Rain-soaked Masters begins Thursday
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 9 (UPI) -- The Masters, which has become a focal point for those who champion gender equity and a target of foul weather, gets under way Thursday.
"Our tournament has been maligned," Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson said on the eve of the first major golf event of 2003. "But I don't think it has been damaged. And I think the Masters will continue to be one of the great sporting events in the world next year, the next year, the next year and for years after that."
A field of 93 of the world's greatest golfers will test the rain-soaked fairways of the Augusta National Golf Club. The course, with its flowering shrubs and trees in full bloom, has taken on four days worth of on-and-off rain.
Heavy showers struck the area again Wednesday and the additional rain forced tournament officials to push the start of the tournament back by 30 minutes. Scotland's Sandy Lyle, the 1988 Masters champion, is scheduled to hit the first shot of the event at 8:40 a.m. EDT.
In addition to the difficult weather conditions, the Masters has been under an assault by Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations.
She has demanded the all-male Augusta National include women in its membership and she plans to stage a protest Saturday during the tournament's third round.
Burk has made Johnson the target of a personal attack during her campaign and Johnson's pre-Masters news conference Wednesday was highly anticipated. He did not disappoint.
"Over the last 10 months, everything that could possibly be said on the subject of the Augusta National and its membership has been said," Johnson told a standing-room-only crowd. "The fact is we are a private club, a group getting together periodically for camaraderie just as thousands of clubs do all across America.
While Johnson was clearly in control of his side of the social issue that has marked this year's tournament, he could do nothing about the water that began pouring onto the golf course last Sunday. The course was so drenched Monday that it had to be closed. Spectators were kept off the grounds for the first time in 20 years.
The rain eased enough Wednesday to allow the players a final practice round and they found a layout that was playing even longer than its listed 7,290 yards.
"The golf course has taken just about as much water as it can," said Wil Nicholson, chairman of the Masters Competition Committee. "We have hired, in the local community, 31 hand-pushed mowers and we will mow the landing areas in the fairway.
Marlins activate RHP Burnett from DL
MIAMI, April 9 (UPI) -- The Florida Marlins activated A. J. Burnett from the disabled list in time for him to start Wednesday night against the New York Mets.
The 26-year-old righthander originally was scheduled to be the Marlins' Opening Day starter, but he experienced tightness in his forearm during a Grapefruit League outing against the Baltimore Orioles on March 15.
Medical tests revealed inflammation in his elbow and Burnett began the season on the 15-day DL.
Last season, Burnett was 12-9 with a 3.30 ERA. He established career highs in wins, ERA, starts (29), complete games (7), shutouts (5), innings (204 1/3) and strikeouts (203). Burnett also went on the DL with in August with a bone bruise in his elbow.
To make room for Burnett, the Marlins optioned reliever Tommy Phelps to Albuquerque of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on Wednesday.
Palmer rues missed Masters chances
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 9 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods will try to win his third straight Masters this week. Arnold Palmer feels he should have done so long ago.
During an eight-year span beginning in 1958, Palmer won four Masters, finished second twice and third once. In his career, he wound up in the top 10 on a dozen occasions.
But he could never win two in a row because, he believes, he did not listen to his father.
"It could have been," Palmer said Wednesday on the eve of his 49th Masters appearance. "If I had done what my father taught me, I might have won five times in a row, because I had the opportunity to do that.
"He said, 'be tough, boy. Go out and play and if you list4en to anyone, you're not too smart. And play your own game. And if you start listening to other people when you're out there, I have a job pushing a lawn mower.'
"But I made some mistakes. If you make mistakes, you're not going to win three times in a row, or even two times in a row.
"When you walk off the 18th tee and you've got a one-shot lead and you're walking to the ball in the middle of the fairway to hit it up onto the green and two-putt for a win, and you walk 20 yards to the left to shake hands and talk to some old friend that wants to tell you how great you are, you're pretty stupid. That's what I did. And that's why I didn't win two times or three times in a row."
Palmer actually bid the Masters farewell last year, believing it to be his last. Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson had imposed an age limit for former champions to play in the tournament, but when that standard was rescinded, Palmer made it clear he would return. Now he plans to play in one more Masters to reach the 50-year mark.
"You always think you can get a couple of good rounds in and that's the way I felt," he said. "I thought, well, it would be nice to do 50 Masters and that became kind of an objective of mine. That's the whole thing in a nutshell."
Palmer, 73, admitted he is not likely to do well this week because rainy conditions and a lengthened golf course have made the Augusta National course an extremely difficult test.
Kansas athletic director fired
LAWRENCE, Kan., April 9 (UPI) -- Craig Bohl was fired as athletic director at Kansas Wednesday in what could be an attempt to get basketball coach Roy Williams to stay at the school.
It has been widely rumored that Williams, who has been linked to the coaching vacancy at North Carolina, has been at odds with Bohl and would remain at the school only if Bohl left.
But Kansas chancellor Robert Hemenway said Williams had nothing to do with the firing, although he gave no specific reasons for the dismissal.
"This was not a Craig vs. Roy issue," Hemenway said. "Roy has never once said that his decision on whether to stay would be based on Craig being here."
ESPN reported that Bohl, who refused to resign, will accuse Williams of orchestrating his dismissal. Bohl told ESPN that "this is a sad day in college athletics when a college basketball coach can hire and fire an athletic director."
Bohl was hired at Kansas two years ago and dismissed Williams' good friend, football coach Terry Allen, during the 2001 season.
Hemenway said that the decision to fire Bohl was made after speaking with members of the athletic department over the past eight weeks and that the firing was planned prior to the NCAA Final Four, where Kansas lost in the title game to Syracuse on Monday night.
"On the basis of these conversations and my own evaluation of the situation, I came to the conclusion that a chance of leadership was needed at this time," Hemenway said.
Williams' name immediately surfaced as a candidate at North Carolina, his alma mater, after Matt Doherty resigned as coach last week. While Williams avoided the issue at the Final Four last week in New Orleans, he also refused to say that he was not a candidate.
In 2000, Williams turned down the North Carolina job that went to Doherty.
A. Drue Jennings, a Kansas graduate, will serve as interim athletic director until a successor is named.
Bohl came to Kansas from Fresno State, where he was director of athletics from 1996 to 2001.
Masters chief defends Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 9 (UPI) -- Masters Chairman Hootie Johnson Wednesday defended the Augusta National's right to remain a male-only organization.
And, he said that stance would not change even if somebody else ran the club.
"I want to make one point," Johnson said at the end of his annual pre-Masters news conference. "If I drop dead right now, our position will not change on this issue. It's not my issue alone.
"And I promise you what I'm saying. If I drop dead this second, our position will not change."
Johnson and the club he runs have been targeted by the National Council of Women's Organizations, which has attempted to pressure the Augusta National into admitting a woman member.
NCWO chairwoman Martha Burk has directed the group's protests at Johnson, turning the debate into a personal one.
"Over the last 10 months everything that could be possibly be said on the subject has been said," Johnson said. "The fact is we are a private club. A group getting together periodically for camaraderie, just as thousands of clubs and organizations do all over America.
"Just because we host a golf tournament, because some of our members are well known, should not cause us to be viewed differently."
Burk began the controversy last June when she wrote Johnson to ask that club open its membership to women and Johnson fanned the flames by bluntly turning down her request.
Johnson said he had not talked to officials at CBS concerning how much the network will discuss the controversy while telecasting this week's Masters.
"I don't know what their decision will be," he said. "We hired them to do the golf tournament, but we have not had any discussions or made any demands, so to speak. It will be their call."
Eddie Cheever to skip Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS, April 9 (UPI) -- Eddie Cheever Jr., who won the 1998 Indianapolis 500, has decided not to drive in this year's race.
The decision will enable him to focus on his management of Red Bull Cheever Racing and other business interests. It ends Cheever's streak of 13 straight Indianapolis 500 races.
"I'm calling this a self-imposed sabbatical," he said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the future. All I know right know is that I have too much going on. I haven't been able to spend any time preparing to race at Indy."
Red Bull Racing has entered the No. 52 Chevrolet/Dallara, which will be driven by Buddy Rice. Cheever's No. 51 car also is entered, but Cheever is uncertain who, if any one, will drive the car at Indianapolis.
"Right now, I'm just concentrating on running the team," he said. "I'm honestly not sure about what I'm going to do as a driver in the future."
Cheever shares the Indy Racing League record for consecutive starts (69) with Buddy Lazier. He has won $6.2 million in IRL races, second only to Lazier, and was the rookie of the year at the Indy 500 in 1990.
Cheever also holds the record for most Formula One races by an American (132).
Gregory becomes Dayton coach
DAYTON, Ohio, April 9 (UPI) -- Just three days after Oliver Purnell left for Clemson, Dayton hired Michigan State associate head coach Brian Gregory as its basketball coach Wednesday.
Gregory, 36, had spent the past four seasons at Michigan State under Tom Izzo--including two Final Fours and the 2000 championship campaign--and was reponsible for recruiting Paul Davis, Zach Randolph, Marcus Taylor and Kelvin Torbert.
Prior to his second stint at Michigan State, Gregory was an assistant at Toledo and Northwestern. This is his first head coaching position.
Purnell guided Dayton to a 24-6 record and the Atlantic 10 Conference championship this season. But as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Flyers lost in the first round to Tulsa.
The 49-year-old Purnell on Sunday was named Clemson's coach.
