Forget Future, These Guys Are Ready to Be Stars Now

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. —  They are younger than some of the clubs in Jack Nicklaus’ bag.

They are golf’s next big stars.

They are Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Ernie Els, all of them showing off their picture-perfect swings in the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which has turned into sort of an advertisement for some of the best young talent on the PGA Tour.

Mickelson, 25, already has won twice in the last three weeks and leads the money list. He has made $474,050 after four tournaments.

Leonard, 23, who won $748,793 in his rookie year, lost to Mickelson in a three-hole sudden-death playoff last week at Phoenix.

Els, 26, is playing his first PGA Tour event of the year, but he has something neither Mickelson nor Leonard has--a major title. Els won the 1994 U.S. Open when he was 24.

Since golf lends itself to great rivalries, there is an attempt to box such young players as Mickelson, Els, Leonard and David Duval, maybe even New Zealand’s Michael Campbell.

“Phil is a great player with a lot of talent,” Els said. “Hopefully we’ll have some good games, down the road. Maybe we’ll grow into a Nicklaus-Watson rivalry, but we’re not there yet.”

Nicklaus won 18 major titles, Watson eight.

Mickelson’s recent history in majors shows a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open last year and a third in the 1994 PGA Championship.

“He’s been up there in majors,” Els said. “If he doesn’t win a major this year, it’ll be soon.”

Expectations are high, too, for Leonard, who tied for eighth at the PGA at Riviera last summer. Leonard, who started playing golf with plastic clubs in his backyard in Dallas when he was 4, is looking forward to the time when he and Els and Mickelson contend for majors.

“Phil and Ernie have done a lot for players like myself, David Duval and others,” Leonard said. “To see two guys come out at such a young age and be as successful as they are, it’s a little extra incentive for me.

“Besides, I think having young blood out here keeps things stirred up.”

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No, a birdie: Gary Hallberg’s tee shot on No. 1 at Pebble Beach hit a seagull in the fairway. A marshal asked if Hallberg wanted to take “a gulligan.”

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Without the syrup: The combination of rain and 360 players walking on them didn’t exactly help the greens at Pebble Beach, Mike Springer found out.

“It’s like putting on a waffle iron,” he said.

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That was a typo: Arnold Palmer showed up for his 10:20 a.m. first-round tee time at Spyglass with 10 minutes to spare, but there was one problem--he was supposed to be at Poppy Hills.

Palmer made it to the right course with a minute to spare. He had read bad tee-time information in the local newspaper.

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Name game: A golf tournament by any other name . . . would probably be the Buick Invitational of California, the one that will be played next week at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

The San Diego tournament changes its identity the way others change pin placements. It has had 11 names.

Since it began in 1952, the tournament has been known as the San Diego Open, Convair-San Diego Open, San Diego Open Invitational, Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational, Wickes/Andy Williams San Diego Open, Isuzu/Andy Williams San Diego Open, Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open, Shearson Lehman Hutton Andy Williams Open, Shearson Lehman Hutton Open, Shearson Lehman Brothers Open and, since 1992, the Buick Invitational of California.

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Golf Notes

Steve Elkington returns to Riviera, where he won the PGA Championship last August, to play in the Nissan Open Feb. 22-25. Also playing are defending Masters champion Ben Crenshaw and defending U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin, who has won the last two Nissan Opens. . . . Walter Keller, Amy Alcott’s golf teacher and a lifetime member of the PGA, will be honored at a dinner Thursday night at Riviera, where he has been a member for 50 years. Details: (310) 459-8891. . . . Jim Colbert and Dave Stockton lead the senior field in the FHP Health Care Classic, March 1-3 at Ojai. Colbert was the leading money winner and player of the year on the 1995 Senior PGA Tour.

The USGA has given U.S. Open exemptions to Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. It will be Nicklaus’ 40th consecutive Open and the 24th in succession for Watson. The USGA chose not to give an exemption to Andy North, who won the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills in Michigan, where this year’s event will be played. North will have to qualify for the event if he wants to play. . . . The USGA elected Judy Bell of Colorado Springs, Colo., as president. She is the first woman to head the group, which was founded in 1894. . . . U.S. women’s amateur champion Kelli Kuehne of Texas, NCAA champion Arizona State and runner-up San Jose State headline a 15-team tournament Feb. 12-14 at Palos Verdes Country Club. Details: (310) 377-1806. . . . The ninth Lompoc City Championship will be played March 23-24 at La Purisma. Details: (805) 735-8395.