Links bind Miller to Ireland

The Swing may have lacked the fluent athleticism of younger days, but there was still power in abundance as the ball sailed over the fairway bunkers. And despite a fresh breeze, the remaining 145 yards to an elevated green were negotiated comfortably with a seven iron, before a fragile putting stroke eased a 10-footer into the hole for an exemplary birdie.

Johnny Miller was playing the 16th at The European Club earlier this week, by way of broadening his knowledge of links design. And he clearly liked what he saw.

Now the anchorman for NBC's golf coverage - and easily the best of the bunch - Miller was with two friends, one of them a business associate who will be funding a proposed, oceanside development near San Diego, California. And after playing the course, the former US Open and British Open champion spoke at length to The European Club's commander-in-chief, Pat Ruddy.

Apparently Miller's golf-course design business is expanding steadily. And 23 years on from his Royal Birkdale triumph, he clearly felt the need of a refresher course on the subtleties of links terrain.

"This has to be the toughest links I've played and I would love to see the British Open here," he enthused. "With the addition of a little rough, an Open field would really have to work. I would rate it way ahead of Carnoustie."

Not surprisingly, Miller was greatly impressed by the stunning, par-four eighth, which he described as one of the most beautiful and natural golf holes he had ever seen. But in a concession to anno domini, he admitted: "Man, this is the first course I've played with at least eight par fives. I shouldn't have left my one and two irons at home."

Of the world's estimated 150 links courses, Ireland can boast 39. Which would account for Miller's presence. It also prompted Tom Watson to make a close study of such celebrated terrain as Lahinch, Portmarnock, Co Sligo and Waterville - apart, of course, from his beloved Ballybunion - before collaborating with Robert Trent Jones Jnr on the delightful Spanish Bay links on the Monterey Peninsula.

The upshot of Miller's visit was that he agreed to lend his name to the 415-yard 16th, following other distinguished players who agreed to be associated with specific holes - Sam Snead (fourth), Peter Thomson (fifth), Lee Trevino (sixth), Arnold Palmer (seventh), Fred Daly (eighth), Gary Player (11th), Billy Casper (12th) and Tony Jacklin (13th).

Meanwhile, another leading American, Mark O'Meara, seems set to have a more tangible involvement in Irish golf. "I am negotiating to do a course in Ireland, outside Dublin," said the British Open champion in his capacity as head of O'Meara Design Inc, which has a contract for an upcoming development in Canada.

O'Meara's disclosure is particularly interesting in a week in which details have been announced of Dunloe Ewart's development at Cherrywood in south Dublin, where 130 acres have been zoned for a golf course. Perhaps Miller will give him a few tips.

"When I wore green boots in one tournament and shot 80 in the final round, people said it was the boots. But I've got some really great stuff. You haven't seen the worst of it yet." The sartorially quirky Jarmo Sandelin, winner of the Spanish Open last Sunday.

It was men's stuff, really; serious, four-ball golf on a course which is set to play host on May 13th to 16th to the $1.4 million Las Vegas Senior Classic. But fortunately for American 22-handicapper Jim Adams, his partner happened to be a two-handicap former Irish women's international.

So it was that Kate MacCann left Las Vegas recently with $40 that didn't come from the gaming tables. And Mount Juliet's marketing director earned every cent as three men, two of them opponents, watched her standing over a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th at TPC The Canyons. When it went down for a birdie, she and Adams won all bets.

"I was there for a meeting of the Society for Incentive Travel Executives (SITE)," she explained. "They made me play off the men's tees and I managed to out-drive two of the guys." Only nine-handicapper Kevin Harry, knocked it past her.

As it happened, the match took place on the final day of the US Masters. "I was in the clubhouse shouting for Olazabal, while all the Americans were rooting for (Greg) Norman," she said. Well, she could hardly have done otherwise, given the events of 1993.

That was when the first staging of the Irish Open at Mount Juliet happened to coincide with her birthday. By way of marking the occasion, the bould Jose-Maria presented her with a bouquet of flowers while Seve Ballesteros, the other half of the Spanish Armada, gave her a birthday cake. And there were congratulatory kisses from the Spanish duo, naturally.

But what of the Las Vegas Senior Classic? MacCann will have other things on her mind that weekend, when the AIB Senior Open takes place at Mount Juliet.

When Jack Nicklaus checks his bank statement next month, he will discover a payment of $5,000 from Augusta National, by way of an honorarium for having been forced to miss his first US Masters in 40 years, because of hip surgery. When the Bear made his professional debut at Augusta in 1962, he received $1,160 for a share of 15th place behind Arnold Palmer. But he took top prize of $20,000 a year later.

What was it that Sam Snead said about driving for show? Whatever it was, the words must have haunted Evan "Big Cat" Williams, on his debut in the PGA Seniors' Championship recently. This is the man who once reduced a downhill, downwind 589-yard par five to a drive and a half sand-wedge in the 1977 Thailand Open.

Anyway, it is safe to suggest that the 51-year-old former US long-driving champion didn't distinguish himself at Palm Beach Gardens. In fact he shot miserable rounds of 75 and 81 for a half-way total of 156 to miss the halfway cut.

Not surprisingly, he is now ready to return to his normal activities, giving demonstrations of his long-driving prowess at clinics and exhibitions. "I think I've something to market but I always tell my audience that the best way to make progress is with lessons from your local professional," he admitted.

Why "Big Cat?" "Oh, I happened to get into a fight during basketball practice on the day Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) faced `Big Cat' Williams in a heavyweight bout," he replied. "I didn't do as well as Clay did." Then he added with a grin: "Perhaps if I'd won, they'd have called me `Muhammad Williams'."

To another eccentric Swede: Jesper Parnevik, who won the Greater Greensboro Open last weekend, admitted to having all his fillings replaced with porcelain in an attempt at curing his allergies. Just how painful could those allergies have been?

This day in golf history . . . On May 1st, 1977, Gene Littler had his last victory on the USPGA "regular" tour, shooting 276 in the Houston Open at The Woodlands. It was his 29th tour win since going on the circuit in 1954 and led to his induction into the USPGA Hall of Fame in 1982.

By then, Littler had become a prominent member of the Seniors' Tour. In fact his earnings of $2.2 million at senior level surpass the $1.58 million he amassed in 26 years on the regular circuit.

Once heralded as the next Ben Hogan, he earned this tribute from American golf writer Herbert Warren Wind: "Littler had his critics who felt he did not hit the ball long enough and that he also lacked the inner fire to become an outstanding champion. But his supporters believed that his pacific temperament was actually one of his most reliable assets, as intrinsic to his success at the beautifully slow tempo of his simplified, grooved swing and his unhurried putting stroke."

In Brief: Mary O'Gorman tells me that the Loughnane Sisters' Foursomes Trophy will be played at Birr GC on Friday, May 21st. And Elm Park will be staging their annual Open Mixed Fursomes Matchplay tournament from June 6th to 12th.

Teaser: A plays a stroke on the putting green. B, A's opponent or a fellow-competitor, accidentally drops his ball, which he had lifted, and it falls on A's ball which is still in motion. What is the ruling?

Answer: In matchplay, since A's ball was deflected by B's equipment, Rule 19-3 applies. A has the option of playing his ball as it lies or cancelling and replaying the stroke. Neither A nor B incurs a penalty. In strokeplay, A's ball was deflected by a moving outside agency. Therefore, A must cancel and replay his stroke, without penalty, under Rule 19-1b. B incurs no penalty. In either form of play, B must replace his ball on the spot from which it was lifted (Rule 20-3a). Rule 19-5b does not apply because B's ball was not in motion after the stroke.