Posted on: Wednesday, January 4, 2006

Top rookie wants to play with Wie

By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press

KAPALUA, Maui — Ernie Els is not playing in the Sony Open this year, meaning Michelle Wie had to get a new practice partner. The Hawai`i teen found one in someone old enough to be her big brother — 23-year-old Sean O'Hair.

O'Hair, the PGA Tour's rookie of the year, was talking to David Leadbetter when the swing coach mentioned he would be at the Sony Open to work with the 16-year-old, 6-foot Wie. O'Hair mentioned he'd like to play a practice round with her.

"I guess I still have to ask her," he said. "I'm going to have to stand real tall."

That shouldn't be a problem because O'Hair is a lean 6 feet 2.

"She hasn't grown any, has she?" he asked.

GREEN WITH ENVY

Tiger Woods has long complained about the severe grain in the greens on the Plantation course at Kapalua. By not showing up for the Mercedes Championships this year, he doesn't know what he's missing.

Kapalua made a huge investment this year by renovating all 18 greens with a new strain of grass that is tighter and stands more vertical, allowing them to be cut lower to have greater consistency. During the past few days of practice, players have been astonished at how true they roll.

"The best I've seen them," Mark Calcavecchia said.

It was no small cost.

Kapalua vice president Gary Planos said the resort considered redoing the greens after the first tournament on the Plantation course in 1992, at the old Lincoln-Mercury Invitational. Instead, the staff tried to maintain them and noticed some improvement, but not as great as they wanted.

The Plantation course had to be closed four months to redo the greens.

"Financially, it was a very hard decision because you displace some 18,000 rounds of golf," Planos said. "Closing the Plantation from April to July is not inexpensive. But the results are coming in overwhelmingly, and it's a big home run."

ABC OUT OF THE PICTURE

ABC Sports is no longer part of the negotiations for the PGA Tour's next television contract, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said yesterday, leaving only two networks to broadcast the majority of tournaments.

The tour's contract expires after this year, and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has been negotiating a new TV contract since the week before Thanksgiving, with a deal expected to be announced within the next two weeks.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the tour's contract has not been finalized, said ABC left the table about a week ago.

"It's a done deal. ABC is out," the source said. "It all comes down to dollars."

ABC spokesman Mark Mandel declined comment because of ongoing negotiations. When asked if ABC was still part of the negotiations, he said, "That is our official response."

ABC golf producer Mark Loomis was at the Rose Bowl and could not be reached for comment.

PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs declined comment.

"Because our discussions with our TV partners are still in progress, it's not appropriate to provide any comment on those discussions," Combs said.

With ABC out of picture, that leaves NBC Sports and CBS Sports to pick up the slack from January through September.

WRITERS HONOR JACK

Jack Nicklaus, Bart Bryant and former USGA president Sandy Tatum have won awards voted on by members of the Golf Writers Association of America.

Nicklaus, who has been dealing with the press for nearly 50 years, won the ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award for his cooperation, quotability and accommodation to the media.

Bryant won the Ben Hogan Award, given to the individual who continues to be active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. Bryant, whose three victories in the past two years include a wire-to-wire win at the Tour Championship, has had three significant surgeries since 1992 that almost knocked him out of the game.

The William D. Richardson Award went to Tatum, 85, whose involvement in golf spans his leadership at the USGA to the way he cut through the red tape of San Francisco politics to get Harding Park transformed into a public gem good enough to host a World Golf Championship. The Richardson Award is for those making outstanding contributions to golf.

They will be honored April 5 at the GWAA's annual awards dinner in Augusta, Ga.