VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Woods shows well-practiced swing

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 | 10:26 a.m.

Tiger Woods says we have it all wrong.

"The perception people have of me is that I am serious all the time -- all work and no play," the golfing great told VegasBeat before the start of his "Tiger Jam VII" fund-raising cocktail party, dinner, auction and Prince concert at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night.

"That is just not true," Woods told us. "Sure, I work hard, but I also know how to party a little when the time is right."

Woods was certainly in a festive mood as his event came off better than any other in its seven-year run. It made more money, attracted more people, was chock-a-block full of stars, and Prince put on the show of the year (so far).

The pre-concert dinner inside a private ballroom opened with big laughs from host Ray Romano.

"Las Vegas is the only place I have ever had to cancel a wake-up call because I hadn't been to bed yet," Romano said. "What this place needs is a 'Go to Bed' call -- someone who calls you at 7 a.m. to tell you the evening is over."

Then he introduced an old clip from "Everybody Loves Raymond" that featured Romano and Kevin James -- who was also in attendance -- watching Woods play golf, and a video compilation of Woods' greatest golfing achievements.

There was footage of everything from Woods as a tot clowning with Bob Hope, to Woods slipping on the green jacket after winning the 2003 Masters tournament.

After the video finished, Woods came onstage to thunderous applause and motioned toward the big screen where his highlight reel had just played.

"I used to be pretty good, huh?" he cracked, making reference to his recent on-course struggles.

Refreshingly, the program for the event included a list of Tiger Woods Foundation beneficiaries. Las Vegas recipients of funds from last year's event included the Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Inner City Games.

Also on the list were groups ranging from the YMCA of Georgia to, oddly enough, my little brother's old nursery school, St. Luke's in the Fields in New York's Greenwich Village.

In all, Tiger's foundation dished out the entire $1.2 million raised at last year's event. More was raised this year, Earl Woods (Tiger's father) told us, but a final figure was not yet tallied.

Rapper Hammer was on hand to auction off a shaggy white coat of his that he claimed gives its wearer magical dancing abilities.

An older gentleman paid $8,000 for the item, and danced a jig when Hammer put it on him.

Despite what was misreported elsewhere by a local gossip who was not spotted at the event, Prince did not "bolt off the red carpet" after a minute.

He stopped for the still photographers, gamely posed with Woods for about a dozen different television cameras, and responded to a question from VegasBeat.

"I am feeling fine and ready to go," His Purpleness said before giving us a smile and a thumbs up.

During his show Prince took a few digs at some other artists currently on tour.

"Las Vegas, you made the right choice tonight," Prince said, making a clear reference to the Madonna concert going on at the same time at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

He also said several times that there was "no lip-syncing going on here tonight," nor canned music, a gentle swipe at Britney Spears as well as Madonna.

Also making the "Tiger Jam" scene: NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, "NYPD Blue" star Garcelle Beauvis-Nilon, "Las Vegas" beauty Vanessa Marcil, Kevin Sorbo, Aisha Tyler ("Friends"), Jessica Alba, Jerry O'Connell ("Crossing Jordan"), "Everwood" stars Stephanie Niznik and Chris Platt, Jonathan Silverman ("The Single Guy"), and Greg Grunberg and Melissa George from "Alias."

Media hits

We found Vegas references galore in our weekend reading.

The New York Times is now in the midst of a massive six-part series -- one of its largest such investigative projects in memory -- on the explosive growth of Las Vegas.

Separately, on Sunday, the Times reprinted a drawing by Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Mike Smith.

The June edition of GQ magazine has a feature on Jason Allen Alexander -- the former Mr. Britney Spears -- with plenty of talk about their 55-hour Las Vegas marriage.

And the Globe, the wacky supermarket tabloid, has a front-page headline that says "TV Shocker! Is It Roy? ... Or An Imposter?" It ran pictures of Roy Horn before and after the tiger attack and insanely speculated that the Horn who appeared on a taped "Today" show segment is not the same man who was partnered with Siegfried for the last four decades.

VegasBits

Gotta have it: Filmmaker Spike Lee was sitting near Woods at the Madonna show at MGM Grand on Sunday night ...

Aces: Bridgette Wilson and hubby Pete Sampras, and Woods and his fiance, Elin Nordegren, had dinner as a group Friday night at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons). Later they met up with Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan and Robert Horry at Mandalay Bay's high-roller Crystal Room ...

Shorty: Diminutive actor Verne Troyer (Mini Me from "Austin Powers") was at Tabu (MGM Grand) on Friday and Saturday nights ...

Fight prep: Boxer Felix Sturm is doing some training for his Saturday fight at MGM Grand with Oscar De La Hoya at Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas. The Hamburg, Germany, native was hoisting a few and listening to the Hofbrauhaus oompah band the other day ...

Movie man: Rick Salomon was at the new Hard Rock club Body English over the weekend. He was the co-star and director of the famous Paris Hilton sex tape. Also checking the club out on its opening weekend: Jamie Foxx, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirpatrick, Lance Bass and Dennis Rodman ...

Push: Golden Nugget owners and future reality-show stars Tom Breitling and Tim Poster just returned from Los Angeles, where they were promoting "The Casino," which debuts on Fox (Channel 5) on June 14. Look for a national publicity onslaught of gargantuan proportions starting next week.

From Sun wires

Something to talk about: Julia Roberts is pregnant with twins, according to magazine reports.

People magazine reported Monday night that Roberts' spokeswoman, Marcy Engelman, said the "Pretty Woman" star was due to give birth to twins early next year.

US Weekly said Roberts, 36, has been pregnant for about nine weeks with twins. Star magazine, citing unidentified sources, said the twins were a boy and a girl.

Roberts, who won the best actress Oscar in 2001 for "Erin Brockovich," married cinematographer Daniel Moder, 35, in July 2002 at her home in New Mexico. The twins would be the first children for Roberts.

Engelman told People magazine that twins run in Roberts' family, with her great-grandmother and a pair of cousins born as twins.