About This E-Mail To change format options (HTML or text), change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, go to golftransactions.com. Suggestions and feedback are welcome at info@gpagolf.com. How to Advertise For information on advertising in The Wire e-mail newsletter or other advertising opportunities with the Golf Press Association, contact us at info@gpagolf.com.

Legal
A Federal District Court in Springfield, Mass., denies Spalding Sports Worldwide's request for a temporary restraining order against Wilson Sporting Goods. Spalding claims Wilson's advertisements for the Wilson Staff "True" golf balls are based on flawed test methodology and results.
For more...

Business
Net sales were down but profits increased 67 percent for Adams Golf during the company's first quarter as compared to the same quarter in 2001.
For more...

People
TaylorMade-adidas Golf signs club professional Bob Ford to its Presidential Advisory Board. The board enlists the country's top PGA professionals to test prototype products and review in-shop sales and marketing efforts.
For more...

Cleveland Golf Director of Tour Operations Rodney McDonald expands his job to include the European PGA Tour. McDonald will work to implement a tour van program and increase Cleveland's presence on the tour.
For more...

Instruction
GolfTEC, a high-tech golf instruction company, offers 50 percent discounts off any lesson package to customers of former competitor Bogart Golf, which has gone out of business.
For more...

Natural Golf introduces its popular instructional video series on DVD. The DVD format will allow viewers to locate specific drills quickly and pause the action to view specific swing elements.
For more...

Colleges
The Golf Coaches Association of America plans to announce the Softspikes All-Freshman Teams and Softspikes Freshman of the Year awards in NCAA Divisions I, II and III during National Awards Dinners held the Monday before each division's championship tournament.
For more...

Media
Brad Faxon will join Golf Talk Live's guest host Peter Jacobsen on April 29. The Golf Channel show will air at 8 p.m. ET.
For more...

Tournaments
The Virginia State Golf Association announces details for its third VSGA Challenge Tournament Series. The first tournament will be held July 10 at Kingsmill Resort's River Course in a two-player best ball format.
For more...

Technology
Online Golf Solutions launches a new Web site to provide golf industry clients with pro shop consulting software, search engine optimization and Web design.
For more...

Effective Information Strategies launches The Course Community, a Web site that allows golfers to subscribe to regional and course specific newsletters. The first newsletters will feature northern and southern California.
For more...

Players
Giant Eagle LPGA Classic officials announce that Karrie Webb will play in the event July 15-21 at Squaw Creek Country Club in Vienna, Ohio.
For more...

Sponsorship
Trans-Act Mortgage becomes the new title sponsor of the former Florida Panthers Golf Tour. Trans-Act will sponsor course fees for 2002-2003 fall, winter and spring series tournaments to be played at the Palm Aire Country Club and Inverrary Country Club.
For more...

Health
While competing in this week's Countrywide Tradition, Jack Nicklaus will help raise funds for the Mended Hearts' "Do More For Your Heart" campaign. Nicklaus hopes to raise $100,000 for the nonprofit cardiovascular patient support organization.
For more...

Events
Lawrence "L.T." Taylor, former New York Giants and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker, wins the first place prize of $36,000 in the $100,000 World Golf League kickoff event at the Heathrow Country Club in Lake Mary, Fla. The event was also an official one-day qualifier for the WGL.
For more...

Casual Friday
Salary by Stroke

It should come as no surprise that we at Casual Friday are pretty fond of Fridays in general.

It's the end of the work week for many of us, golf writers excepted, and more importantly, it's payday.

While we were considering our cash-flow, or lack thereof, we began wondering about golfers' incomes. Everyone knows how much they make each tournament and what their totals are at the end of the season. (Just once we'd like to come within sniffing distance of $2 or $3 million a year.)

But how about breaking that down further? How much does Tiger Woods earn per shot?

You might not want to know, but thus far this year, Woods has made $1,361.68 for every stroke taken in competition, excluding the Accenture Match Play Championship. Woods has made $2,685,500, minus $27,500 at the Match Play, and has taken 1,952 swipes at the ball.

How does that compare to last year? In 2001, Woods earned $1,086.70 per stroke.

We decided to go down the list of the top 10 golfers in the world, just to see how the other fellows stacked up. Not surprisingly, there's a big gap between Woods and the second-best player on a per-shot basis. World No. 4 Retief Goosen is the runner-up in this category, making $923.23 per stroke.

World No. 3 Ernie Els is third, pulling in $870.17, although Casual Friday would like to see some sort of bonus for that 230-yard iron out of a sandy waste area, over the trees and onto the green for eagle in the Dubai Desert Classic.

In case you're wondering, No. 2 Phil Mickelson is No. 4 in this group, earning $737.81 per stroke, but Mickelson has missed a couple of cuts, adding to his shot total but not to his money.

The worst in the top 10? It's No. 6 David Duval in a walk. Duval's making $100.98 per shot. We don't even need to mention that the defending British Open champion is having a lousy year. World No. 9 Davis Love III, who has only begun to play well in his last two events, is ninth in the top 10, earning $155.44 per shot.

The other members of the top 10 are: No. 5 Sergio Garcia, $616.22; No. 7 Vijay Singh, $548.22; No. 8 David Toms, $333.43; and No. 10 Chris DiMarco, $447.54.

Jose Maria Olazabal, 14th in the world ranking and having one of his best seasons ever, is making $714.66 per shot.

We decided to wander toward the end of the money earnings list to see how one of those guys is faring on a per-shot basis. We chose Michael Muehr, who's languishing at No. 196 on the earnings list with $13,292 in 12 tournaments. (He was No. 123 on the money list last season.) Muehr, a 31-year-old Duke University alum, has taken 2,182 strokes this year for an average of $6.09 per blow.

Of course, with Casual Friday's game, we could be making some serious bucks at $6 and change per shot. Pride prevents saying just how much that would be per round, but three rounds per week would have the mortgage paid in short order.

DOUBLE CLICK
www.ernieels.com

Is it just coincidence that the top three golfers in the world rankings are the only members of the top 10 to have their own websites?

Some of the others, such as David Toms, have sites off of other sites, and you can find information about the other players in any number of places, but only Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie have their own sites.

Where else but at www.ernieels.com can you find a picture of a 15-year old Els hoisting a huge trophy from the World Juniors beside the runner up, some guy named Mickelson?

 

Reader's Forum Augusta National has been stretched about as far as it can go. Other historic venues are either maxed out or on the verge of being lengthened to their farthest point. Even then, the courses still may not be long enough to host today's players. There is a slow groundswell of support for putting distance restrictions on golf balls. Is this a step in the right direction? Or are the historic venues just becoming obsolete and it's time to begin identifying longer courses that will host the majors of the 21st century? Let us know your opinions by sending your responses to stuart@gpagolf.com with the subject line RE: Golf Balls. Also include your first initial and last name, along with your email address.