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No age restrictions at Players Championship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — It was, I would say, the most uncommon leaderboard you’ll see on the PGA Tour in a long while. (For one thing, Tiger Woods’ name isn’t there because he isn’t here. He’s in injury rehab.) It is a mixture of elders, of seasoned veterans and a bunch reaching for the moon. At the top this hour, the leader is a player who between 1996 and 2007 never won a tournament. Paul Goydos is 43 years old. Sergio Garcia, in his late 20s, has still to produce on his promise. And he is followed by Kenny Perry, who is 47.
Surprise of the week, I’d suppose, is Bernhard Langer, the 50-year-old German wearing more commercial patches on his shirt than a stock car. Then we have Phil Mickelson, who is 37, and who is all over the course and all over the board. Jeff Quinney has moved up, a former U.S. Amateur champion, and Ian Poulter, the outlandish Englishman, and Tom Lehman, the retiring Ryder Cup captain (and at age 49 peering over the fence into the Champions Tour) and Greg Kraft, both early finishers.
And so they are scrambling back and forth. Just awhile ago, J.B. Holmes, the Kentucky Wildcat, took off on an intoxicating streak of five birdies, and just as dizzily slipped into a pit of bogeys, but did birdie the infamous and perilous 17th hole. This is the hole of which Ernie Els said the other day, “They should blow it up.” He had just triple-bogeyed it.
Ernie is not alone is this vindictive view of the hole that is no less than the main attraction of those who come to a golf course to feast on disasters. By noon Saturday, every available patch on the grassy bank, and a stretch of bleachers, were filled with drooling guests, awaiting each calamity. Last year, 93 players hit the water here. Without the 17th, The Players Championship would be minus its main attraction. Also without it, it would be more favorably viewed as a fifth major, so commissioner Tim Finchem and his kingdom are betwixt and between.
This hole, which is an island in a patch of water, was not part of Pete Dye’s original design. “We had moved so much dirt to build up the stadium effect that we were left with this big hole in the ground. It was Alice [his wife] who came up with the golden solution. She suggested that we create an island and fill the whole with water,” Pete said.
And they did, and thus the 17th was created. And for states around and nations afar people come to play The Players Club simply to get a whack at the 17th green. Even a president stopped by for a view of it Friday. George Bush I had been in town for a speech, and Finchem gave him a seat by the 17th drop area. Of the eight he watched play through, only one, Billy Mayfair, ditched a shot, and then got a handshake from Bush I. As for No. 17’s future, look at it as a blessing or a curse, but don’t expect it ever to become part of the fifth major.
Well, the scramble is still on, and it won’t sort itself out until this afternoon, given a weather blessing. The leaderboard is a mosaic of red (for birdie) and blue (for bogey). Holmes, for instance, birdied seven holes but checked in only 1-under par. Six of the overnight leaders got off to a bogey start on the first hole. Perry and Langer were slipping a notch.
But into the tweening hours Paul Goydos clung tenaciously to his slender lead, this for the 140th ranked player on the tour, and who last won at the Hawaiian Open last year.
Fred Couples, another elder, had kept up with the gang until a 41 on the front nine derailed him. From 2 under he had plummeted to 4 over and still falling. This was not a tournament anyone would run away with and steal. In fact, from the looks of the leaderboard, there was no assurance anyone had the game to win it.
Stay tuned.
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Is Anthony Kim Tiger’s next challenger?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — Well, Tiger Woods isn’t here, but Anthony Kim is. And the world may as well take a deep breath and get ready for him. All the moons are aligned in his favor. Mark O’Meara has trumpeted his arrival. (O’Meara, Tiger’s old pal and counselor.) Kim doesn’t have his own plane yet, but when the wheels lift into the well of his first jet, you might imagine that O’Meara would be among the passengers.
Historically, in situations like these, the wounded often make a swiftening recovery. Not Tiger, of course. We all know that the PGA Tour world is Tiger’s world. You also know the old fable, that when the cat is away, the mice will play. Of course, Tiger is safely ranked at No. 1, and Kim is more than an arm’s length away at No. 6. But when he won the Wachovia Championship that Woods wasn’t able to defend, the keening of a new threat was sounded across the land. While Tiger didn’t have his ear to the ground, there is no doubt that he must have picked up a ripple or two.
It played into the hands of eager journalists when Kim checked in with the early lead at The Players Championship on Friday, two 70s, 4-under par. Not exactly the player to beat, but with a 47-year-old (Kenny Perry) and a 50-year-old (Bernhard Langer) among those in pursuit, he had to like where he sat.
Kim comes from the land which has given us several Kims and an all-star cast of Parks and Jangs and Kangs on the LPGA Tour, and where youth of both genders make the turn to golf also from the time they learn to walk. Anthony is different. He was born in Los Angeles. He is eligible to play on the Ryder Cup team. He was aimed for golf from the time he was 2. “I don’t remember. That’s what my parents told me,” he said.
He went to the University of Oklahoma and made three All-American teams in a row. “I wanted to leave after my freshman year, but my mom convinced me to stay. And after my sophomore year, but she convinced me to stay again. After another year, though, she didn’t hold me back. My dad had been behind me turning pro, so that was that.”
He played the Valero Texas Open his first time out, on a sponsor’s exemption, and finished second, a $338,087 nest egg. He breezed through qualifying school, and he hasn’t looked back. He came into The Players on a $2 million cushion of earnings. Also, a restructured personality. When he first arrived on the tour, he was a kid on an island. A smart-off, hothead who found few friendships. With his newfound humility, he has developed some closer relationships.
“Are you now suddenly humble?” he was asked.
“No, I’m just not mouthing off,” he said, and he smiled, another newly acquired gesture. “I’ve changed a lot in the last couple of months. I’m hard- working, and I’m learning how to control what I say. Being No. 1 is a goal of mine, and I’m going to work hard to get there.”
It’s not that it’s just around the corner. It’s not that Tiger’s dominance is seriously endangered, but in his absence there’s a new wave of interest abroad in the press facility. Golf hasn’t been Kim’s only interest. If he hadn’t been just 5-feet-10, he might have aimed for the NBA. Basketball is still is first interest after golf.
“When I was 6, I thought I was going to play college basketball, college football and college golf,” he said. “But that was when I was 6.”
Here he is. Poised, in Tiger’s surgery absence. Though it should be considered that The Players has never been Woods’ private preserve. He hasn’t played well here, and in all these years still has only one championship on his scroll. So there’s room for an Anthony Kim at the Kingdom of Finchem.
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Perks returns to scene of triumph
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — No, Tiger Woods would not be here, a dreary fact re-confirmed by the local paper. But Craig Perks would be, and in fact, was on the grounds for another Players Championship. And you say, “Craig who?”
Well, for openers, Craig Perks has won as many Players Championships as Tiger Woods. One each. One after the other, Woods won in 2001, Perks followed in 2002, as unlikely a champion as has ever been crowned in the upper echelon of the PGA Tour. It had been a blustery weekend at Ponte Vedra Beach, postponement after postponement until Sunday opened upon the Stadium Course bright and cheery. Craig Perks was one stroke off the lead. Woods had receded into the background and would finish 14th. There was congestion atop the leaderboard until Perks turned on his finishing game, totally out of character, setting up a reaction that ran through the gallery like an electrical shock. Who was this strange man with the strange name?
Perks had arrived in this country from Palmerston North, in New Zealand, armed with a golf scholarship at University of Oklahoma and twice made the All-America team, once as a Sooner, then later at Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. Then came several groveling years through the shadows of the mini-tours, then the Nationwide and eventually, graduation to the PGA Tour. His world rank was No. 203 when he arrived at Ponte Vedra that spring, but by Sunday he was only one stroke out of the lead.
Arriving at the 16th green, he chipped in for eagle, on the par-3 17th, the famous island hole, he sank a 15-foot putt for birdie, and on the 18th, completed his magical finish chipping in for par while Stephen Ames, playing beside him, looked on aghast. No moreso, let it be said, than most all of the thousands of spectators on the course that day. Perks’ world ranking quickly leaped from 203 to 64, and the horizon had opened before him. “No one was more shocked than I was,” he said. “I was just trying to do the best I could, and it turned out I won.”
It might rightly be said that in all PGA Tour history, there had been no more stunning upset winner since Sam Parks, a club pro, won the U.S. Open in 1935 with a score 11 over par. Backing in, you might say. No backing in for Perks. He shot his way through what some call the most intimidating finishing stretch in tour golf and won The Players by two strokes over Ames. Sadly, he would never win again. His tour ranking dropped like a rock in water. In 2006, he collected his last check at New Orleans. “It wasn’t much,” he said. “I finished dead last.”
Last winter he came to grips with his state of affairs. Where had it all gone? “I’d tried to play like a champion instead of being what I had been, just Craig Perks, a good player,” he said. “I was 41 years old, and it wasn’t easy, walking away after two years of doing the best I could and failing. I had played poorly for too long.” But he did. At the Children’s Miracle tournament in Florida, he went into retirement. It just had a better sound than “quitting.” This week Craig Perks has returned to the scene of his triumph, tall, still lean, and able to light up the premises with that corn-on-the-cob smile. He was not on a sentimental journey, more a business trip. He is setting up shop at the club where he once worked behind the counter, La Triomphe, in a suburb of Lafayette. He’s a teacher now, and his credential at The Players is attracting clients.
“I’m setting up a twenty-first century golf fitness center, more than just teaching golf, but teaching fitness golf,” he said. “We’ll be open for indoor or outdoor weather.”
And it might be said, that on the side, there will be some reminiscing about the Sunday he won The Players Championship. Once in a lifetime, or at least, since Sam Parks.
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Big Brown looks golden
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When trainer Richard Dutrow strode briskly to the big board at the post position draw and dropped the name of Big Brown on No. 20, the outside gate, you had a premonition. There were other inside posts open, but here was a trainer so confident that his three-year-old would win the 134th Kentucky Derby that he wanted Big Brown, who is big and who is brown, out of traffic and unimpeded.
Dutrow had spent the week around the barn area at Churchill Downs bragging about his colt. “Best horse in the field,” he’d said, and he’d said it over and over again. Some blamed on his natural New Yorker swagger, and others simply branded it “shooting off his mouth.” If, as they say, you can get it done, it ain’t bragging.
Now is the time to take it a step further, and you ask: Is Big Brown the next Secretariat? And in the reply of Cot Campbell, who knows something about race horses, “I’d say the chances are good.” So says the master of Dogwood Stable, whose Summer Squall finished second in the Derby, then won the Preakness a few years back.
Based on what we’ve seen up to now, there is no threat to push Big Brown as Alydar was to Affirmed, last to win the Triple Crown in a pursuit that turned into a heart-stopping series. In fact, the Preakness may be run with less than a full gate, and the Belmont with even fewer challengers.
From the time Big Brown stepped on the track he has been dominant. When he won the Florida Derby, he started from the outside 12th gate, and one report read that “he horrified eleven other three-year-olds.” He won by five lengths. His speed ratings, a bunch of numbers with which I’m not familiar, are startling, nevertheless. He has won on grass, on artificial surface and on dirt. The surface? Bah, humbug. Means nothing to Big Brown.
Dutrow knew Big Brown’s speed. So did jockey Kent Desormeaux, who had no fear of the outside gate. It was written often that the only other time a horse won the Derby from the outside post was the race in 1929, won by Clyde Van Dusen, a gelding. It was different then. No starting gate. The starter lined up the horses as best he good and sent them off.
“What you like about him [Big Brown], as inexperienced as he is, is that he’s so impressive in the paddock, like a veteran,” Cot Campbell said.
Desormeaux, no rookie, he. He had won Derbies aboard Real Quiet and Fusachi Pegasus, and had made his home on Big Brown’s back. They got away evenly, and Desormeaux gradually edged his mount nearer the rail, but made no obvious effort to gain ground, held his position on the outside into the far turn, when he began his move. He picked up horses one my one and into the stretch had the lead and the race was over. You rarely ever see the stretch that vacant on the first Saturday in May. Big Brown, then several lengths back to Eight Belles, then another gap back to Denis of Cork. Big Brown led them home on cruise control.
Tragically, the filly broke down breezing out on the turn, and attention turned to her and away from the spectacular quality of what we had just witnessed. I’d say Eight Belles justified the decision to pass up the Oaks for the Derby, especially since her trainer, Larry Jones, won the Oaks with Proud Spell.
Big Brown — the name — refers to just what you’re thinking, UPS. A trucking magnet, Paul Pompa Jr., bought him at Keeneland sales for $190,000, a two-year-old in training. UPS is one of his major clients, and thus the name, matching color and size. The next Secretariat? Maybe a little strong and a little early, but Big Brown is worth investing a dream on.
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Braves pitchers appear jinxed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nobody could have seen this coming through the rose-colored glasses of spring. The Braves finally had it right. Your trusty correspondent even referred to them as “pitcher-rich.” Six starters and only room for five. A bullpen clogged with bodies, armed and ready. A crop ripe and hardy for harvesting. Things hadn’t looked so good in so long. So sound the horn, get at ‘em while they’re hot.
Well, that’s the way it looked then. There was some mention that some of the starters were a little long in the tooth. But what fine trim they were in. Tom Glavine looked lithe enough to do health club commercials. John Smoltz, well, management had such confidence in him they were allowing him to conduct spring training on his own. On a field out of view of the passing public, out where the farmhands are cultivated. He always looks healthy as a stallion. Healthy enough to go golfing with Tiger Woods.
He made one start, and that was it. He was touched up for a few runs, but you know what they say: “It’s just spring training. Ho, hum.”
Tim Hudson and Glavine both looked as lean as “whit-leather,” an old down home kind of term. Their earned-run averages were in midseason form. There was the new kid in from the Tigers in the Edgar Renteria deal, a sort of befuddling name, Jair Jurrjens, the Curacoan with befuddling stuff. Only he has performed like a veteran. And, of course, from behind the curtain, what’s with the mystery man, Mike Hampton? He could be ready, and if he were, he should be good for 15 games, then again…well, you know the rest of that soap opera.
Bullpen? Let’s see, Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan, Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Royce Ring, and a cast of stars so impressive that they felt comfortable trading Tyler Yates. And did I miss somebody? Oh, yes, Buddy Carlyle and Jeff Bennett, who can go either way. That didn’t include Mike Gonzales, the bullet-slinger who came in the Adam LaRoche deal, and whose surgically-repaired arm should be ready by June. Three cheers and a lusty huzzah!
Well, that was then. Soriano got in four innings before his arm balked. Moylan, the Australian sidearmer, will get a surgically-imposed vacation. Acosta gets an expense-paid trip to Richmond, sponsored by a 6.00-ERA. Boyer has rewarded his bosses, but the star of the outpost has been a 30-year-old Mexican, Jorge Campillo, whose spring training ERA was in double digits. All the others have been inconsistent, even Ring, whose mission is simply dealing with lefthanders. The bottom line is, there is plenty of work for them all.
For the first time in his life, Glavine has been on the disabled list, much to his chagrin. Yeah, Smoltz got his 3,000th strikeout, but in the process swallowed the bitter pill of defeat. Hudson is the puzzler now. Three innings one time, four innings another, and for lack of any other way to put it, just doesn’t look comfortable on the job.
Surely that gold-studded “pitcher-rich” cast of the spring hasn’t misplaced its magic, all at the same time. It hasn’t been the best launching party for Frank Wren, the ascendant to the general managership. The roster he put together looked like a contender in Florida. Baseball Digest, the magazine, projected the Braves no worse than second to the Phillies in the NL East. Yes, the five-star pitching staff of spring is showing effects of age, but it shows only in the box score, not in their physical presence. There’s something about all this that has the cruel mark of a hex, if you believe in such stuff.
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TECHWOOD obviously you guys do get worked-up over losing to UGA. Look not further than the on-line poll. 77% of TECH fans would rather beat UGA than win the ACC. Now that, my friends, is envy. Good luck with either.Braves' AAA team should honor history
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