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Sports Watch

By Bill Kwon

Friday, August 25, 2000

You’ve got to be
Tiger to hit a
ball that far

YOU know all that talk about Tiger Woods and the "Nike Tour Accuracy" golf ball that he endorses? Forget about it.

He could win any golf tournament - even a major - using a range ball. You know, one of those red-striped ones.

OK, so a public interest group filed suit that the ball that he endorses isn't exactly the one that he uses in competition.

So what?

I can use Tiger's exact golf ball and maybe knock it 180 yards, if I hit the sweet spot. No way is it going as far as Tiger hits it.

If it were just the golf ball, every PGA Tour professional would be playing the same ball. They don't because they know it's not just the ball.

They just don't have Tiger's same game.

It's not the ball, dummy.

So, if Nike pays Tiger millions of dollars to play its brand of ball, it's only for publicity. It has nothing to do with how far the golf ball will go. You've got to be Tiger to hit the golf ball that far.

You want to be like Tiger?

Any golf ball will do. Just practice, practice, practice. And maybe start playing golf at the age of 5 years old.

Otherwise, forget about it.

Besides, the ball that Tiger used before switching to Nike before the U.S. Open was Titleist. And Titleist doesn't need Tiger to promote its product.

In its 50-year history, Titleist is the most played ball by most of the best players. And the 14 clubs in Tiger's bag, by the way, are made by Titleist.

Meanwhile, it appears that Tiger isn't about to let up any despite winning the PGA Championship for his third major of the year.

He shot a 64 yesterday to take the first-round lead in the NEC World Golf Championship yesterday at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

By the way, good thing that the players on the regular tour don't have to use golf carts. You hate to think that their tires might have had to be recalled.

So with the elite invitation-only field of Ryder and President Cup players involved, it looks as though every one will be playing for second place again.

CADDY SHACK: Maybe every golf fan's dream is to caddy for Tiger Woods.

But former Hawaii resident Kyle Murai, who returned after living six years in Japan, his dream was to caddy for his boyhood idol, David Ishii.

Exactly a year ago, Murai fulfilled his dream.

He had an opportunity to see Ishii play in a number of Japan PGA events in the Kyushu area. In 1998, Murai finally got up enough nerve to ask Ishii if he could caddy for him some time.

"The following August I got a phone call from David Ishii. After the phone call ended, I screamed and jumped all around like I had won a million dollars," Murai said.

Ishii even invited Murai for breakfast in the clubhouse, which is unheard of, for caddies weren't allowed there.

The tournament was the KBC Augusta Masters. Thunderstorms canceled the second round, but Ishii made the cut and finished 11th.

For Murai, it was one of his most memorable experiences during his stay in Japan.

WRONG IMPRESSION: We quoted Kevin Hayashi two weeks ago as saying that Brian Sasada had the opportunity to skip the first round of the PGA Tour qualifying school with his victory in the Aloha Section PGA Stroke Play Championship at Mauna Kea.

Hayashi was under the wrong impression, according to Paul Sugimoto of the Aloha Section.