The Reign of Spain Is Threatened

This just in: “I think Tiger is the player to beat.”

It’s quite a bulletin, of course, since Tiger Woods is usually the favorite.

But this one is a little different. The player who said it is Jose Maria Olazabal and the tournament he is talking about is the Masters, where Olazabal is the defending champion.

“Obviously, we all know that he’s a long hitter, but at the same time he’s very accurate off the tee,” Olazabal said in a conference call. “And his putting is really good. I think that’s the reason why most people think that he’s got the potential to dominate in that tournament.”

And what about Olazabal’s chances?

“I think if I play at my level, I’m quite good and I might have a chance to do maybe well.”

There you have it. Olazabal was backpedaling so fast, he was in danger of falling over. But that’s the way the 34-year-old Spaniard, who will play in the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship next week at La Costa, sells himself.

He’s the underdog. Take last year at Augusta, for example. Olazabal didn’t have high expectations, yet he played the first two rounds in 70-66 and was in the lead by one shot.

“What really amazed me was the start I had,” said Olazabal, who also won at Augusta in 1994. “After two days, I looked at the tournament from a different perspective. When I got there, I was not a happy camper, to be honest.”

So what changed Olazabal’s outlook? It could have been a brief conversation with Gary Player two days before the tournament. Olazabal said Player helped build up his confidence.

Apparently, it worked. Player talks to everything in shoes, but it’s nice Olazabal got something good out of their chat. See who Player talks to this year.

HE HAS THE SHADES

Remember David Duval?

That Woods character has sort of moved Duval aside, which is odd since Duval is the No. 2 player in the world and hasn’t exactly disappeared.

But last year at this time, Duval was the hot ticket in pro golf. His early-season resume showed two victories--at the Mercedes, where he won by nine shots, and at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he finished with a 59.

Duval had one of the greatest half-years ever, winning four times before the Masters. And at the Ryder Cup, he helped the United States stage the greatest last-day comeback in history.

Of course, there was the messy Ryder Cup compensation controversy that placed Duval at the point, but he outlasted it.

Meanwhile, Woods won his last four tournaments of 1999 and his first two of 2000 and Duval’s big statement on the course was to get so irritated by the gallery at the Phoenix Open that he made an obscene gesture.

Many believed that Duval was uncomfortable with the spotlight and acted like it. It’s not that he was uncooperative, merely uninterested. He says he agrees . . . sort of.

“I do the best I can, whether that’s good enough for most people, I don’t know,” Duval said. “I can’t control that, so I really feel like I did myself right when the talk was about me last year.

“But reading the things afterward, apparently I didn’t. I was trying to be honest. Nothing changed when I woke up one morning and I went up from No. 2 to No. 1. But nobody wants to hear that, so maybe I am a little more comfortable.”

NINE

Put this under the category No Way to Treat a Champion. Nick Faldo, whose last victory was the 1997 Nissan Open at Riviera, five-putted No. 11 on his way to a quadruple-bogey nine in his opening round of 76.

He drove into the rough, laid up short of the barranca, hit a wood short of the green, hit wedge six feet above the hole, five putts.

THIS WAY OUT

Is Woods peaking? Uh, at 24?

“I don’t know,” he said. “You really don’t know how good you can be until you are on the way out of your sport.”

If he keeps on winning so often, somebody from the locker room may offer to give him a lift out of town.

WOODS WORK

Duval on Woods: “I feel like I’m very lucky to be able to compete against him and to give him a good beating every now and then.”

Duval, again, on which player Riviera favors: “Tiger Woods? They all seem to favor him right now.”

ARNIE IN

Arnold Palmer has committed to play in the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. The $1.3-million Senior PGA Tour event will be played March 3-5. Hoag Hospital signed a three-year deal as title sponsor of the event, and Newport Beach Country Club agreed to host the event for three years.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

The first Jennifer O’Neill Memorial tournament will be held March 10 at Los Amigos Country Club in Downey. The event benefits John Tracy Clinic, a nonprofit educational center for parents of young children with hearing loss. Details: (213) 748-5481. . . . The Lompoc City Championship will be played March 18-19 at La Purisima Golf Course. Details: (805) 735-8395. . . . The 18th Martha Hightower junior golf tournament will be played today at Chester Washington golf course in Los Angeles. The event benefits the junior golf training academy at the Maggie Hathaway golf course.