Nelson Enjoying Latest Ride on Tiger’s Tale

Of all the streaks in sports, Byron Nelson’s 11 consecutive PGA Tour victories in 1945 is, arguably, the most significant and difficult to approach.

Tiger Woods has five consecutive victories, the most since Ben Hogan had six in 1948.

In an interview with Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, Nelson, now 87, said: “My streak is holding up rather well. The thing about this is I’m getting more publicity about my streak now because of Tiger than when I did it. If he breaks it or ties it, more power to him. I’ve had it for 55 years, so that’s pretty good.”

Nelson on Woods: “As far as his ability to play a golf course, to play various shots, I’ve never seen anyone better. As long as he hits his drives, they still land in the fairway. And he’s a wonderful putter.”

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Trivia time: Who was the last Australian to win the Australian Open men’s tennis championship?

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Who’s the real loser? Jeff Gordon in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Fox analyst/clown Terry Bradshaw banged on Viking quarterback Jeff George pretty hard this season, calling him a loser and other bad stuff.

“Then George caught fire and rallied the Vikes into the playoffs. Oops! Bradshaw had to suck it up and do a puff interview with George before Minnesota’s playoff victory over Dallas. He did everything but bring George flowers.”

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The new Shaq? After the Lakers beat Milwaukee, 103-94, on Wednesday veteran Buck point guard Sam Cassell had this to say about Shaquille O’Neal:

“He’s improved drastically. He’s a force. He’s playing MVP-caliber ball. He’s the best player in the game right now. He’s doing things he didn’t do four years ago.”

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Keep it quiet: Jerry Greene in the Orlando Sentinel: “Does AOL know it’s spending $178 billion for John Rocker?”

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Roughing up Reed: Buffalo Bill wide receiver Andre Reed made some disparaging remarks about quarterback Doug Flutie and the team’s management on his Internet site two weeks ago.

“That’s fitting,” says Michael Ventre of MSNBC, “since a Web site is about the only place where Reed can take a hit.”

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Come again? Charles Oakley of the Toronto Raptors: “I’m not a bad shooter when I’m shooting good.”

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That’s show biz: Madonna’s planned appearance at the Super Bowl pregame show has been canceled.

Scheduled to perform “American Pie” as part of the show before the start of the game, the singer said her schedule was simply too crowded for her to prepare properly for the performance.

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Trivia answer: Mark Edmondson, who defeated countryman John Newcombe in the final in 1976.

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And finally: So far this off-season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have acquired Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn to team with Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff.

“Those four hitters combined for 454 strikeouts last year,” said Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, “which means--if nothing else--that the Rays should save a little money on air-conditioning.”