As Arnie Takes Time Off, Golf Stays in Good Hands

CARLSBAD — Arnold Palmer is hitching up his pants now, ready to start the charge against prostate cancer, a foe as undiscerning in choosing victims as Jack Nicklaus, as irascible as Tommy Bolt. If the last four decades have taught us anything, it is that Arnie will prevail.

Meantime, Palmer, who commandeered golf into the television era, takes a leave of absence from a sport that seldom, if ever, has seen better days.

Not that Sunday was one of them. Unrelenting, driving rain reduced the final round of the Mercedes Championships at La Costa Resort & Spa to a two-man, one-hole playoff.

But this is where the sun shone on the sport. If PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem had been required to select two players to engage in this sort of exercise, the two who would be most likely to bring an element of “High Noon” drama to the eight minutes it took to complete, he no doubt would have given the nod to Tom Lehman and Tiger Woods.

The player of the year versus a player for the ages.

Salieri versus Mozart.

Woods is a 21-year-old prodigy who was virtually born with a golf club in his hand and knew what to do with it, arriving on the tour last year as a three-time U.S. Amateur champion and a Nike-made multimillionaire.

Lehman is a 37-year-old latecomer who did not dig in on the tour until 1992 after years of playing off, off Broadway from the Dakotas to the Carolinas. He recalls showering in a rainstorm once in New Mexico because he couldn’t afford a $40 hotel room.

The conditions Sunday should have suited him. Instead, he hit his tee shot high on the par-three, 188-yard No. 7 into the wind, watching in disbelief as it carried into the lake fronting the green. Woods hit his eight inches from the hole and birdied for the victory.

I would have thought the 5,000 or so soggy spectators who stayed to the finish would have been disappointed. Surely, they wanted to see more. Yet, many cheered when Lehman’s shot dropped into the lake.

There are golf fans and there are Tiger fans. Arnie’s Army was not much different.

The classy Lehman wasn’t resentful, just disappointed that the weather didn’t allow him to play 18 with Woods.

“Going head to head with Tiger,” he said, “I would have been a better player because of it.”

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What’s so great about Tiger? Two of his three victories have come in playoffs. . . .

Woods said at the beginning of his post-victory news conference that he wouldn’t answer questions about his schedule. So, naturally, one of the first questions was whether he would play at Torrey Pines. . . .

Along with the $216,000 for first place, Woods also won a 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL500 coupe/roadster. He gave the keys to his mother. “I already have one of those,” he said. . . .

What’s so great about Tiger? Horton Smith won seven tournaments before his 21st birthday, Gene Sarazen won three. Woods turned 21 on Dec. 30. . . .

The PGA Tour has its own meteorologist in Stewart Williams, who follows weather patterns via a computer hook-up to the National Weather Service. . . .

Bad news. Williams said Sunday these wet conditions could continue through Tuesday. . . .

Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak says Cedric Ceballos’ unauthorized water skiing vacation last spring had nothing to do with Ceballos’ trade to Phoenix. I believe that. . . .

Phoenix Coach Danny Ainge says Robert Horry’s terrible towel tantrum had nothing to do with Horry’s trade to the Lakers. I believe that. . . .

UCLA Coach Steve Lavin says the heated argument he had in the first half of the Stanford game with Jelani McCoy had nothing to do with McCoy’s benching against Cal. I believe that. . . .

Pigs can fly. I believe that. . . .

The 48-point loss to Stanford says less about Lavin’s future as a coach than the Bruins’ ability to rebound for a victory two days later. . . .

Horry’s reputation for shutting down big-time small forwards will be tested Saturday night, when Grant Hill and the Detroit Pistons visit the Forum. . . .

A public service award should go to the UCLA women’s gymnastics team, which during a three-minute warmup in Sunday’s dual meet against Georgia at Pauley Pavilion performed “Death of the Macarena.”. . .

Unfortunately, the Packerena lives. . . .

Tiger, are you going to play at Riviera?

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While crossing the waterlogged tundra of La Costa, I was thinking: the weather was more suited for golf in Green Bay and Foxboro, Bill Parcells wouldn’t be considering coaching the New York Jets if he’s as smart as everyone says, it’s too bad the NBA wasn’t as generous with Toronto and Vancouver as the NFL was with Carolina and Jacksonville, Green Bay will win another Super Bowl for the NFC.