phone tycoon John McCaw, who paid $9 million for it in 1996. Agassi had wanted to buy the same property a few years ago, but then wife Brooke Shields nixed the idea.... Although Boris Becker has settled his divorce case, that hasn't stopped the rumors from flying. Latest volley: European papers reported last week that Becker has alleged that a woman who claims to have had a daughter with him impregnated herself with his sperm after oral sex in an extortion scheme involving the Russian mafia. In a statement Becker said, "There has been the wildest speculation about criminal forces, Russian mafia and other sensationalism. All that is not true." However, Becker did acknowledge, "There is a baby named Anna," and said he will undergo a DNA test to determine whether he's the father.