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Sports Watch
TALK about too much of a good thing. Unlike previous years, golf fans have to take their pick of attending either the PGA Tour's Sony Open or the Senior Tour's MasterCard Championship this weekend because of a scheduling conflict. No shortage of tour
players in HawaiiErnie Els, Davis Love III, defending Sony Open champion Paul Azinger and Jim Furyk, winner of the Mercedes Championships last week at Kapalua, are doing their thing at the Waialae Country Club.
Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Lee Trevino, Larry Nelson and defending champion George Archer are among the swinging senior set in the winners-only field at Hualalai.
The conflict -- caused by the World Golf Championship in Australia moving the Mercedes Championships back a week later -- also posed a dilemma for the Jack Nicklaus family.
Nicklaus is playing in the Senior Tour's season opener starting today on the Big Island, while No. 3 son Gary is at Waialae for the Sony Open.
Barbara Nicklaus watched Gary shoot a 66 and then flew back to see her husband in action this weekend.
Like Tiger Woods, PGA commissioner Tim Finchem passed up the Sony Open after the Mercedes Championship.
But unlike Tiger, Finchem has a good excuse. He's in Washington, D.C., where the Supreme Court is hearing the Casey Martin case against the PGA Tour.
Martin, who suffers from a debilitating leg disease, requires the use of a golf cart in order to compete. The PGA Tour says that walking is an integral part of the game. Martin's lawyer says walking isn't fundamental to the game.
As much as everyone sympathizes with Martin, he has no business using a golf cart. Martin riding while everyone else is walking amounts to an exemption to the rule.
OK, so the American League uses the silly designated-hitter rule, unlike its National League brethren. But it's a rule every AL team plays by.
The PGA Tour also should have the right to make its own playing rules.
The American Disabilities Act shouldn't even be an issue, let alone be applied. The law requires "reasonable modifications" for disabled people unless such changes would fundamentally alter the nature of the place or event. In the case of golf -- as a competitive sport and not a recreational activity -- using a cart would fundamentally alter the game.
Appealing on ADA grounds would open up Pandora's Box. If Martin can use a golf cart in order to make a living, why can't others do the same?
And why can't handicapped sportswriters also use a golf cart to follow the action? They need to make a living, too.
You can see the problems if the Supreme Court rules in Casey Martin's favor.
ROUSING SUCCESS:
The first Sony Open satellite pro-am at the Kapolei Golf Course won praises from the 36 pros who participated."A lot of them told me that it was the best pro-am they've ever played," said Dale Nagata, the Sony official who ran the event. "It's going to be even better next year."
Each of the pros received a PlayStation 2, Sony's hot-selling item. As for the 144 amateurs, each received a Sony Open golf travel bag, plus a VCR, Discman, Walkman and travel alarm clock all just for showing up.
It was a pro-am for the local Sony supporters, according to Ryozo Sakai, president of Sony Hawaii, which also hosted a pro-am for 200 guests Monday at Waialae .
"We hope you don't forget Sony," Sakai told the Kapolei pro-am players. It's doubtful any will as they walked away with an armful of Sony goodies.
