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New Club Matches Announced

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Some of the world’s best players belong to two golf clubs in Orlando, Fla. - Isleworth and Lake Nona - which would make for an intriguing intraclub match worthy of television. It looks like it’s finally about to happen.

Ernie Els said the Tavistock Cup - named after the company that owns both clubs - is planned for March 29-30 at Lake Nona, where Els, Retief Goosen and Annika Sorenstam all have homes.

‘They’re going to make me captain for some reason,’ Els said. ‘It’s not going to be like the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup. This is for bragging rights in Orlando.’

The Golf Channel and Sky TV in Europe would televise the matches, although a PGA Tour official said they have not yet secured the necessary release from the tour.

And the Tavistock Cup is missing one other component - the best player in the world.

When Tiger Woods was asked what the chances were of him playing, he slowly joined his index finger with his thumb on both hands to form a circle.

‘Zero chance,’ Woods said.

The Tavistock Cup would be the Monday and Tuesday after The Players Championship, when top players are in Florida getting ready for the Masters, the international media presence is strong.

Woods, however, usually spends that week getting his game fine-tuned for Augusta National, and he did not seem interested in spending two days playing rounds that would take four hours to play - in uniforms, no less.

Others don’t see it that way.

‘Sometimes a bit of competition is good for you,’ Goosen said.

Among the things undecided are the format (stroke play, match play or both) and the rosters.

The Lake Nona crew features Els, Goosen, Sorenstam, Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo and Trevor Immelman. Isleworth counters with Mark O’Meara, Stuart Appleby, Lee Janzen, John Cook and Scott Hoch.

It was unclear if Sorenstam would play.

The Kraft Nabisco Championship in the California desert, the first LPGA major, is the preceding week. The Tavistock Cup would be the week of the Office Depot Championship in Los Angeles, where Sorenstam is the defending champion.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.