Morgan Is New Star On Senior Tour

Let’s see. The Golden Boys Honor Roll goes something like this …

There was Lee Trevino, coming out to get away from the “flat-bellies” and win some Senior PGA Tour swag.

And Jack Nicklaus, the reluctant senior, sure of over-50 dominance.

And Raymond Floyd and Hale Irwin, anointed on their 50th birthdays as the new senior kings.

Also among those who have turned 50: Gil Morgan.

Never a star, Morgan was good enough to earn more than $5.2 million in 22 seasons on the PGA Tour, and good enough to win seven times, including the Los Angeles Open in 1978.

He played in two Ryder Cups and led the 1976 PGA, ‘83 Masters and ‘92 U.S. Open after two rounds.

He was good enough to have earned $259,776 last year on the PGA Tour, ranking 85th, and smart enough after turning 50 on Sept. 25 to waste no time joining the Senior Tour. He won the Ralph’s Senior Classic at Wilshire Country Club 11 days later.

He won the Tradition in early April, the first time he was eligible to play a senior tour major.

Morgan entered this week’s PGA Senior Championship a contender for the Grand Slam for seniors. Through two rounds he is tied for fourth, but is nine strokes behind leader Hale Irwin.

Tiger a hot ticket

Ticket sales for the Memorial Day Mystic Rock Charity Pro-Am golf tournament in rural Farmington, Pa., have quadrupled over 1996, largely because Tiger Woods agreed to play. About 20,000 tickets have been sold so far. Last year 3,000-5,000 tickets were sold.

Out of Westport, Conn., comes word from the Sports Marketing Letter that Tiger Woods is expected to be among the “Ten Most Wanted” sports spokesmen, and that he is a definite growth industry.

That means $500 million to $1 billion the next 10 years.

Lefties on the Internet

Inside Golf magazine says the National Association of Left-Handed Golfers has set up a web site, http://www.dca.net/golf/index.html.

Palmer course joins Hope Classic

The Arnold Palmer Course at PGA West returns to the Bob Hope Classic for 1998, joining Indian Wells, La Quinta and Bermuda Dunes and replacing Indian Ridge.