As Always, the Masters Leaves Lasting Memories

As Always, the Masters Leaves Lasting Memories











Rick Woelfel April 18, 2013 5:13 PM




COMMENTARY |
Each major championship leaves impressions that become part of the history of championship golf.



The 2013 Masters was no exception. In the end, it produced one of the most dramatic finishes in the tournament's history and offered a reminder of why golf is unique among major sports.

With that in mind, here are some of the most vivid memories of the 2013 Masters:

A New Star Emerges



Even before arriving at Augusta National, Adam Scott had an impressive resume. But fair or not, there is a chasm that separates players who have won major championships from those who have not. On Sunday evening, Scott crossed that divide by making two of the biggest putts of his life.

Scott's ball striking has never been issue. It's always been his putting that has held him back. At the Masters, however, his putting stroke stood up to the ultimate test. Scott turns 33 in July and, theoretically, is entering his prime as a player.



In my view, there is no limit as to what he can achieve. And by the way, he's placed in the top three in the last three majors.

Respect Still Matters

The mutual respect between Scott and Angel Cabrera, the man he defeated, was evident, particularly during their playoff. They were two highly motivated athletes trying their best to beat one another, but they were also two sportsmen fully cognizant of each other's abilities. Their embrace at evening's end is the most vivid image we'll take away from the week.

What About Tiger?

My thought heading into the Masters was that Tiger Woods would play reasonably well but not win. In the end, he wound up tying for fourth, an impressive performance for any player other than Woods himself.

At age 37, Woods is still an elite player, the best in the world when he's at the top of his game. But the gap that for so long separated him from his peers has narrowed considerably.

The Rules Apply to All

There were two significant rules controversies during the week. The view from here is that both were handled correctly. Guan Tianlang deserved the slow-play penalty he received Friday. The official who issued the penalty had an obligation to protect the entire field. The fact that Guan is an amateur and just 14 years old is irrelevant, in my opinion.



As for Tiger Woods, the rule that allowed him to play on the weekend in the wake of his two-stroke penalty for taking an improper drop was crafted with situations like this in mind, so players would not be subject to disqualification for penalties incurred after the completion of a round.

Woods arouses so much passion in the golfing world that his defenders and detractors alike were caught up in the emotion of the moment.

Fortunately, reason won out over passion.

A Final Thought

All major professional tours should immediately end the policy of accepting phone calls from television viewers regarding rules infractions. Having a trained rules official monitor a tournament telecast for possible infractions is one thing. Accepting the intervention of an untrained person who may have a stake in the outcome of a tournament is quite another -- and the practice should be dispensed with.

Rick Woelfel resides near Philadelphia, near some of the finest golf courses in the world, but this has done nothing to enhance his own ability as a golfer. He prefers to write about the sport instead. Rick is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America and has covered the sport for more than 25 years.

Miyazato takes clubhouse lead

Miyazato takes clubhouse lead










Kyle Galdeira, The Sports Xchange April 18, 2013 8:00 PMThe SportsXchange



KAPOLEI, Hawaii -- Strong winds made an impact on Thursday's second round of the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in West Oahu, and Ai Miyazato in turn made a familiar charge to the top of the leaderboard.

Miyazato, the event's defending champion, took sole possession of first place at 9-under-par 135 after firing a 4-under 68 early in the day.

The No. 9 player in the Rolex Rankings finished her round on the front nine, and she used a blistering streak of five birdies through the final seven holes, including a long birdie putt from the edge of the green on the par-3 8th, to skyrocket into the lead.

The Japan native entered this week with three top-25 finishes so far in 2013, including a runner-up position at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup a month ago in Phoenix. Miyazato claimed last year's inaugural Lotte event, holding off Spain's Azahara Munoz and South Korea's Meena Lee by four strokes.

Hyo Joo Kim, a 17-year-old from South Korea, finished at 1 under on the day to move her to 7 under and into a second-place tie for the tourney among Thursday's early finishers. The KLPGA member birdied two of the final five holes to push her second-round score under par. Fellow South Korean Hee Kyung Seo, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, emerged unscathed with an even-par 72 to remain at 7 under.

No. 2 ranked Stacy Lewis carded a 71 to pull into fifth place at 6 under for the event. The two-time winner in 2013 can regain the No. 1 ranking with a victory this week.

Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn took a few steps back a day after shooting a tournament-record-tying 64, which resulted in her owning the lead after round one. On Thursday, the 17-year-old shot 75 on the heels of two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 16th -- quite a departure from her seven birdies and an eagle notched Wednesday. Despite the setback, the Ladies European Tour rookie remains in contention with a two-day mark of 5 under.

Who is the Worst Player to Ever Have Won a Major?

Who is the Worst Player to Ever Have Won a Major?











Travis Mewhirter April 19, 2013 12:14 AM




COMMENTARY | A commenter on a Yahoo! Sports story a few days back posed a rather intriguing question, and one that I felt inspired to answer both out of curiosi
ty and amusement: Who is the worst player to have won a major?



It's a valid question. We always talk about who the best player not to have won a major is. Just a few weeks ago I made an argument that Justin Rose is the likely president of that pained club. But who is that one guy that raised a trophy or kissed a jug or donned a green jacket where everybody watching let out a collective "huh?"

The requirements for this not-so-prestigious award go as thus: if a player has won more than one major, they do not qualify. If a player is younger than 35 and still hovering around their prime, they have plenty of time to improve or find their game and, thus, do not qualify. Multiple top ten finishes was also a sign of consistency and proved to be a saving grace for many. Lastly, the major had to be the player's lone victory on tour. It doesn't matter if they won the Waterbury Open against Happy Gilmore and his neighbor, The Accountant -- a non-major win is a non-major win.

So, there have been 131 one-time major winners. You'd be surprised at some of the names on that list, guys like Darren Clarke, Ben Curtis, Tom Lehman, Paul Azinger, Tom Kite, Davis Love III…it goes on.

After careful evaluation, the contest boiled down to eight finalists: Jack Burns, Willie Auchterlonie, Shaun Micheel, Tom Creavy, Jack Simpson, Tom Kidd, Fred Herd, and Sam Parks Jr.

Never heard of half of them? I don't blame you. Between that group of eight misfits, there are four British Open titles, two PGA Championship titles and two U.S. Open titles. Now, I think most of us can remember Micheel, who nestled in one of the most clutch wedges in PGA Championship history.

He made Cleveland (the brand, not the city) one of the happiest companies on Earth that day. But after that, it was all downhill. Micheel was cut in 11 of his next 18 majors, didn't play in six more as a pro, and failed to crack the top 20 in any aside from one exception, and that was a runner-up finish at the PGA in 2006. That runner-up was his ticket out of the running for this most notorious award.

Next, we're going to lump Simpson, Burns, Auchterlonie, Herd and Kidd together because their wins came before the 1900s, meaning they didn't really get a fair crack at the majors as they are today: four per year, 72 holes each. Simpson won the Open Championship in 1884 shooting 78-82 for a whopping total of 160 in 36 holes which sounds absolutely insane considering that modern-day players are furious with anything over par. Even crazier, Kidd won the 1873 Open Championship and he shot an opening round 91. A 91! And he won! Automatically those scores don't count. They were, after all, playing with the modern-day equivalent of a croquet set and a wiffle ball.

So, with those six out, we are down to Creavy and Parks. What's interesting about Creavy is that he won the 1931 PGA Championship in a match play format. (For those wondering, the PGA Championship adopted stroke play in 1958.) That's something to consider. Do we use modern day formats only, or is Creavy OK because he won under circumstances that he had no control over? We'll let it slide, only because Parks' only major win, the 1935 U.S. Open, also came before 1958.

Before making our final decision between the two, some stats and facts to consider: Parks played in 34 majors, obviously won one, was cut in 12 of them, and never cracked the top 15 again. Creavy, meanwhile, has a smaller sample size, playing in just 11 majors. He missed the cut just once, the 1940 U.S. Open, and did post two more solid finishes in the match play-style PGA, making it all the way to the semifinals and the quarterfinals in the years following his big win, but never a runner-up as Micheel did. Those semi- and quarter-final appearances, however, proved to be the difference-maker that offset Parks' overwhelming volume of majors played.

So, to the masochistic golf fans out there who just needed to know the bottom-dweller of all major-winning bottom dwellers, there you have it: Mr. Sam Parks Jr. is your worst player to ever have won a major.



Travis Mewhirter has been working in the golf industry since 2007, when he was a bag room manager at Piney Branch Golf Club in Carroll County, Maryland, and has been involved, as a player, since 2004. Since then, he has worked at Hayfields Country Club, where the Constellation Energy Classic was formerly held, and has covered golf at the high school, college, and professional levels.