DATE: Sunday, July 6, 1997                  TAG: 9707060158

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                      LENGTH:   77 lines

MICHELOB BREWING UP NICELY FOR THE FALL MOVE FROM JULY TO OCTOBER SEEMS TO BE PAYING OFF.

Some days are better than others, the Michelob beer jingle goes. As the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill is discovering, some weeks are better than others as well.

Such as the second week of October versus the second week of July for a golf tournament.

Ordinarily, this is the Sunday when the final touches are being put on the golf course and last-minute details are being worked out to host the PGA Tour event at the Kingsmill River Course. But with the shift this year to an October date instead of the traditional July scorcher, the Michelob is three months away from teeing it up.

But it's already got the promise of showcasing some of golf's heavy hitters. The tournament also is on pace to have its best year ever interms of attendance, corporate involvement, television exposure and overall significance on the PGA Tour landscape.

According to a source, Nick Faldo has indicated he will play at Kingsmill Oct. 9-12. Michelob Championship executive director Johnnie Bender would not confirm that, other than to say an international star who has never played here is making plans to participate. She would not be more specific.

Bender did say she has been told by the likes of Fred Couples, Davis Love III, 1997 Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite and defending champion Scott Hoch of their intentions to play, as well as Justin Leonard and John Cook, both winners on tour this year.

Nothing is official until players commit with the tour the Friday before the tournament. But it seems safe to say the Michelob - with a move away from July's stifling heat and the slot on the calendar right before the British Open - will have its best field since 1990 at least, if not ever.

Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Kite and Couples were the headliners in 1990, and Virginia natives Lanny Wadkins and Curtis Strange played in the final group that Sunday. That tournament drew galleries of 120,018 for the week, a record for the event's 16 years at Kingsmill. The Sunday round drew 28,853.

``I think we'll easily do that and could exceed that,'' Bender said.

Weekly tournament attendance at Kingsmill has not surpassed 100,000 since 1990. But Bender said corporate ticket sales are already up 15 to 20 percent over a year ago. Skybox sales at the 18th green have doubled, with 20 of the $15,750 boxes already sold. And Bender said sales are up about 30 percent for corporate hospitality tents.

``We think it's going to be a banner year with spectators,'' Bender said.

The Wednesday pro-am sold out by Feb. 1, a full eight months prior to the event. Ordinarily, when the tournament was held in July, Bender said the pro-am sold out around the end of March.

The tournament also has a better TV deal than ever before, a bigger purse and a more significant impact in the PGA Tour season.

CBS will televise the final two rounds, putting the Michelob back on network TV after five years of coverage solely by ESPN. The cable network still will air four hours total of the first two rounds, and with CBS' 4 1/2 hours of weekend coverage, it's the most TV time ever for the tournament.

The only other events on network TV during September and October - when golf coverage on CBS, ABC and NBC gives way to college and pro football - are the Ryder Cup and the season-ending Tour Championship. The other tournaments are on ESPN or The Golf Channel.

Of the 10 events leading up to the lucrative Tour Championship, the only one with a larger purse than the $1.55 million Michelob is the Las Vegas Open at $1.65 million.

That's significant because players will be battling to finish in the top 30 on the money list to qualify for the $3 million Tour Championship, and many will view the Michelob as a tournament they can not afford to skip. It will also be an important tournament for players battling to finish in the top 125 on the money list to retain their playing privileges for next season.

The Michelob will have the same week in the schedule and TV arrangement in 1998, and then is expecting a move to May.

For a tournament that has been an easy one for players and fans to disregard in recent years, the switch to October and what it has afforded the Michelob is as refreshing as a cool autumn breeze.

``I'm so pumped up and the staff is as well that it's hard to contain and control our enthusiasm,'' Bender said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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