BETHESDA, June 11:Relations are strained between Tiger Woods and several of his fellow PGA Tour players after his refusing their requests to sign certain items for charity and family members.The 21-year-old golf prodigy arrived here on Monday for the 97th US Open in the wake of a record-setting 12-stroke Masters triumph.

He will be among the title favorite when play opens on Thursday at Congressional Country Club.But Woods is not among the favorites of some players after rejecting autograph requests from pros Billy Andrade and Doug Martin. Andrade was snubbed for charity. Martin wanted a glove signed for his six-year-old son.``I understand the abundance of stuff he has to sign and all the pressures he has to deal with,'' Martin said. ``But we're a team out here, all of us. When you start not doing things, when you can't make a simple accomodation for a fellow player, that can be a problem. Guys will remember that.''Woods offered to sign a hat but the autograph was for a glove collection. ``I'm not sure what the big deal was with a glove,'' Martin said. ``Every player I asked signed a glove except one -- Tiger.''Woods typically opens his locker at a clubhouse to find between 100 and 200 items stuffed inside in the hope he will autograph them. Woods does what he can but has learned to say no.``I'm in a position where people will nitpick me. I have accepted that,'' Woods said. ``But I'm not perfect. I will make mistakes.''Fellow pros Davis Love and Brad Faxon told him he had done as much by rejecting fellow pros, fraternity brothers in the exclusive pro golf world.``I think he has learned a lesson,'' Love said.

``He has been so much better since then. You have to understand, it's amazing all the things he has to deal with. Just opening his locker is a shock. There's so much stuff in there messages, packages, things to sign and he just can't keep up.``I have seen him walking out of here with armfuls of stuff. I saw him signing for (pro) Chris Perry the other day in the fitness trailer. He was lying upside down with an ice pack and neck brace.''Andrade asked Woods to autograph a golf ball for a children's charity event he and Faxon host to complete a set of autographs from every living Masters champion. Tiger said no, saying he does not sign golf balls.

Jack Nicklaus signed a ball that was sold for $ 50,000.``Guys who live around Tiger, like Mark O'Meara and myself, know that you would never approach him during a tournament,'' PGA veteran Tom Lehman said. ``It's not the place.''Woods told Love and Faxon he was amazed PGA rivals would want his autograph, but such is the nature of Woods' popularity inside and outside the golf world that even men who try to beat him seek his favour.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.