LDN - Sports

Golf notebook: Inkster picks assistant captains

[August 15, 2016] By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange

Golf notebook: Inkster picks assistant captains

--Juli Inkster, captain of the United States team for the Solheim Cup, announced that Pat Hurst, Wendy Ward and Nancy Lopez will return as her assistant captains for the 2017 matches against Europe.

Under that staff last year, the Americans rallied by outscoring the Euros, 8 1/2-3 1/2, to claim a dramatic 14 /12-13 1/2 victory at Club Golf St. Leon-Rot in Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany.

"I'm thrilled that we are able to bring back our entire staff from the Solheim Cup win in 2015," Inkster said. "Pat, Wendy and Nancy bring a wealth of experience both as leaders and players in this event and will once again be magnificent resources to our entire squad.

"We are looking forward to the opportunity to repeat as champions and win on American soil."

The 2017 matches will be played on Aug. 18-20 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.

The United States holds a 9-5 lead in the Solheim Cup series.

--It was a good few days for Jim Furyk.

Fewer than 48 hours after becoming the first player in PGA history to shoot 58, Furyk was named as 2016 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award.

Furyk will receive the award on Sept. 20 at the Payne Stewart Award Ceremony in conjunction with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

"I am incredibly honored to receive the Payne Stewart Award," said Furyk, who has won 17 times in his PGA Tour career. "I was fortunate enough to know Payne as a colleague and friend, and I always admired the character and spirit he brought to the game of golf.

"The Payne Stewart Award is an important part of the Tour's efforts to honor Payne's legacy. Knowing my name will be forever linked to him through this honor is extremely humbling, and I am very grateful."

The 46-year-old Furyk was the PGA Tour's 2010 Player of the Year, when he captured the Tour Championship at East Lake to wrap up the FedEx Cup. His only major title came in the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields outside Chicago.

Previous winners of the Payne Stewart Award were Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer (2000); Ben Crenshaw (2001); Nick Price (2002); Tom Watson (2003); Jay Haas (2004); Brad Faxon (2005); Gary Player (2006); Hal Sutton (2007); Davis Love III (2008); Kenny Perry (2009); Tom Lehman (2010); David Toms (2011); Steve Stricker (2012); Peter Jacobsen (2013); Sir Nick Faldo (2014) and Ernie Els (2015).

The Payne Stewart Award, named for the 11-time PGA Tour winner who died in plane crash in 1999, is presented annually to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart's steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship.

--Erik Compton was disqualified from the John Deere Classic last week after missing his pro-am tee time.

According to a tweet sent by Compton, two players withdrew from the pro-am early in the day, which moved him into a spot in the event. Unfortunately, he was a six-hour drive away in Detroit at the time and was unable to make it to the venue in time.

Under the PGA Tour rules, he was disqualified.

It has been a tough season for the 36-year-old two-time heart transplant recipient, as he has failed to finish in the top 25 in any of his 23 tournaments and has missed the cut in his last three starts.

--Peter Dawson, president of the International Golf Federation, said the IGF will study a potential format change for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

There was criticism from some players that the 72-hole stroke-play competition in the Games should be more of a team event.

"It's a difficult one, really," Dawson said. "The (International Olympic Committee) want the Olympic champions to be champions in a mainstream sport, not in some format that the sport otherwise never uses.

"(But) what you might see is some changes in format. We'll be looking at that."

The individual stroke-play format was included in the IOC's 2009 announcement that golf would return to the Olympics this year for the first time since 1904 in St. Louis, but until the week before the Games, Matt Kuchar of the United States believed there was some type of team format.

Sergio Garcia of Spain and others have said they would have liked to have played a mixed team event along with the individual competition.

[to top of second column]

"I would have loved it to be something a little bit different," Garcia said. "Maybe not doubles, but maybe a singles and mixed doubles event. It would have been fun."

The women's Olympic tournament, also 72 holes of individual stroke play, will be played this week in Rio de Janeiro.

--Norman Xiong of Canyon Lake and Lucy Li of Redwood Shores gave California a sweep in the 41st Junior PGA Championships at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I.

Xiong, who has committed to play for Oregon following his senior year at Temescal Canyon High, shot 1-under-par 68 to beat Patrick Welch of Providence, R.I., by two strokes in the boys division.

Li, 13, came from six shots down with a 2-under-par 69 to defeat Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, Calif., and Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii, also by two strokes.

Xiong posted a score of 68-70-68-68--274, while Welch wound up at 69-71-69-67--276.

"To be honest, I find it easier to have the lead," said Xiong, who took a one-stroke edge into the final round and stayed in control the rest of the way after shooting 2-under 32 on the front nine.

"From my first practice round, I knew that this course really fit my game. That said, the conditions were really difficult. Round two was wet, and for me, the third day was so hot. The course, however, played great the whole week. I loved it."

Li, who became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open at age 11, carded a score of 66-71-69--206, 7 under. Abdulghany finished at 71-67-70--208, and Galdiano, who led after each of the first two rounds, wound up at 64-67-77--208.

"At six shots back, I honestly thought there was absolutely no chance that I could get back into this," Li said. "(Mariel) was playing so well, I just couldn't see it. Then in the 13th hole, I looked at the leaderboard and I was at the top.

"I didn't think I played all that good, but it was really windy today, and that made it tough. I am used to playing in the wind, so that might have been an advantage for me."

The girls tournament was shortened to 54 holes because of rain and unplayable course conditions on Wednesday.

-- Australia's Robert Allenby made the news again for in incident off the golf course.

Allenby was arrested outside a casino in Rock Island, Ill., early Saturday, and he was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing several hours after missing the cut in the John Deere Classic.

"I don't know anything that's going on, so you can say whatever you want," Allenby told USA Today Sports. "There's nothing to be said or done about it. Nothing happened. I have no idea, mate. No idea."

Allenby was booked into Rock Island County Jail shortly after 4 a.m. Bail was set at $1,500, and he later was released, then returned home to Florida. He told the newspaper he had dinner and played blackjack at the casino with other golfers and caddies.

In January 2015, Allenby missed the cut in the Sony Open in Hawaii and claimed he was abducted and beaten after being at a Honolulu wine bar that night.

His story came under heavy scrutiny when witnesses claimed they saw the Australian at a strip bar.

Allenby said he didn't remember anything about the Hawaii incident from about 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., until he was pushed out of a car more than six miles from the wine bar without his wallet, driver's license and cell phone.

An arrest eventually was made, and a Hawaiian man was sentenced to five years in prison for using Allenby's credit cards and identification.

Allenby has missed the cut in 20 of 22 events he has played this season.

-----------------------------------------------

Back to top