Monday, May 19, 2003 | 11 a.m.
Of course, the contestant too young to legally drive won the car.
It was Haley Joel Osment -- who turned 15 in April -- who came closest to the pin at the Lexus Shoot Out at the Michael Douglas & Friends Celebrity Golf event Sunday at the exclusive Cascata.
He beat out fellow duffers Sylvester Stallone, Dennis Miller, Martin Sheen, Alice Cooper, Kenny G, Andy Garcia, Clint Eastwood and a cigar-chomping Matthew McConaughey.
Osment donated the one-year Lexus lease to Douglas' chosen charity, the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Altogether the weekend raised more than $1 million.
The celebs all got lessons in the morning, but few needed them. This was a bunch with a lot of fairway familiarity.
Sheen said that he once caddied for Jack Nicklaus and seriously thought about becoming a professional golfer-- but Nicklaus had told him not to, because he "didn't have what it takes."
Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Wales native, said she practically grew up on a golf course and played often as a youth -- but she had "yet to beat my husband" on the links.
The golf event was the closer on a whirlwind weekend for the celebs.
Saturday night Celine stopped her performance at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace after belting out "To Love You More" and ran up the aisle to hug audience members Douglas and Zeta-Jones.
"An Oscar! You so deserve it!" Celine said as Douglas' and Zeta-Jones' faces were shown on the theater's gigantic LED screen. The audience -- including Placido Domingo and most of the visiting golf celebrities -- erupted in a stomping ovation for Zeta-Jones, who hardly looked as if she had given birth to her second child less than a month ago.
Friday night Robin Leach emceed a high-roller dinner and auction in a Caesars Palace ballroom. He sold two $135,000 packages for a private jet ride to Douglas' and Zeta-Jones' home in Bermuda for a dinner with the couple prepared by superstar Chef Emeril Lagasse.
The diamond-encrusted Harry Winston his and her watches, which the couple wore to last year's Oscars, went for $90,000.
Film lord Jeffrey Katzenberg got into the spirit when he offered up, on the spot, his tickets to the 2004 Academy Awards ceremony. They fetched $45,000.
The Cascata golf outing -- along with the Celine visit -- were filmed by ABC for broadcast after the July 20 British Open.
"It was an awesome weekend," Douglas said Sunday afternoon.
Joey bags Ross
Connie Ross, who was until last week the executive director of corporate advertising and publicity at Imperial Palace, has signed on for a similar gig at Joey's Bistro, the popular restaurant and lounge atop Carriage House on East Harmon Avenue.
Also, Joey's Executive Chef Raymond Gallo, who dabbles in acting (he was Andy Garcia's security guard in "Ocean's Eleven"), is up for a part in the new James Caan ensemble casino security drama, "Las Vegas," which premieres this fall on NBC.
Vegas, ink
It is hardly news anymore when Vegas is the focus of national media attention, but this weekend was especially busy for Vegas hits.
Florence Rogers, the program director of KNPR 89.50-FM, had a piece on "Weekend Edition" about the changes at Guggenheim. Earlier on Sunday NPR had a piece out of New York on Steve Wynn's auction purchases of a Cezanne and a Renoir.
The World Series of Poker, which continues today at Binion's Horeshoe, was mentioned in The New York Times and a few dozen other outlets.
The new Us Weekly mentions John and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos dining at the Hard Rock Hotel, and also has a big feature on Vegas-based "CSI."
And there were articles galore about the finale of the Monica Lewinsky- hosted reality show, "Mr. Personality," which airs tonight. Contestant Hayley brings her last three suitors to Vegas -- where else? -- and unmasks her man.
VegasBits
Attention shoppers: Mike Wallace speaks this afternoon at an event in connection with the big shopping center convention. Wonder if his speeches last 60 minutes. Tuesday, Tommy Lasorda and Daisy Fuentes make appearances ...
Moving along: Country crooner LeAnn Rimes wasn't thrilled when she saw her room accommodations at Stratosphere, where she performed over the weekend. So she packed up and tried to register at the Hard Rock Hotel. They were full, and turned her away. So she ended up at Mandalay Bay, where she will stay through Wednesday's American Country Music Awards ...
Bet on it: Al Michaels dined at Prime on Thursday night. Afterward the "Monday Night Football" fixture -- who often comments on how scores late in games affect betting lines -- availed himself of some of Bellagio's high-stakes gaming options ...
Dark: Light partner Andrew Sasson was spotted being turned away at the door at the MGM Grand club Tabu on Friday night and becoming "more than somewhat indignant" over the snub, a witness tells us ...
Themed: The cast party for the Aladdin production of "Miss Saigon" was held, appropriately enough, in the new Vietnamese restaurant Prana on Saturday night. Much of the cast from Celine's "A New Day ..." also attended. The night before, Alec Baldwin dined at Prana with friends in a private upstairs dining room ...
Ball game: About four dozen current and former NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball stars, including Jay Fiedler, Reggie Jackson, Joe Namath, LaDainian Tomlinson, Donald Driver, Frank Middleton and Ron Harper were in town over the weekend for a charity golf event organized by Kansas City cornerback Ray Crockett. Most of them hit either ghostbar or Rain in the Desert after hitting the links ...
Carry on?: Diva Mariah Carey is still being courted to play The Colosseum at Caesars Palace when Celine takes a July vacation. Sources say there is a $500,000 appearance fee on the table.
From Sun wires
A famous alum was among the thousands of students receiving degrees Saturday from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Anthony Zuiker.
The creator and producer of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was awarded an honorary doctorate of human letters. Not bad for a former casino tram driver who used to roam the UNLV campus with few dollars but big dreams.
"The university means a great deal to me," Zuiker said.
Selection show: The nice girl finished first on "The Bachelor," as Andrew Firestone chose Jen, a petite Marcia Brady look-alike, over statuesque brunette Kirsten on the season finale.
The dark-haired, blue-eyed bachelor, heir to the Firestone tire and wine fortune, gushed repeatedly during Sunday's two-hour episode about both finalists, whom he selected from 25 competitors on ABC's reality series.
But he ended up nervously proposing to Jen, a 26-year-old account manager from Chicago.
"Jen, I love you. I think that we fit perfectly together and I look forward to a life of adventure, happiness and family," Andrew said. Then he got down on one knee, placed an oval-shaped Harry Winston diamond engagement ring on her finger, and asked, "Jen, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" she answered breathlessly. "Yes, I will."
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