Wadkins Ready for New Role

The rain gear is off, and so is the pressure for Tiger Woods in this week’s PGA Championship. There is no calendar-year Grand Slam at stake, not since Scotland imported a monsoon and threw it at Woods in the middle of last month’s British Open.

Thus, Hazeltine is just another major for Woods, another notch for the belt, if and when, which means every stroke won’t be dripping with historical significance from here through the final hole Sunday.

The big pressure at Hazeltine surrounds the CBS lead analyst’s chair, which was vacated in June by Ken Venturi and is being filled, for the first time at a major championship, by Lanny Wadkins.

“It’s hard to replace someone who’s been involved in it as long as he has and was as proficient at it as he was,” Wadkins said of Venturi during a conference call with reporters earlier this week.

“I’ve got a lot of Kenny on tape, because I’ve got all the tapes of the tournaments I’ve won--and he’s done a lot of them. I’ve seen a lot of his work for years and I’ve always respected what he’s done, not only his playing ability but also his announcing ability.

“Trying to take over for him has been a big challenge. And I’m very excited to be a part of that.”

Wadkins said he has had several dinners with Venturi, trying “to pick his brain on things, ask him how he treated certain situations, and he gave me some good advice.

“One thing, and I really understood where he’s coming from, is not to just jump out and try to criticize somebody. He said one of the first things you’ve got to do when you’re looking at a situation is--guys are going to hit bad shots. You can’t always say, ‘He made a terrible mistake there,’ because it may not be a mistake. It may be that somebody just made a bad swing or hit a bad shot. And everybody from Tiger Woods on down does that.

“The one thing I’ve got to discern, as Kenny pointed out, is whether it was a bad decision or a poor swing. And if it’s a bad decision, then it’s easy to be critical. If it’s a bad swing, hell, we all make those.”

Wadkins said he will pick his spots, but he will criticize. It’s part of the job, and it’s a major reason CBS selected him as Venturi’s replacement.

“If they had a category for candor [on the PGA Tour], Lanny would have led that stat every year,” CBS lead golf announcer Jim Nantz said. “He is unfailingly honest, and always has been.”

Wadkins, winner of the 1977 PGA Championship and 20 other PGA tournaments, provided a sample when asked to pick a winner this weekend.

He said he supposed he could “take the traditional straightforward pick and go with Tiger at this point in time--except I think he’s going to have to show a little more game than he showed last weekend at the Buick [Open]. His game was not sharp by any stretch of the imagination.

“Probably the most impressive thing about his win was that he did it on guts. It just shows the size of his heart and what’s inside him to win, because he was not striking the ball very well, especially with his short irons. I think he’ll be making some major adjustments.... If he isn’t successful in those, he’s going to have a very difficult time this week.”

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The Coulda Been Championship

Had Woods not shot 81 during that rain-soaked third-round at Muirfield and rallied to win the British Open, Nantz believes this week’s PGA Championship “would be the biggest and most significant golf tournament of the modern era. This would be as big as it gets for this game. It would have been off the charts....

“That’s not to say that this doesn’t have true significance and a whole lot of issues that will be settled this week. Imagine if Ernie Els backs up his win at the British Open with a win here.... If Ernie won this major and went back-to-back, you suddenly go from a year that looked like it might be the impossible calendar Slam for Tiger Woods to where you’re now saying and asking, ‘Who’s the player of the year?’

“Tiger has two majors and Ernie [would have] two majors. All kinds of possibilities.”

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Big Deal For Tennis

U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe works as a tennis analyst for CBS and ESPN, but he believes USA Network’s recent move to expand its tennis coverage beginning next year is good for the sport.

The six-year, $125-million deal will enable USA to extend its contract to cover early-round U.S. Open competition as well as televising six to eight summer tournaments leading to the Open.

“I think it’s a really big step forward,” McEnroe said. “I really believe that’s the way we need to go. The Grand Slams, let’s face it, have the power and the money. [The networks] need to step up and put some of these deals together.

“If you can create a deal where you get more of these [tournaments] on TV and there’s a regularity to them, a predictability--’Hey, every Sunday, we’re going to have this final.’--it’s better for the viewing public....

“It’d be nice if there were a little more continuity in the coverage. It’d be nice for ESPN and USA to make some long-term deals--at least there’s a little more predictability, so that you know where the [telecast] is going to be.”

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How About ‘Popcorn Machine Place?’

Los Angeles city councilman Nick Pacheco is asking Laker fans for input in naming a street near Staples Center after Chick Hearn.

Last week, Pacheco proposed that 11th Street between Cherry and Figueroa be renamed Chick Hearn Lane, but has since decided to enlist help from the public.

At Pacheco’s Web site, fans can vote for one of four choices--Chick Hearn Lane, Chick Hearn Court, Chick Hearn’s Place, Chick Hearn’s Dribble Drive--or submit their suggestions. The city council and mayor will eventually determine which name will be used.

Fans can vote at www.lacity.org/council/cd14/, or by sending an e-mail to vhernandcouncil.lacity.org.

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Irv Kaze Memorial

A memorial service for longtime sportscaster Irv Kaze will be held Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Turf Club at Hollywood Park.

Kaze, who died of a heart attack June 29, was a six-time winner of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters’ Best Talk Show Host award.

Before hosting his weekly interview show on KRLA-AM (870), Kaze had a lengthy career as a front-office executive with such teams as the Angels, Clippers, Los Angeles Raiders, San Diego Chargers and New York Yankees.

Stu Nahan, SCSB president, will conduct the service, heading a list of speakers who knew and worked with Kaze.