Murray’s shot puts golf fan in stitches

One day after she was plunked on the head by Bill Murray's wayward tee shot, Gayle DiMaggio had a request: a signed copy of his movie "Caddyshack."

The actor, meanwhile, was back on the course Saturday in Lutz, Fla., for the second round of the Outback Pro-Am. And the course marshals took no chances: They wore hard hats.

DiMaggio lives on the course where Murray hooked his shot far to the left of the No. 9 hole at TPC Tampa Bay. She was hit on the left temple Friday as she stood in her backyard to watch the first round. She never lost consciousness but needed stitches at a hospital.

DiMaggio, who has lived on the course for eight years, recounted her mishap and her encounter with Murray.

"He came over and laid down on the ground with me and he was very concerned, asking if I was OK," she said. "Once he knew I was OK and not seriously hurt, then he started joking with me, asking how many fingers he was holding up."

DiMaggio was at it again Saturday, watching the second round, and was almost conked again. This time, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks nearly hit her. But when Murray was about to shoot, she took cover. DiMaggio stayed inside her screen enclosure until the actor's foursome teed off. Friends and family stood in her yard wearing hard hats.

Murray came to DiMaggio's backyard and asked her how she was feeling. DiMaggio said the only thing she wanted from the actor was his autograph on a copy of "Caddyshack," the rollicking golf comedy from 1980 in which Murray starred.

Earlier, a large crowd showed for Murray's 12:50 p.m. tee time. The 58-year-old comedian joked through most of his partners' tee shots. When Murray stepped up for his shot, the course marshals also donned hard hats and warned the crowd for incoming shots from the "Ghostbusters" star.

Murray laughed, and before teeing off told the crowd, "This one is for a little girl in a hospital."

His drive was a perfect draw down the fairway.

• OH, GRAMPS -- What, you think it's easy deciphering grandfatherly logic from Yogi Berra?

Lindsay Berra, one of Yogi's 11 grandchildren and a writer for ESPN the Magazine, told The New York Times of this exchange after she wrote about a tennis player.

Yogi: "You should date him."

Lindsay: "Gramps, he dates a swimsuit model."

Yogi: "You got swimsuits."

• FIGHTIN' WORDS -- Tony Augusty of the Detroit News, on Oscar De La Hoya retiring from boxing: "For now, De La Hoya said he plans to spend more time with his fists, which retired in 2007."

Also from the boxing world, English heavyweight David Haye, to The Associated Press, on his June 20 bout with Wladimir Klitschko: "There is no chance the fight will go to 12 rounds, unless he gets a chin transplant."

• TOO PAINFUL TO BEAR -- "Some woman was bitten several times the other day after leaping into the polar-bear lair at a Berlin zoo. OK, so I'll give you that," wrote Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. "But name me one other thing more painful than watching the Nationals."

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