Coughlan, Nolan tee off

Richard Coughlan and Keith Nolan will be making their USPGA Tour debuts in auspicious company on the Monterey Peninsula later this week. The two Irish rookies take their places alongside the new Johnnie Walker Classic winner, Tiger Woods, in the AT & T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills, starting on Thursday.

Coughlan and Nolan have been playing in warm-up events on the Nike Tour in Florida, but, based on last year's experience, they would expect to be in action on the main tour for the next five weeks. So, from Pebble Beach they go on to the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, the Hawaiian Open and the Tucson Chrysler Classic, before completing the West Coast Swing in the Nissan Open at Riviera.

As it happens, Coughlan has had three head-to-head meetings with Woods in college matches between Clemson and Stanford. "I won one, halved one and lost one," he said. "But none of that compared with getting through the American Q-school. If golf always felt like the last day there, I'd give up the game.

"Only five rookies from 1997 kept their cards over here, so if I can do that, I'll be really happy. I've already got a group of a dozen or so fans who have taken a shine to me. They see me as someone different and they've certainly helped me settle in."

Meanwhile, Woods had little time to celebrate one of the great golfing comebacks before setting off on Sunday night from Thailand to California. He travelled with his father, Earl, who will be playing with him later this week, 12 months after undergoing heart by-pass surgery.

All of which marks a rather special chapter in the history of the game's most celebrated proam. But there are unwanted aspects to the presence of the biggest draw in golf.

For the first time at Pebble Beach, cameras will be banned from an event that is essentially all about celebrities, such as Bill Murray, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner and Jack Lemmon. Officially, it is claimed that the ban will prevent on-course distractions, but the real reason has to do with security.

Three times last year, Woods was stabbed with pens by overzealous autograph hunters, and in one instance he was hit in the face, dangerously close to his left eye. "I have grandmas grabbing me and saying `Sign this for my grandkid'," complained Woods. "Which doesn't happen to Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus because of the respect factor. People don't shove them around."

Woods played with Costner last year, when he made an astonishing recovery from 12 strokes down at one stage of the second round to finish runner-up to Mark O'Meara. "Mark won the pro-am section with his dad a few years ago and told me it was probably the biggest thrill he's ever had," said the world number one.

"If I can do the same it would be pretty special. When I was 13, my dad was a one-handicapper, but after last year's heart surgery he now plays off 12."

Both parents were with him in Thailand, and it is clear that father and son remain extremely close, despite living on opposite sides of the US - Earl in California and Tiger in the Isleworth resort in Florida, where he has O'Meara and movie star Wesley Snipes as neighbours.

It was the player's second visit to Thailand, where he won the Asian Masters in Bangkok last February. On this occasion, he is reported to have been paid $1.2 million for his appearance at Phuket, having received a similar fee for a one-day exhibition in the Philippines nine days ago.

On his first visit to Thailand, all five local television stations interrupted programmes to bring live coverage of his arrival at Bangkok airport. On this occasion, however, he slipped into the country virtually unnoticed and spent most of his free time relaxing at his beach hotel and playing football with Ernie Els.

As to Woods' return to the USPGA Tour this week, his manager, Clarke Jones, said: "Security is something the tour needs to do more about and there are things under discussion. Golf is getting more and more popular because of Tiger."

This is reflected in the approaches to his management company, IMG. During 1997, they turned down more than 1,500 requests for his time, ranging from television appearances to store openings and even to taking a girl to an end-of-term dance and attending a graduation party.

Last year's AT & T will be remembered for the climactic moments when Woods tried desperately to close the gap on O'Meara. While the older man shot four immaculate rounds of 67 for a total of 268, Woods shot 70 and 72 for the opening two rounds before springing to life with a third round of 63.

Then, on the final day at Pebble Beach, he came to the treacherous, 548-yard 18th needing an eagle to tie. In the damp, windy conditions, nobody had come near to reaching the green in two, but with a Herculean effort, Woods smashed a three-wood onto the putting surface.

Two putts gave him a closing birdie for a round of 64 and a total of 269. As it happened, this was good enough only for a share of second place with David Duval, while Jim Furyk was a further four strokes back in fourth place.

Woods and O'Meara will meet again this week on terrain which has been extremely kind to the older man over the years. Of his Florida neighbour, O'Meara said: "Tiger's life has definitely changed, but I try to help where possible."

He explained: "If he has a problem with someone that I know, he asks me to go talk to him. The expectations and pressures are pretty high. People need to remember that he is still a human being. Remember five or six years ago when John Daly was the talk of the tour."

For the moment, however, Woods' exploits at Phuket make it difficult for enthusiasts to talk about anyone else.