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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1997)
Woods continues to impress, wins Mercedes’ title ■ PGA: Tiger Woods breaks the $1 million career winnings mark with win The Associated Press CARLSBAD, Calif. — Tiger Woods nearly aced the first play off hole in the rain-shortened Mercedes Championships to de feat Tom Lehman and win for the third time in just nine starts as a professional. The $216,000 first prize gave Woods $1,006,594 in career win nings, the fastest anyone has got ten to the $1 million mark by far. And only Gene Sarazen and Hor ton Smith won three events at a younger age than the 21-year-old Woods. “It’s a perfect start,” Woods said about winning the first tour nament of the new season. “I go out there trying to win each and every tournament,” Woods said. And at times, it seems like he might be able to do just that. In his nine tournaments as a profession al, he has finished in the top-five six times. Asked if he was surprised by winning a third time so quickly, Woods shook his head slowly and said: “No, only because it is what I set out to do — win every tour nament.” The almost unbelievable suc cess Woods has had in his brief professional debut at times seems scripted by a Hollywood filmwriter making a movie no one would believe. He added to his legacy on Sun day when he stepped onto the seventh tee at La Costa Resort and Spa and sent a high, arching 6 iron 186 yards through the rain. The ball drew ever so slightly from right to left, plopped onto the soggy green about 2 feet be hind the hole and spun back to within 8 inches from the hole. “I lost it in the air because of the clouds and the rain,” Woods said about his winning shot. “A rain drop hit me right in the eye when 1 looked up.” The surprisingly large gallery huddled under umbrellas in the cold rain told Woods where the ball ended up, erupted in a huge roar, many shaking their heads as if asking, “What else can this kid do?” The sensational shot helped ease the disappointment of the highly anticipated washed out fi nal-round matchup between Lehman — the player of the year — and Woods — the rookie of the year. Both had finished 54 holes at 14-under-par, five strokes ahead of Guy Boros, who received third place money, and six better than Paul Goydos and Fred Couples. But a persistent rain made the course unplayable, and tourna ment officials decided to make it a 54-hole event. Woods and Lehman played No. 7 because it was the only hole that was playable. They would have con tinued playing No. 7 over and over until a winner was deter mined. Lehman hit first and immedi ately took the pressure off Woods by hitting his 6-iron into the wa ter. All Woods needed to do was put the ball on the green and two putt. He did much better than that. “Tiger hit a great shot,” Lehman said. “Of course, he had no pressure on him,” he added, clearly disgusted with his own poor shot. “1 hit it a little high on the club face,” he said. “The wind caught it and it went in the water.” Woods, who said he played conservatively all week because he was rusty from lack of compe tition, got better with each round. He opened with a 70, followed it with a 67 and then shot a 65 on Saturday when he closed with four consecutive birdies to tie Lehman and get in the playoff. Lehman was equally brilliant, putting together rounds of 66, 67 and 69. Both players were clearly dis appointed that Sunday’s antici pated showdown was washed out. Friday night, Lehman was voted player of the year by PGA Tour members and Woods was voted rookie of the year. “I’d rather have played,” Woods said. “You don’t want anything given to you. You want to earn it.” So far, Woods has earned a re markable lot in a very short time. DIVOTS: All but three groups made it onto the course before play was suspended. ...Woods warmed up for the playoff by hit ting only his 5-iron on the prac tice tee. He then hit a 6-iron on the playoff hole. ...A poor weather forecast removed any chance of trying to finish the tournament on Monday. “The chances are so slim we could play 18 holes to morrow that is didn’t make sense to hold people over,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. ...Ernie Els won $1 million in his first 28 tournaments, the previous fastest to that mark. Woods did it in one-third the time. ...Finchem walked into the media room dur ing the rain delay preceded by a PGA Tour official who whis pered, “Quick, get the football off TV.” Injury gives Graf first-round win; Philippoussis drops out ■ AUSTRALIA: 1995 champ Andre Agassi and women’s star Jana Novotna won’t play in the first Grand Slam tournament of 1997 The Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Be leaguered by injuries before it even began, the Australian Open got off to a stumbling start Monday when Steffi Grafs first-round op ponent twisted her knee after 25 minutes. Graf led 5-1 in the first set when Janette Husarova of Slovakia hurt her left knee changing direction while rushing the net. After hav ing her knee wrapped in ice on the court, Husarova left in a wheel chair. The top-seeded Graf, seeking her fifth Australian Open title, had such a short workout in the match that she went directly from center court to a practice court. The year’s first Grand Slam event lost its biggest name, or at least the one with the most letters in it and the most appeal to home town fans, when Mark Philip poussis withdrew with an arm in jury on the eve of the tournament. A year ago, Philippoussis put on a dazzling show of power tennis to knock out top-seed Pete Sampras in the third round. On Sunday, Philippoussis pulled out of what looked like the best opening round match, a center court duel against Britain’s rising star, Tim Henman, winner of the tuneup tournament in Sydney on Satur day. The injured-and-out camp is getting pretty full: defending women’s champion Monica Seles, French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Wimbledon champi on Richard Krajicek, Todd Martin, Cedric Pioline, Jason Stoltenberg. The don’t-feel-like-playing camp already claimed 1995 cham pion Andre Agassi and Jana Novotna. The injured-but-will-try camp includes Jim Courier, Michael Stich and Guy Forget. The Australian still has plenty of top talent worthy of a major ti tie, and among those scheduled to play Monday — assuming they don’t get hurt on the way to the sta dium — is defending champion Boris Becker. Sampras, the men’s top seed, had the first day off. Becker appeared to have the toughest assignment among the high ranking men, going against Carlos Moya. The Spaniard beat Becker in Paris last fall and reached the final in Sydney before losing to Henman on the same kind of hard, Rebound Ace court that is used in the Australian Open. “He’s not just your typical Spanish clay courier,” Becker said. “He’s able to play on a quick er surface as well, which is going to make him more dangerous on this surface. I’ve seen him a few times playing and he’s no stranger tome.” Other featured matches on opening day include Stich against Sweden’s Patrik Fredriksson; 15 year-old Anna Kournikova of Rus sia against No. 12 Amanda Coet zer; and 1995 champion Mary Pierce of France against No. 13 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia. When Becker was healthy last year — at the start and at the end — he was one of the most domi nant players on the tour, beating all the top five players. He suffered a freak accident when he injured his wrist returning a serve at Wim bledon, but came back strong to lead the tour with $4 million in prize money — including a $1.8 million victory in the Grand Slam Cup. At 29, Becker knows his time as a Grand Slam tournament con tender is getting shorter. He’s al ready considering retirement in a few years and would like to notch another major or two before he goes. Though ranked only No. 6, hardly representative of his form, Becker has no plans to pursue the No. 1 spot by playing week after week. “I was always the one from all the top players who played the least,” he said. "I was never play ing more than 15-16 tournaments. I have my periods through the year where I have to take a break. Oth erwise you’re going to ruin your body and your mind if you’re playing nonstop every week.” Becker gears up for the majors and certain other big tournaments, and sits out smaller ones. It’s an approach he believes has enabled him to stay near the top and keep improving over the past few years. “I think that’s one of my secrets; why I am coming here for 13 years, because I always paced myself. I was never trying to bum myself out early in the year. I am taking my breaks when I feel like I need to.” Becker’s son, Noah, turns 3 next Saturday, and that event will be another hint to Becker that retire ment is not too far away. “When he goes to school, when he has to be in one permanent place, then I will retire,” Becker said. “But the injury which I had last summer showed me that it can be over any day. I’m turning 30 this year, so I don’t have the fresh est pair of legs and body. But I’m still able to produce good tennis when I’m healthy.” BOARD VACANCY MAKE A DIFFERENCE GAIN EXPERIENCE BE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS! Due to the retirement of Jody Watts, there is a vacant Classified and Management Service Personnel position on the U of O Bookstore Board of Directors through June 1998. Applicants must be currently holding a full-time University position within the category of classified service or management service. Members attend monthly board meetings and serve on two committees. Bookstore board members represent students, faculty and staff of the U of O. Board members are directly involved in making major policy decisions for the store. All members receive a $50.00 monthly stipend for serving on the Board. All applications are due on Friday, January 17,1997 Please pick up your application at the Bookstore administrative office upstairs. UNIVERSITY 13th A Kincaid. 346-4331 | BELLEVUE COMPUTER | I ACADEMIC SOFTWAREI Save 20% 80% on Microsoft Titles, and many more popular programs! INTEL PENTIUM MMX AVAILABLE NOW! BELLEVUE COMPUTES, INC. 1121 GREEN ACRES RU, EUGENE 3 12-3523 FAX 342-3701 We’ve Moved to 1200 High St. We will continue to be your connection to student fares worldwide! 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