Sports Watch
VIVE le difference. You've got to love differences. They make the world go around. And, a difference of opinion makes horse races. The difference is subtle
when it comes to golfJ.J. Lucas, Hawaii Pacific University's 6-foot-10 junior forward who transferred from Vanderbilt University, was asked the difference between Division-I basketball and that played by the NAIA.
The son of basketball hall of famer Jerry Lucas didn't hesitate in answering: "There are more white guys in the NAIA."
The young Lucas gave up the glitz and glamour of playing big-time basketball in Nashville to come here for a laid-back lifestyle, which is more to his liking.
He got his first taste of the local life when he came with the Commodores to the Maui Classic two summers ago. "I told my teammates I didn't want to leave," Lucas said.
Another difference: Vanderbilt's basketball players eat their pregame meals at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. "Our guys are lucky to get enough money left over after rent to eat at McDonald's," says HPU coach Tony Sellitto.
The matter of differences came to mind after watching the PGA and LPGA tours on successive weeks.
I'm not talking about the obvious differences - that men hit the golf ball farther and make more money doing so. I won't get into any arguments about the latter. Talk to television network officials about that gender inequity.
Rather, some subtle differences, one of which is club selections.
OHN Daly carries just one wood in his bag. He hits 'em long enough, there's no need to fiddle around with any other sticks except for the irons.
On the other hand, peek into Annika Sorenstam's bag. She carries a 5-wood and 7-wood. Callaways, of course. She even uses a 9-wood, although she didn't have it in her bag while winning the Cup Noodles Ladies Hawaiian Open last week at the Kapolei Golf Course.
Didn't need it, she said, because the course played so short. That is, if the wind doesn't blow as it did in Saturday's final round when Sorenstam discovered for herself the notoriety of Hawaii's winds. She shot a 73 and hung on for a one-stroke victory over defending champion Meg Mallon, who actually overtook Annika's four-shot lead to lead briefly.
There are around at least 10 golfers on the LPGA Tour who carry 9-woods, according to Sorenstam, who has won two tournaments and finished second in three events this year to be the early money leader with $273,010.
Suddenly, I don't feel so bad about that 9-wood in my bag.
The biggest difference, though, between the PGA and the LPGA, is the abundance of those unwieldy hyphenated names you see on the women's tour. Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Maggie Will-Halpin, Jill Briles-Hinton, Kristal Parker-Gregory, Katie Peterson-Parker, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Anna Acker-Macosko and Cindy Figg-Currier all crowded the Kapolei scoreboard.
The "Hyphens" will be joined by Vickie Goetze, who'll be known as Goetze-Ackerman after this week's event in Australia.
THE reason for all the hyphens, of course, is that they've literally hitched on their husbands' names.
Missie Berteotti, for one, thinks it's silly. So much so that she still prefers to go by Berteotti even though Missie became a missus. She won't use her husband's name - a practice also employed by Sorenstam and Kris Tschetter, two recent brides.
Barb Thomas, the 1995 winner, created a moment of confusion by playing as Barbara Whitehead this year, taking her husband's name without hyphenating it with her own.
Of course, that practice can get complicated with a divorce. Dottie Pepper won two tournaments last year. She has won a bunch as Dottie Mochrie for several years prior to that. Tina Tombs won in 1990 when she was Tina Purtzer.
Imagine if they remarry.