Showing posts with label Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday. Show all posts

PGA of America special, "Beyond the Green," set to air Sunday on CBS



"Beyond the Green," a look at how golf and PGA Professionals have nurtured future leaders and transformed lives, will be presented in a series of documentary-style profiles by CBS Sports, Sunday, May 5, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The hour-long special features the ambitious drive of youths and adults to overcome family struggles, illness and injury and discover golf's healing powers and a path to a happier life.


"Beyond the Green," produced by The PGA of America and narrated by CBS Sports commentator Bill Macatee, precedes coverage of the Wells Fargo Championship.


"Beyond the Green" spends the opening 30 minutes chronicles stories of "Building Future Leaders":


• Houston's United Team – A showcase of the values of the PGA Junior League takes viewers to Houston, Texas, with profiles of juniors Kenlie Barrett and Nick Pursell; their coach, PGA/LPGA Professional Aurora Kirchner-McLain and the inspiration applied by apprentice professional Zach Winkler, who lost an arm in an automobile accident.


• The Journei Daniels Story – From Flint, Mich., 9-year-old Boys & Girls Club member Journei Daniels is the product of a single-parent home, encountering many issues interacting with others. Through the mentoring of PGA Professional Joe Simpson and the golf instruction she has received, Daniels has overcome the social and emotional challenges she previously faced.


• A New Member of the Family – A heartwarming success story of Lester Bell of Dallas, Texas, who attempted to make sense of living in poverty and unsafe conditions at home. At age 13, Bell would discover a love for golf, but more importantly a bond with Ira McGraw Jr., the PGA general manager and director of golf at Cedar Crest Golf Course in Dallas. Now 18, and captain of his high school golf team, Bell has found peace at home. McGraw and his wife, Yesenia, are his legal guardians.


• Heart of a Lion – Meet John Paul George of Juno Beach, Fla., the son of Champions Tour coach/caddie Derek George, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome – that is one-half of a developed heart. Inspired by his infant son's fight for life, overcoming multiple surgeries and complications, Derek George wrote "Heart of a Lion" in 2010. Today, John Paul will soon celebrate his 19th birthday, and enjoys playing golf daily with his father.


• A Wave Carried Him Back to Shore – PGA teaching professional Will Robins of Citrus Heights, Calif., and his bride, Amanda, were on their honeymoon Dec. 26, 2004, when they were swept out to sea by a tsunami generated by the Sumatra earthquake. The tsunami resulted in the deaths of 238,000 in Southeast Asia, including more than 3,000 on Ko Phi Phi Don, the island where the Robins were vacationing. Robins outlines how he dedicated his career to those that did not survive the tragedy, and developed a remarkably successful golf instruction program.


• Golf's Healing Powers – Turner Fordham was stricken with leukemia at age 12, and turned to golf as a therapeutic activity. The non-contact sport served as her escape from the endless treatments and hospital visits. Fordham capped her prep career in Georgia as a member of the girls' public Class 4A high school state champion golf team. In remission for several years, Turner's leukemia returned in 2012. She is undergoing regular chemotherapy treatments. Fordham shares how golf, along with Georgia PGA Hall of Famer Lowell Fritz, helped inspire her ongoing recovery.


• From the Battlefield to the Tee – Marine Lance Cpl. Tim Lang of Ann Arbor, Mich., lost a leg as a result of serving in Iraq in 2006. Today, he is an ambassador for the Salute Military Golf Association, co-founded by PGA Professional Jim Estes of Olney, Md. Lang is inspiring countless others through the game that helped him heal. An outstanding prep athlete prior to his military service, Lang endured 48 surgeries, including 28 before losing his leg below the right knee. Lang has become an accomplished golfer, and was honorary captain for the 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup Team. He is completing a degree in criminology at Eastern Michigan University.


• Get Golf Ready Spells Success – PGA Professional Ed Ibarguen, the general manager and director of golf at Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C., ignites the passion in students through Get Golf Ready, the industry's nationally branded program to bring new golfers to the game and attract those who have left the sport. Businessman Bryan Lach, a lapsed golfer, resurrects his love for the game and shares how staying on the course helped close a business deal. Laurie Hyland, an employee of Duke University, shares how not learning the game left her out of family activities, but now joins her husband – an avid golfer – on the golf course.


About The PGA of America 
Since its founding in 1916, The PGA of America has maintained a twofold mission: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, The PGA enables its professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the multi-billion dollar golf industry. By creating and delivering world-class championships and innovative programs, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. As The PGA nears its centennial, the PGA brand represents the very best in golf.


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PGA Tour Confidential: Sunday prediction: Who wins, and who is heartbroken?



The question is simple: Who wins on Sunday, and who gets their heart broken?


Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Let's face it, Phil is the people's choice and the sentimental favorite. He showed me a lot by coming back from a lousy front nine and hitting some terrific shots on the back to regain the lead. Though I feel somewhat like a fooled-again-Cubs-fan by saying this, this one might finally be Phil's. The heartbreak will be saved for Schwartzel and Donald and maybe Mahan, and it looks like it's going to come on the final two holes, which kicked an enormous amount of rear ends in the third round.


Alan Bastable, senior editor, Golf Magazine: Winner: I'll take the only guy among the leaders who already has a major title but not the scar tissue from five runner-up finishes at the Open: Charl Schwartzel. Phil, Luke, Stricker, Mahan, and Rose all want (or need) it too badly, and come late Sunday, desire can hurt more than help. Heartbroken: Like I have to answer that.


Ryan Reiterman, senior producer, Golf.com: The best putter, Steve Stricker, wins the U.S. Open on Sunday. Phil Mickelson breaks our hearts once again, but it's softened by Stricker's historic victory.


Jessica Marksbury, assistant editor, Golf Magazine: I know it's not very original at this point, but my vote is for Phil! After five heartbreaking misses at the U.S. Open, this has been his tournament since the very first round. And the storyline just doesn't get any better on Sunday: it's his birthday, Father's Day, and he has the chance to finally achieve the elusive title that he so desperately desires. His first round could have been deemed a fluke of red-eye adrenaline, but his second and third showcased the grit, patience and the determination we have come to expect from a Hall of Famer. I sure hope he gets it done, in dramatic fashion!


Jeff Ritter, senior producer, Golf.com: Well, on Wednesday I picked Rose and Stricker to finish 1-2, so I can't run away from it now. Rose entered the week leading the Tour in total driving -- a big reason I picked him -- and that will serve him well on Sunday. Plus, he's due to finally take home his first major. And obviously, anything short of victory would be crushing for Phil. Can you imagine Rose taking him down again in a callback to last year's epic Ryder Cup singles match? Ouch.


Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: I think Phil wins. He keeps saying after every round that he played better than he scored. He also keeps bouncing back just when you think he'll fade away, and so I think he really believes he can bounce back Sunday, too, when he gets the odd bad break, as seems inevitable. I think Rose hangs around until the very end and Phil beats him at the end, reversing the result of their Ryder Cup singles match last fall.


Coleman McDowell, contributor, SI Golf+: Winner: Rickie Fowler. He trails Mickelson by four shots, which means nothing at a course like Merion where fortunes change in an instant. He only has one Tour win, but that didn't stop Rory McIlroy at Congressional in 2011 or Webb Simpson in 2012. On the week, Fowler is fifth in greens in regulation (40 of 54) and fourth in birdies (11). And the past four U.S. Open champs were under 30. Fowler definitely fits that category. Heartbreak: Phil Mickelson. He will inevitably have the lead of the Open heading into the final hole, you can just feel it. And as picture-perfect as a win on Father's Day would be, it won't happen. Phil wants this tournament more than ever, and it's right in his grasp. But the tee shot on 18 here at Merion is the most daunting of any on the course. And it doesn't get easier from there. Phil won't be able to handle it and will be fitted for a bridesmaids dress once again.


Mike Walker, senior editor, Golf Magazine: Winner: Phil Mickelson. This course has captured Mickelson's imagination the way Augusta National does, with similar results. The heartbreak: Hunter Mahan. Merion will put too much pressure on his short game to keep up with Mickelson and Donald.


Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Those tears 2013 U.S. Open champion Steve Stricker sheds will also be for the heartbreak he feels for Phil Mickelson, who will finish second at a U.S. Open for a record sixth time. Nobody has played better golf through the first 54 holes than Phil, and that's why I think he won't win. Considering the way he has played from tee to green as well as the number of quality putts he's rolled that could have dropped, Mickelson could easily be four or five shots clear of the field. That's going to come back and bite him tomorrow. That said, I hope I'm wrong.


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Park wins Wegman's LPGA in sudden death playoff after 36-hole Sunday



Inbee Park birdied the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Catriona Matthew to win the rain-delayed Wegman's LPGA Championship on Sunday. Park made a 20-foot putt on the par-4 18th to go 2-for-2 in LPGA Tour majors this season. She rebounded in the playoff after blowing a three-shot lead with a closing 3-over 75. The top-ranked South Korean star bogeyed three of her final five holes in regulation and hit only six fairways in the final round. 


"It feels great. It was a tough day out there," Park said. ""The amount of fairways I was missing today, it's almost a miracle that I won today. I think I got a little lucky there, too. And I really tried to fight off and tried not to give up. That really paid off." The 42-year-old Matthew, from Scotland, shot a bogey-free 68 to match Park at 5-under 283 at Locust Hill. 


It was a dramatic finish to a marathon of a day in which organizers were forced to squeeze in the final two rounds after torrential rain postponed the first round Thursday. And a 36-hole day ended up going 39. The tournament wasn't decided until nearly 8:00 p.m., some 12 hours after Matthew teed off to open her third round. After both made par on the first two playoff holes, Matthew struggled off the 18th tee on the third. After having difficulty advancing the ball out of the rough just below the green on her third shot, Matthew missed a 50-foot par chip. 


The 24-year-old Park also won the Kraft Nabisco in California in early April and has four victories this year. With the victory, Asian players have won nine straight majors. Also the 2008 U.S. Women's Open winner, Park became only the seventh player to win the LPGA's first two majors in a season, and the first since Annika Sorenstam won the same two events in 2005. 


Park has seven career LPGA Tour victories, six in her last 22 starts. In claiming the $337,500 first prize, Park increased her season winnings to $1.22 million, and moved into 25th on the LPGA Tour's career list at just under $6.5 million. Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel tied for third, a shot behind the leaders. Pettersen had the low round for the tournament, closing with a 65. Pressel collapsed after she opened the day with a two-stroke lead through two rounds at 6-under 138. 


Park shot a 68 in the third round in the morning to take the lead. After shooting 71 in the third round, Pressel had a 75 in the final round. Park spent the final two rounds playing in the final threesome with Pressel and Chella Choi. Tied with Pressel at 7 under with nine holes left, Park appeared to take control in building a three-shot lead after the 12th hole. Pressel bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12, while Park drained a 3-foot putt for a birdie on No. 11. 


Park, however, couldn't close, and had to scramble to make a bogey on the 18th. She flew her tee shot into the left rough, and barely advanced the ball with her second shot. Park carried the green with her third shot, which landed in the rough about 25 feet above the hole. Park putted to within 16 inches on her par attempt, before sinking it for a bogey. 


It was the eighth playoff in the LPGA Championship's 59-year history, and first since 2008, when Yani Tseng needed four holes to defeat Maria Hjorth. At least the weather finally cooperated after persistent rain spent much of the past three days water-logging the 6,500-yard course. Though several fairways and greens were still soggy, the players at least had the benefit of playing under mostly sunny skies and with temperatures pushing 80. 


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