Golf: American tour purse jumping to $455m

PALM BEACH - Nearly US$225 million ($455.37 million) in prizemoney will be at stake in the 48 tournaments on next year's US PGA Tour schedule announced yesterday.

The season begins with January's Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and runs through to November's Tour Championship at Houston.

Twenty tournaments feature at least US$5 million in prizemoney as the season's total purse improves from just under US$200 million this year.

While the US PGA Tour lost 11 sponsors, it attracted eight new ones in a difficult economy, although the struggle did delay the announcement of a 2003 schedule, and events in Las Vegas and Phoenix are still seeking long-term sponsors.

The majors schedule comprise the Masters from April 10-13 in Atlanta, the US Open from June 11-15 in Olympia Fields, Illinois, the British Open at Royal St George's from July 17-20, and the PGA Championship from August 14-17 in Rochester, New York.

* John Daly, playing through three tough months that culminated in the death of his mother six days ago, wants to win this week's Australian PGA so he can dedicate it to her.

"We always hoped that they may be able to cure it, but when she fell asleep she just never woke up," Daly said yesterday of the death of his 65-year-old mother, Lou, after a three-month battle with lung cancer.

"We thought she might last until the [Christmas] holidays, but at least she didn't suffer much when she passed away."

Daly said he would honour his mother's wishes and play the Australian PGA on the Hyatt Coolum resort course in Queensland, his third of three events in successive weeks in the Asia-Pacific region.

"I'd like to win it for my mum, and I'd like to do it here," Daly said.

He learned of his mother's death after completing the first round of the Asian Open in Ta Shee, Taiwan, last Thursday after missing the cut the previous week in China.

Daly will fly back to the US after the fourth round of the PGA on Sunday to attend a memorial service on Monday.

"It's been tough to concentrate on golf since about July," he said. "My heart wasn't in the British [Open], wasn't in the [US] PGA, just wasn't in golf."

"It really stunned us to learn she had cancer. The first part of the year was great, the second part not very good at all. I couldn't spend a lot of time practising. We spent a lot of time taking care of her."

Daly said his final-round 70 on Sunday in Taiwan, where he finished 11 strokes behind the winner Padraig Harrington, "was probably the best ball-striking round I had in a long time."

* Greg Norman believes someone's head should have rolled after Australian golf suffered worldwide "humiliation" because of last week's Open fiasco.

Norman has caused headlines in the past by speaking out at tournaments in Melbourne's sandbelt, warning not to go too far in seeking fast green conditions.

But the former world No 1 took no pleasure when the Australian Golf Union had to cancel the first round of last week's Open at the Victoria Golf Club when the lightning-fast greens became unplayable.

Norman said yesterday that the Open embarrassment was big news in the United States, where he was hosting the Franklin Templeton Shootout, and officials should have heeded the warnings from senior players.

- AGENCIES