Billy Andrade

Thank goodness Jack Nicklaus turned 70 on Thursday. Because if you are the Golf Channel and you're televising the Bob Hope Classic for three hours on that afternoon and there is no golf and only rain, you've got time to fill. Billy Andrade, who along with Judy Rankin is a new member of the Golf Channel team, said he was enjoying the free-flowing, on-the-fly experience Thursday. For example, he got to tell of his first meeting with Nicklaus. It was when Andrade was playing college golf at Wake Forest when Nicklaus' son, Jackie, was playing at North Carolina.

Billy Andrade shot a six-under-par 66 Friday to take a one-shot lead through two rounds in the Atlanta Golf Classic at Marietta, Ga. Andrade had a 36-hole total of 11-under-par 133 on the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course and leads Tom Sieckmann, Mark Calcavecchia and Dillard Pruitt by one stroke. Sieckmann, with a 64, had the low round of the tournament. Calcavecchia shot his second consecutive 67 and Pruitt shot a 68.

He shot a 63 at Pebble Beach, but Billy Andrade said his score doesn't really compare to Phil Mickelson's 62 Thursday at Spyglass Hill. "I said, 'How many holes did he play? Did he play them all?' My gosh. No, I think a 62 over there is pretty damn sporty. I think a 63 over here is pretty sporty as well, but Spyglass is definitely the toughest course we play in this tournament."

There it is. The Enemy. Public Enemy No. 1. The Rack. Murder Incorporated. Jack the Ripper. Al Capone. Himmler. Torquemada. Eighteen holes of silent screaming. The enemy in other sports is, like as not, some tattooed scowling rogue with hair on his chest and murder in his heart who'll hit on the break and fight dirty--rabbit-punch you, thumb you in the eye, maybe bite in the clinches.

He shot a 63 at Pebble Beach, but Billy Andrade said his score doesn't really compare to Phil Mickelson's 62 Thursday at Spyglass Hill. "I said, 'How many holes did he play? Did he play them all?' My gosh. No, I think a 62 over there is pretty damn sporty. I think a 63 over here is pretty sporty as well, but Spyglass is definitely the toughest course we play in this tournament."

Billy Andrade beat the course he hates with a nine-under-par 63 and built a three-shot lead Thursday in the first round of the $1.1-million Northern Telecom Open. Andrade did most of his damage to the water-logged Starr Pass course with a streak that included seven birdies and an eagle during a nine-hole stretch beginning on the seventh. "The best score, the best round of my life," Andrade said. "Until today, I hated this course. It's the reason I haven't played here since '88."

Defending champion Billy Andrade, winner on the PGA Tour last week in the Bell Canadian Open, has committed to play in the EMC Golf Skills Challenge on Nov. 9 at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. John Daly and Peter Jacobsen, regular participants in the $500,000 event, are also confirmed. The rest of the eight-player field will be announced during the next few weeks.

There's an old saying in golf that all the bad breaks you get will be evened out by good breaks over the course of a round. For Billy Andrade it didn't happen in one round, and it may not be complete redemption, but his misfortune from two weeks ago took a turn for the better when he won the EMC Golf Skills Challenge at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa on Monday. Andrade finished the recently completed PGA Tour season ranked No. 31 on the money list.

Billy Andrade sounded apologetic after beating Jeff Sluman in a playoff to win the Kemper Open at Potomac, Md., for his first victory on the PGA Tour. "It's unfortunate that it had to be him," Andrade said. "If I beat (Greg) Norman or somebody, then it would have been really unbelievable. But beating somebody that I'm so close to, it's difficult."

Roger Clemens didn't only win a playoff game Saturday night for the New York Yankees. He also helped Billy Andrade win a golf tournament. Clemens gave Andrade a pep talk via telephone from the clubhouse just before he went out to pitch the first inning against the Seattle Mariners, telling his golfing buddy to go out and win one himself.

Defending champion Billy Andrade, winner on the PGA Tour last week in the Bell Canadian Open, has committed to play in the EMC Golf Skills Challenge on Nov. 9 at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. John Daly and Peter Jacobsen, regular participants in the $500,000 event, are also confirmed. The rest of the eight-player field will be announced during the next few weeks.

Billy Andrade won the Bell Canadian Open on Sunday by purposely playing into the bunker and saving par to defeat Bob Friend on the first playoff hole at Oakville, Canada. The victory ended a seven-year drought for Andrade. He has won three times on the PGA Tour and has trailed going into the final round in all three. "When you don't win for awhile, you don't know if you're ever going to win again," said Andrade, who finished at 13-under 275 and won $396,000.

There's an old saying in golf that all the bad breaks you get will be evened out by good breaks over the course of a round. For Billy Andrade it didn't happen in one round, and it may not be complete redemption, but his misfortune from two weeks ago took a turn for the better when he won the EMC Golf Skills Challenge at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa on Monday. Andrade finished the recently completed PGA Tour season ranked No. 31 on the money list.

Billy Andrade shot a six-under-par 66 Friday to take a one-shot lead through two rounds in the Atlanta Golf Classic at Marietta, Ga. Andrade had a 36-hole total of 11-under-par 133 on the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course and leads Tom Sieckmann, Mark Calcavecchia and Dillard Pruitt by one stroke. Sieckmann, with a 64, had the low round of the tournament. Calcavecchia shot his second consecutive 67 and Pruitt shot a 68.

Billy Andrade beat the course he hates with a nine-under-par 63 and built a three-shot lead Thursday in the first round of the $1.1-million Northern Telecom Open. Andrade did most of his damage to the water-logged Starr Pass course with a streak that included seven birdies and an eagle during a nine-hole stretch beginning on the seventh. "The best score, the best round of my life," Andrade said. "Until today, I hated this course. It's the reason I haven't played here since '88."

Billy Andrade won the Bell Canadian Open on Sunday by purposely playing into the bunker and saving par to defeat Bob Friend on the first playoff hole at Oakville, Canada. The victory ended a seven-year drought for Andrade. He has won three times on the PGA Tour and has trailed going into the final round in all three. "When you don't win for awhile, you don't know if you're ever going to win again," said Andrade, who finished at 13-under 275 and won $396,000.

Roger Clemens didn't only win a playoff game Saturday night for the New York Yankees. He also helped Billy Andrade win a golf tournament. Clemens gave Andrade a pep talk via telephone from the clubhouse just before he went out to pitch the first inning against the Seattle Mariners, telling his golfing buddy to go out and win one himself.

There it is. The Enemy. Public Enemy No. 1. The Rack. Murder Incorporated. Jack the Ripper. Al Capone. Himmler. Torquemada. Eighteen holes of silent screaming. The enemy in other sports is, like as not, some tattooed scowling rogue with hair on his chest and murder in his heart who'll hit on the break and fight dirty--rabbit-punch you, thumb you in the eye, maybe bite in the clinches.

While golf's international stars faded and failed in the stretch run Sunday, Billy Andrade seized command and went on to his second consecutive PGA Tour victory. "Just like last week, coming down the stretch, I felt like I was in control," Andrade said after his two-stroke victory in the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y. He established that control with a one-under 34 over the difficult back nine at the Westchester Country Club, shot 68 for the day and had an 11-under-par 273 total.