Golden standard for bosses

People will always stop and ask him about his life, his job, but most of all, his boss.

It's at times like that that John Hines takes stock of his good fortune. "Sometimes," he said, "you just don't realize how lucky you are."

For 27 years, Hines has worked for a living legend, Jack Nicklaus, doing whatever golf's most accomplished champion has asked. He has helped manage golf clubs, hired kitchen help, conducted interviews for golf professionals, directed all phases of the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour, put together a Ryder Cup package to sell to television, and overseen fund-raising efforts for the Jack Nicklaus Museum in Columbus, Ohio.

So he's very much in position to tell you that if you think Nicklaus is a great golf champion, well, you should know him as a friend -- and what's more, you should be so lucky as to know Nicklaus's wife, Barbara.

"They are just unbelievable people, great friends," said Hines, whose career as club and restaurant manager goes back to the days when he ran the Landfall in Woods Hole. For more than 30 years the Boston native has been a member at Woods Hole GC -- where he counts among his many friends Raymond Faxon, grandfather of the PGA Tour veteran Brad Faxon -- and he's always had an affinity for the area.

That is why Monday will be a special evening for Hines, his many friends and family members, and to his longtime friendship with the Nick lauses.

Not only will Jack and Barbara Nicklaus accept an award from the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund for lifelong contributions to golf, but Hines will pay tribute to the memory of his wife, Ellen, with the presentation of a permanently endowed scholarship.

Ellen Hines died two years ago of a brain tumor, a time in his life when Hines realized just how special the Nicklauses were.

"They were so helpful to me," said Hines, whose latest endeavor within the company is to help with a series of 25 clubs throughout the world that will be part of the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club.

These clubs will be spread throughout the most special places in the world, from New Zealand to Vancouver Island, and like all projects he has undertaken, Hines is keeping himself busy and thoroughly enjoying the assignment. But he'll be more than happy to get back to his hometown and stand to the side while the spotlight shines on Jack and Barbara Nicklaus.

Truthfully, the Ouimet group should feel honored, for Nicklaus rarely goes for such public happenings.

"He doesn't like big crowds," said Hines. "He'd feel at home if he gave 150 kids a golf clinic or do a small Q and A, but to get up and speak to a large crowd? That's not his cup of tea."

Yet the crowd will, indeed, be enormous. Upward of 1,900 people, in fact, will jam into the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and for several weeks now, Hines has been fielding calls from his many friends in his hometown. "I can't believe how big a thing this is going to be," he said.

Why shouldn't it be this large? Nicklaus, after all, is an icon and has been for nearly a half-century. He turned professional in 1961 and won the first of his 18 professional major championships the next summer.

Together with his friends and rivals, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, Nicklaus helped usher professional golf in the mainstream of the American sports landscape. Though he's long since removed himself from the competitive mix, his presence as an ambassador always lends instant credibility to an affair.

To many who'll fill that BCEC room Monday night, Nicklaus is the incomparable golfer with whom they grew up, the one who a long time before Tiger Woods came along set a standard by which everyone in the game must be judged. And Nicklaus did it all with a dignity and sportsmanship that is to be admired.

Call ’em Team Harmony

There continues to be a fascination over the partnership of Phil Mickelson and heralded instructor Butch Harmon. So much, in fact, that Harmon's other students are being asked for their reactions.

"I'm all right with it. I'm not in charge of Butch," said Adam Scott, 26, who has worked with Harmon for seven years. "Butch can do what he wants to do."

And one of the first things Harmon wanted to do was let his other students know what was going on, a move Scott appreciated, because he didn't think it was even necessary.

"[But] Butch called me and just asked me if I was all right with it," Scott said. "It was a nice gesture, and I said, 'Of course, if you want to do it, hope it works out for you.' "

Told that Harmon stated he still considered Scott his prize pupil, the young Aussie smiled. "Apparently, I'm No. 1 on the totem pole," he said. "You know, we'll see. Butch and I have a pretty close relationship. We know each other pretty well and we're straightforward with each other. If I had a problem, I would have let him know, but I really don't."

During the back-and-forth with reporters, Scott caught some by surprise when he revealed that Harmon has never charged him for his services. "It's amazing," said Scott.

A reporter suggested that perhaps that explained why Harmon had so many endorsement deals, because he wasn't getting paid by Scott.

"He's got to find it somewhere," said Scott, smiling.

As for Mickelson and Harmon, it is a work in progress, but Scott suggested the partnership should benefit the lefthander.

"Butch has an ability to communicate what he wants the player to do," he said. "Somehow, [players] can absorb what Butch tells them."

While Mickelson did dismiss his longtime swing coach, Rick Smith, he is maintaining his close relationship with short-game guru Dave Pelz. Reportedly, Mickelson is convinced Harmon will help his driving, but that he needs Pelz to sustain the short-game efficiency that has led to his three major titles since 2004.

Welcome comeback for Stricker

He wasn't able to be in attendance the night PGA Tour officials handed out the individual honors recognizing the best 2006 achievements, but Steve Stricker was pleased to say that he finally got his Comeback Player of the Year award.

"They sent it to me in the mail. I didn't think I was going to get anything," said Stricker, who was not your typical winner of this honor. Usually it goes to a player coming off of an injury, but Stricker was cited for the way he bounced back from a miserable 2005 campaign (162d on the money list) to rank 34th in 2006.

Then again . . . "You don't want to be up for that award too many times," said Stricker. "I had opportunities for about three years in a row to do it and I didn't do it until the third year. Every year I told my wife, 'Wouldn't it be great if we were the Comeback Player of the Year?' Finally, it came to life."

Indeed, Stricker had also played poorly in 2003 (188th on the money list) and 2004 (151st), only to continue the slide in 2005. Last year, however, was more in line with his great talent: He was top 10 in two majors (US Open, PGA Championship) and seven events in all, and made $1,811,811 in just 17 starts.

The good roll has continued over to this year -- four top-10 finishes in just 11 starts and already $1,470,828 earned.

The field for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., continues to add marquee names. Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, and Trevor Immelman -- Nos. 7, 11, and 12, respectively, in the world rankings -- have committed to the annual PGA Tour stop, scheduled for June 21-24. Singh will be making his fourth appearance at River Highlands, but his first since 2002, while Immelman was tied for 16th in his debut there in 2006. Harrington has never played the Connecticut stop.

When last we saw Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, he was coming up short of the goal line, putting an end to the Cowboys' NFL season. He was falling short again Tuesday, but it was a little less painful this time. After all, he was playing golf, which is recreational fun for him, not a way to make a living. Attempting to get through a qualifier for the US Open in Irving, Texas, Romo fired a 72, which is pretty good, just not good enough when guys are shooting 65 to take medalist honors or 68 to get into a playoff. Among those who did advance were brothers Tyler (67) and Trent (68) Leon, both Oklahoma State standouts, and Greg Chalmers, a lefthander from Australia who has played the PGA Tour off and on for several years. Romo wasn't the only athlete from another sport trying to get through the qualifier, as onetime Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox posted 75 and went home . . . At an Open qualifier in Cranston, R.I, a trio with Rhode Island connections, Joseph Alfieri (68), Joey Iaciofano (70), and Michael Sims (70), earned their ways into the next phase, the sectional.

Former Duke standout Liz Janangelo of West Hartford continues to shine on the Futures Tour. She shot 73-71-71 -- 215 to finish tied for ninth in last week's tournament in El Paso, her fourth top-10 finish in six starts. Janangelo has pushed to third on the money list . . . The European senior tour gets into the swing of things starting today. The lads are in Turkey and two entrants have New England connections -- Peter Teravainen of Duxbury and Bob Lendzion of Vermont and NEPGA fame.

Tiger Woods had trailed Singh in one obscure department -- at least until Sunday at the Wachovia Championship, that is. On that day, Woods won his 24th different PGA Tour tournament and pulled even with Singh. Of course, Woods's 24 different tournaments translate into 57 overall, while Singh's 24 are part of 31 overall. The 12 tournament wins they have in common: Masters, PGA Championship, Mercedes-Benz Championship, Buick Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial, Wachovia Championship, Bell Canadian Open, Deutsche Bank Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, EDS Byron Nelson Championship, and Tour Championship.

Fairway news: The $35 million, 77,000-square-foot clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass is unveiled and it's as majestic as one can imagine.

Clubhouse view: Ah, but if they only made it a little bigger, they could have moved the golf course inside so that The Players Championship wouldn't have to get rained upon for yet another year.

If your LPGA Tour Fantasy team includes Jennifer Rosales, you're in a bit of trouble. Seemingly on the fast track a few years ago, the 28-year-old from the Philippines continues to struggle. She's missed the cut in three of her five starts this season while she pursues a new swing, and to find her last top 10 you have to look back to October 2005. Christina Kim (no finishes inside the top 20 in seven starts), Cristie Kerr (34th on the money list, three cuts missed in seven starts), and Lorie Kane (seven starts, three missed cuts, one disqualification) are other notables who are off to rough starts.

Count Woods among those in favor of lowering the cut in PGA Tour events from low 70 and ties to low 60 and ties. "Play better. Either you play better or you don't," said Woods, who was one of a handful of players asked to weigh in on the topic after it was revealed that tour officials and the players' advisory council are pondering just such a move. The situation gained more steam last week at the Wachovia Championship when 85 players made the cut and play was so incredibly slow in Saturday's third round that the final pairings played the closing holes in falling darkness. "It's about pace of play," said Woods, who has a point, as do all of those who would like to see smaller fields. The only thing is, if the idea behind cutting the fields even more is to make for a quicker pace of play on weekends, my suggestion would be to first do the reasonable thing and truly enforce the pace-of-play rules. Given a choice of playing more quickly or seeing their cuts made at low 60 and ties, I think players would choose to speed up a bit.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com. Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.