In his second start of the 2001 season, he won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Gary Player was quick to rush to Arnold Palmer's defense last week over the controversy with the King endorsing the non-conforming ERC II driver. Player said the guilty party in the debate over equipment issues is the USGA, saying it has been lax in curtailing technological advancements in the ball. He found it ironic that the USGA does not ban long putters, for one thing. They have allowed people to putt with a putter on their nose, a putter on their chest, a putter on their chin, which to me is ridiculous.
Nerves are just as much part of the game as anything.
Player said it might be time for the PGA Tour to establish its own rules. The Jones Cup Invitational makes its debut Friday in Sea Island, Ga., a 54-hole tournament that could grow up to become the Masters for amateurs. The 53-man field will play at Ocean Forest Golf Club, site of this year's Walker Cup matches, and includes 13 of the top 22 players in Golfweek magazine's rankings. Invitations went to top college players, mid-amateurs, U.S. juniors and members of the Walker Cup team from Britain and Ireland. According to Greg Norman's crystal ball, the future of golf is so strong that Tiger Woods will look like a hacker before he reaches the Senior Tour.