He’s Everyone’s Favorite Now by a Long Shot

Three months ago, British bookmakers had Tiger Woods at 5,000-1 to win golf’s Grand Slam--the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.

Those odds have been considerably reduced after his Masters victory. Now, it’s 100-1. “He’s the only thing people want to bet today,” said Ed Nicholson of the bookmaker Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes also lists Woods as a 7-1 favorite in each of the next three majors and is offering the same odds at next year’s Masters.

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Trivia time: Who are the only players to win golf’s four major events, though not in the same year?

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Prophetic: Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer, writing before the final round of the Masters:

“It is a hallowed commandment that the Masters doesn’t really begin until the back nine on Sunday. Well, by the back nine today Tiger Woods is apt to be 20 under and a dozen ahead.”

Woods finished a record 18 under and won by 12 strokes.

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Genius response: Randy Newman, composer of such masterpieces as “Short People [Got No Reason to Live],” appeared recently on National Public Radio and was asked how he would speed up baseball games. Said Newman: “I’d lower Denver.”

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Three-sport man: Florida Marlin Manager Jim Leyland, on Deion Sanders: “If he practiced for a month, he could probably play in the NBA and I don’t know if he has ever shot a basketball. He’s that great an athlete and that great a competitor.”

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Cellar switch: From Jay Leno: “Today there was another successful achievement in cloning. Last year’s New York Mets have been cloned into this year’s Chicago Cubs.”

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Little old me: Jason Podollan, on feeling special for being traded even-up by the Florida Panthers to Toronto for Kirk Muller: “I got traded for [Kirk Muller]? I mean, me? That’s it? No one else?”

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Appropriate: Philadelphia pitcher Curt Schilling, who signed a contract extension worth more than $15 million, has a son named Gehrig, prompting Michael Ventre of MSNBC to say:

“Right now, I’ll bet he feels like the luckiest boy on the face of the Earth.”

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Incongruous: Shaquille O’Nell, all 7 feet 1 and 300 pounds of him, will sing “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” on an ABC-TV prime-time special, “I Am Your Child,” on April 28.

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Geritol connection: Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: “This just in. Gordie Howe, 69, foiled in his bid to play in an AHL hockey game, announces plans to fight Sugar Ray Leonard.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1953, Mickey Mantle cleared the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs as the New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 7-3.

Trivia answer: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

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And finally: Player, on Tiger Woods: “He was paid $60 million [by Nike]. Now he has proved he’s worth it. In fact, he’s cheap at the price.”