GAME PLAN
Today’s TV/radio
BASEBALL
10 Triple-A All-Star Game, ESPN2
• • The Detroit News | Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 2B
GOLF
CYCLING
8:30a Tour de France, Vs., Noon Tour de France, Vs. 8 Tour de France, Vs.
Subject to change
INSIDER
“Sometimes you make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. But going forward I’m going to be a better player and that’s all that counts to me.”
Padraig Harrington, right, the defending British Open champion, who is changing his swing.
Jon Super/Associated Press
I swear: Tigers’ Inge is a slugger
QUICK HITS Former MSU QB killed in robbery
A former Michigan State quarterback was killed during a robbery, Barberton, Ohio, police said. Arron Agler, 29, of Stow, Ohio, was pronounced dead about 12:30 a.m. Friday in a parking lot of Akron General Hospital, where his body had been dumped after he was shot, allegedly while robbing a local drive-through store. Agler went to MSU in 1999 and later transferred to Western Michigan. GOLF: Kim Kester of Ada leads the Michigan Women’s Amateur by two strokes after the first round at Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester. Gabrielle Yurik of Rochester Stoney Creek, Britney Hamilton of Lake Orion and Allison Tyler of Grand Rapids are at 3-over 75.
R
Woods cautious around traps
Avoiding the bunkers is key to thriving at tricky Turnberry
BY DOUG FERGUSON Associated Press
Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews
British Open
Site: Turnberry, Scotland Schedule: Thursday-Sunday Course: Turnberry, Ailsa Course (7,204 yards, par 70) Purse: $6.82 million; winner’s share: $1.22 million TV: TNT (Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 7-9 a.m.; Sunday, 6-8 a.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.)
Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
Stan Bowman, son of former Wings coach Scotty Bowman, is the new Blackhawks GM.
NHL: The Blackhawks abruptly ousted general manager Dale Tallon, less than two months after the team reached the Western Conference finals. His ouster came a week after a missed deadline for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents prompted the NHL Players Association to file a grievance against the team. Tallon, 58, was replaced by assistant GM Stan Bowman, the 36-year-old son of former Wings coach Scotty Bowman, a senior adviser with the team. NFL: The Chiefs signed quarterback Matt Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed. Cassel came from the Patriots with linebacker Mike Vrabel for a second-round pick. WNBA: Mercury star Diana Taurasi faces three drunk-driving-related charges, including extreme DUI, for a July 2 incident in which she also was cited for speeding. A Phoenix police report released Tuesday shows Taurasi’s blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, or more than twice the Arizona legal limit of 0.08 percent. … Indiana forward Tamika Catchings received the most votes for the All-Star Game July 25 in Uncasville, Conn. No Shock players were voted to the team. COLLEGES: San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been voted the winner of the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur player in the nation by USA Baseball. Strasburg was selected by the Nationals with the top pick in the amateur draft.
Detroit News wire services
Turnberry, Scotland — The sea breeze in his face was not nearly as important to Tiger Woods as finding the best route around three pot bunkers on the 10th hole at Turnberry. He aimed his tee shot to the right, on the high side of two bunkers, then pulled his 3-wood just enough that the ball bounded along the links until it stopped rolling just three yards short of the sand. This was OK. “That’s the whole idea,” Woods said. “Some of these holes sucker you into trying to take it over the bunkers.” A bold tee shot would leave a shorter approach into the green, perhaps a greater chance at birdie. “But can you do that over four days?” Woods replied. He doesn’t appear willing to take that chance. Woods has captured the British Open three times on two links courses. He won his first claret jug at St. Andrews in 2000, a victory as much famous for his career Grand Slam as his four rounds without once playing out of the bunker. His most recent victory was three years ago at Hoylake, where Woods hit driver only one time in 72 holes. He chose that week to play mainly long irons and the occasional 3-wood off the tee, anything to keep him short of the bunkers. “I don’t think I’ve ever been able to reach the green from a bunker,” Woods said. “It’s a oneshot penalty. Even if you can advance it 60 yards, you still have a 6-iron left to the green.” Turnberry is a far different venue. The strategy is no different.
PGA Tour
U.S. Bank Championship
Site: Milwaukee Schedule: Thursday-Sunday Course: Brown Deer Park Golf Course (6,759 yards, par 70) Purse: $4 million; winner’s share: $720,000 TV: Golf Channel (Thursday, 4-7 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 1-4 a.m., 4-7 p.m.; Monday, 1-4 a.m.)
esearchers at Keel University in England have found evidence swearing makes pain more tolerable, Reuters reported. The findings are based on a 64-person study in which volunteers were subjected to painful situations such as submerging their hands in ice and watching Brandon Inge in the Home Run Derby. At the very least, Inge’s zero-blast performance MonTONY day makes AUGUSTY Sideline Satire for a good secondhalf story line. Some believe success in the Derby negatively affects a player’s swing. If that’s true, Inge should bat .400 the rest of the way. In which Sideline Satire brings you the real story. The story: Soccer star David Beckham said he and U.S. star Landon Donovan have ended their feud. The real story: Two soccer stars had a feud and somehow this is news in America. The story: An ex-con took quarterback Tom Brady’s metal flower boxes — valued at $4,000 — thinking they were trash. The man was panhandling to try to pay Brady back before a Boston businessman stepped in to cover the debt. The real story: Brady has $4,000 flower boxes. Four grand. For a container you leave outside. I don’t have anything worth $4,000 inside my house. I also have a feeling Brady and the ex-con found out at the same time how much Brady actually paid for a box.
Beyond the headline
in a long time.” He had his share of misses last year at Royal Birkdale, although Harrington was practically flawless when it mattered. He shot 32 on the back nine to pull away from Greg Norman and Ian Poulter.
Glyn Kirk/Associated Press
Tiger Woods missed the ’08 British Open after knee surgery and never has played a competitive round at Turnberry, but, of course, he’s the favorite.
Glad to be back
That final hour is about the only part of the British Open that Woods watched last year. He was three weeks removed from reconstructive surgery, limited to hobbling from the bed to the couch and back again. Woods remains without a major since his return — the first time since 2004 he doesn’t have one in his possession — yet is pleased with how far he has come in the five months he has been back. His victory two weeks ago at his AT&T National was his third this year, more than anyone else on the PGA Tour, as many as anyone in the world this year. “I remember looking at the year just trying to get back playing,” he said. “Hopefully, I can play. And hopefully, I can play at a high level. And to sit here and say I was going to have three wins halfway through the year ... if anyone would have looked at my situation, they would have said, ‘You probably might be reaching a little bit.’ “Granted, I haven’t won a major,” Woods added. “But I’ve come close. I’ve put myself in position to win the first few. I just haven’t done it.”
A quick study
Woods, 33, makes his return to the British Open, missing golf’s oldest championship last year while in the early stages of recovering from knee surgery that kept him out for eight months. He had never seen Turnberry until arriving Sunday, and he played the last of his three practice rounds Tuesday morning beneath a mixture of clouds and sunshine, fickle weather that likely will continue for the week. Three days should be enough time to cram for this test, just as it was for Hoylake.
What he has learned, as have the rest of the players who were not at Turnberry in 1994 when it last hosted the British Open, is that it is more important that ever to keep the ball in play. Beyond the fairways is grass so thick it might be difficult to get the ball back into play, if it can be found. Even so, the bunkers stand out as the threat. Masters champion Angel Cabrera is among the big hitters in golf, and he spoke of caution. “I think I’m going to be playing short of the bunkers pretty much all week,” Cabrera said. “That will be my strategy.” He is not alone. Padraig Harrington will be going after a third consecutive British Open — no one has done that since Peter Thomson in 1954-56 — and he tuned up for Turnberry the way he did his previous two victories, by playing links golf in Ireland and winning the Irish PGA. Harrington is no stranger to this brand of golf. He says there’s no secret to succeeding. “My whole links golfing life,
I’ve avoided the bunkers at all costs,” Harrington said. “Bunkers are like water hazards on a links course. You’re chipping out. Avoid at all costs.” Adding to the dilemma at Turnberry, however, is the high grass from a wet spring. Harrington does not mind hitting a longer club in the green, for even if he misses the putting surface, he figures he can save par. With so much thick ground around some of these greens, however, the challenge never ends. Be aggressive off the tee? Lay back off the tee to avoid bunkers and take your chances with a tougher shot to the green? One more piece of this puzzle is the bowl shape of about half the greens, allowing the ball to feed toward the hole. “There will be birdies made this week from the fairway, assuming you’ve got a reasonable shot in there,” Harrington said. “The penalty will be missing the fairways. The guy who drives it well this week has a big advantage, much more this week than on any links golf course I’ve seen
Tour de Pantsless
Talk about pedaling the flesh. A brothel in Berlin, for reasons unknown except to make my job much easier, is offering discounts to a certain group of patrons. Customers who show up on bicycles. “It’s good for business, it’s good for the environment,” said Thomas Goetz, owner of the Maison d’envie brothel. You would think a pimp would be more inclined to exploit Mother Earth. In a related story, the Tour de France will now end in Berlin.
Sad truths
Detroit native William Reedy passed away last week at 72. If the name isn’t familiar, his unfortunate legacy might be: Reedy was the driver in the 1989 accident that killed former Yankees and Tigers manager Billy Martin. Reedy was convicted of drunken driving by a New York court, but it was his sentence that caught my eye: a $350 fine and getting his license revoked for six months, according to his New York Times obituary. It amazes me how lightly he got off for an accident that killed another man. Then I thought about how we as a society take drunken driving much more seriously now. Then I read about another departure — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth leaving a Miami jail after serving 24 days of a 30-day sentence for DUI manslaughter. Then I realized there’s no punch line to this story. Sigh.
taugusty@detnews.com More at sidelinesatire.com
British Open odds
Tiger Woods .................................2-1 It’s been a while since he hasn’t held a major championship, and he’ll be eager to win his fourth Claret Jug after missing last year’s event at Royal Birkdale while recovering from knee surgery. Sergio Garcia .............................10-1 He was 38th at The Masters and 10th at the U.S. Open. Could it finally be his turn to win a major? He’s finished in the top 10 six times and was runner-up to Harrington at Carnoustie in 2007. Padraig Harrington ......................20-1 He won last year at Royal Birkdale and two years ago at Carnoustie. But the defending champion has struggled this year, with no top-10 finishes in 13 PGA Tour events this season. Steve Stricker ...............................25-1 He’s won twice this year, including last week at the John Deere Classic, and has seven top-10 finishes. He finished in a tie for eighth at Carnoustie in 2007 and a tie for seventh last year at Royal Birkdale. Kenny Perry...............................30-1 He was criticized for skipping last year’s tournament to focus on qualifying for the Ryder Cup. He has seven top-10 finishes with two victories this season. Angel Cabrera................................40-1 The Masters champion has done little else this season and his length might not help him at Turnberry. He does have two top-10 finishes at the British Open, but missed the cut last year. Lucas Glover ..................................45-1 He held off Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open at Bethpage and has four top-10 finishes, but his best finish in three British Open appearances was a tie for 27th at Carnoustie in 2007. David Duval.....................................50-1 Has made only five cuts this year, but came out of nowhere to almost win the U.S. Open. His only major championship victory came at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2001. John Daly...............................1,000-1 His best finish this season was a tie for 59th at the St. Jude Classic in his only PGA Tour event after playing six times on the European Tour. Don’t expect a repeat of 1995, when he won at St. Andrews.
Matt Charboneau
Tour de France
Tuesday’s 10th stage: Mark Cavendish beat Thor Hushovd in a sprint finish. Tyler Farrar of the United States was third. Yellow jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini of the AG2R-La Mondiale team held onto the overall lead. Astana teammates Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong remained in second and third. Controversy: Riders were stripped of their customary earpieces and denied contact with their teams during the 121mile route. Today’s stage: The 11th stage is a 119.3-mile trek from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau, which again favors sprinters.
The latest best player never to have won a major, Sergio Garcia has come close at the British Open — with three top-fives, including a loss in a playoff, in the past four years.
Peter Muhly/ Associated Press
John Daly’s made more headlines for off-course behavior than his game in recent years — the two-time major champion is fresh off a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour.
Peter Muhly/ Associated Press