Golf

The 19th hole

By BOB HARIG
Published August 4, 2005

DIVOTS

PHIL'S PHILANTHROPY: About 1,000 San Diego-area children were treated to a Wal-Mart shopping spree on Saturday, courtesy of Phil Mickelson's foundation. Each child picked out $200 worth of clothes and shoes and was given a backpack filled with school supplies. Mickelson and his foundation donated $200,000, while Wal-Mart donated $25,000 plus breakfast. Mickelson and his wife, Amy, arrived at 5:30 a.m. to greet the kids. "We feel very lucky to be in a position to do this," said Mickelson, who spent more than three hours at the store meeting and greeting children and their families.

THE DIFFICULTY OF AN ACE: The odds of a PGA Tour player making a hole-in-one are 3,000-1, according to Francis Scheid, retired chairman of Boston University's mathematics department. He was asked by Golf Digest to calculate the odds of a hole-in-one for its September issue. For a low-handicap player, the odds go up to 5,000-1, and to 12,000-1 for an average golfer. It gets more difficult as the hole lengthens. Scheid said that for an average player, making an ace on a 150-yard hole is 80,000-1, and the odds go to 150,000-1 at 200 yards.

"I'm playing better this year than I did last year. I'm just hoping I can follow what I did last year." - Vijay Singh

With his victory at the Buick Open, Vijay Singh now has more victories in Buick-sponsored events (five) than Tiger Woods (four), who is the company's marquee golf endorser.

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 01:05:20]