MySports Today

Tom Watson almost pulled off the unthinkable – a major championship win at the British Open – at the age of 59!  Had Watson sank his 8-foot par putt on the 18th hole on Sunday afternoon, or not crapped in his pants in the 4-hole playoff, Watson would have become the oldest player to win a major championship.  Instead, Watson was tentative on the par putt and it came up short, pushing him back into a tie with Stewart Cink.  Cink himself made a birdie on 18 to get to -2 and put some extra pressure on Watson for the 18th hole. And it worked.

After shooting a 65 and 70 on the 1st two days of the tournament (-5, E), Watson “struggled” in his final 2 rounds – 71 and 72 (+1, +2) to finish the tournament at 2 under par.  Cink, on the other hand opened strong with a 66 (-4) on Friday and finished strong with a 69 (-1) on Sunday, after playing mediocre golf during the middle 2 rounds (72 and 71, +3 combined).

The playoff was ugly – Cink took a 1 shot lead after the 1st playoff hole when watson made bogey.  On the 2nd playoff hole, Watson took a double bogey, while Cink birdied, and just like that, Cink had a commanding 4-shot lead.  Cink went on to win the playoff by 6 shots – game over.

How did Watson feel about the loss – “The old fogey almost did it…It would have been a hell of a story.  It wasn’t meant to be.  And, yes, it’s a great disappointment.  It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my guut.  It’s not easy to take.”

Sorry Tom – you played great, but couldn’t close it out.  We wish you all the best at the Senior British Open this coming weekend – hang in there and get some rest these next few days!

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic 99-91 in overtime on Friday night in Orlando to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals.  Derek Fisher was the unsing hero for the Lakers, as he banged down a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 87 and send it into overtime.  With the game tied in overtime Fisher nailed another 3-pointer to put the Lakers up for good.  Only 2 players in NBA history have more 3-pointers in the NBA Finals – Robert Horry and Michael Jordan – pretty nice company (Jordan has 6 rings and Horry has 7 rings).

The Lakers overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to win Game 4, outscoring the Magic 30-14 in the 3rd quarter to take a 4 point lead to start the 4th.  The Lakers are now 7-0 in games following losses in the playoffs in 2009.  The only way the Lakers will be denied a championship is if they lose 3 straight games to the Magic – they haven’t lost 3 games in a row all year long.

Kobe Bryant had another impressive night – 32 points (despite making only 11 of 31 shots), 7 rebounds and 8 assists.  Bryant was 8 out of 8 from the free throw line, as the Lakers made 15 of 20 free throw attempts (back to that later).  Pau Gasol (16 points and 10 boards) and Trevor Ariza (16 points and 9 boards) were also instrumental in the win with their big nights.

For the Magic, Dwight Howard starred in just about every way.  Howard had 16 points, 21 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.  But he turned the ball over 7 times and missed more free throws than he made – he was 6-14 from the charity stripe.  That was the Magic’s main downfall – they shot only 59.5% from the free throw line, missing 15 of their 37 attempts from the line.  Any one of those shots gets made, we’re looking at a series tied at 2 with a pivotal Game 5 Sunday night in Orlando.  Instead, the Magic now have their backs against the wall.

Random note, Tiger Woods and his wife Elin were in attendance, as was singer Rihanna.

Stay tuned for great NBA action on Sunday on ABC.  Game 5 is scheduled to start at 8PM EST in Orlando.

Any reason for us to share some great photos of Elin Nordegren Woods – the wife of Tiger Woods.  Tiger Woods won his record 4th Memorial Tournament Championship in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon.  Woods birdied 3 of the final 4 holes to shoot a 7-under 65 in his final round.  He finished at 11-under, 1 shot ahead of Jim Furyk who shot a 3-under 69.  Co-leaders Matt Bettencourt and Mark Wilson led Woods by 4 strokes at the start of the day.  Woods was tied for 7th also trailing Jim Furyk, Jonathan Byrd, Geoff Ogilvy and Davis Love III.  Woods had 4 birdies on the front 9 to move into position and then he outplayed the rest of the leaderboard down the stretch with his birdies on 15, 17 and 18 to bring home his 67th career win.

Talking about Woods wouldn’t be complete without mentioning his beautiful wife Elin.  Enjoy…

In the 1st round of the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tiger Woods shot a 30 on his back nine en route to a bogey-free 7-under 65 on the day.  The rest of the field should start to take notice soon, as Woods has already built a 3-shot lead over 4 players stuck at 68 – Retief Goosen, Jeff Maggert, Hunter Mahan and Lucas Glover.  Woods finished the round with 3 straight birdies, and after having a few tournaments under his belt in 2009 (with 1 victory), he’s looking poised to get into the double-digit victories very early in the season.

Woods is one lucky man.  Not to mention all of the tournaments he has won over the years (90 total career wins, including 14 Major Championships) or the $90 in tournament winnings he has earned, Woods has one of the hottest wives around.  Check out Elin Nordegren photos below!  Wonder if Jim Furyk was reacting to Tiger’s unbelievable 50-foot eagle putt or the full-size billboard photo of Woods’ wife behind the green on 10?!  It’s just not fair…

He loves to drink and get into trouble and now he is paying for it, as he always does. Golfs bad boy John Daly announced he is suspended for six months by the PGA. This comes after his arrest on Oct 26 out side a Hooters restaurant for being drunk, Daly spent the night in jail to sleep it off. “Is it fair that I got suspended? It’s not fair in reality, but it’s probably fair in perception,” Daly was quoted. This is the second time Daly now 42 has been suspended. He will continue to play in the European tour, starting with a three-week swing in the UAE. Maybe it will be harder for him to find booze out there and he can play some golf, but who knows with Daly.