Yueer Cindy Feng, 13, played in her first U.S. Women's Open on Thursday after qualifying at Carolina Trace.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Yueer Cindy Feng is the youngest player in the U.S. Women’s Open field.
But she’s in for a short stay.
Feng, who qualified for the Open with a blistering second round of 4-under-par 68 at the sectional qualifier at Carolina Trace on June 11 to earn entry into the field at just 13 years old, shot 10-over 81 and is tied for 132nd after the first round of the Open at Saucon Valley Country Club on Thursday.
Feng, who was born in China and moved to Orlando, Fla., just four years ago, became one of the Open’s youngest participants in the storied tournament’s history when she teed off on the 332-yard par-4 10th hole at 8:50 a.m. Two years ago, Alexis Thompson qualified at 12 years old to play in the Open at Pine Needles in Southern Pines.
“I play a lot of junior golf,” Feng said at Trace, referring to her play in the American Junior Golf Association, “but I’ve never played in anything this big.”
Feng finished her first nine holes relatively unscathed, shooting 3-over 38, but had two double bogeys on her second nine to finish with a 43.
Of the six players who earned berths after the 36-hole qualifier on the Lake Course at Trace, North Carolina rising sophomore Allie White enjoyed the best day, firing a 3-over 74 to place in her in a tie for 37th and puts her in a good position to make the cut.
She might be the only one of the Trace 6 to see the weekend.
Rosie Jones, 49, the 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour who retired in 2006, is unlikely to challenge for her elusive major championship victory after a first-round 76 left her at 5 over and in a tie for 69th.
“I don’t really have a lot of high expectations going in,” Jones said at Trace. “If I can keep my ball in the fairways and it’s dry, then maybe you’ll see me somewhere in the middle of the pack. If everything’s not perfect, if my stars aren’t aligned just right, it could be a tough go for me. But my objective was just to get there, and now I am.”
Katherine Perry, 17, of Cary, finished the first round with a 7-over 78, placing her in a tie for 103rd. She was the medalist at Trace after shooting 3 under. Kathleen Ekey, 22, of Sharon, Ohio, who shot 2-under at Trace, recently turned pro and finished with a round of 11-over 82, putting her in a tie for 143rd.
Ashleigh Albrecht, 18, of Murietta, Calif., who won the last bid into the Open field by making birdie on the first playoff hole at Trace a day before she graduated from high school, struggled mightily as well, finishing with a 17-over 88 and is in 153rd place, second to last. She took a 10 on the par-4 third hole, opening the first three holes in 8 over. She turned around and birdied the par-3 fourth hole before a string of three more bogeys.
Former Duke star Amanda Blumenherst, who won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amatuer, was the NCAA National Player of the Year three times and was the subject of a Herald seven-part series when the Open was played at Pine Needles in 2007, shot 4-over 75 and is tied for 50th. Blumenherst, who also recently turned pro, is seeking her fourth straight made cut in the U.S. Open.
Na Yeon Choi led the Open after a 3-under 68 in the first round.
I have to admit, I’m horribly conflicted on Michael Jackson, never moreso than during the massive media crush we’ve been subjected to since his passing.
That said, I totally understand the incredible outpouring of emotion — and coverage — on this story, this figure, this man. And so I figured that, on the day of his memorial, I’d post a couple of videos where MJ was connected to sports, including his teaming with the other MJ for “Jam” as well as video from his Super Bowl halftime performance (where he stood still for — although he does turn his head — for almost 90 grueling seconds).
This is video of Rome Braves (Atlanta’s single-A affiliate) manager Randy Ingle, um, disagreeing with an umpire.
What’s beautiful about this video is not only Ingle’s antics, which are priceless and call to mind Lou Piniella, but THAT I KNOW RANDY INGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Randy is a wonderful, wonderful man, and I’ve known him for about 10 years, dating back to my days at The Daily Courier in Forest City. Randy and his family are all from Forest City, and with his running a winter baseball camp in his hometown every year, I got to know Randy and his family pretty well. They are all great people, and Ingle’s Winter Ball camp always featured up-and-coming Braves, from Kevin Millwood to Kelly Johnson to Jeff Francoeur, and was annually a huge hit in the foothills of North Carolina.
One summer, when Randy was managing the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, he offered me a chance to come spend a weekend with him and do a day-in-the-life story. It was a fantastic time, from hanging out in his office in the clubhouse (and being asked to step out for a minute while he talked to John Schuerholz on the phone) to going out for drinks after a couple of games to watching two games from the Pelicans dugout. Yeah, that happened.
What also happened came on the day of the day-in-the-life story, which included interesting chores for the manager, and gave you a good idea of the minor league lifestyle. Put it this way — one task involved Randy picking out five movies from the video store for the next week’s 14-hour bus ride.
Anyway, when it came time for the game – four hours after we got to the clubhouse for the day – Randy penciled in 19-year-old phenom Adam Wainright to pitch. What a perfect story this was turning out to be.
And then it ended.
In the first inning.
Because after a disputed safe call at the plate on a play involving Wainright, Ingle burst out of the dugout, turned his hat around backwards and gave it to the umpire full force, eventually kicking dirt on the ump. Naturally, Randy was thrown out of the game, giving me the most perfect denouement to my story.
We shared a heckuva laugh after that game in his office, and it gave me one of the great stories of my career.
Want to know something even more bizarre? The ump Randy got into an argument with at the Pelicans game? His name was Brian Kennedy. Big deal, right? Except that I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH HIM!!!!!!!!!!!
No doubt, one of my favorite nights of all time. And seeing this video, first on Keith Olberman’s “Countdown” show on MSNBC, brought back a slew of fun memories.
I hope to talk soon with Randy, who has managed in Durham and Richmond, from rookie ball to Triple-A, and has even seen time on a big-league bench with the Braves. Until then, I can now see him anytime I want.
Sammy Sosa made me cheer, but my memory will never be the same.
Editor’s Note: I wrote this column three days after the now infamous congressional hearing that included Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmiero, hoping against hope that the steroid problem in baseball wasn’t nearly as bad as it was beginning to sound on March 17, 2005. I now know otherwise, and I also realize now that my memories of one of the favorite days in my life will forever be cloudy. Not because I can’t recall them, but because they were probably fraudulent.
Thankfully, I’ll always have Ron Santo.
Why am I re-publishing this column? Good question, but maybe it’s because not only wasn’t I surprised about the news two weeks ago about Sosa appearing on the 2003 positive drug test list, neither was anyone else. The news came and went, and then it was gone, kind of like a belt-high fastball pitched to Sosa in his juiced-up heyday.
But it still bothers me. And it probably always will.
So here’s the column, filled with hope and finished with dread, as it appeared on March 20, 2005, in The Herald:
I remember walking off the red line and onto Addison street, where Wrigley Field stood before me, like it had been waiting for me to show up all those years.
Settled into the middle of a North Side neighborhood, Wrigley Field is the embodiment of Cubs fans, who, for the most part, are blue collar through and through.
My trip to Wrigley Field to see my beloved Cubs play in what I refer to as the Church of Baseball was an odyssey decades in the making. My buddy Mike and I would spend many a high school history class pining for a way to get to the Windy City to see the Cubs play — and likely lose — a series.
Our dream became a reality in 1999, when, after years of discussion, we finally decided that it was time to shut up and go. We got the Cubbies’ schedule, picked out an August series with Ken Griffey Jr. and the Reds, and the day single-game tickets went on sale, we lit up Ticketmaster like it was the Fourth of July.
We drove 11 hours the first day, stopping 20 miles west of Indianapolis to stay the night at a hotel. The next morning, the day of game 1 of the series with the Reds, we drove the remaining three hours to Chicago, checked into our hotel, and took the shuttle to Midway Airport, where we would connect with the subway.
When we got off the train, we nearly fell down the stairs because our eyes were locked onto the unimpressive facade of Wrigley Field. We didn’t care what it looked like from the outside. We took our pictures of the big red sign out front, then shuffled inside as soon as possible, stopping only to spend a buck on a scorecard.
There’s no real way I can describe how we felt the moment we saw the green grass come into view, or the ivy on the wall, or the three men who manually lined the chalk lines. It was just pure baseball.
For that first game, we had scored two seats directly behind home plate, just 15 rows up.
If either one of us said a word for three innings, we don’t remember it. We just stared blankly at the game unfolding in front of us. There were our last-place Cubs, one year removed from winning the wild card, being swept out of the playoffs by the Braves and the Great Home Run Race.
There was no piped-in rock music between at-bats. Only the organ. No exploding scoreboard showing the last play from 1,572 different camera angles. Only the manual scoreboard soaring toward the crystal blue sky, telling us all we needed to know about the rest of the major leagues. (Those darn Cardinals won again.)
We kept score without uttering a word, just grinning like two kids skipping class.
Then Sosa homered.
A tremendous, towering drive. Deep to left field, over the screaming bleacher bums and onto Waveland avenue.
I can still see it. I can still hear it. A crack like I had never heard before, a baseball ascending so high and deep that Harry Caray would’ve had to reach up in Heaven just to grab it.
Sosa trotted around the diamond to the thunderous applause of 40,000 Cubs fans, who show up every summer no matter how bad the North Siders are.
We stood. We roared. Me in my Mark Grace replica jersey. Mike in the Sosa jersey that I bought for him for standing with me at my wedding. Our hero toe-tapped the plate, was greeted by the two runners he drove in, and pointed to the sky before chest-bumping his way back to the dugout.
Griffey homered late off of Steve Rain to steal that first game, and the Cubs never scored again that weekend after Sosa’s blast.
But Sammy’s homer was our best memory from our Wrigley Odyssey. Even better than meeting Ron Santo.
Everybody out there OK? It’s been a tough day in pop culture, what with the death of Sky Saxon, 60’s rock artist.
OK, OK, so if you can tear yourself away from listening to “PYT” on repeat or Season 2 of “Charlie’s Angels” as you mourn the losses of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, check out my very own NBA Draft Diary. As usual, My Buddy Mike (yes, he’s achieved proper name status) will join me as we break down the draft, selection-by-selection. As always, my comments will be in plain text while My Buddy Mike, once the World’s Biggest Charlotte Hornets Fan, will have his appear in italics.
Before we start, I have a few burning questions:
1). Will it be Blake Griffin’s right or left ACL that tears within two years after he becomes a Clipper?
2). Is there a better match on earth than Tyler Hansbrough and the Utah Jazz? Seriously. Anywhere? In anything?
3). Can I get odds on Michael Jordan drafting Danny Green at No. 40?
4). Who will have the most ridiculous suit? I’m going with Johnny Flynn.
5). Speaking of suits, will Hansbrough wear the same sportcoat over the black T-shirt that he always does?
6). What new word will Jay Bilas make up, and will it be better than last year’s “spurtability”?
Hey Mike, thoughts on the Shaq trade, or the Vinsane one?
I like your pre-draft thoughts Alex. Here are my responses to your questions:
1. I will go left ACL
2. No there isn’t, kind of like you knew Matt Harpring would go there.
3. I can see Danny Green there. Easily
4. I’m going with Brandon Jennings for my suit of the year
5. Maybe Hansbrough goes with that Sopranos get-up he wore on the bench while he was injured
6. Never underestimate Bilas, but I shoud go ahead and say it early because I’m sure I will quote him throughout the night. I already miss Hubie Brown.
The Shaq trade was about as well kept of a secret as Blake Griffin being No. 1 tonight. I think it could help Cleveland but I’m not sure if it solves all of their issues. They still need a perimeter threat that they can trust. However, Kobe getting a ring without Shaq may be enough to motivate the big guy for another run.
The Vince Cater trade to Orlando gets my attention as well. Do they realize they only get to play with one ball down there. Maybe this means they have changed course on Hedo Turkoglu and are going to let him walk. Hard to see how you could get enough shots for Rashard Lewis (a draft night legend because of his sister’s great quote that “His Game is well”), Dwight Howard, Carter, and Turkoglu.
7:34 p.m. The Clippers — and Griffin’s knees — are officially on the clock.
So it should be an easy call here that Blake Griffin is number one to the Clippers. However, it is the Clippers…
I think Griffin could be a fine player — elsewhere. The Clips have to make room for him by trading Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph or Marcus Camby. I like that he’s said all the right things leading up to the death of his career, but I think the Clips are just too moribund of a franchise for him to make a real dent. Sorry.
Quick observation: David Stern’s tie, Blake Griffin’s shirt, Stephen Curry’s tie — I feel like I should run upstairs and put on something purple.
You should have plenty of teal and purple in the attic from your Hornets-obsessed days…
If it wasn’t so hot I would go get the trusty teal sweatshirt with the sewn-in purple turtleneck with the embroidered Charlotte on the neck. God, I loved that team!
7:43 p.m. WOW, there was a guy with a Clippers T-Shirt on in the crowd. They still make those? Now the fun of this night really begins, the unknowns and undecideds. Memphis is on the clock and they need pretty much everything. They have OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay and some other guys. Do you really go to best available at No. 2? I say the Grizzlies go with the big guy from UConn, Hasheem Thabeet. Sorry Hasheem, maybe for your sake, I am wrong.
Agreed. I think it’s Thabeet here to the Grizzlies, but this is where the real draft officially begins. It’s been said that this isn’t a great talent draft, but I do think there will be good players that come out of this draft. The thing is, I think the bust factor is at an all-time high tonight. A lot of GM’s will lose their jobs because of this crapshoot of a draft.
7:48 Yup, it’s Thabeet. Anybody else think he might be the second coming of Eddy Curry? If he becomes Tyson Chandler, he’ll be doing well.
OK, so the Grizzlies aren’t ready to label Mike Conley a bust quite yet and do go with the big man Thabeet. At least there will be a lot of blocks to get excited about between him and Peter Warrick. Now for Oklahoma City — yeah really, they have a team there, they have uniforms and everything. I say they go with James Harden from Arizona State. Too bad he will never get to shoot with Kevin Durant taking 50 shots per night there.
OK, I think the Team Robbed From The Good Fans of Seattle goes with Ricky Rubio here. And I admit it — I want Rubio to be great. And I want him to try to do the crazy stuff he’s been doing in Europe. I don’t want him to just play like a traditional point guard — I want a mini Pistol Pete-type game. Please!!!!!!!!!!!
7:55 Wow, good call Mike. It’s Harden.
OK, I am 3-3 tonight. Maybe I really was an NBA Draft prodigy when we were growing up. Sure, I say that, and I won’t get any right the rest of the night. Seriously though, this Harden kid is really good.
Now for Sacramento, the victims of this year’s lottery. I’m thinking there is more to Curry’s purple tie than just an attempt at fashion. I say Curry at 4 to the Kings.
Tough call for Sac-Town now. The Kings didn’t like Rubio in workouts and were rumored to be salivating over Curry. Could Rubio fall to the T’Wolves?
James Harden — early leader in the clubhouse on the suit contest. He went bow tie. WOW.
7:59 p.m. Tyreke Evans from Memphis heads to the Kings, and this could be the best player in the entire draft. Good pick.
And the Wolves have to be falling over themselves. They’re about to draft Curry and Rubio back-to-back. That may actually sell a few seats at the Target Center.
So my streak ends at 3. Good thing for Evans is now that he is in the NBA he can legally get paid and no longer has to pretend to go to classes at Memphis.
The tradewinds could begin to pick up anytime now with the Timberwolves picking twice now. Word was they had their eye on Harden and Evans. Uh oh. I think they Wolves go with Alex’s new main man, (to quote Ahmad Rashad) Ricky Rubio.
8:04 Wolves go with Rubio, who at least now gets Minnesota back on SportsCenter.
HEY! The Timberwolves just picked Zac Efron…no, wait, that is Ricky Rubio, sorry. He’s the No. 5 pick in the draft now, so maybe he can afford a haircut. Anyway, this could get some excitement brewing in Minnesota. Pair Curry with Rubio and I would watch a game on TV. I’m kind of pulling for Curry here at 6. Make that pick and I will officially throw my name in the hat to be the next coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Should we start the “Rubio to whatever team Mike D’Antoni is coaching three years from now” rumors tonight, or wait until tomorrow?
8:13 Typical T’Wolves. Are they just going to play both Rubio and Jonny Flynn, who just went at No. 6, to see which one pans out? Is there a trade in the works?
Jonny Flynn, I smell a trade. I don’t really get this one. I am officially withdrawing my name as a candidate for the head coaching position of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Knicks will get their man now. Maybe Stern was behind this one…
Next up Golden State. Wow, who wouldn’t want to play with Run TMC — Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Huh? What do you mean they don’t play anymore? Sorry, I guess I was confused because that was the last time the Warriors were truly relevant to basketball. I say they add Arizona’s Jordan Hill here at No. 7.
And then Nellie will ruin him.
8:18 Take that, Knicks. Curry to the Warriors. Whoa.
Curry to Golden State and the Knicks’ plans are screwed, big time. I’ve seen this kid play in person several times and the Warriors are getting a stud. He is best when he gets the ball in shooting position and doesn’t have to handle as much. I like this pick for Golden State.
Wow, ESPN just showed clips of Dell playing when the lane at the old coliseum was printed like a hive. I have a tear in my eye.
I worry about him as a point. I really do. But it’s a great offensive system for him, and I think that will benefit him. Curry’s with a team that will run. That’s huge, I think.
The Knicks must be in total panic mode because everybody knew they wanted Stephen Curry. I think they go to option B now and take Brandon Jennings.
8:23 Knicks go with Jordan Hill, who will be hated from day one. I’m guessing Steve Nash might be in Steve Kerr’s office right now and asking to be reunited with D’Antoni.
I feel bad for Jordan Hill now. He will always be the guy the Knicks had to take because Stephen Curry was gone. Who knows, maybe that kind of thing motivates him. He kind of reminds me of WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston in apperance. Sorry, I still watch that stuff and it came to my mind.
Next up, a sentence to play in Toronto. Sorry Gerald Henderson, I think this could be your destination.
8:29 Instead it’s Demar DeRozan. Big-time athlete, but the NBA has been full of potential busts like him.
Would anyone outside of the DeRozan family or the USC basketball family know if that wasn’t really him there at the draft? I mean, especially here on the East Coast, nobody knows much about this guy. Who knows, maybe he turns out as gold.
Milwaukee is next and i think they have to go point guard. I mean they have Luke Ridnour and Damon “Smokey” Jones on their depth chart right now. I say it’s my suit of the year nominee, Brandon Jennings.
NEWS ALERT: The Carter Trade just went through.
8:34 The Bucks take Jennings, who high-tailed it to Europe instead of playing the one-and-done role in college hoops. That may explain why Jennings didn’t show at the Garden. Stern might’ve thrown Jennings over his shoulder when he went up there.
Back on track with Jennings to the Bucks. Next up, New Jersey. They have some fans who probably aren’t too thrilled about the team trading Carter today. I don’t know how much DeJuan Blair of Pitt will help heal some wounds but I think that’s where the Nets go.
Bilas: “He’s not a very good shooter, and he needs to learn leadership.”
Good luck with that, Bucks.
Great, Brandon Jennings isn’t even at the draft. No suit to even judge and he didn’t get his free hat. Poor guy.
8:39 Terrence Williams to the Nets at 11. I think he could be really good. But it also means that the Bobcats are going with Gerald Henderson from Duke, a.k.a Raja Bell Lite.
Ah yes, our beloved Bobcats. OK, maybe not beloved, but we try. Anyway, I feel like Williams was their guy. Maybe Blair here, maybe Duke’s Gerald Henderson? Forget it, it’s the biggest smoke screen in team history — the Cats are going with Tyler Hansbrough, there I said it.
At least Hansbrough would have heart. Unlike Sean May.
From ESPN’s Chad Ford, on Williams: “He’s an eccentric dude and he doesn’t always come to play, but when he does, wow.”
Sounds a lot like Vince Carter.
8:49 That had to kill Mr. Jordan to call on a Duke guy. Gerald Henderson becomes the heir apparent to Raja Bell’s role of playing defense and making a couple of shots per night. This is a typical Larry Brown pick — not too exciting but probably very practical.
I will go with another Tar Heel up next to Indiana, Ty Lawson is my pick here for the Pacers.
The choice may have killed Jordan, but he killed me last year with the Alexis Ajinca pick.
You had to bring up Ajinca didn’t you? I had to step away, got a little sick for a minute. Thanks!
8:53 And the Pacers select Tyler Hansbrough with the 13th pick, higher than I think a lot of people expected. Indiana has got to be the whitest team in the league — Mike Dunleavy Jr., Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster and Hansbrough.
I had the wrong Tar Heel for Indiana. I am going with Earl Clark from Louisville to the Suns. More camera time for Pitino. He will enjoy that.
8:57 Whoa, there’s Jennings, who just walks out after Stern makes the Suns’ call on Earl Clark. That was weird.
“Earl’s not here, but the 10th pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Brandon Jennings, is,” said Stern.
I will take my props for the Clark pick to the Suns.
Now for Jennings showing up late after he got picked. Something tells me next time David Stern speaks with Brandon “Buck the System” Jennings, it won’t be as pleasant. This kid is destined to be an off-the-court issue.
The Detroit Pistons are up next. I think they go with Mike Gminski and Kent Hrbek’s favorite player, Jrue Holiday. Maybe between the three of them, one of them will find a vowel.
9:03 Instead the Pistons go with Gonzaga’s Austin Daye at 15, or as I like to call him “The Biggest Bust of 2009.”
Bilas: He’s very skilled…but he’s not a very athlete.”
Solid.
I like how Stu Scott referenced the Gonzaga alum John Stockton that got drafted years ago Wonder why he didn’t reference Adam Morrison?
Chicago is up next. This team was so impressive in the playoff series against Boston in Round 1. They may be a few pieces away form being back. I’m guessing they think James Johnson from Wake Forest is one of those pieces.
I like the Johnson call as well.
9:09 Johnson is the call. Bulls needed to get an offensive presence in the middle after getting hurt there against the Celtics.
I think the Johnson pick will help the Bulls, I like it.
Philadelphia up next. I think it will be Ty Lawson. Ty, here’s a hint — get the ball to Andre Iguodala.
Nope, it’s Jrue Holiday. Big-time high school prospect who didn’t seem to do much at UCLA. Then again, the same could have been said about Russell Westbrook last year.
OK, now it’s Minny again. Who are they drafting to package in a trade later?
And it’s over — Jrue Holiday, this year’s winner of the Vlade Divac Award (the last player at the draft to get picked) goes to Philly.
Minnesota is up again for the third time tonight. They already went guard twice so I think this time the pick moves to the front court or at least somewhat, I say it’s Pitt’s Sam Young.
This from Ford again over at ESPN, with a rumor of a potential Suns trade of Amare Stoudemire: “If they trade away Amare Stoudemire to Golden State, they’ll have a nice young core with Andris Biedrins, Brandan Wright, Clark, Robin Lopez and (if they got the 7th pick) Stephen Curry. If that happens, the Suns won’t be all that great from the get-go, but they’ll be fun.”
9:19 Hurry up and announce the trade already. There has to be a reason for drafting their third point guard of the nght — UNC’s Ty Lawson.
As it stands now, the Wolves can pass it, but have nobody to shoot it.
Lawson to the Timberwolves? OK, here’s the game plan against Minnesota, don’t press, they have some guard presence. This has to be part of a brewing trade, no doubt about it.
OK, there it is. ESPN’s Ric Bucher says Lawson will be shipped to Denver for a future pick.
I don’t think there is any truth to the rumor that Michael Jordan is trying to acquire the 18th pick from Minnesota to draft Alexis Ajinca again. I think someone told him he didn’t have to do that.
9:24 The Hawks take Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague. They should’ve taken another Deacs’ point guard a few years ago — Chris Paul.
Atlanta takes Wake’s Jeff Teague. I guess the woman that sat close to us at the Tim Duncan draft at the Charlotte Coliseum years ago is happy — she loved her Deacons.
I was wearing a UNC hat that night, and she asked me, “What are you doing here?” I replied: “I’m here to see the senior center who led his team to the Final Four get drafted.” I was referring to Serge Zwikker. Maybe my best line ever off the top of my head.
And I can remember her asking why you were there, and you said, “I’m here for picks 2-through-58.” Classic.
Utah is up next and has to be destroyed that Hansbrough is gone off of the board. I gotta stick with the new Greg Ostertag, BJ Mullens.
9:31 Jazz go with Duke killer Eric Maynor from VCU. I think he’ll be pretty good.
New Orleans is up now. This is still painful because these were my Hornets. Plus, this is the point of the draft where my Hornets made such legendary picks as Greg Graham, Gritty Gutty Scott Burrell and George Zidek.
I say they use this pick on DeJuan Blair, I think you go the best on the board here.
9:36 Darren Collison from UCLA goes No. 21 to the Bugs. Backup for Paul, I guess. Collison would’ve been better off coming out last year.
Don’t really understand the Collison pick, but then again, there weren’t many Hornet draft picks I ever did understand. (Remember the night I did call the 2nd round pick of Makil Rose though? I was so excited…what a dork.)
Anyway, Portland up now. I say they take Sam Young. Why? Because eventuatlly somebody is going to take one of these kids from Pittsburgh.
I think Young can be a beast.
9:40 The Trail Blazers select…who?
Somebody finally took an international guy so Fran Fraschilla could talk again. I refuse to submit another pick until one of the Pitt kids goes…
The guy’s name is Victor Claver. He’s from Spain and is red-headed. That’s all I can tell you.
9:45 The Kings make history with Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to be drafted in the NBA.
OK, I have to say it. Remember when our college kids used to be good enough to draft? Fraschilla is pumped because he gets to talk about two in a row. Good thing for Casspi though is that he and his new teammate Tyreke Evans both took the same number of exams at the University of Memphis.
Dallas is up next — maybe a Pittsburg kid? Maybe Toney Douglas from Florida State.
Hey, looking ahead to the 28th pick, do you think the Wolves will take Patty Mills to make them 4-for-4 on PGs?
9:49 Dallas takes BJ Mullens at No. 24. Good fit. Soft player for a soft team.
I guess you can’t teach size. Oh to be 7-1.
Oklahoma City is next up. I lied about not picking again (this way, one of the Pitt kids will finally go) I will make Fraschilla happy and go with Jonas Jerebko.
9:53 The Team Robbed From The Good Fans of Seattle take some guy, from Guadeloupe, which Stern couldn’t pronounce. More Fraschilla.
OK, really? Rodrique Beaubois? And he is at the draft? Did somebody check his ID before he went up on stage? Can he really prove it is him? Who could take a look at him and say, “I’m pretty sure that really isn’t the real Rodrique Beaubois”.
And Bucher says Some Guy, who is a point guard originally from France, will be traded to Dallas for Mullens. So why not just take the guy? It’s one pick late in the first round.
Thinking the same thing about that reported trade.
Can Del Negro draft hair care products at 26?
He’d at least be the only guy connected the N.C. State involved in the first round of the NBA Draft.
ESPN’s Ford on Mullens: “Mullens reminds me a lot of a young Darko Milicic, for both good and bad — he’s skilled and athletic, but he doesn’t really know how to play.”
Ecccchhhhh.
9:59 The Bulls take Taj Gibson of USC with the 26th pick.
And Bilas talks about Gibson’s long arms. That’s been Bilas’ focus this year — wingspan. Enough already.
Probably not a bad pick. This is a team on the way back up.
Next up is Hasheem Thabeet’s team, the Memphis Grizzlies. Just saying Grizzlies on draft night makes me think of “Big Country” Bryant Reeves. Out of curiosity, I may have to go to Ebay later tonight to see if I can find a Reeves Grizzlies jersey and how much it will be. That may be as cool as our old Mahmoud Abdul Rauf jerseys there, Alex.
Anyway the pick for the Grizzlies — who cares, he won’t be anywhere close to Big Country Reeves.
Ah, Mahmoud. I remember when he was Chris Jackson.
10:07 DeMarre Carroll from Mizzou goes to Memphis at No. 27. Good role player. Athletic as hell.
God, love the guy in the Grizzlies jersey that seems excited about DeMarre Carroll. Maybe he is a dork like me and has done his research on this guy.
Up next is Minnesota. I say it’s Chase Budinger. They feel like he can be converted to point guard.
OK, Wolves, pick a point guard. C’mon. C’mon.
Even Bilas’ Best Available has both of my Pitt guys at the top now. Somebody please draft one of them, please.
10:12 Stern comes out to make the Minny pick, pauses, and says, “Hi there.” Love it.
And then the Wolves take UNC’s Wayne Ellington. I had him going to Cleveland at No. 30, but this is a need pick for the Wolves after trading Rodney Foye.
Wolves’ fans just gotta hope he’s not like another undersized 2-guard from UNC that they drafted — Rashad McCants.
Wayne Ellington to Minnesota. Let’s see, a shooter from a national championship UNC team, well, Rashad McCants didn’t work out, let’s try Ellington. I’m a little disappointed that he didn’t last until the Cavs. I think he is what they needed.
This next pick, whoever is taking it, the Lakers or the Knicks has to be the Jack McClinton kid from Miami. I don’t recall a sold pick previously.
10:19 The Lakers are picking for the Knicks here. And they go with Toney Douglas, of Florida State, who D’Antoni, who also just traded for Darko Milicic, was hot after.
Wow, we were really on the same page with the Ellington/McCants thing and the Cleveland/Ellington fit weren’t we? Doesn’t surprise me.
OK, there is one Bryant Reeves jersey on ebay for $9.99 and it has one bid on it. I swear to God, I did not place the bid. There are also several rookie cards starting at a buck.
OK, I went with the wrong ACC kid from Florida there. Douglas can flat-out play. That’s a nice find this late in the draft. I would certainly take my chances on him and his proven record over these international kids that look like they need to bulk up.
To close the first round, LeBron and Shaq’s team, the Cavs — they need a shooter. However, I think they go with DaJuan Summers of Georgetown.
10:23 And the Cavs, to close out the first round and the draft diary select… Some Guy!
And he’s there, much to the chagrin of Stern, who gives him a look like, “What are you doing here, and why should I wait for you?”
Thanks Cleveland, go ahead and take my Beaubois comments earlier and sub in the name Christian Eyenga and you have my thoughts.
Christian Eyenga, of the Congo, is the latest Some Guy. His grainy highlights include a few moves filmed from the corner of a gym that has about seven people in the stands. It looked like a high school gym.
And in a few years, this guy might play with LeBron James. What a game.
I will be watching the second round but I know it’s not worth blogging on. I enjoyed it yet again. Maybe DeJuan Blair and Sam Young turn into second-round gold for somebody.
Will will see Phil Mickelson like this is a major ever again?
It feels cold. Cruel even.
Something about it just makes you want to shudder. Like the man said, there are a lot more important things in life, and now is the time to focus on them.
But it’s a feeling that is hard to shake, and one that just won’t go away.
And so, even with the circumstances hovering over Phil Mickelson and his family, the question creeps into the mind and cannot be avoided.
Did Mickelson choke away another U.S. Open on Monday?
One can feel dirty even allowing the subject to surface. After all, the man not only made the cut at the Open just weeks after finding out his beloved wife has breast cancer, he contended all week through all the starts and mostly stops on what is considered to be golf’s toughest test of the season.
Even yours truly said on the air Wednesday that just making it to the weekend would be amazing, and that just being in the hunt over the final 18 could parallel some of the greatest achievements in Lefty’s often brilliant career.
But…
And that’s the problem — there’s always a “but” when it comes to Phil Mickelson.
In a span of 17 holes as the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black finally finished on Monday, Lefty played a round that was strikingly emblematic of his career. There were impeccable peaks. (The dart he threw at the par-5 13th flag, resulting in an eagle that vaulted him into a share of the lead, was the kind of shotmaking that carried Mickelson to three major championships.) But there were also heartbreaking valleys. (The missed 3-footers for pars on 15 and 17 were reminiscent of the fade on the back nine at Augusta this year, or missed chances at Bethpage in 2002, or at the 2001 PGA Championship. Or all the others.)
That Lucas Glover, he of one whole PGA Tour victory in his career, never lost the lead over the final 12 holes has probably already been forgotten, and possibly, never even known. If Glover becomes the next Geoff Ogilvy, then fine, but this Open will likely be remembered for how Mickelson might have given it away, a lot like the Open he gift-wrapped for Ogilvy at Winged Foot in 2006.
Mickelson had trouble closing the door before Winged Foot, but he seemed like he was beyond the worst until he made the turn there that fateful Sunday. He had won three majors and was on his way to a fourth and third consecutive, making copy editors around the word giddy with the thought of plastering “MICKELSLAM” in 100-point headlines if he were to win the British Open that year.
But everything changed in the majors for Phil since Way Left Winged Foot. While Lefty showed every bit as much toughness — maybe even more — this week as he did in flat-out taking the Masters in 2004 by playing the final seven holes in 5 under to steal the green jacket from Ernie Els, the end result is still hard to mask.
A bogey on the treacherous 15th hole — the hardest hole this week at Bethpage — does not appear to be such a misstep when looking at the scorecard. But it’s how Lefty made bogey — with another missed short putt — that robs the chance to make apologies for him. The same can be said for the par-3 17th, where he failed to get up-and-down after missing the green short, falling two strokes back after Glover birdied 16.
And yes, had Mickelson parred-out after the eagle, he would’ve likely just been in a playoff with Glover. But the Open is a tough deal, and sharing the lead over the last three holes, with the prospect looming of another 18 against the world’s No. 2 player in the world and the overwhelming sentimental favorite, is a lot different than owning a two-stoke lead.
And so it ended as a fifth second-place finish in the U.S. Open for Mickelson, a record. And while he didn’t do it in down-in-flames fashion like Ricky Barnes, Mickelson’s stumble to the finish was even more agonizing.
What’s worse is that many could see it coming. Barnes’ collapse was expected, but in a way, so was Lefty’s.
Golf fans like Mickelson because he’s everything Tiger Woods is not. Phil smiles. Phil acknowledges the crowd. Phil high-fives the gallery. Phil goes for broke and signs a ton of autographs and aw-shucks it in the press tent.
But the No. 2 player in the world should make those putts. Period. Go ahead and say it: Woods would not have lost if he shared the lead with five holes to play.
Still, Mickelson was great at Bethpage, playing every round either 1 under or even par. He made a dazzling charge, making bombs of putts to go with a stirring eagle.
But was it enough to explain away his foibles on the holes that mattered the most?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
The problem is that even after some of Mickelson’s best performances, the question still lingers.
Because my column is published on Sundays and since we don’t publish a paper on Mondays, I didn’t have the luxury this time to see how the tournament was shaping up after three rounds. Instead, I only had two (which is just as well, since it’s a crapshoot anyway). So here’s the column:
I don’t know what’s more impossible: the U.S. Open completing 72 holes before Monday or me trying to navigate a crowded leaderboard to pick a winner with just two rounds in the books.
But I never back down from a challenge (in this instance, anyway), and unlike Angel Cabrera, who made the cut but is too far back to mount any real challenge, I still have a chance at a personal Grand Slam. I picked correctly back in April that Cabrera would don the green jacket, and I’ve got three majors left.
You know the drill by now. Here are my picks (a.k.a. guesses) of who can win, who won’t win and who will win the 109th U.S. Open.
Who Can Win
Phil Mickelson -1 (Through one hole in third round)
I’m only slightly breaking my cardinal rule here.
I know what I’ve written before, and I know that in the past, I’ve blindly blown past said cardinal rule. So excuse the hedging here, even though I wrote after Way Left Winged Foot that I wouldn’t pick Lefty to win a major again until after he actually did it.
Well, chalk me up for getting swept up into the emotion of what Mickelson’s trying to accomplish this week. I may even wear pink on Monday when this Open finally comes to an end.
Mickelson is miles back, though, and would need some help to get into real contention. That said, this is the same guy who had a good chance to steal Augusta through nine holes on Sunday before fading on the back nine. Bethpage is there for the taking, and Lefty’s just as capable of throwing up a 64 as anybody. Maybe even moreso. So he’s in it.
Lucas Glover almost made the Ryder Cup team.
Lucas Glover -7 (Through 36 holes)
I’m not sure how many people realize how good of a player Glover really is. He darn near made the Ryder Cup team last year, has won on the PGA Tour, finished second at Quail Hollow last month and ranks 12th on Tour in birdies this year.
Remember, this isn’t a standard U.S. Open course anymore. It’s more like a Buick Open, and Glover could win a Buick Open.
Sean O'Hair may be on the verge of stardom.
Sean O’Hair -2 (Through 36 holes)
O’Hair can flat-out play and might be a future star in the making. He’s already won three times on Tour, including at Quail Hollow this year, and has three other top-5s in 2009 to go with it. He’s first in all-around ranking on Tour, sixth in scoring average, second in greens in regulation and hits more than 64 percent of his fairways. Pretty good combination to make a run in the final two rounds of an Open.
Tiger's got a lot going for him — on the course, too.
Tiger Woods +3 (Through one hole in third round)
I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care.
Yes, he’s miles back. Yes, he’s never come from behind to win a major. Yes, he has 26 players ahead of him.
Don’t care. He’s Tiger.
This goes back to my Buick Open theory for the 2009 U.S. Open. Low scores, maybe even historic scores, are out there.
And Tiger does well with history (and in Buick Opens). Drop a 63 in the third round, and he’s at 4 under and scaring the bejesus out of everybody. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, just saying it could.
Who Won’t Win
Just don't see it, Peter.
Peter Hanson -3 (Through 36 holes)
It’s not like the Swede is a bad player, but he misses half his fairways. Even at this Open, that will eventually kill you.
It would be a great story.
David Duval (-3 Through 36 holes)
I’d love to see it, especially since Duval has become a mini-Phil in that he’s engaging with the gallery. When he was great, he was a cold fish. Now he’s been humbled, and his game has been showing signs of life this year.
But this was also the guy who started his second round with four bogeys in six holes. Give him credit for bouncing all the way back, but this is too much.
No.
Azuma Yano (-3 Through 36 holes)
No.
No matter what happens, Barnes is a record-breaker.
Ricky Barnes (-8 Through 36 holes)
He’s playing the best of anybody, and the result has been a record-breaking 36-hole score and a one-shot lead halfway through.
Six years ago, Barnes as hailed was “The Next Big Thing”, winning the U.S. Amateur and moving as high as third at the Masters before finishing 21st. Since then, though, it’s been near-miss after near-miss in earning his Tour card. Even this season, he’s missed six out of 12 cuts, and before Thursday, had never had a round under par at the Open.
He’s still cocky and he’s wearing painter hats. But he’s not the next U.S. Open champion.
He closed the deal here, but usually fades on Sunday.
Steve Stricker (-1 Through one hole in third round)
I think he’s going to make some noise in his third round, just because his game suits an Open. But Stricker rarely closes the deal on Sunday.
Then again, this Open probably won’t finish on Sunday…
Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher, Todd Hamilton, Oliver Wilson, Nick Taylor, Hunter Mahan, Gary Woodland (All Under Par)
They range from 2 under to 1 under, and they’re all a total crapshoot, kinda like my picks. Stupid rain.
Speaking of rain….
Let's try the PGA and August next time...
Bethpage Black (Under Water through three days)
Maybe it’s just bad luck, but the 2002 Open at Bethpage was marred by consistent rain showers. Great course, even better crowd, but maybe better suited for a PGA Championship in the future. Maybe August brings less rain?
He's got the tools. He's got the talent.
Who Will Win
Mike Weir (-6 Through 36 holes)
When he won the Masters in 2003, Weir won because he was the grittiest and most focused player in the field. And with a less-than-stellar top half of the leaderboard, I think Weir has the mental makeup and the hard-boiled game to prevail.
Weir always seems to be perfectly under control, his maddeningly annoying preshot routine aside. He hits 65 percent of fairways, and though his lack of length should hurt him, he’s deadly on the greens and out of sand. How good is Weir around the greens? He has better scrambling stats than some guy named Philip Alfred Mickelson.
He’ll probably need a perfect two rounds of short-game expertise to hold off the bombers on a long course with soft greens, but I just don’t see him getting rattled by his position, the players around him or anyone who might happen to make a charge.
The latest in the Kobe/LeBron puppet/muppet commercials. Poor LeBron muppet.
What’s really kind of cool in these spots is that the puppets both have tattoos and earrings, like Kobe and LeBron do. Remember about a decade ago when the NBA airbrushed the tats off of Allen Iverson’s arms for their promotional magazine? The NBA was way wrong then, and looked really bad for it. But these commercials could’ve easily been done without that kind of detail, yet they went ahead with it. I think that says something, though I’m not exactly sure what. But I’m pretty sure it’s good.
Another thing to consider, though, is that five years removed from whatever happened in Eagle, Colo., Kobe Bryant finally has a marketable, commercial voice again. Of course, it’s not using his voice and it’s as a puppet.
And all of this set to Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It”. And check out LeBron eating Fruity Pebbles.
“Good morning, LeBron.”
“Good morning, Kobe.”
And since we didn’t get to see Kobe and LeBron play in the finals, at least we can see them play — as puppets. Got to wait for the payoff at the end.
Rosie Jones sizes up her next shot on Thursday at the Carolina Trace Country Club during the U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifier on Thursday.
Golf is a girl’s game.
Not a woman’s. Or even a young woman’s.
A girl’s.
And especially not for a woman who’s on the doorstep of 50.
Or is it?
As the scores started the trickle in at the U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier at Carolina Trace on Thursday, even one of those plastic knives that could be found around the Trace pool area wouldn’t have had much trouble dicing through the cloud of nervous energy.
Back and forth so many of them would walk, down a slight hill on a stone path away from the scoreboard, darting their eyes for a quick glance at the board to see how their names were holding up.
Some knew, of course, that their two rounds weren’t going to be low enough. So there was little reason to hang around. Put the clubs in the trunk and head home or back to the hotel. Nothing else to see here.
But others couldn’t leave, not before knowing for sure whether or not they would be one of the six to claim a berth into next month’s Open, only the most prestigious event in women’s golf.
Watching them, though, it’s clear where the women’s game is heading. Pony tails long and braided or short and puffy take your pick seemed to be popping through the backs of nifty, sloped low-profile caps everywhere, the hats nattily completing the matching golf skort and tank top ensemble.
Unless a college logo on a golf bag or on a shirt or a hat gave them away, it was hard to tell exactly what age most of the girls were. They could be 13 like Yueer-Cindy Feng, of Orlando, Fla., by way of China, or 17-year-old Katherine Perry, of Precision Golf School by way of Cary, or 22-year-old Kathleen Ekey, who just finished her senior year at Alabama, by way of Sharon, Ohio.
And, to be fair, it’s been going that way for a while. Morgan Pressel. Paula Creamer. Michelle Wie. Et cetera.
These girls — OK, so Ekey can be considered a young woman, but you get the point — were in the hunt, and some were high enough on the board to be at relative ease. But there was still enough pacing being done that if the approaching thunderstorm ever got there and dispensed with its water, little rivulets of impromptu streams likely would’ve appeared in the imperceptible canyons made by the nervous feet.
But 49-year-old Rosie Jones sat in the dead center of all the muted chaos, as if she were the personification of the eye of a hurricane, calm and completely collected. (But not cool. “I need a shower,” she said once. “I feel like I’m gross.”) She was among the first of the 39 players to complete her day of 36 holes, and one of the first to see her final score posted on the leaderboard. She was also the proud owner of one of the very few numbers written in red ink the sure sign of a score under par.
One cannot say that the game has passed Jones by, even if all of her youthful competitors’ tee shots do. Not after rounds of 70 and 73 left her at 1-under-par on a hot and sticky day on the Lake Course. And armed with the experience of a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour and more than $8.4 million in earnings over a three-decade-long career, Jones can scan the scoreboard, look over the posted first-round scores that have yet to have the second 18 added, and in staggering rapidity come up with the mathematical probability of her standing in the full field with the precision of an MIT professor. Kind of the golfing version of Rain Man. Yes, she’s been here before.
By far the most accomplished player in the field still an understatement no matter how much emphasis you place on it Jones could quietly begin making plans for Saucon Valley Country Club with about half of the scores in. But despite having retired from the LPGA Tour nearly three years ago in 2006, and finding tremendous success in this, her first attempt at qualifying for an Open since her first one 27 years ago, Jones didn’t make a big deal out of things, even as some spectators offered to buy her a drink, make small talk or seek autographs and pictures.
Why go through all of it, though? Is it gunning for one last shot at that elusive major? Jones has been a runner-up in four major championships, but never won one.
Probably not.
“I’m playing a lot of senior women’s golf now,” said Jones, who has played on the Legends Tour since her retirement. “But the USGA doesn’t have an event for senior women, like a U.S. Senior Women’s Open, and since there’s nothing on the senior schedule for the week of the Open, I figured, what the heck? I can try to qualify and maybe bring some exposure to senior women’s golf at the same time.”
But on Thursday, it wasn’t women her age she was reaching out to.
Instead Jones herself made small talk with some of her fellow competitors, young girls seeking wisdom and answers from one player they can only dream to be as successful as. She took down e-mail addresses, offered tips, asked questions, set up opportunities to play rounds with some of them in the near future and offered words of encouragement for players headed out to play in a playoff for the last berth. With low expectations heading into the Open (”If everything’s not perfect, if my stars aren’t aligned just right, it could be a tough go for me,” Jones said), perhaps Jones can have just the opposite effect on the game.
“It’s crazy, Jones said. “Most of them can all hit 3-wood past me off the tee. Way past me. But that’s just how it is now.”
Moments later, the three-person sudden death playoff ended on the first hole the 505-yard par-5 18th with California’s Ashleigh Albrecht two-putting for birdie after reaching the green in two shots.
“I can’t believe this is real,” the 18-year-old Albrecht said, her hands still shaking after sinking the 2-foot tap-in for a berth into the Open. “But this was one of my goals to qualify for the U.S. Open before I graduated from high school.”
It’s the Southern Lee Saga Edition of The PODcast, Sanford’s only sports talk radio show, with special guest and former Cavaliers football coach Bryan Lee. Plus, a little talk about the NBA Finals. Don’t worry, Ryan’s still on there, too.
