State Farm

Christy O'Connor will never forget the emotion he felt the last time he was at Hobbit's Glen Golf Club in Columbia. He will always remember the sadness coupled with remarkable joy that marked his victory in last year's State Farm Senior Classic, a victory that came only 10 months after the death of his 17-year-old son in an automobile accident. Back at Hobbit's Glen for the tournament's Media Day yesterday, O'Connor intermingled smiles and laughs with slight flinches when he talked about the feelings that went along with his one-shot victory over Bruce Fleisher.

Looking to Maryland as the national leader in farmland preservation, four bus loads of Midwesterners visited Montgomery, Carroll and Harford counties Friday as part of a mid-Atlantic tour to gather advice and inspiration for their efforts at home. "You can see the impact of the program and what a difference it can make over 15 years," said David Skjaerlund, a Michigan farmer who started the tours two years ago. Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have each lost between 1 million and 1.5 million acres of farmland over the past 15 years.

On a brisk, sunny autumn day, the job of harvesting grain can be glorious and satisfying work.But it can also be dangerous -- more dangerous than being a police officer on the street.Heavy equipment, large animals, chemicals, long hours, solitary working conditions and the stress of nature's unforgiving deadlines all conspire to make farming the second-most dangerous occupation in the nation, according to national statistics."My wife says every time you walk out on the farm, there's an accident waiting to happen," said Franklin Feeser, who raises hogs and grain near Taneytown.

LAST WEEK an Illinois jury ordered State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the nation's largest auto insurer, to pay $456 million for requiring auto-body shops to use generic replacement parts. The class action lawsuit, representing 4.7 million State Farm policyholders, claimed that the parts were made without factory specifications and did not provide the same level of fit, finish, corrosion resistance and, in some cases, safety, as automakers' parts. During the six-week trial, State Farm portrayed itself as a champion for consumers by tackling what it described as the auto manufacturers' monopoly on auto-body parts.

MARION, Ill. -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. was ordered to pay policyholders $456 million yesterday for requiring auto body shops to use less-expensive, duplicate parts to repair cars.The largest U.S. car insurer, with a 20 percent share of the market, breached contracts with consumers by refusing to pay for parts made by the original automaker, using generic car parts instead, the jury in the Illinois class action suit found.State Farm of Bloomington, Ill., called the conclusion by the jury "legally wrong" and vowed to appeal.

First, the good news. You've just gotten your driver's license. At last, the mall-lined thoroughfares and open roads are yours to explore. No more pleading for a lift from Mom; now it's your hands on the wheel and your foot on the gas. Happy trails.Now, the bad news. Look at your auto insurance bill. No, you won't be able to earn that much money by selling a kidney on the black market.To woo customers in the competitive auto insurance market, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. today is announcing an unique pilot program that the company says will reduce insurance sticker shock for young drivers and their parents.

THE SCREEN door slammed and Marie Smith could almost see herself and her brother, John, running into the 3000 block of Abell Ave., a thickly canopied boulevard in Charles Village. What she did see were two young actors flashing down her brick steps and onto the sidewalk. They ran past a metallic green Schwinn "Pea Picker" bike, vintage 1970. At the curb stood a trio of 30-year-old cars: a slate gray Chevy Impala, a blood red Pontiac Catalina and a squat Nash Metropolitan.It was all make-believe, the filming of a television commercial by State Farm Insurance, but fantasy needed a solid setting and Marie Smith found herself affirming the artistic reconstruction of an earlier time.

Christy O'Connor's emotions wavered at different moments in the final round of the $1.3 million State Farm Senior Classic yesterday at Hobbit's Glen Golf Club in Columbia.Thoughts of his son, Daren, who died at age 17 in an automobile accident in September entered his head several times. But what kept O'Connor focused was the fact that Bruce Fleisher wasn't going away.The three-shot lead that O'Connor had taken into the round and increased to five through five holes was down to one with seven to play.

On the practice tee at Hobbit's Glen Golf Club before yesterday's second round of the $1.3 million State Farm Senior Classic, Christy O'Connor lamented how the sweltering heat could affect his chances. The course might be reminiscent of those he plays back home in Ireland, as well as in Scotland, but 94-degree temperatures with matching humidity is as rare in Galway as an unused tee time. So O'Connor took a different approach. "We saw him at the sixth hole and asked him about the heat," said John Dorrian, who along with fellow Scotsman George Williamson was following O'Connor.

There were a lot of familiar names at 5-under-par 67 after yesterday's opening round of the $1.3 million State Farm Senior Classic at Hobbit's Glen Golf Club. Bob Duval, father of the world's top-ranked player. Former U.S. Open and PGA champion Hubert Green. Isao Aoki, the man who dueled Jack Nicklaus down the stretch in the 1980 U.S. Open.There also were the lesser known Bruce Fleisher and Allen Doyle, the top two money-winners on this year's Senior Tour. But there was only one name at the top of the leader board, at 7-under-par 65: Christy O'Connor.