Youngsters Don’t Look Green On Competitive Lpga Tour

The LPGA certainly seems to be knee-deep in good, young talent, even with Annika Sorenstam, the 25-year-old Swede who won six tournaments worldwide last year, not picking up the tour until the Ping-Welch’s Championship in Tucson March 14-17. In the meantime, Karrie Webb is carrying the youngster load.

Webb, the Australian who just turned 21 in December, was runner-up in her first LPGA event and won her second, taking the HealthSouth Inaugural last month. At that rate, she should win this week in Hawaii. The LPGA Tour is returning after a month off with the Hawaiian Ladies Open Feb. 22-24.

Webb, the rookie of the year on the European women’s tour last year, has already won $141,000 in just two LPGA events. Among her challengers will be defending champion Barb Thomas.

Clear vision

Ernie Els won a U.S. Open without being able to see where his ball landed. Imagine what he’ll be able to do now with his new contact lenses.

Playing with newfound vision, Els finished second over the weekend at the South African PGA Championship, shooting a 64 followed by a 68 and a 73.

Although insisting that the new contact lenses he used to correct a minor eye defect had little effect on his golf, Els was delighted with his new found vision.

“It just seems to lighten up everything,” Els said after his first-round 64. “It’s unbelievable. I used to hit a 4-iron and end up losing it in the sky. It’s nice to see everything and everybody now.”

Els uses glasses for driving and watching movies.

Senior cuppers

The next big-time international competition could be a Ryder Cup-style event for seniors, and it could come as early as 2000 when such American stars as Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite would be eligible.

“The initiative has come from us, but they are quite interested and we will discuss it further when we meet at the Masters in April,” Sandy Jones, executive director of the European PGA, said over the weekend. He confirmed there had already been discussions with the PGA of America on the idea of staging a Seniors Ryder Cup.

“It would be great to have a vehicle to promote our tour and it is definitely something we will try for,” said Andy Stubbs, managing director of the European Seniors Tour.

“I used to say I’d never join the Seniors Tour, but now I am not so sure,” Nick Faldo said. “Especially if this idea of a Seniors Ryder Cup takes off. That would be very exciting.”

Chip shots

Amy Alcott makes her movie debut with a stand-in spot in “Tin Cup,” the Kevin Costner love story about a golf hustler. The summer-release film is directed by Ron Shelton, who did “Bull Durham” and “Cobb.’ Alcott is not the first LPGA member to appear in a film. Muffin Spencer-Devlin was in one of the Star Trek movies.

John Daly and Tom Watson finished well back in the Australian Masters, Daly was nine strokes behind winner Craig Parry and Watson finished 17 back. Daly was given a warning by Australasian PGA Tour officials for “poor demeanor” after being denied relief from a sign on the fourth hole of the final round. “I’d just got to 2-under and I was thinking about winning the golf tournament,” Daly said. “A sign was right in the line of my shot. It was just a bad ruling. It’s just not right.”

It is totally in keeping with his character that the same week Jack Nicklaus indicated he no longer considered himself a factor in the regular tour major championships he would go out and win a tournament. Nicklaus closed with a 67 on Sunday - including an eagle on the 14th hole - to win the GTE Suncoast Classic. “I played well, but those guys gave me the tournament with the things that happened,” he said about final-round falters by Isao Aoki and Bob Murphy. … Paul Azinger, who still hasn’t won since returning from cancer treatment in the middle of 1994, could be recovering his strength and determination. Azinger finished four-strokes back in Hawaii over the weekend, closing with a 69 on Sunday.