04-18-2019, 06:44 AM
HOYLAKE, England -- The British Open packs 154 years of history on links courses that have been nurtured more by time than by tractors. It returns this year to Royal Liverpool, the second-oldest golf club in England, established in 1867 before anyone in America knew much about the Royal & Ancient game. For all its heritage, however, the charm of this major is what lies ahead. No one ever knows what to expect. Consider the landscape. Royal Liverpool was so brown and baked when The Open was last here in 2006 that the R&A asked players to take extra care if they smoked, and it had two fire engines stationed on the golf course. The ball rolled so far when it hit the ground that Tiger Woods hit only one driver over 72 holes and won by two shots. Now the grass is greener than it was at Pinehurst No. 2 for the U.S. Open. It feels like a new course this year. "Its lush. The greens are soft and very green. Fairways are pretty similar," said Rory McIlroy, who took a scouting trip to Hoylake last week. "But I think they are going to get a spell of good weather leading up to The Open, and hopefully, it will get a bit firmer." He recalled watching in 2006 when "the ball was like bouncing down a road on the fairways." McIlroy says he could hit as many as five drivers each round. "Its going to be a little different," he said. "Theres some thick spots of rough on the course, so avoiding that and avoiding those fairway bunkers ... if I can just do that, and anyone else can do that, then theyll have a good chance." A greater change might be the landscape of golf. Woods was at the height of his powers eight years ago when he won the claret jug for the third time. He was the first player in more than 20 years to repeat as Open champion. He would go on to win the PGA Championship that year, making history as the only player to capture multiple majors in successive years. Now he makes news when he can even play in a major. Woods has had three surgeries since he was last at Royal Liverpool a(euro)? two on his left knee, the most recent on March 31 to alleviate a nerve impingement in his back, which caused him to miss the Masters for the first time, and then the U.S. Open. When the British Open begins on Thursday, it will be his first major in 11 months. Woods returned earlier than anyone thought a(euro)? himself included a(euro)? three weeks ago in the Quicken Loans National at Congressional. He missed the cut, which annoyed him, and played without pain, which thrilled him. "I hate to say it, but Im really encouraged by what happened this week," Wood said. "What I was able to do physically, and the speed I had and the distance that I was hitting the golf ball again, I had not done that in a very long time." He wasnt worried about the little mistakes, mainly with his short game, because he could fix them. But how soon? Woods is 38 and without a major in six years, leaving him at 14 for his career and still four short of catching Jack Nicklaus. It might help to return to a course where he has won before, except that this is a different golf course. And he is not the same player. "We havent seen Tiger really, really play well in a while now," two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange said. There hasnt been a dominant player even during his time away from various injuries and surgeries over the last five years. Golf is ruled by committee. McIlroy, with two majors by age 23, is just now starting to get his game back in order. Martin Kaymer is in the best form, having won The Players Championship and U.S. Open by going wire-to-wire in both. Adam Scott is No. 1 in the world. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion. Justin Rose is fresh off a big win at Congressional. Bubba Watson is a Masters champion again. All have had moments of greatness, none of it sustained. Nineteen players have won the 24 majors that have been held since Woods won his last one. "We have all witnessed what Tiger has been able to do over his career, whether thats come back from injury and win, come back from any sort of off-course stuff and win. I mean, win the U.S. Open on one leg," McIlroy said. "Is it foolish for people to write him off? I would say so. If hes playing and hes competing, hes got as good a chance as any." Considering the circumstances, Woods winning would be a surprise. Then again, for as long as golfs oldest championship has been around, it is still capable of delivering a few shockers. Mickelson produced one of his own at Muirfield last summer when he had his named etched on that silver claret jug for winning the one major that for years befuddled him. Only five years ago, 59-year-old Tom Watson came within an 8-foot par putt of being the oldest major champion. Ben Curtis was playing his first major in 2003 when he won at Royal St. Georges. He was the only player to break par. The Open returned to St. Georges eight years later, and 11 players had a better score than Curtis. What happened eight years ago at Royal Liverpool feels like ancient history. Perhaps that should be the adage for The Open. The more things stay the same, the more they change. Justin Faulk Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. Chris Archer lasted 2 1/3 innings in the no-decision, charged with a run and five hits, and Alex Torres suffered the loss in relief. http://www.hurricanessale.com/.com) - American Madison Keys grabbed a first- round victory on Sunday in a rainy start to the Apia International Sydney tournament. Rod Brind Amour Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday.BOSTON -- Jabari Parker put on a show for both college and NBA fans in Boston. The freshman sensation set career highs with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Quinn Cook hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, and No. 11 Duke coasted to an 89-68 win over Boston College on Saturday night. "Jabari was a monster today with the amount of rebounds and points," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He wasnt rewarded on the offensive boards with some of his finishes or it could have been a 35-, 36-point game." Parker shot 12 of 17 from the floor, getting baskets mostly from drives and dunks as the Eagles tried a number of different defences against him. "Jabari was really difficult to handle for anyone tonight," Krzyzewski said. "We just tried to give him some different looks. He got quite a bit in transition." With subtle cheers going up along with "oohs" when he did something exciting, Parker became the main focus of many in the crowd. There were a large number of Duke fans and, very likely, a good number of Boston Celtics fans interested in getting a live look at Parker as the local NBA franchise looks to rebuild quickly through the draft after dealing veteran stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn last summer. Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge sat courtside. "Ive seen him a lot growing up. I think the thing you dont realize on tape is, he has an extra pop," BC coach Steve Donahue said. "Its 6-8, 235 (pounds). Its an extra quickness that you dont see even in this league, and extra explosiveness." Rasheed Sulaimon added 10 points for the Blue Devils (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Parker extended his Duke freshman record to 14 games with 20 points or more. "I didnt see a lot of Duke fans," Parker said when asked if he heard the crowds reaction to some of his plays. "I guess they showed me a little excitement, a little joy." He was reminded of where Ainge was sitting late in the game by teammate Nick Pagliuca, whose father, Steve, is a managing partner of the Celtics. Olivier Hanlan led Boston College (6-17, 2-8) with 25 points and Ryan Anderson had 12. The Eagles have dropped 10 of 12, with their only conference wins coming against last-place Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils put it away with an 18-0 run midway through the second half, improving to 18-2 against unranked teamss this season.dddddddddddd "We wanted to pick up the defensive intensity," Cook said. "Hanlan was kind of having his way in the first half." That defensive intensity, along with Parker, was much more than BC could handle. "Hes a great player. To be so young as a freshman and to be so physically gifted as he is, a lot of things he does is mental," Anderson said. "He just reads the game really well. He played really well tonight." Following a solid first half, Parker scored 12 of Dukes initial 17 points after halftime as the Blue Devils opened a 56-44 lead on his three-point play with just under 14 minutes to go. He had a baseline jam on the first possession and followed that with a three-point play when he was fouled on a fast-break layup, pushing Dukes lead to 44-35. He added a fast-break dunk, two free throws and another three-point play. Following Andersons free throw that cut it to 44-38, Sulaimon nailed a 3 from the right wing, giving the Blue Devils their first double-digit lead. When it wasnt Parker for the Blue Devils, on pace to finish with the third-best 3-point shooting mark in school history, it was Cook, Rodney Hood or Sulaimon nailing 3s. Cooks made it 64-44 with just under 11 minutes left. Parker had a two-handed slam with 5:10 to play and was whistled for a technical for hanging on the rim too long, bringing a smattering of boos from the crowd. The Blue Devils led 39-35 at halftime. Parker, who entered second in the ACC in scoring (18.7 points per game) and leading the conference in rebounding (8.2), proved to be as tough as expected for Boston College to handle in the first half when he compiled 10 points and seven rebounds. The Eagles tried several things in trying to slow Parker in the opening half. They switched defences three times in the opening 10 minutes, going from man-to-man to zone and even using a box-and-1 at one point. They had guards attempting to play in front of him, forcing lob passes over the top, and had forwards covering him straight up. Still, his 6-foot-8 frame and quickness were on display whenever he got the ball. Boston College tied it at 16 on Alex Dragicevichs 3-pointer from the right wing, and neither team held more than a one-possession lead the rest of the half. Both shot 50 per cent on 3s in the opening 20 minutes. Duke plays at rival North Carolina in its next game on Wednesday. ' ' '