Golf

The 19th hole

By BOB HARIG
Published October 6, 2005

DIVOTS

* REMEMBERING JAKE: On the eve of the recent Presidents Cup, the 12 U.S. team members presented captain Jack Nicklaus with a portrait of his grandson, Jake, who drowned on March 1. Jake, the son of Steve and Krista Nicklaus, was 17 months old. The painting was done by Maryland artist Kirk Maggio and the Golden Bear was touched by the gesture. "It's the sweetest thing that's ever been done for me," Nicklaus said. "I was crying like a baby. I'm crying thinking about it right now. Half the team was in tears. It was just wonderful." The Nicklaus family wants to have the painting displayed in the Nicklaus Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

* RETIREMENT AND GOLF: Avid golfers are more likely to know more about their games than their retirement accounts. According to a study conducted by Golf Digest and Nationwide Financial, 85 percent of golfers can tell you the score they shot in their last round. But only 52 percent know the current value of their investments. Also, 74 percent said they have increased the amount they spend on golf, while only 54 percent said they have increased the amount they save for retirement. And then there is this: 94 percent said they can tell you what areas of their game need improvement, while just 45 percent can tell you which area of their investment strategy needs improvement. Of course, maybe they should be asked this question: How much golf do you expect to play in retirement if you don't save more for it?

"Now that they have the Presidents Cup, the Solheim Cup and the Walker Cup, it gives them an incentive to win the Ryder Cup, and we wish them well. It could be a competition. The last one wasn't, was it?" - Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, a member of the European Ryder Cup team that dealt the United States its worst loss in the competition last year.

Tiger Woods has won nine of the 18 World Golf Championships in which he has played, earning $11,677,500 in those 18 tournaments. That figure alone would put him 45th on the all-time PGA Tour money list.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:14:18]