Senior Pga

The Senior PGA Tour appears to be on its way to a Howard County golf course with an event that could bring as much as $30 million to the area."It's 99 percent certain," said Gene Ward, Hobbit's Glen Golf Course manager, yesterday of his west Columbia course playing host to the tournament July 3 to 5, the first covered by a three-year contract.That contract has yet to be signed and Senior PGA Tour officials declined to confirm that Hobbit's Glen is the definite pick, but sources say a vote by the nine-member tour board is imminent, with an official announcement on Dec. 3."

JERICHO, N.Y. -- Dana Quigley was celebrating as joyously as any winner of a golf tournament has, and deservedly so, after working his whole life toward this moment.Quigley had just pulled off a dramatic playoff victory in the Senior PGA Northville Long Island Classic at the Meadow Brook Club. But after throwing his hat into the crowd, hugging his wife, proudly saying hi to his father in a quick TV interview, and receiving the trophy, his triumphant walk to the clubhouse was interrupted as he was handed a cellular phone.

A field that will include 20 of the Senior PGA Tour's top players is scheduled to compete in the first Toyota Invitational golf tournament, Aug. 12-13, at Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood.The seniors, to be announced shortly, will be joined by 20 Middle Atlantic PGA pros and their respective club champions at the western Howard County course.Efforts had been ongoing in recent years to bring a Senior Tour event to the region, and Baltimore was on a short list of sites in the running for a regular tournament that eventually was awarded elsewhere and held last September.

The TV Repairman:It wasn't on the order of failing to catch on camera the winner of the New York City Marathon crossing the finish line, as ABC did a few years back, but the net botched one of the home runs in the All-Star Game the other night. One of the marks of good television, however, is after losing sight of the ball in the live feed, only one dizzying replay was attempted, which was worse, before the men calling the shots very cleverly decided to move on.The night before, rudderless Major League Baseball (and TV)

POTOMAC -- This is about the business end of another sport, golf.Wait, wait, wait, before you go scurrying off to tales from the NBA playoffs, the French Open or the latest tribute to Cal Ripken, bear with me for a moment.Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, visited Avenel yesterday, site of the 28th Kemper Open beginning tomorrow (the first threesome tees off at 7:15 a.m.), and reported on the doings of the tour's policy board.His words were a symphony if you dabble in stocks and bonds, are intrigued by the strategies of business leaders or subscribe to the Wall Street Journal.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Bear is growling again, and although Jack Nicklaus may not be happy with his golf game, he can still beat the best on the Senior PGA Tour.Nicklaus turned back the challenge of tough Isao Aoki on the third playoff hole yesterday at Desert Mountain to win his third Tradition."I was tickled pink," Nicklaus said. "I hadn't won in two years, and this was tough. It just shows that hard work can pay off. I played better today, and winning makes it great. It's a great finish when all three in the final group shoot 67s. I'm very encouraged."

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- It was just like old times. Wit one round left, Jack Nicklaus blew out the field and took a record eight-stroke lead after three rounds of the 52nd Senior PGA Championship.Nicklaus led by five strokes before yesterday's play, saw his lead dwindle to one stroke over Jim Dent at the turn, then put himself in commanding position to win for the fourth time in six tries among the over-50 set."Often I don't play that well with a few shots lead," Nicklaus said. "Jim got to within one, and I just gave myself a kick, said, 'This is ridiculous; you've got to get going.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- PGA Tour and tournament officials canceled the $1 million Independent Insurance Agent Open yesterday and rescheduled it for Oct. 23-26, after steady rain washed out the first two rounds.It was the first PGA Tour event canceled since the 1966 Houston Open that was rescheduled in November and won by Arnold Palmer.Tomorrow's nationally televised final round will be replaced by a 48-man team scramble with 16 three-man teams competing for $100,000 in prizes.Senior PGA TraditionSCOTTSDALE, Ariz.