Sports Then and Now

Rory McIlroy was in complete control at the U.S. Open, but his recent tantrum via Twitter suggests that is not always the case for the young star.

US Open champion Rory McIlroy launched a seething reply to criticism of his form by Jay Townsend via social networking site Twitter.

Townsend, a former European Tour player and now a pundit for radio, criticized McIlroy’s game on the micro blogging site following a mini collapse at the Irish Open.

McIlroy surrendered a strong position of four-under par to finish one under, including hitting a double bogey at the last hole on the opening day of the tournament.

This caused Townsend to post on the website: “McIlroy’s course management was shocking. Some of the worst course management I have ever seen beyond under-10 boys’ golf competition.”

And almost immediately, McIlroy responded on Twitter by telling Townsend to “shut up. You’re a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing!” Read the rest of this entry →

Rickie Fowler will be playing with Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els in the opening rounds of the British Open.

The official website of the Open Championship has singled out American golfers, Peter Uihlein and Rickie Fowler as ‘ones to watch’ at the 140th installment of the tournament.

Fowler and Uihlein, who have been practicing together at the Royal St George’s Golf Club, are said to have “bright orange futures”, in reference to the tangerine strip of the Oklahoma State University, where the two golfers cut their teeth as amateurs. Fowler, who is rarely seen without a baseball cap, has a number of orange outfits that make the kitsch trousers of English golfer, Ian Poulter, appear tame in comparison. Those following the Open betting won’t have a hard keeping track of them. Read the rest of this entry →

According to some golf experts, Rory McIlroy will be a dominant force for years to come.

With Tiger Woods out of this week’s British Open, the focus will once again be on Rory McIlroy, who is coming off a dominant victory in last month’s U.S. Open.

In the aftermath of his performance in the U.S. Open, many writers and past golfers have said or written that McIlroy will win multiple majors and become the next great superstar in golf.

Just a few days ago, nine-time major champion Gary Player said that McIlroy could be the next Grand Slam Winner and win all four majors in the same year “if he has the passion and the desire”.

All these expectations for McIlroy seem a bit much for a 22-year old who has only won two other tournaments across the world since he became a professional in 2007.

Perhaps the main reason to anoint McIlroy as the “next big thing” in golf is the recent decline of Woods, who has not a tournament since his infamous car accident in Thanksgiving of 2009. Read the rest of this entry →

Thomas Levet will miss the British Open thanks to an injury suffered during this celebration jump after winning the French Championship.

Paris-born golfer Thomas Levet might be feeling a little bit silly today, after his over-enthusiastic celebration at the French Open Championship left him with an injury to his lower leg. Levet, who finished seven under par to win the contest, one shot ahead of closest rival, Thorbjorn Olesen, fractured his shin jumping into a lake with his manager, Patrice Bartez.

Speaking about the painful injury, the Frenchman said, “I will be off for six weeks”. The length of Levet’s hiatus means that he will not be available for the start of the British Open, which begins next week. The 42-year-old is the second high-profile golfer to be forced out of the Open, following the news that Tiger Woods’ injuries have consigned the American to a sun lounger for the immediate future. Those following the British Open betting will have noted their withdrawals with interest.

The Open Championship will be contested at the Royal St. George’s Golf Course for the first time in almost a decade. Levet finished tied for 2nd after a playoff at the British Open in 2002. Read the rest of this entry →

Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the most successful female athlete of her generation.

The LPGA will crown its 2011 champion later today, but it was on this date 100 years ago that one of the catalysts for the LPGA and the greatest female athlete of all-time was born.

Though there have been many great female athletes, none has ever been able to duplicate the athletic prowess or cross into the world of men’s sports with quite as much success as Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

Whether competing in basketball, baseball track and field or golf, Zaharias wasn’t just considered to be “pretty good for a girl”, she was generally recognized as being a special athlete.

While Zaharias first enjoyed success in basketball, leading her team to a 1931 AAU Championship, it was track and field where she initially gained a larger following.

In the Spring of 1932 she entered the Amateur Track and Field Championships in Evanston, Illinois as the lone team member for the Employers Casualty Insurance Company of Dallas, Texas. Competing against teams that included as many as 22 women, the “one-woman track team” dominated the competition.

Zaharias won five events (broad jump, shot-put, javelin, 80-meter hurdles and the baseball throw) and tied for first in the high jump. She earned 30 total points in the team competition to finish well in front of the second place Illinois Women’s Athletic Club, which had 22 athletes and scored 22 points.

As a result of her amazing one-woman performance, Zaharias qualified for three events at the 1932 Summer Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles. She won the Olympic Gold Medal in the 80-meter hurdles and javelin and finished second in the high jump. Read the rest of this entry →

The 22-year-old Rory McIlroy dominated the field at the 2011 U.S. Open.

It seems pretty ironic that the first U.S. Open played without the most dominant golfer of the last 15 years would serve as the coming out party for a 22-year-old golfer who dominated the tournament like no golfer other than Tiger Woods has ever done. Rory McIlroy broke so many records in claiming his first Major Championship that many now wonder if McIlroy could be golf’s next superstar.

If you happened to turn the television off after the first 63 holes of the Masters earlier this year and not pay attention to golf until now, you probably aren’t at all surprised that McIlroy led from wire-to-wire at the U.S. Open.

He was doing basically the same thing at the Masters before the wheels suddenly came off over the final  nine holes. McIlroy led by four strokes entering the final round and still had the lead at the 10th tee. However, he shot a 43 over the final nine and finished 10 strokes off the pace in a tie for 15th place.

Because of that record-setting collapse (his 80 was the worst score ever in the final round by a player who entered the final round leading the Masters), many were skeptical even when he opened the 2011 U.S. Open with a six-under 65 and followed it with a 66 to post the best first two-day score in U.S. Open history.

After shooting a 68 in the third round to take an eight stroke lead into the final round, even his opponents were hoping that McIlroy wouldn’t suffer another meltdown.

They needn’t worry as he birdied the first hole and never looked back as his final score of -16 (65-66-68-69=268) was the lowest score in U.S. Open history and four shots better than the -12 posted by Tiger Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open. All told, he established 12 new tournament records during his dominant victory. Read the rest of this entry →