Golf

Marking madness

By BOB HARIG
Published June 9, 2005

Golf has many bizarre rules. Scott Verplank , above, experienced one last week at the Memorial. During the first round, he was assessed a one-stroke penalty after replacing his ball on the par-3 eighth green. As Verplank was about to set his ball down in front of his marker, the ball slipped from his fingers and landed on the edge of his coin, causing it to flip. "It was heads and came up tails," Verplank said. "So, obviously, it moved." Verplank was simply going to move the coin back, then thought better of it. He summoned a rules official, who told him that causing the coin to move was a penalty. "Being penalized for being a clumsy human is not a good part of the rules," Verplank said.

CHANGING AGENTS, PLANES: Ernie Els is considered one of golf's good guys, but apparently he has a tough time getting along with those who represent him. Els recently switched from International Management Group to International Sports Management, leaving IMG after just a year. This will be his fifth agent in five years. Els said last week at the Memorial that several issues led to the change. But this spring, it was clear Els was unhappy with IMG after his name was used in a letter sent by the group to various tournaments touting outings for its players. Els said he did not authorize this type of use of his name. Els, who travels the globe unlike any other player, will find that task easier next year. He has sold his private airplane, a G-IV, and upgraded to a G-V. The bigger model, which won't be delivered until next year, has a range of 13-14 hours, where the old plane was less than 10 hours.

QUOTABLE

"I thought I might just throw my guts up, let them leak in the river on the 17th hole. Laying in my bed last night, it was just a total mystery to me. Would I go out and be confident, trust my swing, trust my putting stroke, or would I just get so nervous, I wouldn't play? I didn't know." - Bart Bryant , on what he was thinking before the final round of the Memorial Tournament. He won with a final-round 68.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Five players have won more than half (13) of the first 23 PGA Tour events in 2005. Phil Mickelson , Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh have three victories each, and Kenny Perry and Justin Leonard have two.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:18:10]