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Exciting Masters Lifts Anticipation for U.S. Open 1

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Pete South

Can Charl Schwartzel regain his magic at the U.S. Open?

All golf players define each season by their performance in the four majors. This means that thoughts will soon turn from the Masters to June’s U.S. Open, played this year at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland. But as preparations start for the second major of the year, who were the winners and losers at Augusta?

These groups are seemingly led by Charl Schwartzel and Rory McIlroy, but there are plenty of other plays who can plan for Bethseda with positives and negatives from the past week. Schwartzel’s stunning calmness under pressure in the closing stages at Augusta, with four birdies to finish, has lifted him to number 11 in the rankings and an accompanying leap in expectations for the U.S. Open.

Adam Scott, Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvy came close to making a mockery of the Australian Augusta curse but actually re-enforced it, especially as Scott seemed set for victory when he hit the front at the 16th hole in the final round. His pleasure at his performance is tinged with regret. Read the rest of this entry →

  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Rusty Staub: A Man For All Ages
      April 8, 2024 | 1:26 pm
      Rusty Staub

      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

      Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.

      Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.

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