Television ratings for The Players may have ben down as much as 20 percent. No good reason; Tiger was around for 3 1/2 days and the finish was reasonably compelling. Good weather around the nation may have been a factor, showing the people would rather play than watch.

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Best field ever here for a U.S. Open qualifier? That was the guess of USGA Committeeman Tom Dudley as he surveying Monday’s field at Timuquana. We had the State Amateur champ, the Florida Open champ, the JAGA champ, the leading money winner on the Hooters Tour, the North Florida PGA champ and the better college players at Florida, Florida State and Georgia.

Timuquana took its toll with only two sub-70 scores.

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Caddies were strong, too. Like, ex-UF All-American Billy Horschel.

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Mary Hafeman is the most influential female pro ever here (San Jose, Ponce De Leon, LPGA International, U. of Florida) and she says things are going well with her golf school at Windsor Parke. She’s working with the various ladies groups to promote tournament play and says she’s available to help you. She’s at 233-0989.

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The North Florida PGA has a new leader after about 30 years under Jerry Porter, who has retired. The new exec is Rich Smith and he’s keeping the same Deltona base.

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Those of us who pooh-poohed the Nationwide Tour event here this fall may have to eat crow, and buy it at Winn-Dixie if they have it.

We hear that W-D has put a strong arm on suppliers and the pro-am field is almost full at a very high fee. The company will paper the town with free tickets so it might get a big crowd, considering that it’s our best weather month (October) and there’s no competition (Florida is off, the Jaguars are at Kansas City.)

If it works, it might exorcize the ghosts of the past flops like the Senior Players and the Legends.

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Some talk of a group trying to get an LPGA event. It’s doubtful if anyone has a spare $2 million or so, but let’s applaud anyone making the effort.

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JAGA directors meet and tee it up Tuesday at Jacksonville Beach. The speaker will be pro Sandy Suckling, who will talk about golf in his native Sweden.

— Fred Seely is the editor of www.golfnewsjax.com.