Wednesday, January 12, 2000

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
After Peter Jacobsen, left, won the Johnny Bellinger
Shoot-Out yesterday, he called over the University of
Hawaii football coach June Jones to joke with him how
he was a great athlete except for sinking like a rock while
swimming. They grew up in Portland, Ore., and
played junior golf together.

Jacobsen in tune
for Sony

He wins the Johnny Bellinger
Shoot-Out and reacquaints
himself with old friend and
junior golf rival June Jones

Sony Open Notebook
Starting times

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Maybe a little bit of June Jones' magic is rubbing off on old friend Peter Jacobsen.

The two Portland, Ore., boys got reacquainted on the 18th green at Waialae Country Club late yesterday evening after Jacobsen won his first Johnny Bellinger Shoot-Out.

Granted, the PGA Tour pros start anew in tomorrow's opening round of the $2.9-million Sony Open, but if everything Jones touches turns to gold, his former junior golf buddy might be a step away from winning his seventh PGA title and first since the 1995 Buick Invitational.

"I don't know if he remembers this or not, but I played with him the first time he broke 80," Jones said.

When to watch Where: The 7,060-yard, par-70 (35-35) Waialae Country Club When: Tomorrow-Sunday Purse: $2.9 million with $522,000 for first place Defending champion: Jeff Sluman Tickets: $10 for tomorrow and Friday; $15 for Saturday and Sunday. Children under 12 admitted free with adult ticket holder. $50 for season badge. TV: ESPN at 2-4 p.m. tomorrow; 3-5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 3-5 p.m. Sunday.

Jacobsen countered that remark by saying, "He was thrashing us in junior golf. He was the man. He did everything well. And I hate to tell stories on the guy, but he was great at football, basketball, baseball. But he was a terrible swimmer. He went right to the bottom of the pool."

These days, Jacobsen spends a lot of time with his family. Much like Jones, that's the most important part of his life. He has a son who could be quite a high school basketball player and two other children in college.

Not that Jacobsen leaves his clubs in the garage. The 45-year-old always takes the West Coast swing seriously and would like nothing better than to get off to a fast start at the first full-field PGA Tour event of the year.

"Here we are and Tiger Woods has already won one tournament," Jacobsen said of Woods' Mercedes Championship win last weekend on Maui. "We're all chasing him. He's the best player in the game.

"We've all got to get ourselves in shape over here and try to challenge him. It's good he's not playing this week, so he gives everybody else a chance. I play here every year. Hawaii is like a second home to me."

The same can be said of defending Sony Open champion Jeff Sluman. He played last week at the Mercedes and has been in the Hawaiian Islands since Dec. 27. Sluman also took part in yesterday's $25,000 Shoot-Out, but exited after the first hole.

"I hope I do a little better later this week," Sluman quipped. "I feel pretty good about my game right now. I played fairly well last week at Mercedes and look forward to coming out here and seeing how I do this week."

Sluman and Jacobsen are part of a field that includes 20 of the 30 golfers who took part in last week's Mercedes Championships, including South African Ernie Els.

Els lost to Woods on the second hole of sudden-death. Had he not missed a couple of short putts on the back nine, it's possible he would be the man in this week's event.

"I'm looking forward to playing in Honolulu to see how it goes," Els said. "I thought I hit the ball from tee to green better than Tiger did last week, but I just missed a couple of putts I should have made. Maybe they'll fall this week."

This is the second the Sony Open. Jacobsen, Jim Furyk, Paul Azinger and Tom Lehman have played well here in the past, when the tournament was known as the Hawaiian Open. Recent course changes are meant to make the Waialae Country Club similar to the one of the old days.

Several of the players commented about the changes during yesterday's fun event. They feel it will make the course more competitive, especially if the tradewinds are blowing.

"I love this course," Jacobsen said. "It rewards you if you make good shots and punishes you if you stray out of the fairway. This will always be one of my favorite stops on Tour.

"I feel like I'm playing better than I did last year. ... I'm striking the ball well and I like the feel of this new putter."

Jones took part in a fun chip-off with the local media before following the dozen golfers taking part in the Shoot-Out. He received several ovations from the fans and a heap of praise from Jacobsen.

"He came in here and turned this program around, like I knew he would," Jacobsen said.

"If he wanted to be, he could be a great golfer. He was tough to beat during our junior golf days. I love this guy. I couldn't be happier for him and the state of Hawaii."

Tomorrow's first round begins at 7:20 a.m. Golfers will go off both sides. Some of the more marquee pairings are Furyk, Jesper Parnevik and Notah Begay going off the 10th tee at 7:47 a.m. Sluman, Azinger and Tour rookie of the year Carlos Franco are one group back at 7:56 a.m.

The next group has Els, British Open champ Paul Lawrie and former U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen at 8:05 a.m. Jacobsen goes off the 10th tee at 12:39 in the afternoon.

"I'm looking forward to going out and seeing how I do," Jacobsen said. "Winning this event gives me some confidence that my game is in good shape. We'll just have to tee it up and see how it goes."

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Sony Open Notebook

Mercedes a ratings hit

The overnight ratings for the 2000 Mercedes Championships set a record for golf programming on ESPN-TV.

Sunday's broadcast of the dramatic sudden-death finish between Tigers Woods and Ernie Els drew a 3.5 rating, which is equal to 2.7 million households.

The ratings for each of the four days of this elite tournament were up significantly over 1999. Some 6.3 million households tuned in to the event.

It was up 10 percent on Thursday to 43 percent on Sunday. This is the second year the Mercedes was played on the Plantation Course on Kapalua, Maui, and the second year it was broadcast in prime time on the East Coast.

Lyle big winner

Sandy Lyle won $7,000 in yesterday's Tour Players Challenge held at the Waialae Country Club.

Lyle finished with 15 points overall to ease past Billy Andrade, who finished second with 13 points in the event which features four different kinds of shots.

Andrade won the longest drive at 300 yards. Chip Beck finished first in the trick shot competition. Lyle won the bunker shot and Andrade sunk the longest putt.

Each golfer won $1,000 for finishing first in the respective categories. Total points were kept in the four categories that featured golfers Lyle, Andrade, Beck, David Ishii, and British Open champion Paul Lawrie.

Beck placed third in the overall competition with nine points, Ishii had six and Lawrie scored five.

Nicklaus debut

Gary Nicklaus will make his PGA Tour debut tomorrow at the first hole at 1:24 p.m.

The son of Jack Nicklaus turned pro in 1991, but didn't make it through the qualifying school until last year. Like his famous father, Nicklaus went to Ohio State and plays out of Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

He finished in a tie for 12th at the qualifying school. It was the ninth time he has tried to earn his PGA Tour card. The only year Nicklaus earned any money was in 1993. He finished 267th on the money list with $5,427. His best finish was a tie for 58th at the 1993 Honda Classic.

---

By Paul Arnett

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Sony Open in Hawaii

At Waialae Country Club
Hawaii participants in bold face
Starting times for Thursday, January 13

First tee
7:20 a.m.--Neal Lancaster, Dave Stockton, Jr., Jeff Gallagher. 7:29--Mike Springer, Mike Hulbert, Scott Dunlap. 7:38--Steve Lowery, Larry Rinker, Rory Sabbatini. 7:47--Brad Faxon, Corey Pavin, Fulton Allem.
7:56--Duffy Waldorf, John Cook, Tom Purtzer. 8:05--Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron, Craig Stadler. 8:14--Kelly Gibson, Stephen Ames, Chris Riley. 8:23--Tom Byrum, Omar Uresti, P.H. Horgan III.
8:32--Bob Burns, Shigeki Maruyama, Steve Gotsche. 8:41--Perry Moss, Jason Caron, Bart Bryant. 8:50--Brad Elder, K.J. Choi, Keiichiro Fukabori. 8:59--Ben Bates, Jeff Gove, Tommy Hines.
11:45--Len Mattiace, Bob Friend, Robert Allenby. 11:54--Grant Waite, Mike Reid, Mike Brisky. 12:03 p.m.--Pete Jordan, Robin Freeman, Brett Quigley. 12:12--Rich Beem, Glen Day, Tom Lehman.
12:21--Ted Tryba, Olin Browne, Loren Roberts. 12:30--J.L. Lewis, John Huston, Billy Andrade. 12:39--Larry Mize, Joel Edwards, Esteban Toledo. 12:48--Rick Fehr, Chris DiMarco, Doug Barron.
12:57--Jeff Brehaut, Brian Gay, Kazuhiko Hosokawa. 1:06--Keith Nolan, Matt Gogel, Steve Jurgensen. 1:15--Doug Dunakey, David Morland IV, Kaname Yokoo. 1:24--Ryan Howison, Gary Nicklaus, John Douma.

Tenth tee
7:20 a.m.--David Edwards, Robert Gamez, Sean Murphy. 7:29--Paul Goydos, David Peoples, Keith Clearwater. 7:38--David Ogrin, Skip Kendall, John Maginnes. 7:47--Jim Furyk, Notah Begay III, Jesper Parnevik.
7:56--Carlos Franco, Jeff Sluman, Paul Azinger. 8:05--Paul Lawrie, Ernie Els, Lee Janzen. 8:14--Steve Stricker, Nolan Henke, Tom Scherrer. 8:23--Sandy Lyle, Mike Wiebe, Greg Kraft.
8:32--Jason Buha, Bobby Cochran, Kevin Hayashi. 8:41--David Ishii, Bob May, Craig Bowden. 8:50--Joe Ogilvie, John Restino, Aaron Bengoechea. 8:59--Edward Pryatt, Mathew Goggin, Parker McLachlin.
11:45--Jay Don Blake, Jim Carter, Jonathan Kaye. 11:54--Woody Austin, Jerry Kelly, Greg Chalmers. 12:03 p.m.--Chip Beck, Frank Lickliter, Charles Raulerson. 12:12--Jeff Maggert, Fred Funk, Steve Jones.
12:21--Brian Henninger, Vijay Singh, Joe Durant. 12:30--Dicky Pride, Craig Barlow, Carl Paulson. 12:39--Peter Jacobsen, Scott Gump, Barry Cheesman. 12:48--Craig A. Spence, Shaun Michael, Greg Meyer.
12:57--John Rollins, Bob Heintz, Jerry Smith. 1:06--Mike Sposa, Steve Hart, Cameron Beckman. 1:15--Jay Williamson, Glen Hnatiuk, Craig Perks. 1:24--Jimmy Green, Michael Clark II, Mamoru Osanai.

Starting times for Friday, January 14

First tee
7:20 a.m.--Jay Don Blake, Jim Carter, Jonathan Kaye. 7:29--Woody Austin, Jerry Kelly, Greg Chalmers. 7:38--Chip Beck, Frank Lickliter, Charles Raulerson. 7:47--Jeff Maggert, Fred Funk, Steve Jones.
7:56--Brian Henninger, Vijay Singh, Joe Durant. 8:05--Dicky Pride, Craig Barlow, Carl Paulson. 8:14--Peter Jacobsen, Scott Gump, Barry Cheesman. 8:23--Craig A. Spence, Shaun Michael, Greg Meyer.
8:32--John Rollins, Bob Heintz, Jerry Smith. 8:41--Mike Sposa, Steve Hart, Cameron Beckman. 8:50--Jay Williamson, Glen Hnatiuk, Craig Perks. 8:59--Jimmy Green, Michael Clark II, Mamoru Osanai.
11:45--David Edwards, Robert Gamez, Sean Murphy. 11:54--Paul Goydos, David Peoples, Keith Clearwater. 12:03 p.m.--David Ogrin, Skip Kendall, John Maginnes. 12:12--Jim Furyk, Notah Begay III, Jesper Parnevik.
12:21--Carlos Franco, Jeff Sluman, Paul Azinger. 12:30--Paul Lawrie, Ernie Els, Lee Janzen. 12:39--Steve Stricker, Nolan Henke, Tom Scherrer. 12:48--Sandy Lyle, Mike Wiebe, Greg Kraft.
12:57--Jason Buha, Bobby Cochran, Kevin Hayashi. 1:06--David Ishii, Bob May, Craig Bowden. 1:15--Joe Ogilvie, John Restino, Aaron Bengoechea. 1:24--Edward Pryatt, Mathew Goggin, Parker McLachlin.

Tenth tee
7:20 a.m.--Len Mattiace, Bob Friend, Robert Allenby. 7:29--Grant Waite, Mike Reid, Mike Brisky. 7:38--Pete Jordan, Robin Freeman, Brett Quigley. 7:47--Rich Beem, Glen Day, Tom Lehman.
7:56--Ted Tryba, Olin Browne, Loren Roberts. 8:05--J.L. Lewis, John Huston, Billy Andrade. 8:14--Larry Mize, Joel Edwards, Esteban Toledo. 8:23--Rick Fehr, Chris DiMarco, Doug Barron.
8:32--Jeff Brehaut, Brian Gay, Kazuhiko Hosokawa. 8:41--Keith Nolan, Matt Gogel, Steve Jurgensen. 8:50--Doug Dunakey, David Morland IV, Kaname Yokoo. 8:59--Ryan Howison, Gary Nicklaus, John Douma.
11:45--Neal Lancaster, Dave Stockton, Jr., Jeff Gallagher. 11:54--Mike Springer, Mike Hulbert, Scott Dunlap. 12:03 p.m.--Steve Lowery, Larry Rinker, Rory Sabbatini. 12:12--Brad Faxon, Corey Pavin, Fulton Allem.
12:21--Duffy Waldorf, John Cook, Tom Purtzer. 12:30--Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron, Craig Stadler. 12:39--Kelly Gibson, Stephen Ames, Chris Riley. 12:48--Tom Byrum, Omar Uresti, P.H. Horgan III.
12:57--Bob Burns, Shigeki Maruyama, Steve Gotsche. 1:06--Perry Moss, Jason Caron, Bart Bryant. 1:15--Brad Elder, K.J. Choi, Keiichiro Fukabori. 1:24--Ben Bates, Jeff Gove, Tommy Hines.