HOUSTON — Megan Khang enters this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open in a tie for third and just four strokes off the lead of Japan’s Hinako Shibuno. A victory would be the first of her career after she turned pro five years ago.
That’s hardly the most incredible part of her story.
(Click link for full article)
The Atlanta Falcons have named defensive end Steven Means as their nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
Means first joined the Falcons in 2018; he has become an impactful player on the field, but that is far exceeded by his impact off of it. A leader on the team's Social Justice Committee, Means was instrumental in the Falcons' initiative of educating local youth in the voting space.
(Click link for full article)
The theory is a sound one – Brittany Lang, who already has one U.S. Women’s Open title under her belt, was reared in Texas, the state where this year’s event will be held starting Thursday. She’s certain to have an edge in terms of familiarity, right?
Not necessarily.
(Click link for full article)
HOUSTON – Stacy Lewis is ecstatic about the opportunity to compete for a U.S. Women’s Open title in her own backyard.
She graduated from The Woodlands High School, which sits roughly 30 minutes from Champions Golf Club, the site of this week’s tournament. And she’s been a member at Champions, nestled in the northwest suburbs of Houston, for about four years.
(Click link for full article)
This year the Symetra Tour crowned its first champion from Slovenia, Ana Belac. Few on tour knew her name this spring. She did not start the season on the Road. In fact, she was gearing up for her senior year at Duke University to defend her teams 2019 NCAA Champion title before COVID-19 interfered. During quarantine Belac made the decision to turn professional and live a dream a younger version of herself barely knew existed. The entire country of Slovenia has only 13 golf courses for its 2.1 million people. That’s about the same population as suburban Charlotte, North Carolina where there are 50 golf courses and another 50 within an hour’s drive.
(Click link for full article)
About nine months ago, Stacy Lewis figured she had no chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and earn the medal she missed by one bobbling putt in Rio.
“With where I was in the rankings, and tournaments were getting canceled, I just assumed there was no opportunity,” she said by phone Monday. “The Olympics really hadn’t been on my radar at all.”
Now, a return to the Olympics in 2021 is plausible. Strong play in her home state of Texas the next two weeks could vault Lewis into the top 15 in the world, a necessary floor to make the U.S. team come the June rankings cutoff.
(Clink link for full article)
Athletes are creatures of habit. They typically thrive on routine and spend a great deal of time trying to perfect it.
Right now, Jaclyn Lee doesn’t have much of a routine. Most of her days are spent listening to the gentle crash of waves along the shoreline of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. Lee, 23, is in the midst of a two-week quarantine after returning home from the LPGA Drive On Championship in Georgia. There’s no WiFi at the condo. No cable. Her dad gave her a few old movies to watch if she got bored, but she’s mostly using this time as a deep cleanse.
(Click link for full article)
American two-time major winner Brittany Lincicome says her "heart breaks" to not be playing at this year's Women's Open.
Lincicome, 34, has chosen not to play at the event at Royal Troon because of health and safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The event, formerly known as the Women's British Open, will take place from 20-23 August.
"I'm so bummed, my heart breaks not to go," she told BBC World Service Sport.
"This is my 16th year I think on tour and I'm not sure I've ever missed the British Open which is a huge event, it's one that I never want to miss."
(Click link for full article)
Ana Belac makes the phrase “if you put your mind to it, anything is possible” come to life.
Growing up in Portoroz, Slovenia, a coastal town along the Adriatic Sea near the Gulf of Trieste, the closest golf course—Lipica Golf Club—was roughly a 45-minute drive away. The practice balls were cracked and yellowed, and course maintenance consisted of mowing the grass and little else. Nonetheless, Belac won her first event around age seven. She didn’t fall in love with the sport right away, though.
“I was the only junior at the golf club and I thought it was really boring because it was pretty much just a lot of older people,” said Belac. “I liked to ski at the time. I played tennis and was into track and field, all way more competitive and interesting to me as a kid. When I won, it gave me the motivation and showed me there was a real competitive side to golf.”
(Click link for full article)
Duke senior Ana Belac's NCAA career was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ryan Lavner looks at her journey to turn professional sooner than planned.
(Click link for video)
By Ana Belac
Our team was driving to a tournament in March when we heard the season was canceled and that college sports had been suspended because of the coronavirus. Two hours later, we heard the NCAA Championship was also canceled. It was difficult to process. In just a few hours, I went from being in a pre-tournament mind-set to having my senior year end. More than that, my final season with this team, representing the university I love, defending our NCAA title, was over. I became emotional thinking about it and everything I had accomplished.
I came to Duke from Slovenia, a country in central Europe, with only a duffel bag and my clubs. When the airline lost my duffel, an assistant coach gave me some team clothes from previous seasons, so I’d have something to wear. I didn’t see it as unusual until I saw freshmen showing up with truckloads of stuff. But it didn’t bother me. I told myself I could do this. I’d made it to campus, I had my clubs, and I could speak English. I was ready.
I started playing golf in Slovenia when I was 4 or 5. My first set was meant for a teenager. The 9-iron was as tall as me. My parents got me lessons at the closest course, a public nine-holer about 45 minutes from our house. That’s where I played growing up. It isn’t maintained like courses in the United States. The range balls were old and cracked. If you got a bad one, it’d go 100 yards with a driver. If you got a really bad one, it would break apart in the air. It didn’t matter. I won the first tournament I played, at age 7 or 8, and I was hooked.
As the spread of COVID-19 has brought collegiate golf seasons to an unanticipated end, Duke University senior, Ana Belac, signed with Sterling Sports Management and turned professional this week. With a T61 finish in Q-School, Belac secured full Symetra Tour status for the 2020 season, and will begin competing once the schedule resumes.
Belac, 23, was born in Kranj, Slovenia, where the closest golf course was over 45 minutes away and had only nine, unkempt holes. Despite the challenges, Belac went on to build an impressive junior golf resume with the Slovenian national team. After claiming her place as the top female junior golfer in the country and representing Slovenia in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, Belac moved to the United States to begin her collegiate golf career at Duke University.
In 2019, Belac led her team to their seventh NCAA Championship in school history. She is also tied for Duke’s fourth-lowest scoring average of all time. Belac was named All-ACC and WGCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2018 and 2019, Golfweek Third-Team All-American in 2019, and preseason Golfweek Second Team All-American in 2020. She was a member of the International Palmer Cup Team in 2019, was presented with the 2020 All-American Strength and Conditioning Athletes of the Year award, and also appears on the ANNIKA Award Watchlist for 2020.
Belac’s talent, class and determination all make her an excellent addition to the Sterling family. Her persistence through obstacles is sure to contribute to her success on the professional Tours as she tees off on the Symetra Tour later this year.
On a normal Wednesday in March, Conrad Shindler would be preparing for a Korn Ferry Tour event.
These days, normal seems like a foreign concept.
The coronavirus outbreak has forced the cancellation and postponement of professional tournaments and major championships around the world. Six of the next eight Korn Ferry Tour events have been canceled, with two postponed to a later date.
So what was Shindler doing awake at 6 a.m. on an off day? He was working.
(Click link for full article)
As the 2020 LPGA Tour season commences, Carlisle Companies, Inc. has announced their partnership with LPGA Tour professional, Lauren Stephenson. The endorsement agreement will span over three years, during which time the Carlisle logo will be featured on Stephenson’s hat. Stephenson is teeing off on her second season on the LPGA Tour at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, where she will debut the new partnership.
Stephenson is a young, rising star from the University of Alabama who holds the all-time record-low scoring average for a woman in the history of the NCAA. “I am so excited to join the Carlisle team,” Stephenson said. “For over one hundred years, Carlisle has been synonymous with excellence and delivering results. I am happy to represent a team that supports world-class, winning athletes in rowing, racing and now golf. I look forward to a successful partnership.”
Chris Koch, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "I am pleased that Lauren will be part of the ‘Carlisle Crew’ family. Lauren represents Carlisle’s culture of integrity, continuous improvement and perseverance. Carlisle’s approximately 16,000 global employees are excited to follow Lauren’s progress on the LPGA tour.”
ABOUT CARLISLE COMPANIES, INC.
Carlisle Companies Incorporated is a diversified, global portfolio of niche brands and businesses that manufactures highly engineered products and solutions for our customers. Carlisle is committed to generating superior shareholder returns by combining a unique management style of decentralization, entrepreneurial spirit, active M&A, and a balanced approach to capital deployment, all with a culture of continuous improvement as embodied in the Carlisle Operating System. Carlisle’s markets include: commercial roofing, specialty polyurethane, aerospace, medical, defense, transportation, industrial, protective coating, auto refinishing, agriculture, mining, and construction. Carlisle’s worldwide team of employees generated $4.5 billion in revenues in 2018. Learn more about Carlisle at www.carlisle.com.
As the 2019 Major League Baseball season nears its conclusion as we are in the midst of the World Series, a lot of local fans have already shifted their attention to next year and the fate of local star, Nate Jones.
Jones, 34 in January, was acquired in July by the Texas Rangers, ending his long tenure with the club who drafted him in 2007, the Chicago White Sox. As Jones continues to rehab from a flexor mass tear in his right forearm, two important questions loom over the 2004 Pendleton County graduate: How effective can he be going forward? And where exactly will Jones be pitching in 2020?
(Click link for full article)
By Patty Ellis
For Patty, rooting for Stacy Lewis is far less-complicated than rooting for her favorite NFL team. Here’s why.
Rooting for an individual athlete is different than rooting for a team.
Teams are entities, not human beings with morals and other personal attributes. I’m a New York Mets fan regardless who manages them, plays for them, or owns them.
But when it comes to rooting for an individual athlete—especially an LPGA player, given how much LPGA golf I watch—I don’t waste my energy rooting for just anyone. All the current LPGA players have great swings, are fun to watch, and are likeable. But rooting FOR someone? Really wanting someone’s putt to drop? That’s different.
I was pondering this notion of “fandom” while I was sitting at the 10th tee of the ANA Inspiration, watching LPGA players make the turn and waiting for someone I liked enough to follow for 9 holes. Lots of players passed but no one who made me want to put down my coffee and get off my tuchas. That’s when I started wondering about being a fan.Why do we root for some players and not others?
There I was, deep in thought, when Stacy Lewis made the turn.
I LOVE STACY!
I put down my coffee, got off my tuchas and began to follow one of my favorite players. But I kept pondering what it means to be a fan, so I tried to isolate why I root for Stacy Lewis.
Here’s what I figured out.
(Click link for full article)
On Tuesday, September 10th, Stacy Lewis, former world No. 1 and 12-time LPGA Tour champion, withdrew from Team USA at the 2019 Solheim Cup due to back pain she had been experiencing since the Cambia Portland Classic two weeks prior. After arriving back home, Lewis received a more definitive diagnosis, as her doctors were able to identify a rib cage injury. As a result, Lewis expects to be out for eight weeks, and will likely not return until the start of the 2020 LPGA Tour season.
Juli Inkster announced Lewis as a captain’s pick on Monday of the Cambia Portland Classic, which would mark Lewis’ fifth Solheim Cup appearance. As the week went on in Portland, Lewis began feeling back pain that was amplified during play. She ultimately withdrew from Team USA’s roster and was replaced by first alternate, Ally McDonald, but stayed in Scotland to support the team.
As the 2019 LPGA Tour season winds down, Lewis will require time off to heal, and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Despite the setback, Lewis maintains a positive outlook and looks forward to her return in early 2020.
“Given the nature of my injury, I will likely not return until the start of next year,” said Lewis. “The time off will give me the chance to get healthy and stronger, and to spend time with my family.”
After the success of the inaugural LECOM Suncoast Classic, the tournament will return to the Korn Ferry Tour the week of February 10-16, 2020. Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida will again host the 144 professionals competing for a $550,000 purse and a chance to contend against the world’s best on the PGA TOUR.
The 2019 LECOM Suncoast Classic named Mark Hubbard, former PGA TOUR professional, its first champion. Hubbard shot an impressive 26-under to secure the victory and propel his season toward success. He is set to receive his PGA TOUR card and make his return for the 2020 season.
“My win was so early in the year that I knew I had some work to do still to lock up my card, but I feel like I needed to come back onto this Tour to learn how to win again,” said Hubbard. “It was nice to accomplish my goal so early in the year. It almost came as a surprise to me. I thought that I would have to build all year to get into position to win, but to win it at the LECOM Suncoast Classic was unbelievable. It jumpstarted my confidence and I’ve been a different player since then.”
The 2020 LECOM Suncoast Classic will provide another opportunity for a shot at the PGA TOUR, as the tournament continues in its five-year deal through 2023. Volunteer registration for 2020 will open in September, and volunteers from 2019 will have priority sign-up. Ticket sale information will also be released soon.
ABOUT LECOM SUNCOAST CLASSIC
The LECOM Suncoast Classic, a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, made its debut on the annual schedule in 2019. The LECOM Suncoast Classic is contested at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and will be held the week of February 10-16, with 144 players competing for a $550,000 purse. A five-year deal is in place through 2023. For more information, please visit lecomsuncoastclassic.com.
Lauren Stephenson, LPGA rookie and South Carolina native, announced her partnership with MyrtleBeachGolf.com this week. Stephenson will serve as a brand ambassador for the Myrtle Beach area’s leading tee time and golf package originator, alongside 20-time PGA TOUR champion, Dustin Johnson.
Stephenson, a Lexington, SC resident, began her collegiate career at Clemson University before transferring to the University of Alabama where she finished out her college career as one of the top female amateurs in the world. After obtaining her LPGA Tour card at the 2018 LPGA Q-Series, she secured a top-10 finish in her first professional event at the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open, and a T21 finish in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship last week.
“It really is an honor to partner with a company from my home state that truly believes in me and my career potential,” Stephenson said. “I am excited to grow alongside of MyrtleBeachGolf.com and be a part of all that they are doing to grow the game of golf on South Carolina’s east coast. I am confident that this is only the beginning of a great partnership and am looking forward to what is to come.”
The booking service offers elite golf packages which can be reserved online, or customized over the phone with a local golf director. MyrtleBeachGolf.com is the largest coordinating service of its kind in Myrtle Beach, one of the premier golf destinations in the country.
“We are very excited about our new relationship with Lauren,” said Brian Miller, Director of Sales for MyrtleBeachGolf.com. “As a South Carolina based company, it is a unique opportunity for us to be able to sponsor a rising star from our state and at the same time, promote golf in Myrtle Beach. We look forward to our new partnership and all of the creative ways we can work together to get more golfers to visit our area.”
Please visit MyrtleBeachGolf.com for more details on their services.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Minor League Baseball today announced the Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award winners for each of the 10 leagues for the month of April. In recognition of the honor, each winner will receive an award from Minor League Baseball and Uncle Ray's, the "Official Potato Chip of Minor League Baseball."
Louisville Bats (Reds) third baseman Josh VanMeter led the International League in hits (34), home runs (11), runs (24), RBI (28), total bases (72), slugging percentage (.758) and OPS (1.204) and was fifth in batting average (.358). VanMeter recorded nine multi-hit games, including a five-hit game on April 26 against Norfolk and a four-hit game April 29 at Toledo. VanMeter, 24, was originally selected by San Diego in the fifth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Norwell High School in Norwell, Indiana.
Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals) right-hander Tommy Parsons went 3-0 with a 0.30 ERA (30.0 IP, 1 ER) in four starts to claim Midwest League Player of the Month honors. Parsons held opponents to a league-best .106 batting average and allowed just 11 hits in his league-best 30.0 innings of work. He threw a nine inning, two-hit shutout on April 22 against Quad Cities, the only complete game in the Midwest League in April. Parsons, 23, was signed by St. Louis as a free agent out of Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan, on June 12, 2018.
(Click link for full article)