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6357. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:23:52 PM 
A son of Belmont winner Birdstone won the Belmont — just not the son most people expected would win. Summer Bird won the Belmont Stakes, rallying past Mine That Bird to spoil jockey Calvin Borel's attempt at winning all three legs of the Triple Crown. Mine That Bird, with Borel aboard, came from last to take the lead right before the final turn. But Summer Bird galloped to the front and pulled away Saturday.
For a brief moment on the turn for home, Borel looked like a winner. His tough little gelding took the lead, and even Borel believed his victory guarantee was assured. With the crowd of 52,861 cheering on the leaders in the stretch, Mine That Bird passed Dunkirk. But it was Summer Bird who pulled away from them both for a 2-3/4 length victory, with Dunkirk second and Mine That Bird a neck back in third in the field of 10 3-year-olds. The winning time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:27.54. Charitable Man finished fourth, followed by Luv Gov, Flying Private, Brave Victory, Mr. Hot Stuff, Chocolate Candy and Miner’s Escape.
Summer Bird, sent off at 11-1 odds, gave jockey Kent Desormeaux a Belmont victory he desperately wanted. Last year, he won the Derby and Preakness aboard Big Brown, only to have to pull up the colt in the Belmont. And in 1998, he brought Real Quiet into the Belmont for a Triple try only to get beat by Victory Gallop by a nose in a heartbreaking defeat.
Summer Bird, trained by the recently licensed Tim Ice, returned $25.80. $9.30 and $4.70. Dunkirk paid $5.40 and $3.60, and Mine That Bird returned $2.60 to show.
Across the pond, Sea The Stars won the English Derby on Saturday, becoming the first horse in 20 years to win the Epsom classic after capturing the 2,000 Guineas. Mick Kinane rode the 11-4 shot to a 1 3/4-length victory over Fame And Glory to emulate the double last achieved by Nashwan in 1989. Masterofthehorse was a neck behind in third.
6358. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:25:05 PM  Orlando had their chance and couldn't capitalize. So dominant in winning the opener, the Lakers squeaked by in the second game of the NBA finals. The Lakers needed a miss by Orlando rookie guard Courtney Lee on a perfectly executed alley-oop play in the final second of regulation to get to overtime, then escaped with a 101-96 win over the Magic on Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Pau Gasol scored seven of his 24 points in overtime and Bryant finished with 29 for the Lakers, who became the fifth straight team to win the first two games of the series at home. In that span, only the 2006 Dallas Mavericks failed to win a title after being up 2-0. Since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format in 1985, 11 of 12 teams winning the first two games have gone on to win the championship.
The Lakers are now off to Florida for Game 3 on Tuesday night at Amway Arena. They'll play at least two games there with a chance to win their 15th title.
NBA finals
6359. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:25:30 PM 
Tiger Woods had undergone knee surgery last June, a day after wincing his way to a victory at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. In a memorable performance, he caught Rocco Mediate with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole and then beat him with another birdie putt on the final hole of the 18-hole playoff a day later.
Then came eight months of rest, rehab and, eventually, practice before he came back to competitive golf in late February. Even though he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was in contention in several other tournaments, some had wondered whether at 33 years old he or his reconstructed knee would ever be the same Tiger.
After getting off to a rocky start on Thursday, Woods climbed out of a four-way tie with a 7-under 65 to win the Memorial Tournament on Sunday. It was a record fourth time he had won the event created by his idol and measuring stick, Jack Nicklaus. He birdied three of the last four holes and hit a highlight-reel chip-in for eagle a few holes earlier.
Thousands of spectators followed every shot of the drama as Woods climbed the leaderboard at Muirfield Village. He started the day tied for seventh, four strokes back of co-leaders Matt Bettencourt and Mark Wilson with Jim Furyk, Jonathan Byrd, Geoff Ogilvy and Davis Love III also standing in his way. Despite four birdies on the front nine he still trailed Byrd, who had holed an 82-yard wedge for an eagle at the seventh hole, by three strokes as he played the 11th hole...
6360. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:36:24 PM  History was at stake, and Roger Federer was at his best, completely outplaying No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory in a French Open final that lacked suspense but not significance. With his latest masterful performance, Federer tied Pete Sampras' record of 14 major singles titles and became the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
Only 7-13 against Rafael Nadal, Federer entered Sunday 9-0 against Soderling and, other than the threat of postponement because of rain, there was never any doubt that would become 10-0 by day's end. Federer show the athleticism and artistry that carried him to five championships at Wimbledon, the last five at the U.S. Open and three at the Australian Open. Federer hit more aces than Soderling, 16-2. He broke Soderling four times. He won 40 of the first 47 points on his serve. He won five points with delicate drop shots.
Even the whackjob who ran out of the stands waving a Barcelona flag and trying to put a hat on Federer couldn't screw him up this day. Federer was outstanding at the start, taking a 4-0 lead, and close to perfect in the tiebreaker. That was Soderling's chance to get into the match, but Federer wouldn't allow it. The Swiss star served four points and all four were aces, ranging from 118 mph to 132 mph. Federer called it "one of the greatest tiebreakers in my career."
Soderling never really stood a chance, not against Federer, not on this day, not on this stage, and was gracious about the loss. "You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis," Soderling told Federer.
6361. wabbit - 6/13/2009 2:44:09 PM  With Sidney Crosby limping and Conn Smythe winner Evgeni Malkin not finding much open ice, Maxime Talbot played a game worthy of franchise icon Mario Lemieux by scoring both goals as the Penguins became the first team in 38 years to win a finals Game 7 on the road, holding off reigning champion Detroit 2-1 on Friday night.
Winning the championship for the first time since 1992 against the team that defeated them just a year ago, the Penguins defied history. They are the first team to win Game 7 on the road since the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, and the second, with that Canadiens team, to lose the first two games and come back to win it all. They are also the first team to win with a rookie coach who took over at midseason. Stuck in 10th place in the Eastern Conference in mid-February, they fired coach Michel Therrien although he had taken him to the finals last year and replaced him with minor-league coach Dan Bylsma. Bylsma immediately installed a more uptempo, press-the-attack offense that eased the tension in an unhappy locker room and the Penguins took off, going 18-3-4 down the stretch. They pulled off an upset in the second round when they out second-seeded Washington by winning 6-2 in Game 7 -- yes, on the road.
Malkin, who assisted Talbot's first goal, finished the playoffs with a league-high 36 points and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player in the postseason. The Pittsburgh center, who won the Art Ross Trophy with 103 points during the regular season, became the first player since Wayne Gretzky to capture both scoring titles in the same season in 1993.
6362. wabbit - 6/15/2009 1:44:45 PM  Kobe Bryant finally emerged from Shaquille O'Neal's massive shadow Sunday. Bryant, the winner of three titles this decade as the sidekick to O'Neal, cemented his place in basketball history Sunday as the unquestioned on-court leader of a championship team and a Finals MVP. His Lakers stomped the Magic 99-86 to win the series 4-1 and claim the 15th title in franchise history. After winning his 10th title, Lakers coach Phil Jackson finds himself atop another list. Jackson, who previously won six titles with Michael Jordan and the Bulls and three with the O'Neal-Bryant Lakers, broke a tie with Celtics legend Red Auerbach and set a new NBA record for championships by a coach.
The Lakers, whether they were led by George Mikan, Magic Johnson, O'Neal or Bryant, have spent plenty of time atop the NBA. As the Minneapolis Lakers, they won the title in the NBA's first season in 1950. The 2008-09 title is the first since Bryant, Jackson and O'Neal teamed to lead Los Angeles to three consecutive titles from 2000-02. Jackson retired after the Lakers lost the 2004 Finals to Detroit, and the Lakers traded O'Neal to the Heat after electing to build around Bryant. Jackson returned a year later, and the Lakers made the Finals in 2008, where they fell to Boston in six games. This year, the Lakers nearly mirrored last year's Celtics, winning the first two at home, dropping Game 3 on the road and storming back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to win Game 4. The only difference? The Lakers didn't need a sixth game.
6363. wabbit - 6/24/2009 2:05:47 PM  U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover of Greenville, S.C. is now 18th in the rankings, a climb of 53 places because of his grinding, soggy, two-shot victory Monday over Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Ricky Barnes at Bethpage Black. Duval's jump in the rankings may be more dramatic than Glover's -- 740 places, from 882 to 142 -- but the world golf pecking order may have gotten shaken up just a little bit more by Glover's unexpected victory. The 29-year-old who listens to Sinatra music in the car, dips tobacco and had enough rain-delay time on his hands to plow through a handful of books at Bethpage, earned more than the $1.35 million for his triumph at the Open. He's exempt through 2014 on the PGA Tour and has a 10-year U.S. Open exemption.
A captain's pick for the Presidents Cup by Jack Nicklaus in 2008 but overlooked by Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger in a similar situation last year, Glover may have earned himself a record for perseverance on a demanding U.S. Open course that required both patience and shot-making. He proved he's capable of delivering on each of those qualities. Not only was he top 10 in driving distance by averaging about 291 yards, Glover was fourth in greens in regulation and 11th in putting. In short: He's long and he can putt. That's not such a bad combination.
As it turns out, Glover is a man of few shots, and choice words. He held the silver U.S. Open trophy and was asked about how it felt. "Heavy," he said…
PGA news
6364. wabbit - 6/24/2009 2:06:19 PM After more than a quarter of a century of serving as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Donald Fehr is retiring. Fehr helped preserve the status quo, which was to allow baseball and its record book to be decided by which great ballplayers used the best chemists and the best drugs, and to push the clean players of his union to either cheat or be competitively disadvantaged. Even now, with the reputations of most of the greatest players of a generation ruined, Fehr leaves with little contrition.
Six runs in the first inning helped the Philadelphia Phillies relax and get back on track Tuesday night. "We got some big hits early. We got some runs and we got a lead and was able to hold it," manager Charlie Manuel said after the world champions got seven RBIs from Chase Utley and John Mayberry to rout the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1. Utley and Mayberry both homered in support of Jamie Moyer (5-6) to help the Phillies shrug off a 1-8 interleague homestand that dropped the NL East leaders nine games below .500 (13-22) at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia is a baseball-best 24-9 on the road.
Tommy Hanson won his third straight start, Brian McCann had two RBIs including a solo homer and Atlanta threw consecutive shutouts for the first time in four years with a 4-0 victory Tuesday night. New York managed just four hits and left 12 runners on base as Chien-Ming Wang (0-6) lost his sixth straight start. In the Yankees' first visit to Turner Field since 2000, Atlanta's pitching staff combined for its first consecutive shutouts since June 21-22, 2005, when it beat Florida by a combined 13-0 score. New York has lost three straight and four of six.
Manny Ramirez, easing back into playing shape after a 50-game drug suspension, suited up for the Albuquerque Isotopes as they beat Nashville 1-0. Ramirez wore No. 99 for the Dodgers' top farm club. "People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said before the game. Wow.
MLB news
6365. wabbit - 6/24/2009 2:52:07 PM Wimbledon is underway. James Blake and now-retired Marat Safin are both out, losing in the first round. 17th seed Blake was upset in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) by the on-song Italian Andreas Seppi on Court 3, the old No.2 Court, known as the “Graveyard of Champions”.
Safin, a double Grand Slam winner, bowed out in the first round to qualifier Jesse Levine on Court 18. From the outset of what was to end up a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 defeat, the Russian No.14 seed looked distinctively out of sorts. Balls were flying off his frame, wild ground strokes were in abundance and at 4-1 down in the opening set he was handed a code violation for racket abuse. Later there was the rant at the umpire. Safin confessed that he was 'relieved' that this was the end of his Wimbledon road. "It was not really my day. Not the perfect thing. Not the way to finish Wimbledon story. But anyway, it's okay. That's life. There is plenty of years coming towards me, so..." 6366. wabbit - 6/25/2009 2:55:18 PM  The LSU Tigers won their sixth national title Wednesday night, breaking open Game 3 of the College World Series finals with a five-run sixth inning that carried them to an 11-4 victory over Texas. Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer in the first inning as LSU (56-17) built a 4-0 lead. Texas (50-16-1) pulled even, but Mikie Mahtook's tie-breaking double ignited the Tigers' big sixth against the mistake-prone Longhorns. Mitchell added to the title he earned as a wide receiver on the 2007 LSU team that won the BCS championship. Earlier this month, he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round.
It was the first national title for 51-year-old coach Paul Mainieri, who played his freshman year at LSU in 1976 and returned to the school after coaching stops at St. Thomas (Fla.), Air Force and Notre Dame. LSU won national titles in 1991, '93, '96, '97 and 2000 under Skip Bertman. Though the Tigers made it back to the CWS two times under Smoke Laval -- he went 0-4 here -- the program fell off before Mainieri arrived three years ago.
6367. wabbit - 6/25/2009 3:24:52 PM  The U.S. soccer team is in the final of the Confederations Cup, beating mighty Spain 2-0. Even more stunning, the Americans were on the verge of elimination and ready to head home last weekend before a reversal of fortune. On Wednesday, goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey led to an upset of the planet's top-ranked team. Altidore scored in the 27th minute and Dempsey added a goal in the 74th as the Americans became the first team to defeat Spain since Romania in November 2006.
Call it a miracle on grass -- maybe not the World Cup, but still an American soccer echo of the U.S. hockey team's upset of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. By winning, the maligned United States advanced to its first men's FIFA final since starting play in 1916. The U.S. will play defending champion Brazil or host South Africa in Sunday's final, which concludes a two-week tournament designed to prepare the organizers of next year's World Cup.
6368. wabbit - 7/6/2009 4:22:15 PM  I hope no tennis fan missed the men's final at Wimbledon. It was sad that someone had to lose. Roger Federer was playing for history. Andy Roddick was playing the match of his life. On and on they dueled, Federer trying for a record-breaking 15th major championship, Roddick striving for his second, in a Wimbledon final that required more games than any Grand Slam title match in the considerable annals of a sport dating to the 1800s. They were each other's equal for four full sets and nearly the entire 30-game fifth set. Until Federer, far more experienced in such matters, finally edged ahead, breaking Roddick's serve for the only time in the 77th and last game to close out a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 victory Sunday.
The epic match -- the fifth set alone lasted more than 1 1/2 hours -- gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon title. Add that to five from the U.S. Open, three from the Australian Open and one from the French Open, and Federer's Grand Slam total rises to 15, one more than Pete Sampras, who flew in from California on Sunday morning to be on hand.
When the latest all-Williams women's final finished, when Serena wrapped up a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th major title overall, she jogged to the net with her arm extended for a handshake. Venus pulled her close for a warm embrace, instead. Serena was facing the only other woman who can equal her power and court coverage on grass courts. Monday's rankings will say Serena is No. 2, and Venus No. 3 -- behind No. 1 Dinara Safina, a 6-1, 6-0 loser to the elder Williams in the semifinals -- but it is clear who the best woman in the world is at the moment. Serena has won three of the past four Grand Slam titles.
About 3-1/2 hours after their match ended, Serena and Venus returned to Centre Court and capped their domination of the tournament by winning a second consecutive Wimbledon doubles championship. Slapping palms between points, the sisters beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (4), 6-4 to collect their ninth women's doubles Grand Slam title, fourth at Wimbledon. Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia won their second straight Wimbledon men's doubles title Saturday, beating top-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Wimbledon
6369. wabbit - 7/6/2009 4:24:39 PM  Shot twice in the head and two more times in the chest, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was the victim of a homicide, police declared Sunday. But authorities wouldn't say it was a murder-suicide -- even with his 20-year-old girlfriend dead at his feet from a single bullet.
McNair had been dating Sahel Kazemi for several months, and Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that a semiautomatic pistol was found under her body. She was shot in the head.
McNair, who was married with four sons, had a permit to carry a handgun in Tennessee, and he was arrested once before with a 9mm weapon although charges in the case were dropped. Police said they had not yet determined who owned the gun found at the scene.
Investigators weren't looking for a suspect but were questioning friends of the couple as well as Kazemi's ex-boyfriend. They were also waiting for results of drug and other laboratory tests before deciding whether McNair was killed in a lovers' quarrel...
6370. wabbit - 7/9/2009 4:30:51 PM Former U.S. figure skating champion Nicole Bobek probably got mixed up with the wrong crowd, the skater's mother said Wednesday, two days after her 31-year-old daughter was released from jail on a drug distribution charge stemming from an investigation that has netted 20 arrests so far.
Jana Bobek said her daughter liked to party and may be in trouble because of the company she keeps.
"If she is in some kind of trouble, she is probably in some trouble because she got in with the wrong company. I do strongly believe she would never do anything criminal," Jana Bobek told The Associated Press.
"Did she party? Probably, yes," Bobek's mother said. "I know she's a wonderful person and she has a very good heart and a lot of time that's been taken advantage of."
Nicole Bobek, who has homes in New York City and Jupiter, Fla., has been charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson and other North Jersey counties. She was arrested in Florida last week and extradited to New Jersey.
So far, 20 people, including Bobek, have been arrested in connection with the drug ring. An investigation is ongoing. Wasn't that always the rap on her, that she was a party girl?6371. wabbit - 7/12/2009 4:58:22 PM  John Smoltz finally felt as if he contributed to the Boston Red Sox. He doesn't expect it to be for the last time. Smoltz got his first win for Boston and Kevin Youkilis hit two home runs to lift the Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 15-9 Saturday night. Smoltz (1-2) struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out four batters in a row over the second and third inning capped off by called third strikes that painted the corner on Miguel Olivo and Tony Pena. Coming off shoulder surgery that cut his 2008 season to six appearances, the 42-year-old Smoltz didn't make his first start until June 25 against Washington. He struggled with an 0-2 record and 6.60 ERA in three previous appearances. Jason Varitek and David Ortiz also homered for Boston while Youkilis, who had been in a 3 for 30 slump, drove in four runs and scored four as well.
Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena will replace Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the American League roster for Tuesday's game All-Star game. Pedroia's wife, Kelli, is seven months pregnant and been in the hospital since Monday with complications.
The Los Angeles Angels struck seven runs in the fifth inning and overwhelmed the New York Yankees 14-8 on Saturday. The Angels, who trailed 4-0 early, turned the game around with seven big hits in the fifth and added four more runs in the eighth after New York pulled within 10-8. Alex Rodriguez homered twice for the Yankees, boosting his career total to 570, and team mate Eric Hinske also had two home runs, but four New York pitchers could not weather Los Angeles' 16-hit attack. The loss dropped the Yankees to a game and a half behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Los Angeles pulled even with Texas in the AL West prior to the Rangers' late game at Seattle. Mike Napoli and Bobby Abreu both drove in three runs for the Angels, who beat the Yankees for the second consecutive day.
MLB news
6372. wabbit - 7/12/2009 5:00:25 PM  Tour de France update - on Saturday, the status quo between Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong prevailed as Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain won the eighth stage in the Pyrenees, while Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini retained the yellow jersey. Contador eclipsed the seven-time Tour champion Armstrong a day earlier in the first Pyrenean ride, and trails the Italian, who is not seen as an overall title threat, by six seconds. Armstrong is eight seconds back. Astana holds four of the top six spots. Levi Leipheimer of the United States is 39 seconds off the pace in fourth, while Andreas Kloeden is sixth, 54 seconds behind.
The 26-year-old Contador is already one of cycling's top riders, having won all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain -- a feat accomplished only by five riders. Armstrong isn't one of them.
Armstrong didn't speak to reporters after Saturday's stage, a 110-mile trek along three big climbs from the Pyrenean principality of Andorra to Saint-Girons, France. Armstrong posted on Twitter: "St8 done. Tough but not 2 challenging. Had anti-doping control AGAIN." Cycling's governing body UCI and France's anti-doping agency have stepped up urine and blood tests this year in an effort to root out cheats who have marred cycling's premiere race in recent years. That means top performers like Armstrong face more checks.
6373. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:02:45 PM 
Carl Crawford's glove and one of the great bullpens in All-Star history helped save the American League's streak. Crawford pulled back a home run with a leaping grab an inning before Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth, giving the AL a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at the new Busch Stadium.
"It was definitely probably the best catch I ever made," said Crawford, the MVP. "I didn't think it was going to carry that far, but it carried and I just had to find the wall, make the adjustment and make the play on it."
The AL has won seven straight times the All-Star game has been used to determine home-field advantage for the World Series, an innovation that began after 2002's 7-7, 11-inning tie at Milwaukee. It is 12-0-1 since its 1996 defeat at Philadelphia — the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history. Not even President Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch helped the NL, which had been 4-0 previously when sitting presidents threw out the first offering. The NL scored all its runs in the second inning, and 22 of its last 24 batters made out.
AL manager Joe Maddon credited his bullpen "stallions" of Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Mariano Rivera. Starting with Hanley Ramirez's groundout off starter Roy Halladay that ended the second, AL pitchers retired 18 consecutive batters before Adrian Gonzalez's two-out walk in the eighth against Nathan. Orlando Hudson singled and, with pinch-hitter Ryan Howard at the plate, stole second before Howard struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his record fourth All-Star save, breaking a tie with Dennis Eckersley and giving him eight All-Star innings over eight appearances with no earned runs.
6374. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:03:08 PM 
Lance Armstrong stayed in third place after a wet and chilly ride Friday and lost a crucial ally for the rest of the Tour de France when teammate Levi Leipheimer withdrew because of a broken wrist.
The top standings didn’t change in the 124-mile stage through the rolling hills of northeast France that featured three big climbs, including the demanding Col du Platzerwasel. Armstrong, who trails overall leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy by eight seconds and Astana teammate Alberto Contador by two, said a crucial showdown awaits in Sunday’s ride into Switzerland.
“That one is almost a guarantee because it’s uphill,” the seven-time champion said of the ride from Pontarlier, France, to the Swiss ski station of Verbier. “For sure, it’s a decisive stage and exciting for the fans.”
Armstrong and Contador expressed regret about the withdrawal of Leipheimer before the stage. Leipheimer, who had been fourth overall, 39 seconds behind Nocentini, fell off his bike and broke his wrist in the last two miles of Thursday’s stage.
The 13th stage from Vittel to Colmar, won by Germany’s Heinrich Haussler, was less secure for riders Julian Dean and Oscar Freire: they were lightly injured by shots from a suspected air rifle from the roadside. A projectile embedded in Freire's thigh was removed by a team doctor. Garmin spokeswoman Marya Pongrace said Dean's right index finger was injured.
6375. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:03:44 PM  With a cold and murky sea gurgling behind him, Tiger Woods bent at the waist in search of his missing golf ball. He swiped at the tall heather on Turnberry's 10th hole like anyone else would in a disquieting round of golf, moving the yellow blades of grass around in a fruitless pursuit.
Several groups ahead, the 59-year-old Tom Watson was carrying a British Open gallery in the palms of his weathered hands, beating back a rash of bogeys and rolling in putts from distance.
These were two sights few predicted they would ever see at the 138th British Open at Turnberry. The world's No. 1-ranked golfer doubled over, careering toward his second missed cut in a major since turning professional. And Watson, the world's 1,374th-ranked golfer, a senior tour veteran who had his left hip replaced last October, leading the British Open after all these years.
The 33-year-old Woods is going home, removed from blustery Turnberry and the storyline of golf's oldest championship after missing the cut at a major for only the second time as a pro; he last failed to make a major weekend at the 2006 United States Open at Winged Foot. After opening with a one-over 71 in calm conditions on Thursday, Woods followed in Friday's windy weather with an unsightly four-over 74. His five-over 145 total through 36 holes left him one shot over the cut line. He will have to wait until next month's PGA Championship at Hazeltine to resume his chase of a 15th major title, and he is still four short of his boyhood idol, Jack Nicklaus, who won 18.
Left in Woods's wake is a fascinating leader board, topped by a five-time British Open winner in Watson and a first-time British Open participant in Steve Marino. They stand at five-under 135, one man considered by many the greatest links golfer ever born, the other man playing links golf for the first time. Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champ, stands one shot back, and several other big names, including Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Miguel Angel Jimenez, are two back.
6376. wabbit - 7/20/2009 2:49:41 PM I waver between heartbreak for Tom Watson or happiness for Stewart Cink. Either way, the 2009 British Open was something to see. At 6:19 p.m. Sunday, on a spit of land hard by the Firth of Clyde, an old man with a new hip strode down the center of a dusty fairway. The summer sun was bathing Turnberry in gold, exactly as it had 32 years ago, the very first time Tom Watson conquered these storied, ancient links.
Watson's moment had come again, it seemed, and all of Turnberry felt it. The grandstands at the 18th hole creaked with the weight of the young and old. A silver trophy that Watson had won five times before was waiting in a trailer off the green.
A par would make the 59-year-old Watson the 138th and most improbable Open Champion. But destiny and the languid swing of Stewart Cink would deny him.
On the 72nd hole Watson finally, heartbreakingly, started to look his age, hitting his birdie putt from behind the green 10 feet past the hole, and then leaving his par putt for the championship inches short. The next hour, and a four-hole playoff, belonged to the 36-year-old Cink, who topped Watson by six shots and won the British Open for the first major of his career.
"It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn't it?" said Watson, who nearly claimed a record-tying sixth British Open. "It wasn't to be. It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my gut. It's not easy to take."
Instead, it was Cink — who three-putted the 72nd hole at the 2001 United States Open to miss a playoff by a shot — claiming the oldest major championship in golf...
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