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THE UNIVERSITY HARY KANSAN
PGA
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
Tiger no longer a sure-fire bet in tournaments
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Much to his chagrin, Tiger Woods has put some suspense back into golf.
Give him the lead going into the final round of the major, and victory is no longer as certain as death, taxes and Woods wearing a red shirt on Sunday. Watch him hit a clutch shot to the 18th green, and there is no guarantee he'll make the putt.
Y. E. Yang delivered a shocker two weeks ago at the PGA Championship when he became the first player to beat golf's best closer, rallying from two shots behind Woods for a three-shoot victory at Hazelline.
Woods rarely looked so human. And then on Sunday at Liberty National, he bled a little more.
He was on the cusp of contention for most of the final round at The Barclays until the bell rang for the final lap. Then, Woods made a 10-foot birdie on the 14th to move closer to the lead, a 15-foot par put in the next hole to stay there, and a deft chip-and-run to 3 feet for birdie on the 16th that pulled him within one shot.
Needing a birdie on the final hole to post the clubhouse lead, he drilled a 6-iron from 189 yards to the back pin at the 18th and listened to those familiar roars as the ball settled 7 feet from the cut.
Tiger Woods acknowledges the gallery after sinking a birdie put on the 14th hole during the final round of The Barclays golf tournament on Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J. J.Woods has 81 tournament victories worldwide, and has finished second 32 times.
Heath Slocum and Steve Stricker,
tied for the lead, were on the 18th tree,
as Woods stood over his bird duttt.
Even from 467 yards away, it was not difficult to figure out what was going on. If the cheers were enough, that red shirt is hard to miss.
"I guess you can't make 'em all."
The ball slid by on the left side of the cup, and they could hear the groans — twice. Because the large video boards and TVs in corporate chalets had about a 10-second delay, the big news reached some people later than others.
had missed it."
That wasn't the case for Slocum. Despite hitting a fairway bunker, playing short of the green and hitting a wedge to 20 feet, he rolled in the best
HEATH SLOCUM
Golfer
par putt of his life for a one-shot victory. Stricker had a chance to tie, but missed from 10 feet.
"I guess you can't make 'em all";
Slocum said.
Yang was the first to see for himself when he took down the biggest name in golf.
Slocum beat a bunch of stars. The group one shot behind featured Woods, Stricker, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington, who have combined to win 20 majors. All of them have been at least No.3 in the world at some point.
"That's the way it goes sometimes," he said.
The common thread in both tournaments was Woods having a
Along with his 81 victories world-wide, he has finished second 32 times in tournaments recognized by the world golf rankings.
chance to win, and Woods finishing second.
Even so, this was only the fifth time in his career that Woods has finished runner-up in consecutive tournaments. The last time it happened was at the end of his 2006 season, when he was second to Yang at
the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, then surrendered a lead on the back nine to Harrington and lost to him in a playoff at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan.
Go back to 2005 to
Unlike the other four occasions, Woods had a realistic chance of winning both times as he stood on the 18th tee. And the reason failure stands out so much is that it rarely happened before.
find the last time it happened in America. Woods was runner-up to Michael Campbell in the U.S. Open, then tied for second at the Western Open in Chicago.
No other greens confounded Woods quite like the ones at Liberty National. It was only fitting that he missed a 7-foot putt at the end because he had done that all week. On his first hole of the tournament,
Woods hit a pure 5-iron to 10 feet behind the hole at No.10 and looked perplexed when it broke away from the cup.
Even as he tried to make a move Saturday, his 67 was slowed by missing an 8-foot eagle put at No. 6 that stunned even one his playing partners, Zach Johnson. He missed from 5 feet later in the third round on No.
"It it happens," Woods said Sunday. "Not too many golf courses that you misread putts that badly. This golf course is one."
15 and was spewing expletives all the way to the next tee.
This year, Woods won his first PGA Tour event since returning from reconstructive knee surgery by making a 15-foot birdie putt on
Besides, his loss is golf's gain, for it now puts some doubt into the outcome — if not in Woods' head, then the people watching, and even those trying to beat him.
the final hole at Bay Hill. It was the same green where he made a 25-foot birdie put a year earlier to win by one shot, where he made a 15-footer to beat Phil Mickelson in 2001.
BIG 12 (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
its money and invested it in its football stadium instead of a traditional endowment.
According to Texas Athletics Web site, Texas took in $25 million from season tickets and seating at its stadiums but spent only $14 million of that on construction.
Kansas Athletics is also experiencing growth despite the poor economy.
Fans bought record numbers of tickets this season. As of last week, Kansas had sold out of its popular Family Zone season ticket package and had introduced several new ticket packages to entice fans.
Coach Mark Mangino said that fan support was very important to the success of the program. He said he recognized the commitment and economic sacrifice that fans made.
"I appreciate it," Mangino said. "Especially if you cut back on your beer just so you can come to a game."
Edited by Nick Gerik
FINANCIAL PICTURE FOR ATHLETICS OF BIG 12 SCHOOLS
(National Ranking)-Total Revenue for Athletics
(1) Texas- $120.3 million
(1) texas-$120.5 million
(10) Oklahoma State-$88.5
million
(11) Kansas-$86 million
(17) Oklahoma-$77 million
(20) Nebraska $75.5 million
(19) Oklahoma-$77 million
(20) Nebraska-$75.5 million
(21) Texas A&M-$74.8 million
(56) Baylor-$44.1 million
(57) Towson-Taylor $42.9 million
(47) Kansas State-$48.1 million
(43) Colorado-$52.6 million
(43) Colorado-$52.6 million
(46) Missouri-$49.1 million
(63) Iowa State-$38.6 million
(Source: U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education)
For the Web:
Hallie Mann
FRESHMEN (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
ANGEL GOODRICH
A four-sport letter winner in high school with All-State and All-America honors in basketball, Angel Goodrich appeared poised to come in and shine for Kansas in 2008.
But during her second practice as a jayhawk, she heard a pop in her knee and got a slew of bad news. Torn ACL. Medical redshirt. Season over.
"Id never had an injury this bad, so I had never been through the disappointment of missing so many games," she said.
A newcomer only in terms of ingame experience, Goodrich has fully rehabbed her knee and will begin the first of her four years of eligibility. Goodrich said she felt as though all the missed time would be a driving factor for her this season.
"it's going to motivate me a lot," she said. "It makes me nervous a little because I haven't had a chance to play, but I'm really excited for the season to start."
Goodrich wasn't about to sing her own praises though, saying she just
Humble and soft-spoken, Goodrich downplayed mentions of her various accolades, but coach Henrickson offered up high praise for the Oklahoma native point guard.
"She's a little bit like Sherron," Henrickson said. "A player with a smaller frame who can do some things down low to score underneath those longer players."
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"I just want us to have a real good season and build on where the team left off last year," she said.
hopes to add some versatility to the Jayawk roster.
TANIA JACKSON
But with strong influence from her father, who played basketball in college, and an uncle who played professionally in the ABA and NBA. her talent for the game was too much to ignore.
Growing up in Lawrence with a basketball family, it only seems fitting that Tania Jackson will don the crimson and blue this season. But it almost didn't happen.
"I didn't want to play basketball at first," she said. "I was a track girl"
"I had no choice but to play basketball." she ioked.
The Jayhawks will benefit from the Lawrence High product's decision, getting a forward who averaged 10 points and seven rebounds per game during her junior year.
As a freshman in high school, Jackson once scored 47 points in one game, a Chesty Lions game record. Statistics aside, Jackson said she felt she could bring some intangibles to the team.
"Tania's got length, a lot of athleticism." Henrickson said. "She can face up, she has that post ability but she has range too."
After growing up in Lawrence, freshman Tania Jackson calls the opportunity to finally play in Allen Fieldhouse a "dream come true." Jackson graduated from Lawrence High School, where she set a record with 47 points scored in a game.
jackson sat out her senior season at L.H.S. with a knee injury of her own but is eager to finally play at Allen Fieldhouse.
Check back later this week for Part Two, featuring Marisha Brown, Annette Davis, Carolyn Davis and Monica Engelman.
"Probably my energy," she said. "That was a big impact on my high school team."
"It's a dream come true," she said. "I grew up coming to the games."
Edited by Amanda Thompson
Freshman Angel Goodrich will play for the Jayhawks for the first time this season after a torn ACL kept her from playing last year. This is her first of four years of eligibility.
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
KU (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
move Perkins said should help those unable to financially commit to season tickets.
Then, more noticeably, there's Kansas' decision to sell courtside seats in Allen Fieldhouse for $15,000 each. Perkins said the seats were already sold out and would generate $750,000.
Perkins said. And we waited a long time. We talked about how we have some history and tradition and we wanted to keep that."
"For us to come up for a new concept with those seats, it's huge,"
Perkins said the economy — and the added revenue source
- factored into the department's decision.
"People are worried about their retirement,about their future and about their kids."
"Oh sure," he said. "We did that because we wanted to make sure we had enough revenue to pay our expenses."
So what, then, is the economy's effect on Kansas Athletics?
LEW PERKINS Athletics director
For starters, Perkins said the department had seen a slight increase in the number of donors asking for payment-plan options instead of simply paying all at once. He also said there had been a small decrease in the amount of donations.
But Kansas will also look to cut costs when possible. Instead of flying to certain places, for example, Perkins said the Jayhawks would take a bus.
"We're careful how we spend our money." Perkins said. "As I told all of our coaches and administrators, we're going to move forward and we're going to continue to build and work hard. But let's make sure we're spending our dollars on important things."
But it's perhaps the easiest time to market Kansas athletics. Many have picked the Jayhawks to win the Big 12 North in football, and the basketball team should open
the season as the No.1 team in the country.
"The timing for us has been really good because right now everyone is talking about Kansas athletics," Perkins said. "It's like
And women's basketball is expected to make a splash in the loaded Big 12 this season. Perkins said it made dealing with the economy more manageable.
we've really worked our way and now the pieces are beginning to fall into the puzzle pretty good."
Still, the economy is something Kansas is keeping a close eye on.
Associate athletics director Jim
Marchiony said that Kansas was always watching the economy, but that monitoring at this point in time was even more critical.
"It's as important as it ever was right now to talk with our donors and make sure that we take care of them," Marchiony said.
Last week, Kansas' athletic administrators met to begin discussing a new five-year plan to follow the current plan. Perkins said the discussions hit every topic — ticket prices, seating plans and facility upgrades.
And the economy remained an important part of the discussions.
"It's hard to raise money and it's hard to get people to commit," Perkins said. "People are worried about their retirement, about their future and about their kids. And then we go in and hypothetically ask for a million dollars; it's hard."
"So we have to be sensitive to those types of things. We have to be careful that we don't be arrogant about it and that we do it the right way."
Edited by Abby Olcese
ESPN
Reporter says nude footage was 'nightmare'
CHICAGO — ESPN reporter Erin Andrews tells talk-show host Oprah Winfrey that having secretly videotaped nude footage of her online was a "nightmare."
Winfrey's interview with Andrews will air Friday, Sept. 11, as part of a "Summer Headlines" show that previews the 24th season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Andrews also tells Winfrey she "opened up the computer (and) could feel my heart pounding."
Andrews' attorney has said the blurry five-minute video was shot at a hotel without her knowledge and she plans to seek criminal charges and lawsuits against whoever shot the video and anyone who publishes it.
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