Columnist Ron Kantowski: Member of elite, King still has game

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 9:58 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

When it comes to tough tickets, you can put the LPGA Hall of Fame alongside Springsteen at the Meadlowlands, or Barbra at the Garden. Although the admittance standards have been relaxed over the years, maybe that was just so JoAnne Carner and Nancy Lopez would have somebody to talk to at the induction ceremony.

But admittance into the LPGA Hall still isn't easy, as its members must meet the following criteria:

Contrast that with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where about all you have to do to achieve immortality is hit .262 (Gary Carter) and/or be drinking buddies with a sports writer.

The baseball shrine was established in 1936, 14 years before its LPGA counterpart, and it has 254 members. Maybe that's why they need an entire hall to salute its members.

By comparison, you could almost put the LPGA Hall of Fame in a spare bedroom. There are just 21 members.

And here's yet another reason to appreciate the LPGA Hall: Being bronzed, at least for some of its members, only applies to their suntans.

Last year, Carner extended the LPGA record for being the oldest player (age 63) to make a cut at an LPGA event. Four other active Hall of Famers -- Amy Alcott, Juli Inkster, Betsy King and Reno's Patty Sheehan -- teed it up Thursday in the first round of the LPGA Takefuji Classic at Las Vegas Country Club.

The one I followed on a breezy afternoon -- King -- still looks competitive, despite an uneven 2-over-par 74 that will force her to play well today to make the cut.

"I'm just not hitting it well," said King, who finished her round as gusts were threatening to turn the 18th fairway into a wind tunnel. "As long as I've been out here (on tour) I've learned how to hit a lot of shots. But if I'm not hitting 12, 13, 14 greens a round, it's a real struggle."

King, who has 34 titles since turning pro in 1977, will be 48 in August. She's considering reducing her schedule, especially with her parents in Pennsylvania in failing health.

"I'm committing a year at a time," she said, avoiding the word "retirement" as if it were a fairway bunker. "I've played fair so far this year. I thought I played fair last year.

"But when I was 25, I didn't think I would still be playing (at my age)."

She failed to win in 22 starts last year, with a top finish of seventh. King has won five tournaments since 1994 but before that, she had a string of 10 years in which she won at least once. And she was truly spectacular in 1989, when she won six events, including the U.S. Women's Open, en route to her second Player of the Year award.

Those heady days are behind her, as a new batch of heavy-hitting youngsters is on the verge of gently nudging veterans such as King onto the LPGA fringe.

But it may not happen overnight. As her tie for second at Tucson last month showed, King still can be a factor. She entered Las Vegas a respectable 14th on the tour money list, and looks fit after shedding some weight during the short off-season.

She also has let her hair down, at least literally. With long, blonde tresses flowing out from under her visor, it was hard to pick out a thoroughly modern King from among her younger playing partners.

She said she works out more than she cares to, but at least she's still willing to do it, as well as all the other tedious things it takes to remain competitive. On Thursday, King still was flicking chip shots onto the practice green a good two hours after she finished playing.

"It's gotten so much more competitive," she said, noting the new blood on tour, such as Thursday playing partner Candie Kung, a 21-year-old Taiwanese who blistered LVCC with a 5-under 67.

Although King still hits the ball well, Kung routinely outdrove her by 20 yards, underlining that there is more that separates them than experience and a vowel in their surnames.

"I think people are bigger, physically," King said, when asked how the tour has changed since she was on top. "I think we were athletic, it's just that people are getting bigger all over the world.

"I played basketball three years in college (at Furman). I played field hockey two years. I think maybe we were even more athletic back then. But the biggest change I've seen is that from the time (today's players) are 5 years old, their goal is to get on the tour. So they don't play the other sports, which I think is pretty bad."

At least for the people who make high school letter jackets. But there is something to be said for specialization, at least for the players whose primary goal is to earn LPGA prize money.

"The first year I played year-round was my first year on tour," King said. "Now they're coming out 18 years old and they've already played year-round since they were 8. They got closer to their peak at an earlier age."

But King said that doesn't necessarily mean the young players will burn out at an earlier age.

"I think you just extend the winning time from 20 to 35 instead of maybe like when I came out and really started playing, I was 25 or 26. So I just think (today's players) extend their prime a little bit."

But for now, they'll have to settle for being the kids down the Hall. It's still going to be awhile before they join King on the inside.