Ian Woosnam

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- On Saturday night at Augusta National Golf Club, Bernhard Langer was talking about why foreign players in general and Europeans in particular have played well in recent years at The Masters.Foreigners have won seven of the past 11 Masters titles:Year ... Winner ...... ...... Country1983 ... Seve Ballesteros ... Spain1985 ... Bernhard Langer .... Germany1988 ... Sandy Lyle ......... England1989 ... Nick Faldo ......... England1990 ... Nick Faldo ......... England1991 ... Ian Woosnam .....

Tee times(All times a.m.; a-amateur) Today Group 3:15 - Fredrik Andersson 3:25 - Bernhard Langer, Richard Green 3:35 - Ian Woosnam, Toru Taniguchi 3:45 - Sandy Lyle, Steve Elkington 3:55 - Peter Lonard, Trevor Immelman 4:05 - Phil Mickelson, Matthew Cort 4:15 - Jesper Parnevik, Toshimitsu Izawa 4:30 - Jim Carter, Jerry Kelly 4:40 - Roger Wessels, Paul Eales 4:50 - Stuart Appleby, Esteban Toledo 5 - David Duval, Greg Norman 5:10 - Justin Rose,...

Tee times(All times a.m.; a-amateur) Today Group 3:15 - Fredrik Andersson 3:25 - Bernhard Langer, Richard Green 3:35 - Ian Woosnam, Toru Taniguchi 3:45 - Sandy Lyle, Steve Elkington 3:55 - Peter Lonard, Trevor Immelman 4:05 - Phil Mickelson, Matthew Cort 4:15 - Jesper Parnevik, Toshimitsu Izawa 4:30 - Jim Carter, Jerry Kelly 4:40 - Roger Wessels, Paul Eales 4:50 - Stuart Appleby, Esteban Toledo 5 - David Duval, Greg Norman 5:10 - Justin Rose,...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Some of Augusta National's new landscape came into play yesterday in the opening round of the 63rd Masters. So, too, did some of its old and tricky terrain, causing the world's top golfers to look, at times, as if they were playing for the C-flight championship at the local club.Just consider what happened to Tiger Woods on the par-5 eighth hole.Playing a bit erratically, but still 1-under par, Woods hooked his drive into the trees on the 550-yard hole. With his ball between two pinecones, he tried to thread his second shot through a couple of trees.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The smart money in the Masters is no riding on Ian Woosnam, the little Welshman, and not just because he has the lead after three rounds. He is the best player in the world never to win a major championship, and that blank on his long list of accomplishments is driving him this week. It is just time for him to win one.There are 12 players within six strokes of his lead, among them a passel of major champions that includes such names as Watson, Wadkins and Floyd, but Woosnam stands out as the player for whom it seems most important.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Ian Woosnam probably would put Augusta National at the top of his list of favorite American golf courses, considering his 1991 Masters victory there. As for Pebble Beach, site of this week's U.S. Open, this hallowed, historic piece of property probably will not make Woosnam's top 10. Or top 100, for that matter. It was loathe at first sight for him. "I'm not overly impressed," Woosnam said after his practice round Monday. "I've played a lot of courses better than this."

POTOMAC -- Four shots off the lead is not exactly where Nick Faldo would like to be entering the final round of the Kemper Open, but given his lousy start, he has put together two strong efforts.The Englishman opened with a 2-over-par 73, then charged into contention with a piece of the tournament's low round, a 6-under 65 on Friday.Although Mark Wiebe separated himself somewhat from the field yesterday at TPC-Avenel, taking a three-stroke lead, only Mike Springer is between Faldo and the leader.

The TV Repairman: CBS does the first of its 16 baseball games tomorrow (Tigers at White Sox, 1 p.m., Channel 11), promising the announcing team of Jack Buck and Tim McCarver will be better than last year.It's not often a network goes around bad-mouthing its talent, which, in this case, appears unjustified. The two easy-to-take veterans worked just fine together.Howard Cosell, in his latest diatribe, "What's Wrong With Sports," says McCarver is "unbearable" as an announcer, which, considering the source, is a ringing endorsement.

CHASKA, Minn. -- Ian Woosnam didn't know what to expect when he came to Hazeltine National Golf Club last week for the 91st U.S. Open. From his game. From the course. And, especially, from the fans."I didn't have any idea," he said Friday.For good reason. His game had gone a bit stale after he won the Masters in April. Hazeltine, or any Open course for that matter, wasn't Woosnam's idea of heaven. And after the rude response he got from some people in Augusta, he didn't think it would be much different.

CHASKA, Minn. -- The United States Golf Association tried mightily this year to make sure that Hazeltine did not play with the same ease that Medinah did last year for its Open championship.The rough was grown higher.The greens were shaved closer.The pins were tucked in the most treacherous positions.Maybe USGA officials should have worked their magic on the weather, somehow keeping the rain from again ruining this usually masochistic little four-day orgy of high scores and short fuses.For the field at the 91st Open championship, the only thing finer than Medinah is a former cow pasture called Hazeltine.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There is no talk of redesigning the course at Augusta National halfway through the 62nd Masters. Two days of strong winds have produced roller-coaster rounds and scores tight enough to promise what didn't materialize last year.Drama rather than history.A close finish rather than a runaway."The course is winning," said Fred Couples. "I'm leading with David Duval, but Augusta National is doing what it's supposed to do."Couples, who won here in 1992 and led after the opening round Thursday, and Duval, perhaps the hottest player in the world in the last eight months, did what few in the field could do yesterday.

POTOMAC -- Four shots off the lead is not exactly where Nick Faldo would like to be entering the final round of the Kemper Open, but given his lousy start, he has put together two strong efforts.The Englishman opened with a 2-over-par 73, then charged into contention with a piece of the tournament's low round, a 6-under 65 on Friday.Although Mark Wiebe separated himself somewhat from the field yesterday at TPC-Avenel, taking a three-stroke lead, only Mike Springer is between Faldo and the leader.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- On Saturday night at Augusta National Golf Club, Bernhard Langer was talking about why foreign players in general and Europeans in particular have played well in recent years at The Masters.Foreigners have won seven of the past 11 Masters titles:Year ... Winner ...... ...... Country1983 ... Seve Ballesteros ... Spain1985 ... Bernhard Langer .... Germany1988 ... Sandy Lyle ......... England1989 ... Nick Faldo ......... England1990 ... Nick Faldo ......... England1991 ... Ian Woosnam .....

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A time capsule was opened at Augusta National Golf Club yesterday. Magnolia Lane turned into Memory Lane. It could have been 1966. Or '76. Or '86.It began with Arnold Palmer making birdies on his first three holes. The roars filled the cool morning air and raised goose bumps on nearly everyone, including Jack Nicklaus."I got to the first tee and people were saying, 'Did you see what Arnold did?' " Nicklaus said. "When he birdied the first three holes, that sort of relaxed me. I said, 'Well, I can't let Arnold be low senior.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Ian Woosnam probably would put Augusta National at the top of his list of favorite American golf courses, considering his 1991 Masters victory there. As for Pebble Beach, site of this week's U.S. Open, this hallowed, historic piece of property probably will not make Woosnam's top 10. Or top 100, for that matter. It was loathe at first sight for him. "I'm not overly impressed," Woosnam said after his practice round Monday. "I've played a lot of courses better than this."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Craig Parry was tied for the lead early in the third round of the Masters yesterday when a thunderstorm hit Augusta National, postponing play for almost three hours. He double-bogeyed his first hole back, after the rain. So did his playing partner, Ian Woosnam, the tournament's defending champion.It was unsettling, to say the least. Woosnam double-bogeyed the next hole, putting his defense of his title in, well, double jeopardy. But Parry, the new kid, a 26-year-old Australian in his second Masters, didn't flinch at all.He gained back three strokes on par before darkness ended his round after 14 holes, and with all but six golfers completing play, was atop the leader board by two strokes over Fred Couples, Ray Floyd and Ian Baker-Finch.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There is no talk of redesigning the course at Augusta National halfway through the 62nd Masters. Two days of strong winds have produced roller-coaster rounds and scores tight enough to promise what didn't materialize last year.Drama rather than history.A close finish rather than a runaway."The course is winning," said Fred Couples. "I'm leading with David Duval, but Augusta National is doing what it's supposed to do."Couples, who won here in 1992 and led after the opening round Thursday, and Duval, perhaps the hottest player in the world in the last eight months, did what few in the field could do yesterday.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Some of Augusta National's new landscape came into play yesterday in the opening round of the 63rd Masters. So, too, did some of its old and tricky terrain, causing the world's top golfers to look, at times, as if they were playing for the C-flight championship at the local club.Just consider what happened to Tiger Woods on the par-5 eighth hole.Playing a bit erratically, but still 1-under par, Woods hooked his drive into the trees on the 550-yard hole. With his ball between two pinecones, he tried to thread his second shot through a couple of trees.

CHASKA, Minn. -- Ian Woosnam didn't know what to expect when he came to Hazeltine National Golf Club last week for the 91st U.S. Open. From his game. From the course. And, especially, from the fans."I didn't have any idea," he said Friday.For good reason. His game had gone a bit stale after he won the Masters in April. Hazeltine, or any Open course for that matter, wasn't Woosnam's idea of heaven. And after the rude response he got from some people in Augusta, he didn't think it would be much different.

CHASKA, Minn. -- The United States Golf Association tried mightily this year to make sure that Hazeltine did not play with the same ease that Medinah did last year for its Open championship.The rough was grown higher.The greens were shaved closer.The pins were tucked in the most treacherous positions.Maybe USGA officials should have worked their magic on the weather, somehow keeping the rain from again ruining this usually masochistic little four-day orgy of high scores and short fuses.For the field at the 91st Open championship, the only thing finer than Medinah is a former cow pasture called Hazeltine.