No Penalty Strokes for Betting in This Sport

So you think gambling is illegal on the PGA Tour.

Wanna bet?

Although wagering during tournament play is against the rules, betting during practice rounds is permissible under U.S. Golf Assn. regulations, and the PGA Tour tolerates it--though it’s no longer as common as it once was.

A popular game among pros during British Open and Masters practice rounds is known as “Thousand-dollar no bogey,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

If someone plays a bogey-free practice round, his playing partners each have to pay him $1,000.

An old game Lee Trevino used to play is called “Trees.”

Each time a player hits a tree, that player owes everyone else in the foursome $10.

If a ball bounces off one tree and hits another, everybody gets $20.

How much for off a tree, off the cart path, over the green and under the beverage cart?

Trivia time: Who is the only jockey to win the Triple Crown twice?

Freak injury update: In honor of Vince Coleman, here are a few additions to the hallowed hall of sports mishaps, courtesy of Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune.

* Former San Francisco Giant Kevin Mitchell once missed part of spring training after undergoing surgery to repair a tooth damaged by a microwaved chocolate doughnut.

* Former Cincinnati Red catcher Joe Oliver once required seven stitches and missed three games after cutting his hand while emptying the dishwasher. (However, women around the nation perked up at the thought of a professional athlete actually emptying the dishwasher.)

The reason all of this is pertinent in Chicago?

“The other day, Bears’ defensive lineman Bryan Robinson tripped over his rambunctious dog, fell backward down the stairs and broke both wrists,” Morrissey writes.

“By the way, when Robinson was lying at the bottom of those steps, witnesses heard him murmuring something about an ‘illegal chop block.’”

More bizarre: Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News on Denver Bronco quarterback Brian Griese falling in Terrell Davis’ driveway:

“Does this mean Michael Strahan is already claiming sack No. 1 for the 2002 NFL season?”

Playoff wager: You know the drill. Politicians from competing cities make a bet on their teams’ playoff series.

If Toronto wins the NHL Eastern Conference finals over Carolina, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker will don a Maple Leaf jersey for a city council meeting and plant a maple tree outside City Hall.

If Carolina wins, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman will wear a Hurricane jersey to city council--and board up his windows.

Actually, he’ll plant a North Carolina oak--and be glad he didn’t lose to the Colorado Avalanche.

Trivia answer: Eddie Arcaro. He won on Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948.

And finally: Justin Leonard, quoted by the Dallas Morning News on why gambling and golf go hand-in-hand.

“It’s the USGA’s fault,” Leonard said. “Well, I’m not saying it’s their fault, exactly. It’s the handicapping.”