MYERS EMBRACES BLESSINGS.

Byline: GREG WILCOX Golf

Her demon cannot be exorcised.

It always will lurk deep in her body and keep the emotional and physical damage it wrought hovering at the edge of her memory.

Medication holds the pain at bay now so she can make it through the days and nights without too much discomfort. Her career is back on track. More importantly, she is still around to love her family.

For Terry-Jo Myers, this is enough.

Thirteen years ago, when Myers was 22 and just starting a professional golfing career, she was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, a rare and painful bladder disorder.

``I was up 10 to 15 times each night to go to the bathroom,'' Myers said during a phone call to discuss her defense of next month's Ladies Professional Golf Association Los Angeles Women's Championship at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale.

Playing competitive golf on a world tour became an almost impossible task.

So, at times, was living. Pain does not always accompany the disease, but in Myers' case it did.

She describes it as feeling like dozens of paper cuts inside her bladder that burned each of the dozens of times a day she was forced to use the bathroom.

``I didn't want to be 80 years old and live in this kind of pain. But it was truly a blessing to go through what I did.''

She almost never got the chance to find this out.

One morning in November 1992, her body wracked with pain, Myers picked up a kitchen knife and contemplated cutting her wrists.

A last look at her sleeping daughter, Taylor-Jo, then 3, changed her mind.

Then there was the time her body began to shut down and she could not urinate and was in desperate need of catheterization. Myers sped to a small Florida hospital for two hours of treatment then continued on to a tournament in Orlando.

Finally, she found a drug, Elmiron, that eliminated the symptoms and allowed her to resume her career.

A year ago it all came together as Myers shot consecutive 66s on one of the toughest courses the women play to beat Annika Sorenstam, one of the world's best players, by two shots. Myers won $97,500 that Sunday, more than she had ever earned before in an entire season.

But it was not about money.

It was all about life.

``I don't think I have the words to describe what winning that tournament did for me mentally, how it made me realize how many blessings I have in life,'' Myers said. ``I've recovered from a lot of emotional scars that needed healing and that tournament just started my second professional life.''

Last year, Myers, who opened with a 74, birdied the 16th hole on Sunday and then the tears welled up as she realized her first win in nine years was just two holes away.

But it wasn't about winning.

It was all about memories.

And it was all about keeping a promise.

Myers had played Oakmont during an LPGA event in the mid-1980s as the disease was extracting a terrible toll.

She had always wanted to return.

``I wasn't choking back tears because of the win,'' Myers said. ``I just loved the place and wondered how different it might be if I had felt better. I promised myself that if I ever got better, I would return to Oakmont. Just playing well was enough, winning was a bonus.''

Her victory was one of 1997's most memorable sporting moments.

The media spotlight eventually found Myers and there was talk of a book and television movie.

But she's 35 now, her golf game is back, there are plenty of tournaments still on the horizon.

A book and movie would just be distractions now, because time away from golf is spent with her family.

Besides, what's the big deal, she said.

``I don't want to do anything. My life's not over yet and it's not interesting enough for a movie or a book,'' Myers said. ``I just need to concentrate on my life now.''

Notes:

The field for the Los Angeles Women's Championship, set for Feb. 9-15, includes 24 of the top 25 money winners and 95 of the top 100. Recent commitments came in from 1997 Rolex Player of the Year Annika Sorenstam and Vare Trophy winner Karrie Webb.

Practice rounds will be Feb. 9 and 10 followed by the Cheryl Ladd Celebrity Pro-Am on Feb. 11 and 12.

Fans attending the tournament will be able to park free in Glendale city lots 32 through 35 across from Glendale Community College. There will be free shuttle bus service to the Oakmont Country Club.

The tournament will benefit the Urban Youth Golf Program of Los Angeles, the Glendale Memorial Breast Cancer Center and CHLIDHELP USA.

Season tickets are $50 and daily passes $15.

The Glendale tournament is the next event on the LPGA's 1998 schedule.

Carlsbad-based Callaway Golf Co. has signed on as a sponsor of the Nike Junior Golf Camps and Nike Adult Golf Schools. The agreement calls for Callaway Golf to provide golf clubs and related accessories to the schools and camps through the end of 1999.

The schools and camps are owned and operated by U.S. Sports Camps, which has hosted more than 100,000 young athletes at the facilities since 1975.

THIS WEEK'S TOURAMENTS

PGA TOUR 

Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Dates/Site: Today-Sunday at Pebble Beach.

Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,799 yards, par 72), Spyglass Hill Golf Club (6,810 yards, par 72), Poppy Hills Golf Club (6,865 yards, par 72).

Purse (Winner's Share): $2.5 million ($450,000).

Television: USA (Today-Friday, 4-6 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, Noon-3 p.m.).

Last year: Mark O'Meara won his record fifth title in the event, shooting four 5-under 67s for a tournament-record 268 total. He also won in 1985, 1989, 1990 and 1992. Tiger Woods had weekend rounds of 63 and 64 at Pebble Beach to finish a stroke back along with David Duval.

SENIOR PGA TOUR

Royal Caribbean Classic

Dates/Site: Friday-Sunday at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Course: Crandon Park Golf Course (6,744 yards, par 71).

Purse (Winner's Share): $850,000 ($127,500).

Television: ESPN (Friday, 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30-4 p.m.; Sunday, 3-4:30 p.m.).

Last year: Gibby Gilbert closed with a 5-under 66 for a four-stroke victory over David Graham. Gilbert had an 11-under 202 total.

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BOX: THIS WEEK`S TOURNAMENTS (see text)