September 1, 1999 'Jiortlanò (0beeruer PageB3 Woods is taking the Golf World by Storm By DOUG FERGUSON ,c T he Asstx iated P ress T ig e r W o o d s u s e d to k e e p a list ta p e d to his b e d ro o m w a ll d e ta ilin g all ab le to ,” Price added. “ M y h a t’s o ft to th an w hat any other player faces. T he N E C Invitational w as his fifth tw o m ajors to three for N icklaus w h en he victory in his last eight tournam ents. N ot w as 23, he has w o n 12 tim es o n the P G A W oods took hom e $ I m illion from even D avid D uval w as this hot w hen he Tour, com pared toeight tim es by Nicklaus F irestone C ountry C lub, m aking him the him.’’ W o o d s becam e the first player to w in w o n four tim es in the eight tournam ents leading to the M asters, in w hat now at this stage. T h e w av W o o d s has d om inated the first player to surpass $4 m illion in one five tournam ents in a season since Price season and giving him a m ore than $8.9 in 1994. P n ce, w h o w o n the B ntish O p e n deep a n d talented p o o l o t w orldw ide m illiom n three lull v ears on the PG A four, a n d the P G A C ham pionship that year, players can m ak e o n e only w o n d er w hat already good enough for 12th in career re m e m b e rs w hat it w as like to show u p at earnings. H e also is in the m iddle o f e v ery tournam ent feeling that lfhe played renegotiating his contract w ith N ike, a w ell, h e w ould w in — o r at least h av e a s u c h a s h is U .S . A m a te u r v ic to rie s , seem s like a n eternity ago. “ I 'm playing w ell, but 1 kept thinking h is N C A A title a n d a b o v e a ll th e 18 this w eek that it’s ju st a culm ination o f p r o f e s s io n a l m a jo rs th a t s e rv e a s a b e n c h m a r k to th e g r e a te s t c a r e e r in h ard w o rk ,” W o o d s said after his one- the future holds. “ It can still get better,” W o o d s said. stroke victory o v e r Phil M ickelson in the H e has b e en saying all along he is five-year deal reported to be in the neigh­ W orld G o lf C ham p io n sh ip event for building a sw in g that w ill m ak e him m ore consistent, m o re controlled. N o o n e b e ­ borhood o f $80 m illion to $90 million. really g o o d chance. " It’sverv hard to describe." P neesaid. W o o d s said this w eek those figures w ere “ Y o u fe e llik e it’sn e v e r going to c o m e to lieved him , especially since h e w o n only too high, but that w as before he w on yet o n e tim e o n the P G A T o u r last year. again. “ B y the tim e he gets to 25 o r 26, h e ’s an e n d .” G re g N orm an, w hen asked about o f Ja c k N ic k la u s ’ a c c o m p lis h m e n ts , golf. H e r e 's o n e W o o d s p ro b a b ly d id n ’ t include. W ith his victory S unday in the N E C Invitational on S unday, W o o d s b e cam e R yder C u p and Presidents C u p players. “ E m starting to reap dividends o f a better g a m e .” ‘A n d all o f a sudden, the com parisons N ick Price saw it w ith his o w n eyes. "1 p layed w ith him in the U.S. O p en in D u v a l's play before the M asters, recalls going to have conquered a lot o f m o u n ­ feeling so confident at tim es he w ould '9 5 at S hinnecock Hills, and there w as a lot o f ra w talent there, ” Price said. "O v e r tain s,” P nce said. " H e ’ll have all the stan d o n the first tee, look around and " I ’ve alw ays been very confident in m y abilities, but not the point w here I ’m m o n ey in the w orld. H e ’ 11 have probably w o n d e r w h o w as going to finish second going to say som ething like that. T here are 72 holes, and anything can happen. I need to go out there and take care o f b u sin e ss.” N o one is doing it better n g h t now . the youngest p layer to w in five tim es in o n e y e ar since N icklaus w o n h is fifth to N icklaus are starting to co m e into focus tournam ent o f 1963 in the S ahara Invita­ ov erw h elm ed A u g u sta N ational m ore tional at the sam e a g e — 23 years, 8 than N icklaus e v e r d id, w inning w ith a reco rd -sco reo f2 7 0 b y a reco id -m arg in o f the last tw o o r three y ears, every tim e I' ve w o n m ore m ajors in the next three years. played w ith him it seem s like h e 's ju st It’s ju st a question o f can h e keep going that w e e k W o o d s do esn ’t quite see it that w ay, even i f his play suggests oth­ 12 strokes. N icklaus even sug g ested that W oods rounding o f f an edge h e re o r there. I think likeN icklausdid. " T h e w ay he looks n g h t now , h e ’ 11 be erwise. "I n ev er had that o u tlo o k ” he s a id m onths, 30 days. O nly W o o d s isn ’t finished. again. T hey first surfaced w h en W oods h e ’s going to continue to im prove, too. P rice’s o nly co n cern is that W o o d s H e still has at least three tournam ents left this year, m aybe m ore. T he w ay h e has m ig h t w in lO g reenjackets before he w as played since M ay, it is not unreasonable done, w h ich so u n d ed like a stretch w hen to think W oods c an w in again — m ay b e W o o d s w ent 10 m ajors before w inning d o e sn ’t lose his edge. T h e pressure o n him isn 't as great as w h e n rig erm an ia w in them all. a n o th er one. B ut w hile W oods has only peaked m m id -1997, b u t it is still greater Michael Johnson IS Track Magic By BERT RO SEN THAL ,c T he A ssociated P ress T h e m a g ic o f M ic h a e l J o h n s o n ’s hum an. ’ ’ Johnson w ill have n o part o f it, Johnson also has three O ly m p ic gold not after his disastrous confrontation m edals, ran o n the U .S. team that set the w ith C a n a d a 's D o n o v a n B ailey in 1997, w orld 1,600 relay record last y e ar and w h e n h e tore his right quadriceps. ow ns the w orld indoor re co rd for 400 4 0 0 -m e te rw o rld re c o rd w as the defining A Johnson-G reene sh ow dow n over m eters. In addition, h e w o n the 200-400 m o m e n t o f the W o rld C ham pionships. 2 0 0 m eters probably w ill com e next year d o u b lea tth e 1995 U .S. C ham pionships, T here co u ld b e m o re m agic in his future. at the U .S. O lym p ic trials at Sacram ento, the first m an to accom plish that feat since W hileJohnsonhasaccom plLsliedm ore 1899. a n d he repeated in 1996; he w as than any track a n d field athlete du rin g the C ahf Jo h n so n cap p ed the W orld C h am p i­ unbeaten in th e 4 0 0 from 1989 to 1997, a ’90s, his c are er is far from o v e r at 31. o nships w ith a n o th er m ilestone, anchor­ span o f 58 finals; and h e w as the first to ing the U .S. 1,600-m eter relay team to victory for his ninth care er gold m edal at b e ranked N o. 1 in the w orld in b oth the the w orlds, the m ost b y a n y athlete, one tim es since 1990. “ H e ’s superhum an, h e ’s p h e n o m ­ H e still has so m e big goals, including d ropping the 4 0 0 record b e lo w 4 3 sec­ o nds and w in n in g an u nprecedented second 200 -4 0 0 dou b le at the S ydney Olym pics. “ I n e v er put lim its o n m y se lf,” said 200 and 400, h aving achieved that five m ore thanC arl Lew is. “ It’s a n h o n o r,” Jo h n so n said. " It’s a What is the Hood to Coast? T h e N a tio n w id e In s u ra n c e H o o d T o C o a s t R e la y is th e th e w o r l d to p a r t i c i p a t e in th e th e s h o r te s t tim e , f illin g HTC u l t i m a t e a d v e n t u r e ru n a n d th e W om en, M ix e d , s l o t s b y J a n u a r y 5 th R u n n e r s a n d w a lk e r s e n te r th e la rg e s t th e re a c a te g o ry re la y in N o rth O r e g o n ’s M t. H o o d O cean egon. The c o u rse p e rso n h ills , in u rb a n to n in g . T eam s Johnson has tw o m o re races this sea­ Johnson, w h o shattered B utch R ey n o ld s' career: to b e consistent and go into eveiy son, at B russels, B elgium . Friday, and at 1 l-v e a r-o ld 4 0 0 re c o rd o f4 3 .2 9 seconds cham pionships o n the top o f m y gam e Rieti, Italy. Sunday. There he will return to w ith a n e le c trify in g tim e o f4 3 .18. D allas and rest before preparing for the Johnson ran the first2 0 0 in 21 O andthe a n d g o in to w in .” H e n o w h a s w o n fourconsecutive400 seco n d 2 0 0 in 2 2 .2 .a p attem th ato th er4 0 0 w orld titles, three relay gold m edals and 200001vm pics. "M ic h ae lco m e sb ac k fast,” H art said. runners cannot m atch. F or the av erage tw o 2 0 0 cham nionshios. “H e’s never much out o f «bane " To C o a s t, P o rtla n d in c lu d e W a lk b y p r in tin g o f f th e e n tr y fo rm a n d m a ilin g it in to th e H T C e v e n ts a d d r e s s e d , s t a m p e d e n v e l o p e to ; c o n fro n t l o w t h e H T C c o u r s e 1 2 5 m il e s and O r­ th e The 5 3 1 9 S .W . W e s t g a t e # 2 6 2 1999 N a tio n w id e I n s u r ­ P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 2 1 a n c e H o o d T o C o a s t R e la y s e t a ru n ­ new fro m N a tio n w id e In s u ra n c e H o o d to C o a s t R e la y t o S e a s i d e , o n th e P a c i f i c O c e a n re co rd m a x im u m a ro u n d (5 0 3 )2 9 2 -4 6 2 6 f o r r e g i s t e r i n g th e h t c r e la y f a .t e l e p o r t.c o m n u m b e r o f t e a m s in Who was Major Taylor ? Marshall "Major" Taylor was the most famous bicycle racer in the world in his time. He won the World Championship at Montreal Canada in 1699. He was worshiped in Europe, but was not allowed to compete in his own national championships in the USA. q u a rte r-m iler.th e d iffere n ce b etw e e n th e N d ’im ’s first h a lf o f the race a n d the seco n d is tw o seco n d s. “G e ttin g to 3 0 0 .h e w a sv e ry re la x e d ," coach C ly d e H art said. "P atien c e w as very im portant. H e sh o w ed that 3 1 ,6 w as lik e a w a lk in th e p a rk .” "H e looks like h e can d o a n y th in g h e w ants, ” 1992O lym pic coach M el R osen said o f Johnson. A s long as injuries d o n 't interfere. H A IR LA VIE AU GRAND AIR C O N N E C T IO N iMKSi:w«»oe« ase«« . fcU ««* Full Service Salon the 1 996O lym pics.slicingan astonishing .34 seconds o ft’his previous m ark, sec­ ond-place finisher Frankie F redericks o f N am ib ia w as about five m eters back, a 503-288-3171 M c M u rp h y 's A p p lian ce C enter * Sales • Service * Parts huge m argin in such a short race. A n d to think. F redericks had c o m e w ith in .02 *•*!{ C m *«»« *»*», to »4*- M»»-* A tte n d USA Cycling 3 non -profit orpaniiation