RealClearSports: Big Mouths Are Ruining Sports

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN DIEGO -- Remember that kid in fifth grade who ratted to the teacher you had a comic book on your desk tucked under the school work?

He's everywhere now, grown older but not grown up, a blabbermouth who delights in making sports miserable.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

Newsday (N.Y.): After good start, U.S. sputters as Europe roars

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

NEWPORT, Wales -- Team America suddenly looked like Team Bewilderment. The Ryder Cup was being wrenched away. The only thing able to stop Europe on this long day's journey into night was, well, night.

"It's a shame it got dark,'' Luke Donald said. "We would have liked to keep going.''

Donald is an Englishman. Who won the NCAA championship for Northwestern. Who lives and plays in the United States. Who is on the Euro squad.

And his team was leading in all six matches that remained unfinished Saturday as the competition, dissected by a more than a 7-hour delay Friday, was reworked into a format that had golfers going from 9 a.m. to 6:50 p.m., and that still might not be enough.

There are four partnership sessions for the Ryder Cup. Two finished, sort of, and the United States was in front 6 to 4. But six more matches, two foursomes (alternate shot) and four fourballs (better-ball) hadn't finished. Europe is in front in every one of those.

After they conclude Sunday, assuming another storm doesn't rip across south Wales, then the 12 golfers on each team play singles.

"I just wanted to get even at eight points apiece before singles,'' said Colin Montgomerie, the Euro captain. The probability is he'll be ahead.

Eldrick Woods stopped playing like a Tiger. Phil Mickelson hasn't even started to play like Lefty. And Donald, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell have been rolling in putts practically all the way from London, 120 miles to the east.

"Well, momentum is a wonderful thing in Ryder Cups,'' said Colin Montgomerie, the European captain, "and it's evident that momentum clearly is with Europe at the moment, although the [posted] score favors the States.''

In the two foursomes still going, Donald and Westwood were 4 up over Woods and Steve Stricker, and it was 5 up before Stricker got a win on the last hole played, the ninth; and McDowell and Rory McIlroy, the two from Northern Ireland, were 3 up over Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan through seven.

In fourballs, Harrington and Ross Fisher were 1 up over Jim Furyk-Dustin Johnson through eight; Peter Hanson-Miguel Angel Jimenez 2 up over Bubba Watson-Jeff Overton through six; brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari of Italy 1-up over Stewart Cink-Matt Kuchar through five; and Ian Poulter-Martin Kaymer 2 up over Mickelson and Rickie Fowler through four.

"I have not seen points given in matches that were through four, five, six seven holes,'' said Corey Pavin, the U.S. captain, seeking optimism. "We have to try to turn momentum back in our favor.''

But how? The Woods-Stricker twosome was unbeatable in last fall's Presidents Cup in San Francisco. At this Ryder Cup it won both the fourball, which finished Saturday morning and the subsequent foursomes. But it couldn't do a thing in the third match, beginning with the first hole.

"I think Tiger's playing well,'' Pavin said. "Obviously Steve and Tiger didn't get off to a very good start [in the third match]. It happens.''

Mickelson and Dustin Johnson lost both matches, so Pavin split them up -- Mickelson pairing with Fowler, Johnson with Furyk -- for the third, but that wasn't working either.

"Everybody thought it was a pretty good pairing,'' Pavin said of Mickelson-Dustin Johnson. "Just didn't get it going. Why? You've got me. So change it up.''

What changed for Europe was on the greens. Fisher, an Englishman, birdied three, four and five, in his partnership with Harrington, who started off with a birdie.

"I felt there wasn't enough passion on the course,'' Montgomerie said. "It was a very important two hours of play this afternoon. I just felt we needed to get the crowd on our side. The crowd wasn't getting involved enough, because we weren't involving them enough.''

The crowd was into it quickly enough.

And the U.S. team was falling out of it just as quickly.

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Newsday: Harrington blows up with quintuple bogey

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- The luck of the Irish? Not for Padraig Harrington. Not in the cruel game of golf which for a second consecutive Sunday sent him careening, this time at the major in which he was defending champion.

Last weekend, feeling rushed after being put on the clock for slow play at the Bridgestone Invitational, Paddy the Dubliner plopped a shot into the water, took a triple bogey and blew the tournament to Tiger Woods.

Virtually the same thing happened to him this weekend, only this time it was in the PGA Championship and this time it was worse. This time it was a quintuple bogey.

At the eighth hole and a shot behind the leader Woods -- who later would incur his own agony, squandering a third-round lead in a major for the first time -- Harrington hit his tee shot into the pond on the 176-yard, par-3 hole.

"I hit a little knock-down 6-iron,'' Harrington explained, "and as I was about to hit it, the wind died, and I hit it a little too easy and it just didn't carry.''

After taking a penalty drop, he nearly skulled playing partner Henrik Stenson with his third shot. His fourth sailed back over the green again and into the same pond. Dropping another ball, and now lying five, Harrington couldn't advance out of the rough. Finally onto the green in seven, he made a 5-foot putt for an 8. From a cumulative 6 under par, he had fallen to 1 under.

After starting the day tied for second, Harrington shot a 6-over 78 and finished tied for 10th with an even-par 288.

"It was a difficult tee shot,'' Harrington said of his travail, "and it was obviously a difficult second shot after you hit it in the water and pulled it left. I had been changing my chipping action a little, and I probably was more into what I was doing rather than trying to get the ball up and down, and you know, I hit a bad shot. So these things happen.''

But two weeks in a row? A triple-bogey 8 on the 16th hole at Firestone CC and now a 5-over 8 on the eighth hole at Hazeltine National?

"It wasn't anybody else,'' said Harrington. "It's all me. But I still hit all my shots out there. I got out of position only on that one hole. Obviously, it was disappointing, but I had my chances all the way through the back nine and could have got it back to 6 under.

"In fairness, I didn't feel like I could afford to make bogey by hitting left like most people. I decided I had to hit the shot, and it didn't come off . . . such is life. Some days they don't come off, and some days they do.''

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Scotland Sunday Herald: Woods aside, a triumph for Europeans

GOLF: Harrington and Co proving strength of our Tour with displays in Minnesota, writes Art Spander in Hazeltine

The weather turned yesterday, making Minnesota seem more like Britain, a bit cooler, a bit darker. But even in the blast furnace heat of the first two rounds the US PGA Championship was a fine place to be for the numerous representatives of the European Tour.

The fourth Major of the year, the 91st PGA, out on the prairie west of Minneapolis at Hazeltine, was in effect two tournaments, one being played by Tiger Woods and another involving everybody else.

In the Tiger Tournament, Woods was playing in his usual grand style -- usual if you forget the missed cut in The Open at Turnberry, that is. By the end of Friday's second round, he had built up a four-shot lead and as defending champion Padraig Harrington put it: "If Tiger plays the golf he's capable of this weekend, he'll be a winner.'' In the other competition, there already were a great many winners, players such as Harrington, the Irishman, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter of England, Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, Lee Westwood of England, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and even Scotland's Alastair Forsyth.

All made the cut along with Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, Thomas Levet of France and Francesco Molinari of Italy, an indication that even if the Euro Tour doesn't have anyone quite like Tiger -- and nor does any other tour on the globe - it still boasts a wealth of talent. Harrington, playing with Woods for the first two rounds, as he did last Sunday in that controversial final round of the WGC Bridgestone when the two were put on the clock and Harrington self-destructed, was tied with Woods for a time on Friday. Then Harrington made four bogeys on the back nine.

But even though he stumbled to a 35-38, he hit the shot of the day, and maybe of the tournament, a 301-yard 3-wood from a bunker onto the green of the par-five 642-yard 15th hole.

Harrington said: "Tiger told me he would have paid to have seen it. So I asked him for 50 bucks.'' Poulter was on two-under 142 after 36 holes and would have been closer to the top of the leaderboard but for a double bogey at the first, his 10th."It's been great,'' he said. "The crowds are fantastic out there. This is as busy a Major as I've seen all year, so it's good fun.'' Fun is a word one rarely hears associated with championship golf but this has indeed been an enjoyable tournament, due in no small part to those who have packed the enormous galleries here in an area which rarely sees the top pros.

Fisher, who briefly led the final round of The Open at Turnberry before taking that horrendous triple-bogey eight at the fifth, was tied with Tiger on Friday until bogeys at 17 and 18.

"In some ways I'm disappointed but overall I'm delighted,'' said Fisher. "I was hitting fairways, I was hitting greens but finishing bogey, bogey always leaves a little bit of sour taste. But you know, I'm still in there with a good shout.'' Fisher has made some tremendous progress - a run at The Open, a run at the PGA a month later.

"Every golfer wants to be at the Major championships,'' said the 28-year-old. "This is what we all dream of, right from when we were kids. I want to go out there and perform, not only for myself but at the same time to give the fans something to shout about.'' Fisher and Harrington were paired yesterday in an interesting twosome, the kid with potential alongside the only player not to back down where matched up against the Tiger. Harrington may have fallen apart last weekend, but that was the result on one errant shot into a pond, not being intimidated by Woods.

"It's irrelevant,'' Harrington responded when someone ask if he was unhappy that he wasn't playing a fourth straight round with Woods, who yesterday was with Vijay Singh two groups ahead.

"It's not bad to have a day off. Hopefully I'll see him again on Sunday," Harrington added.

McIlroy, widely expected to be the next great thing, was on level-par 144 after 36 holes and picked up a shot through the first seven yesterday.

"If I can iron it all out,'' said the 19-year-old, "I can get myself back where I was in the middle of the second round. I'm definitely a lot happier about my game than I was on Monday or Tuesday, so there are a few positives to take from it all.'' There are more than a few positives to take from the way the European Tour members have played this week in America. The only negative is they continue to chase that guy Tiger Woods. Then again, so does everyone from every corner of the world.

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Newsday: Harrington pushes but Woods still leads PGA

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

CHASKA, Minn. -- The lead still is his, if reduced, and presumably the tournament still is his. A name nobody expected and one everybody did expect are challenging Tiger Woods, but there is a big difference in being challenged and being beaten.

Woods played conservatively Saturday in the third round of the 91st PGA Championship, which made sense when he began the day with a four-shot lead. By the end of the day, the lead was two.

"Only mistake I made,'' Woods said, "was three-putting there at 4. But other than that, the card was pretty clean. I didn't give myself a lot of looks at putts. I was lag putting a lot. Given the conditions and my position in the tournament, I didn't mind.''

Woods, with a 71, is still in first at 8-under-par 208 for 54 holes at Hazeltine National. The spread is two strokes over Y.E. Yang, a Korean who despite a win on the PGA Tour is little recognized, and over defending champion Padraig Harrington, who was supposed to battle Woods. They are tied at 210 after Yang's 5-under 67 and Harrington's 69.

"I think everybody wants to see a battle in the hope the underdog catches up,'' Harrington said. "But when he catches up, they want the hero to win, as usual.''

The hero, of course, being Mr. Woods, who is a perfect 14-for-14 when leading a major after three rounds and 47-for-50 when leading any tournament after three.

"I had tremendous support,'' Harrington said. "I get the impression people want me to push him along but want him to win.''

Behind the top three at 4-under 212 are Henrik Stenson and the man who won the U.S. Open at Bethpage, Lucas Glover, meaning three of the top five are major champions, and Stenson has won The Players and Yang beat the whole lot at the 2007 HSBC in Shanghai.

Woods, trying for his fifth PGA title that would equal Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen (and 15th major overall), said it does make a difference who is on the leader board.

"You get guys who understand how to win major championships,'' Woods said, "and guys that know how to deal with the situation. They believe in themselves, and they know how to get it done.''

Because Harrington bogeyed the 18th hole, Woods will play with Yang Sunday in the final pairing. Had Harrington parred 18, he would have been second alone and matched with Woods for a fourth time in five rounds.

"I think I would rather,'' Harrington said of playing with Woods. "I think it would suit me better to have that sort of match-play style. I think I [would] get into it and hopefully raise my game. But I don't think I have a choice.''

Through an interpreter, the 27-year-old Yang said, "It's a privilege to be listed on the top with those great names, great players what I admire and respect.''

Sounds like a setup from a guy who Saturday made six birdies and only one bogey. Or four more birdies than Woods.

But the second of Woods' birdies was on the 318-yard 14th when he drove over the green, chipped long and then using a wedge as a putter, knocked the ball into the cup. That regained the lead from Harrington, who briefly had tied him.

"It's a rush,'' Woods said of the competition. "It's fun to go out and test what you have.''

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Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.