Thursday, July 15, 2021

British Open and NBA Finals (2021) and MLB All-Star Game (1975)

Louis Oosthuizen at some point leads every major golf tournament, and he is leading the British Open now--after an opening-round 64. Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth, also done for the day, are both a stroke back at 5-under.

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns last night, to even the NBA Finals at two games apiece. The home team has won each of the four games so far. Game 5 is in Phoenix, at 7 Central Saturday.

Sometimes I really enjoy watching sports without a rooting interest. I will be happy to see either the Bucks (for Greg Smith) or Suns (for Kyle Macy) win the NBA championship, and I thought last night's game was just fantastic. And now I'm enjoying the golf today. Here's Justin Thomas (even through 10) teeing off, and I'd be fine with Louisville Justin, anxious Spieth, farmer Oosthuizen ... most any of them winning. I don't care really. It's just fun to crank up the air conditioning, watch these guys in the wind and imagine myself being somewhere pretty and not 200 degrees.

But as for the 1975 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (on Channel 6 at 7 today, Tuesday, July 15), though I will be excited to see Gary Carter, Randy Jones and Bob Watson in their exotic Expos, Padres and Astros uniforms, I am firmly in the camp of the American Leaguers. Vida Blue is breathtaking in all gold.

128 comments:

  1. I like it when the golfers smile a lot.

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  2. Joe Garagiola reports that the All-Star votes were counted by computer.

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  3. OK, the afternoon golfers are on the course in Sandwich. These were yesterday's fortunate morning guys, as the scores were much, much better early Thursday than later. Now they are chasing Collin Morikawa of Los Angeles, who followed yesterday afternoon's 3-under round with a 6-under this moring. At 9-under for the tournament, Morikawa is the leader in the clubhouse, by two strokes over Louis Oosthuizen of Mossel Bay, South Africa, and Jordan Spieth of Dallas. Spieth is through seven holes today; Oosthuizen, six.

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  4. Oosthuizen in first and Spieth and Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia, tied for second held up for the rest of Thursday. Harman bogeyed three of his first five holes today but just pitched in from the fringe for this second birdie in a row. He's now 4-under for the tournament and part of the T11 group.

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  5. Jordan Spieth is 27 years old. When I was 27 years old, I was kind of a hot head always upset about one thing or another. I then went vegetarian for 17 or 18 years, and I'm convinced it helped me ride out the rest of my highest-testosterone years with a lot more happiness and a lot fewer theatrics.

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  6. Spieth makes the turn still at 7-under.

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  7. Oosthuizen, who birdied seven, is going to have a reasonable birdie putt on No. 9 to join Morikawa at 9-under.

    And now Spieth rolls in a lengthy putt from the fringe on No. 10. He's 8-under.

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  8. Oh, my ... get off a conference call, and Oosthuizen has gone all craycray ... 11-under, and he's playing 17 ... maybe Farmer Louis is going to get his second major, after all.

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  9. Birdie, birdie, eagle on 12, 13 and 14 ... he actually was down to 12-under but bogeyed 16 ...

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  10. Nice par save on 17 for Oosthuizen.

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  11. Strong showing so far from the whole South African Olympic team so far:

    — Oosthuizen of Mossel Bay is 11-under and in first.

    — Dylan Frittelli of Johannesburg is 7-under is part of the tie for fourth.

    — Justin Harding of Somerset West and Daniel Van Tonder of Sasolbarg are both 6-under and part of the tie for seventh.

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  12. Team USA top four right now:

    — Morikawa of Los Angeles, 9-under and second

    — Spieth of Dallas, 8-under and third

    — Scottie Scheffler of Dallas, 7 under and T4

    — Dustin Johnson of Columbia, South Carolina, 6-under and T6

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  13. The home-boy English are the top contenders for the bronze right now:

    — Andy Sullivan of Nuneaton, 6-under and T6

    — Paul Casey of Cheltenham, 5-under and T12

    — Danny Willett of Sheffield, 5-under of T16

    — Justin Rose of Putney (though originally of Johannesburg), 3-under and T25

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  14. Oosthuizen is on the 18th green. He'll have a (long) putt for a second-consecutive 64.

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  15. After this round, Golf Network points out, Oosthuizen will have at least shared the lead after five of the last nine major-tournament rounds.

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  16. The real Tokyo 2020 golf fields have been set, by the way. None of the Rio 2016 men's medalists--Rose (gold), Henrik Stenson of Sweden (silver) and Matt Kuchar of the United States (bronze)--is playing July 29-Aug. 1 at Kasumigaseki Country Club

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  17. The Team USA men will be Thomas of Louisville, Morikawa of Los Angeles, Xander Schauffele of San Diego and Bryson DeChambeau of Modesto, California (with Patrick Cantlay of Long Beach, California, in reserve).

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  18. For Great Britain, it'll be Casey of Cheltenham and Tommy Fleetwood of Southport. For South Africa, it'll be Garrick Higgo of Johannesburg and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of Delmas.

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  19. I will be rooting for Team USA and specifically Justin Thomas of St. X.

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  20. Back in Sandwich, it appears Dustin Johnson is going to birdie 18, which would move him into the tie for fourth at 7-under.

    Scheffler, with 17 and 18 to play, could yet join the Oosthuizen-Morikawa-Spieth party at the top of the leaderboard.

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  21. The other guy to watch here late is Cameron Tringale, a 33-year-old grinder from Mission Viejo, California. He's played the front nine in 3-under, and then he just birdied 14. He's currently 5-under and T12 for the tournament. But he still has four holes yet to play, and the Golf Channel guys are excited about how easy the course is playing this (English) evening ...

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  22. DJ got his birdie. Scheffler just missed a birdie on 17 (just as he just missed a birdie on 16).

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  23. Tringale (it's "treen-GOLLY," per the Golf Channel, not "TREEN-gale," as I had guessed) has never ranked higher than 55th in the world. He has one career win, and his best-ever finish in a major was T38 at the 2015 Masters.

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  24. OK, Golf Channel is shutting it down and sending the sunset stragglers over to NBC's Peacock streaming service, which I don't have. So that'll do it for me with regard to Sandwich. I'll check in on Tringale, etc., a little later, but I'm about to fire up the ol' '75 All-Star Game. When I closed out on it last night, they were about to call out the players one by one to the first- and third-base paths--I love that.

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  25. No late moves from Scheffler or Tringale ... it's Oosthuizen (11-under), Morikawa (9-under) and Spieth (8-under), followed by Frittelli, Johnson and Scheffler (7-under), going into Saturday at Sandwich.

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  26. This just in from 1975: Belgium’s Eddy Merckx fractured his jaw falling off his bike July 15 but still planned to finish the last five days of the Tour de France.

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  27. The National League manager is the Dodgers' Walter Alston, and the coaches are the Pirates' Danny Murtaugh and the Cardinals' Red Schoendist.

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  28. The N.L. leadoff hitter is right-fielder Pete Rose of the Reds. Then it's left-fielder Lou Brock of the Cardinals, second baseman Joe Morgan of the Reds, catcher Johnny Bench of the Reds (league's top vote getter), first baseman Steve Garvey of the Dodgers (1974 N.L. MVP), center-fielder Jimmy "The Toy Cannon" Wynn of the Dodgers, third baseman Ron Cey of the Dodgers and shortstop Dave Concepcion of the Reds. The pitcher, warming up in the bullpen, is the Pirates' Jerry Reuss.

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  29. Braves pitcher Phil Niekro, Cubs third baseman Bill Madlock (big ovation), Reds first baseman Tony Perez, Astros first baseman Bob Watson, Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith, Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton, Expos catcher-outfielder Gary Carter, Mets pitcher Jon Matlack, Mets pitcher Tom Seaver, Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa, Phillies second baseman Dave Cash, Phillies outfielder Greg Luzinski, Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw, Pirates outfielder Al Oliver, Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen, Cardinals outfielder Reggie Smith, Padres pitcher Randy Jones and Giants outfielder Bobby Murcer round out the N.L. All-Stars.

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  30. For the American League, it's manager Alvin Dark of the A's and coaches Del Crandall of the Brewers (huge, happy ovation and "Bear Went Over the Mountain" organ flourish) and Billy Martin of the Rangers (tempered enthusiasm).

    Leading off it's Yankees center-fielder Bobby Bonds (on the cover of the July 1975 SPORT), followed by Twins second baseman Rod Carew, Yankees catcher Thurman Munson, A's right-fielder Reggie Jackson, A's left-fielder Joe Rudi (he actually is playing first for Oakland), Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles, A's first baseman Gene Tenace (lots of boos), A's shortstop Bert Campaneris (some boos) and, warming up in the bullpen, pitcher Vida Blue of the A's (no discernible boos).

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  31. The remaining A.L. All-Stars are Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer (in a striking Baltimore orange jersey), Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn (a rookie!), Red Sox first baseman Carl Yasztremski (not looking up the spelling, so I'm sure that's wrong), Angels third baseman Dave Chalk (DAVE CHALK?!?), Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan, White Sox shortstop Bucky Dent (slightly more enthusiastic than usual ovation), White Sox pitcher Rich Gossage, White Sox second baseman Jorge Orta, Indians outfielder George Hendrick (former A!), Tigers catcher Bill Freehan, Royals pitcher Steve Busby, Royals outfielder Hal McRae and--STANDING OVATION--Brewers outfielder Hank Aaron!

    NBC fades from Aaron tipping his cap along the first-base path to Curt Gowdy's call of his 715th home run last season. Very cool.

    I think Henry Kissinger might be in the box with Bowie Kuhn.

    More A.L. All-Stars after the extended Aaron appreciation: Brewers first baseman George Scott (big ovation again), Yankees Jim "Catfish" Hunter (former A!0, A's pitcher Rollie Fingers (in green jersey), A's outfielder Claudell Washington (in white jersey), Rangers outfielder Mike Hargrove and Rangers infielder Toby Harrah.

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  32. First-time honorary captains: Stan Musial for the Nationals and Mickey Mantle for the Americans. Great to see them in their Cardinals and Yankees uniforms.

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  33. Please rise. Here comes Glen Campbell to sing the National Anthem. Both a 50-star flag and Betsy Ross 13-stars flag are presented (we're bearing down on the Bicentennial, you know). No shocker that Wikipedia has a terrific entry on the flag's evolution.

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  34. Yes, it is Henry Kissinger in the box with Bowie Kuhn. And he's tossing out the first pitch to Carew, the game's overall top vote getter. Mrs. Kissinger is in a Dodgers cap--she's a big fan, says Joe Garagiola.

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  35. Vida Blue is warming up in gold jersey and gold pants, and Thurman Munson is telling us his thoughts are on his wife, Diana, who is back in Canton, Ohio, and due any time to give birth to the couple's third child.

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  36. Pete Rose zips Blue's second pitch back up the middle for a single. After Brock flies out, Morgan bloops a single into shallow left. Rose goes for third, and Bonds throws him out to Nettles.

    I read that whole story about Bonds in SPORT earlier this week, as well as the companion piece on Murcer (the Giants and Yankees traded them for one another before this season), and I don't remember a word.

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  37. Now here's Bench. NBC puts up a still shot from Bench's wedding earlier in 1975, and Curt Gowdy tells us it was the largest guest list in the history of America. He said it like it was actually a thing--like it was going to be in Guinness or something. That might be. That wedding was a huge deal, covered in all of the papers. I think they did it at Riverfront Stadium, and there were all sorts of celebrities there.

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  38. If you'd asked 7-year-old me who were the best players in the history of baseball based on what I was seeing and hearing in 1975, I think I might've guessed ...

    1. Hank Aaron
    2. Babe Ruth
    3. Johnny Bench

    But then I would've added that Bert Campaneris was really underrated.

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  39. Baseball media in 1975 love Bench and Munson. I imagine Garagiola having been a catcher was a big part of that.

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  40. I don't remember actually ever seeing Reuss play. He was a good or very good pitcher for a lot of years, and I probably had an oversized opinion of him because he was All-Star N.L. pitcher in the 1976 Topps set. But I don't remember actually watching him play baseball, and, man, he is a giant, violent thing on the mound. He is a 6-foot-5 left-hander, and, when he throws, his whole body flails sideways across the mound. He actually already fell once in the first inning.

    Reuss's Wikipedia entry points out that he played in the majors in four different decades; that he is one of only two Pirates to have played for Danny Murtaugh, Chuck Tanner and Jim Leyland (the other is my old neighborhood playmate, John Candelaria), and that he is one of only two guys to win 200 career games without winning 20 in a given season.

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  41. World Series rematch in the top of the second: Garvey, Wynn and Cey due up to face Blue.

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  42. Well, heck.

    Garvey: home run.

    Wynn: home run.

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    1. One of the absolute high points of my life as a sports fan. I desperately wanted my Dodgers to come through against the A's, and by golly they did.

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  43. Blue: gold jersey, bare forearms, gold pants.

    Campaneries: gold jersey over green long sleeves, white pants.

    Rudi: green jersey, bare forearms, white pants.

    Jackson: green jersey over gold long sleeves, white pants.

    Tenace: gold jersey, bare forearms, white pants.

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  44. Two outs in the bottom of the second ... Tenace on second and Campaneris on first ... here comes Aaron, pinch hitting for Blue ... HUGE cheer from the home crowd ...

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  45. Concepcion stabs Aaron's sharp, broken-bat liner for the third out. Still 2-0, Nationals.

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  46. A couple of years later, 9-year-old me might've said the best baseball players of all time were ...

    1. Babe Ruth
    2. Ted Williams (Dad's influence)
    3. Steve Garvey (neighborhood influence)

    But I would've said to keep an eye on Mitchell Page.

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  47. Oh, shoot! I had the tee times wrong. The leaders are already back out on the course in Sandwich!

    OK, I'm going to break from Milwaukee here after Steve Busby balked Lou Brock to second.

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  48. 1. Oosthuizen, 11-under through four holes today
    2. Spieth, 9-under through five
    3. Morikawa, 8-under through four

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  49. #Breaking: I, a competitor in the 1985 KHSAA First Region boys' golf tournament (finished 64th of 64), am scheduled to play in a benefit golf scramble next month.

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    1. This turned out to be a great experience. I played horribly overall, of course, but I did have probably the greatest clutch experience of my golfing career. How the scramble worked is each team of four got, I think, four mulligans for the afternoon. You could assign any member of your team to take the mulligan shot. So we saved our four up until the back nine, and then we used them on the greens. And my team--my older brother and two of my nephews--picked me to take one of the putts, from about 15 feet, and I hit it! As soon as I struck the ball, my nephew who was holding the pin started saying, "That is so good. That is so good!" And that guy one time actually won an Indiana state high-school baseball championship, so, you know ... amazing moment.

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  50. Shortly after Morikawa falls into a trap after sending a ball into long, long grass behind the gallery at the fifth hole, Fritelli birdies the sixth to move into a tie at 8-under for third.

    Then Spieth birdies six!

    So glad I turned away from Steve Busby.

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  51. 1. Oosthuizen -11 (4)
    2. Spieth -10 (6)
    T3. Frittelli -8 (6)
    T3. Morikawa -8 (4 and struggling on 5)

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  52. Programming note: I might get to watch the rest of the third round live today, or I might be interrupted by a thrift-shopping or dog-parking excursion. As for tomorrow, I plan to be listening to the little rev bring it in Crofton Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and would be fortunate to get home in time to catch the final groups' last couple of holes.

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    1. Thrift shopping was all the rage with my daughter two summers ago, but it's off peak.

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  53. Well, and as I say that, stuff is suddenly happening at my house. Spieth has joined Oosthuizen at 11-under, and Frittelli has gotten another birdie to get to 9-under, but I didn't see any of that.

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  54. Spieth is in deep grass on No. 8. Morikawa birdies No. 7 to get to 8-under and fourth alone.

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  55. Oosthuizen birdies No. 7--down to 12-under and back to first alone.

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  56. 1. Oosthuizen -12 (12)
    2. Spieth -11 (13, after a couple of giant par-saving putts)
    3. Morikawa -9 (12)

    Jon Rahm, the U.S. Open champ, just finished his third round, and he’s 7-under and tied for sixth.

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  57. OK, wow ... lots happening that I'm missing ...

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  58. Morikawa just misses a lengthy birdie on No. 15 but gets his par. He, Oosthuizen and Spieth are tied for the tournament lead at 11-under. Now Oostuizen has about 10 feet to go for par on the same No. 15 ...

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  59. Spieth, on No. 17, went driver off the tee, and it was an absolutely beautiful bomb. But right from the start, one of the Golf Channel dudes said the issue would be the 'tweener distance he was leaving himself to the cup. Indeed, Spieth's bump-and-run second fails to crest the green's front rise and rolls back toward him. Now he's in a fight to save par and stay tied with Morikawa and Oosthuizen.

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  60. Spieth has to really smack his putter to get over that same rise, and he succeeds--but also rolls the ball--what?--12 or 15 feet past for par.

    Misses.

    "What a bad bogey," says the NBC guy. We're on NBC, not Golf Channel. Sorry.

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  61. That followed Morikawa's par, and, so, in the course of about three minutes, our three-way tie atop the British Open is cracked totally apart:

    1. Oosthuizen -12 through 16
    2. Morikawa -11 through 16
    3. Spieth -10 through 17

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  62. Neither Morikawa nor Oosthuizen plays driver off the 17th tee.

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  63. Spieth will have a very long putt for birdie on No. 18, but the NBC guy says it's makeable.

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  64. Excuse me ... appears Oosthuizen did play drive (as Spieth did) on No. 17. Unlike Spieth, he chooses to wedge the ball high toward the flag, and he's way, way, way on the back of the green. Morikawa, who played back off the tee, is far closer to the hole after his second shot. The NBC guys are loving this.

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  65. Spieth narrowly misses the birdie on No. 18, and then HE MISSES THE SHORT PAR PUTT! Oh, my!

    "Takes all the wind out of your sails. Totally defeated, Jordan Spieth! ... That's a shock to your system as a player."

    Spieth is the leader in the clubhouse for now, but it's at a disappointing 9-under.

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  66. Morikawa and Oosthuizen both par 17.

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  67. So we're down to only the two leaders on the course.

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  68. Oosthuizen's and Morikawa's drives are in the fairway and a million miles long on No. 18.

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  69. Heck of a day for the Canadians.

    Corey Conners of Listowel shot 66. He biridied 12, 13 and 14 and then parred his way home. He’s 8-under and tied for fourth with Scheffler.

    Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton shot 68, but he was even hotter down the stretch: birdie, par, birdie, par, birdie on his last five holes. He’s 7-under and T6.

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  70. Morikawa's second shot strikes about two feet from the cup and then bounds and rolls to about 15 feet behind it.

    Oosthuizen's moon shot splashes down about 20 feet and to the right of the hole, and it pretty much settles to rest there.

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  71. Terrific Oosthuizen first putt. He'll have just a few feet for par.

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  72. Morikawa ... maybe only 12 feet ...

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  73. Through three rounds:

    1. Oosthuizen -12
    2. Morikawa -11
    3. Spieth -9
    T4. Conners -8
    T4. Scheffler -8
    T6. Frittelli -7
    T6. Hughes -7
    T6. Rahm -7

    Rahm had three birdies and four pars in the round’s last seven holes.

    Spieth has postponed his media time to head to the practice green.

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  74. I have a hard time distinguishing the NBC voices. I mean, I know it's Dan Hicks because he's the play-by-play guy. And I know it's David Fehrety because he's a Brit. And I know it's Steve Sands because of Kornheiser. But the rest of the voices ... they're usually Paul Azinger, but it's kind of a AzingerLeonardGannonKoch swirl for me once they really start going back and forth among each other in the heat of a tournament.

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  75. I think that was probably Azinger who immediately questioned Spieth's strategy from the tee on No. 17, but I'm not certain. Whoever it was, that NBC dude nailed it.

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  76. We went to Crofton. I'd driven by that church a number of times, but it wasn't until I was inside that I remembered, "Hey, I was once in a wedding here."

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  77. It was 1991 or '92. I was living in Bowling Green with a couple of grad students, Rob and Lee; I was working at The Park City Daily News. A college friend, Jason, came to town after a year of working in Spain and brought back a new fiancée, Ana. They stayed with us for a few days. It was a lot of fun. He invited Rob, Lee and I to all be in his wedding and to, in fact, compete for the title of "best man." I don't remember the competitions we came up with, but I remember it was a series, which Rob won. Losers Lee and I were relegated to groomsmen or similar roles.

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  78. About a month later, we got word that Jason and Ana were accelerating their plans. His mom, in Crofton, was getting sicker faster than anyone had expected, and so Ana's family and friends were coming over from Spain as quickly as they could make it happen. We spent several days in Crofton helping with arrangements and attending various functions to introduce the families to one another and assimilate wedding customs. The event didn't go as planned, and it was, of course, a bittersweet affair--but mostly sweet.

    And happy. I have a lot of pictures from the time, and people are laughing in most of them. We are fortunate things are wired the way things are wired.

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  79. I was honored to be part of the whole thing. We were all in our early 20s. This was only the third or fourth wedding among my school peers. That wave was just starting to come in. I was still learning how to act at that sort of thing, and I'm sure, trying to be funny or clever, I said all kinds of things I would be embarrassed today to hear myself say. But everybody was nice to me, and I felt more grown up and confident/less cocky and certain because of having been there.

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  80. I went back to Crofton by myself a couple of weeks after Jason and Ana returned to Spain.

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  81. I spent most of the day walking and driving around the place. I took a bunch of notes. I've got some notes where I wrote some unkind things about three women folding up Ruffles bags after some sort of lunch event at a park. I also have this:

    I just made a pass by Westside Market. Inside, the man behind the countter is discussing the word “picnicking” with a woman in a UK T-shirt. The man, in a plaid shirt unbuttoned low down to just above his belly button and the sleeves rolled high enough to see a U.S. Navy tattoo on his left arm, says, “I don’t see why it has a 'K' in it.”

    “Me neither,” she says, “but so does panicking.”

    “Yeah, I wonder what the rule is.”

    “I don’t know.”

    “It seems like I’ve heard something about how you can’t have an 'I' after a 'C.'”

    “'I' before 'E' except after 'C?'”

    “Yeah, maybe that’s it," he says with a laugh. "Well, see you, Nell."


    I think I had just read "A&P."

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  82. While the wife got ready to preach this morning, I talked to a few people around the church about Jason and his parents. And then she preached. And then we went to lunch with a woman who is retired from teaching English at Christian County High.

    "How long have you lived in Crofton," I asked her.

    "Eighty-nine years," she said, which was a pretty great way of saying her whole life.

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  83. Crofton has only one restaurant, so that's where we ate. It was good. I had roast beef, yams, green beans, corn, a roll and coffee. Both of the women had taco salads and tea.

    We talked about church and churches, writing, families, food, the Crofton High Cougars, Christmas and on and on. I could've gone another hour or two, easily.

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  84. But then we got back on the road for home ... well, roads. Things had wrapped a little earlier than we were expecting, so I took old U.S. 41 back through Nortonville and Earlington to Madisonville. As the highway would veer left or right, sometimes I cut onto Y legs that appeared to be the original road bed.

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  85. There are generations of stories from both sides of my families that take place on U.S. 41 or the railway that runs parallel to it. All hopped up on yams and memories, I felt I was channeling this hobo grandfather, that singing grandmother, et al.

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  86. So, though I always knew where I was, I spent most of today happily lost in and above Crofton.

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  87. I did remember the Bucks and Suns last night and enjoyed Game 5 immensely. Phoenix nearly won, but Milwaukee did win, and that's a very big difference--the Bucks are one game away from their second NBA championship.

    Here's how I rank the top players in this series so far:

    1. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks
    2. Devin Booker of the Suns
    3. Khris Middleton of the Bucks
    4. Chris Paul of the Suns
    T5. Deandre Ayton of the Suns, Jrue Holiday of the Bucks and Brook Lopez of the Bucks

    So ... pretty close.

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  88. But I'll bet the Bucks close it out Tuesday night.

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  89. Rod Carew's wife also is expecting!

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  90. I used to have a big grudge against Jim Kaat, and, for the life of me, I can't remember what that was about. Something to do with the A's, of course.

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  91. People sure love that Pete Rose.

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  92. Claudell Washington (white shirt over green long sleeves, white pants) comes on as a pinch-runner and steals second. He's the youngest player in tonight's game, and Curt Gowdy calls him a "coming superstar."

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  93. Joe Garagiola tells us that Reggie Smith keeps his hands strong by working with weighted drum sticks--and that he got the tip from Buddy Rich!

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  94. Now we have Carl Yastrzemski batting for the American League against Tom Seaver pitching for the National, and Yaz sends Seaver's first pitch to him into the right-field stands for a game-tying, three-run homer. This blast activates the Milwaukee County Stadium scoreboard "beer slide."

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  95. Oh, my ... NBC comes back from commercial with its schedule of NFL preseason broadcasts. It's superimposed against beautiful art of a silhouetted football player, and this cuts right to the marrow for me. See? This is what always happens to me with the baseball seasons. They start talking about upcoming football broadcasts along about the All-Star Game, and it starts to peel me away.

    "Mark these dates down," says Garagiola, and you don't have to tell me twice, Joe:

    -- 8 p.m. Central Saturday, Aug. 23, Los Angeles vs. Buffalo
    -- 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, New England vs. Green Bay
    -- 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, Oakland vs. Dallas

    Oh, my.

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    1. NBC during the British Open has been promoting the start of their NFL23 telecasts, and they're, indeed, starting to get to me. Football, man.

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  96. Gladys Knight and the Pips have a new variety show on NBC, and I am disappointed that I have not yet been able to locate any episodes or even clips from it.

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  97. Garagiola says baseball players basically consider a pitcher to be "a good pitcher" if he can get out of an inning with a man on third and fewer than two outs and a hitter to be "a good hitter" if he can drive home a runner from first with two out. Tony Perez is universally considered "a good hitter," Garagiola says, but Perez fails to get a hit in a pinch appearance with two out in the top of the eighth. It remains 3-3 ...

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  98. Gowdy notes that the Al Dark has run out of left-handed potential pinch-hitters.

    "Hmmm ..." meaningfully murmurs Garagiola.

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  99. In the top of the ninth, the National League gets three more runs as Bill Madlock rips a two-strike single down the third-base line with bases loaded and then Pete Rose sacrifices in Larry Bowa. And now the American League will try to draw even against San Diego left-hander Randy Jones.

    I love the color brown, and I've probably watched nine innings of Padres baseball total outside of the 1984 playoffs, so, getting to see the Padres uniform on the mound in the bottom of the ninth is a great payoff.

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  100. Joe Garagiola is excited about Jones, Dave Winfield and the young Padres. "And it's like the manager, John McNamara, said, 'The Lord did not put me on this Earth to be a loser.'"

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  101. Joining the Kissingers and Kuhns in the commissioner's box is Julian Goodman of NBC and Glasgow, Kentucky.

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  102. And a bonus: Gary Carter, in his sky-blue Montreal Expos uniform, comes on to catch the final out in left field. Nationals win, 6-3.

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  103. Oh, cool ... the co-MVPs are Jon Matlack and Bill Madlock, which is great because their names are so similar.

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  104. Henry Kissinger tells Tony Kubek that he's a Yankees fan, while his wife roots for the Dodgers.

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