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SLINGER, Wis. – Even after winning a track championship and accomplishing a feat done only once before in 70-plus years of racing at Slinger Super Speedway, Alex Prunty still thinks he has something to prove.
That’s why he’s back to defend his super late model title and his defense got off to a good start Sunday.
Prunty won the second of the twin 50-lap super late model features during Slinger’s opening day. His uncle, Dennis, won the first 50-lapper. Alex Prunty finished fourth in that feature.
In victory lane, Alex Prunty said it was a long, but busy offseason.
“We changed a lot of stuff,” he said. “We kind of went back to the drawing board. People look at our year last year and I know we won the championship, but I wasn’t happy. I want to be top of the chart speed and qualifying was a struggle. We changed a lot of stuff.”
With last season’s championship, Prunty joined Miles Melius as the only drivers to win a track championship at Slinger in three divisions. Melius won the midget title in 1949, stocks in 1954 and won five modified titles between 1958 and 1967. Prunty, in addition to his super late model title in 2018, won the Slinger Bees title in 2010 and the limited late model title in 2012 and ’15.
To him, some critics still weren’t impressed.
“Last year was a year where a lot of people looked at like we lucked into it,” he said. “This year, it’s kind of wanting to prove and verify yourself. A lot of the great champions have won two times.”
Would that be enough? Prunty believes no, even if he were to win three in a row. That’s why he continues to come to the track and compete, even after accomplishing the one feat he wanted to do since he was a 6 years old.
“This is our 11th year here and I’m still trying to prove myself,” Prunty said.
– Also picking up feature wins Sunday during the Slinger oener were Jacob Nottestad (limited late model), Ryan Gutknecht (sportsman), Steve Dickson (Slinger Bees), Steve Zoromski (Super Beez), Ryan Lovald (Figure 8) and Mick Ellis (American Super Cup Series).
“It was a hell of a battle,” Nottestad said, who also revealed he’ll be doing a full season at Slinger. “It’s a good start to the year.”
– Sunday’s festivities kicked off a season-long celebration at Slinger. This year, the village is celebrating 150 years since its founding, originally known as Schlesingerville. On Sunday, in addition to the twin 50-lap features, there was a 50-lap limited late model feature. It was the first time since 2006 the Slinger opener had a pair of features for the super late model division. Al Schill and Dennis Prunty won those races.
– Slinger’s 72nd season of racing got off to a quick start with Jerry Mueller breaking the track record in the limited late models (11.929 seconds). Mueller said it was his first fast time in 18 years.
– As a celebration of the past, more than 70 current and former track champions were united for a group photo. Among the champions on hand were Willie Goeden, Al Schill Sr., Rich Bickle Jr., Mark Ritger, Lowell Bennett and Johnny Ziegler.
– The new was also celebrated Sunday with the Wisconsin debut of Five Star RaceCar Bodies’ new late model body. It had already debuted on the East Coast, as well as in Arizona and Washington.
“We were exceptionally pleased with how they looked on the track,” said Steve Einhaus, sales manager for Five Star.
The new body was the first redesign by the company in 15 years. The noticeable difference for the fans was the revamped nose, which includes a clear distinction between Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
Alex Prunty is one of those drivers with the new body and he said he didn’t notice too many differences one way or the other as far as performance on the track. In the first 50-lapper, he said he struggled with some of the handling, but made some adjustments ahead of the next 50-lapper and was strong from the onset of the feature.
Dennis Prunty won the other feature with an older body style.
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BRASELTON, Ga. — The 42nd Historic Sportscar Racing Mitty came to a safe and successful conclusion Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta where a competitive group of repeat and first-time weekend winners scored race victories on the 2.54-mile road course under picture-perfect sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s.
Sunday began with the B.R.M. Chronographes Vintage and GT Classic Enduro Challenge and ended with the HSR Classic RS Cup sprint, and one driver won both feature races.
Todd Treffert is no stranger to victory lane on HSR race weekends and he added two more trophies from the HSR Mitty to his collection on Sunday. Treffert took both overall and GTC class honors in the B.R.M. Enduro Challenge in the morning and then closed out the weekend in winning style with a victory in the Classic RS Cup race.
Treffert competed in his always-quick Speedconcepts 1974 No. 141 Porsche 911 IROC that was prepared this weekend by the 901 Shop.
Fritz Seidel finished second to Treffert in both races in the Ecurie Engineering 1973 Porsche 911 IROC. Jack Lewis was third in the RS Cup race in his 1974 No. 9 Porsche 911 IROC while Treffert and Seidel were joined on the B.R.M. GTC podium by third-place finisher Eric Lux in the Goldcrest Motorsports 1973 No. 00 Porsche 911 RSR.
The Vintage-class victory in the B.R.M. race went to George Balbach in his Ecurie Engineering 1966 No. 0 Porsche 911. The win was the third-straight victory of the weekend for Balbach in two different Ecurie-prepared Porsches. He scored a Sasco Sports International/American Challenge Porsche-class win Friday in the 911 and a Saturday victory in a 1960 No. 0 Porsche 356B in the WeatherTech Sprint Group 2 race.
Balbach shared the B.R.M. Vintage podium with runner-up Jamie Busby in his 1970 No. 88 Porsche 914/6 and third-place finisher John Deford in the 1970 No. 57 Porsche 914/6. Both the Busby and Deford 914/6 Porsches are prepared by the 901 Shop.
Another Sunday Feature Race was the HSR Global GT sprint won by Patrick Dussault in his No. 121 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup car prepared by GT Racing. Marc Montour was second in his GT Racing 2014 No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 while Les Long completed the podium in third in his Air Power Racing 2007 No. 496 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.
Balbach’s weekend-high tally of three race wins was matched by Louis-Philippe “LP” Montour – Marc Montour’s son – who picked up the overall Group 9 and 10 WeatherTech Sprint win in the No. 27 Aston Martin for the second straight day Sunday. In addition to sweeping his WeatherTech races, “LP” co-drove to a Saturday B.R.M. Enduro Challenge win with his father.
Balbach came close to four wins this weekend but was edged by Joe Colasacco for Sunday’s WeatherTech Group 2 victory. Colasacco’s win in his rare 1963 No. 8 Alfa Romeo TZ-1 was popular with the large contingent of Alfa Romeo fans on hand this weekend to support the official marque of the 42nd HSR Mitty.
In addition to featured marque Alfa Romeo, historic Stock Cars were in the spotlight this weekend at the 42nd HSR Mitty and NASCAR legend Bill Elliott swept both Stock Car Feature Races Saturday and Sunday. Elliott drove a more-than-familiar 2006 No. 9 Dodge Charger.
Second-place in Sunday’s Stock Car Feature went to Brian Norman in another 2006 No. 19 Dodge Charger while Frank Marcum broke through for third in his 2001 No. 1 Ford Taurus.
The WeatherTech Sprint doubleheaders saw several competitors sweep both the Saturday and Sunday rounds in their respective run groups. Competitors going two-for-two overall in their WeatherTech races included Doc Bundy in the 1964 No. 124 Lotus 23b (Group 3), Tom O’Grady in the 1962 No. 53 Cooper T59 (Group 4 A/B), Edward Sevadjian in his 1969 No. 36 Chevrolet Corvette (Group 5) and Jacek Mucha in his 2006 No. 07 Swift JMS-016CP (Group 7 and 11).
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OXFORD, Maine — Garrett Hall drove to an impressive Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model victory Sunday afternoon at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway, taking the lead from reigning series champion D.J. Shaw, then hanging on to the top spot.
Hall, three times a winner in PASS action prior to last season, seemed almost surprised to be collecting the big trophy after struggling prior to the main event. After starting 20th in the 33-car field Hall patiently worked his way into contention, chasing down Shaw.
Shaw had his hands full just getting to the lead after starting 11th. Nick Sweet turned in the quickest laps of the day while setting the early pace before gremlins drove the car to pit road under green flag conditions. Maritime Canadian Pro Stock champion, and 2018 PASS North race winner Cole Butcher took command after Sweet was sidelined.
Butcher and Shaw soon waged a long battle for the lead as Hall steadily moved upward in the running order. Late caution periods in a race that was otherwise reasonably trouble-free offered Hall an opportunity and the Blackpoint Motorsports driver got his Norm’s Used Cars 94 past Shaw and into victory lane.
Hall’s last PASS Super Late Model victory was a memorable, wreck-after-the-checkered win over Ben Rowe at his hometown racetrack, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in September of 2017.
Shaw’s runner-up finish unofficially vaulted him to the top of the current PASS North Super Late Model standings. Cassius Clark, who won on opening night at Oxford Plains Speedway last year, earned third-place honors aboard the Nova Scotia-based King Racing 13.
Matty Sanborn scored a popular, first PASS Mods win, leading all 40 laps on his way to victory lane. It wasn’t as easy as that sounds, as fellow first-win seekers Mike Carignan and Spencer Morse both mounted stiff challenges that were turned back by Sanborn.
Morse, who spun out of the lead pack and fell to the rear of the field at one point, charged back into second position under the checkered flag, with first-time PASS Mods racer Justin Larsen, the 2013 Mini Stock division champion at Oxford Plains Speedway, earning third-place hardware. Carignan and Billy Dixon rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Garrett Hall, D.J. Shaw, Cassius Clark, Cole Butcher, Gabe Brown, Derek Griffith, Mike Rowe, Alan Tardiff, Travis Benjamin, Ashton Tucker, Dan Winter, Evan Hallstrom, Eddie MacDonald, John Peters, Ben Rowe, Shawn Martin, Rusty Poland, Ben Tinker, Glen Luce, Craig Weinstein, T.J. Brackett, Johnny Clark, Calvin Rose Jr., Brandon Barker, Ryan Green, Nick Sweet, Curtis Gerry, Tracy Gordon, Ryan Robbins, Timmy Brackett, Bryan Kruczek, Reid Lanpher, Scott McDaniel.
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ORNSKOLDSVIK, Sweden -- Jack Hughes, the likely No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, broke the IIHF Men's World U18 Championship scoring record Sunday -- a mark that had been held by Alex Ovechkin.
Hughes collected three points in Team USA's 5-2 win in the bronze-medal game against rival Canada to finish his U18 worlds career with 32 points, one more than what Ovechkin put up over the 2002 and 2003 tournaments.
Hughes's 20 points is the second highest single-tournament point total in the event's history. He fell just one point shy of equaling the record set by current Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov in 2011. Hughes set the mark for most points in a single tournament by a U.S. player.
"It's special," Hughes said of surpassing Ovechkin. "It's a cool tournament and I've been lucky enough to play in it twice. It's been two pretty good runs. It's really cool to be on top of that ranking, but for me this tournament is about gold. For us to come out with bronze, it's a good ending. We capped off our two years with a win."
As Hughes noted, the game represented the last of a two-year tenure at USA Hockey's national team development program for him and his teammates. Hughes leaves as the NTDP's all-time leading scorer by a significant margin. His 228 points in 110 career games dwarf those of Clayton Keller who held the record previously at 189.
Additionally, teammate Cole Caufield finished the tournament with 14 goals, which tied Ovechkin for the single-tournament record. The talented winger, who plays on the same line with Hughes, finished his NTDP season with 72 goals and his career with 126, both program records by a substantial margin. He shattered the single-season mark of 55, previously held by Auston Matthews. The career record was previously held by Phil Kessel, who scored 104 goals over his two years with the Michigan-based outfit.
The bronze medal win for Team USA also extended the country's unprecedented medal streak at the Men's U18 World Championship. This is the 16th consecutive year the Americans have come out with a medal, dating back to 2004. Over that span they have claimed nine gold medals, four silvers and three bronze.
Russia, which bounced the United States in a shootout Saturday, will meet host Sweden for gold Sunday.
The New Jersey Devils own the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Hopefully the cleanup crew at SAP Center has some extra mop buckets. It's going to take a few to soak up the sarcasm that dripped from San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic in discussing an icing call that wasn't whistled by the officials and led to a critical Colorado Avalanche goal in their 4-3 win in Game 2 on Sunday.
"I'll take the high road and wait for the league's apology tomorrow," Vlasic said.
So it wasn't the right call?
"I'm taking the high road. Waiting for the apology tomorrow," Vlasic reiterated in what was presumably a reference to the NHL's apology to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks' first-round opponent, after the on-ice officials mistakenly handed the Sharks a major penalty power-play that turned the tide in Game 7.
On this play in Game 2, with the Sharks and Avalanche tied 1-1 in the second period, Vlasic and Mikko Rantanen raced for the puck on what would have been an icing violation against Colorado.
The on-ice officials didn't whistle the play down, as they believed Rantanen had broken up the icing. But the Sharks hesitated, looking like they assumed one was coming. That led to a point-blank shot from Gabriel Landeskog that was stopped by goalie Martin Jones, but he couldn't stop the follow-up blast from defenseman Tyson Barrie, giving the Avalanche a lead they did not surrender.
While Vlasic disagreed with the call, Colorado coach Jared Bednar felt differently.
"It was the exact same as the icing here the other night, when [Erik] Karlsson had the inside track on [J.T.] Compher," Bednar said. "They're in a race. They blow it down for icing because Karlsson had the inside path. To me, on this one, I'm watching Mikko [Rantanen] go up the ice, he's got a head of steam, he's getting to the right area, he's got the inside path on Vlasic on the post. It looks to me like Mikko's going to get their first, so they let it go. To me, it's similar plays: The guy on the inside got the call. One was against us. One was in our favor."
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer split the difference, saying it was obvious that his players thought there should have been a whistle, but it was also obvious that they needed to play until they heard one.
"Whether or not I thought it was doesn't matter," he said. "Our players did. They let up. They relaxed for a minute, and it obviously wasn't. So the lesson in that was don't assume anything in the playoffs. Play and make sure."
The Avalanche tied the series 1-1, and Game 3 is Tuesday in Denver. The Avs lost Game 1 against Calgary in the first round and then roared back with four straight wins. The Sharks will go on the road tied 1-1 for the sixth time in franchise history. They won each of the previous five such series.
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Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily: Hurricanes rally to stun Isles
Published in
Hockey
Monday, 29 April 2019 05:13
The Carolina Hurricanes are bruised and battered. They're also two wins away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals. Plus, the Colorado Avalanche got even with the San Jose Sharks -- but not without some controversy.
Here's what happened in the NHL Sunday night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for Monday night in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:
Jump ahead: Last night's games | Three Stars
Play of the night | Today's games | Social post of the day
About last night ...
Game 2: Carolina Hurricanes 2, New York Islanders 1 (Hurricanes lead series 2-0) The Hurricanes have personified the "next man up" philosophy through these playoffs, but this was ridiculous. Already down forwards Andrei Svechnikov (concussion protocol), Micheal Ferland (upper body) and Jordan Martinook (lower body), the Hurricanes lost defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk (upper body) 32 seconds into the first period and then lost starting goalie (and playoff hero) Petr Mrazek about six and a half minutes into the second period, after he stopped nine of 10 shots.
Next man up: Curtis McElhinney came on in goal and turned away all 17 shots he faced. Meanwhile, Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter scored 48 seconds apart in the third period to give the Hurricanes the 2-0 series lead.
Game 2: Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (series tied 1-1) So is this the template for the Avalanche? Struggle in a Game 1 loss on the road, rebound with a great effort in Game 2 to even the series? It happened against Calgary in the first round, and it happened on Sunday against San Jose. "We'll take that. We'll win the next three. That'd be great," said defenseman Tyson Barrie with a laugh. "This was a little bit different than the Calgary one, but it's nice to be able to know that if you're down in the series, you can come back."
The Avs answered an Evander Kane goal in the first period with tallies by Gabriel Landeskog and Barrie in the second, and then a big goal from Matt Nieto in the third. Nathan MacKinnon's empty netter ended up being the game winner after Brent Burns' second goal of the game -- on the power play, with an extra skater -- made it a one-goal game with 11 seconds left.
0:23
Nieto's goal helps lift Avalanche to Game 2 win
Matt Nieto scores his third goal of the postseason to help lead the Avalanche to a Game 2 victory over the Sharks and even the series at 1-1.
Three Stars
1. Curtis McElhinney, G, Carolina Hurricanes. Anyone who paid attention to the Hurricanes this season knows that McElhinney had the stuff to step in and potentially win Game 2. From Dec. 31 through the end of the season, he went 13-6-1 for Carolina. Yet this was only his third career playoff appearance, and he certainly made it count with 17 saves in injury relief of Petr Mrazek as the Canes took a 2-0 series lead.
2. Tyson Barrie, D, Colorado Avalanche. Just a huge effort from Colorado's top puck-moving defenseman (pending Cale Makar's official breakout). His shot was tipped home by Landeskog for the Avs' first goal. Then he scored his first goal of the playoffs just over eight minutes later for the 2-1 lead. He had the secondary assist on their third goal of the game. He was on the ice for the Sharks' second goal, but otherwise played well throughout.
3. Brent Burns, D, San Jose Sharks. Burns had two goals and an assist in Game 2, including a late power-play goal that made things interesting. It should be noted, however, that he was on the ice for two of the Avalanche's non-empty-net goals.
Play of the Night
Then they took a 2-1 lead. #StanleyCup>pic.twitter.com/t6IjHhL4ns - NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 28, 2019
Just a gorgeous deflection here from Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter to give his team a lead it wouldn't surrender. Niederreiter was drafted fifth overall by the Islanders in 2010, and was traded to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck in 2013. The Wild traded him to Carolina for Victor Rask in January.
Dud of the Night
Bednar, on non-icing call: "Exact same as the icing the other night. Karlsson had inside track on [Nieto], they're in a race. They blow it down because Karlsson had inside path. [Mikko's] got inside path on Vlasic. 2 similar plays, guy on inside got the call." (HT @wyshynski)>pic.twitter.com/x5oQc7EtJv - Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 29, 2019
The Sharks on that icing call. Whether or not the linesmen blew the call -- and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is waiting for his apology -- San Jose coach Peter DeBoer probably had the best take on Barrie's goal: "Whether or not I thought it was doesn't matter. Our players did. They let up. They relaxed for a minute and it obviously wasn't. So the lesson in that was don't assume anything in the playoffs. Play, and make sure."
On the schedule
St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars, Game 3, 8 p.m. ET (Series tied 1-1)
On the one hand, Jordan Binnington had a .929 save percentage in three wins at Winnipeg in the first round. On the other hand, he had one good win (21 saves, .955 save percentage) and one not-so-great loss (four goals allowed on 24 shots) in Dallas this season.
Social post of the day
This video of the @NHLCanes>#TakeWarning>pic.twitter.com/4fiPcjpNGl - FOX Sports Carolinas (@CanesOnFSCR) April 29, 2019
You think the locals are fired up about this Carolina Hurricanes run?
Quotable
"This was the horseshoe-up-the-a-- game for us." -- anonymous Carolina player to Arthur Staple of The Athletic on Game 2.
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AVONDALE, La. – At the beginning of the week, Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer seemed like the most unlikely of pairs – a fiery 24-year-old from Spain, who is ranked 11th in the world with six wins in the past two years, and a cool 42-year-old from Texas, who hadn’t won since 2010.
By Sunday afternoon, they proved to be quite the team, winning the Zurich Classic by three shots over Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia.
“Obviously very different stories, but to get it done together … it was amazing,” said Rahm after the two capped an impressive 26-under performance with a 3-under 69 in foursomes.
Said Palmer: “I'll take him any day I can.”
A year ago, Rahm and Palmer found themselves in the same final-round group at TPC Louisiana – only with different partners, Rahm with Wesley Bryan and Palmer with Jordan Spieth. The two joked then that they’d make a pretty stout team.
“Our games complement each other so much, the way we drive the ball, our iron play,” Palmer said, “and there's nothing better than missing greens knowing his short game is behind me.”
Then Bryan tore his left labrum in his shoulder, and Spieth decided not to return to Zurich this year. Both players needed partners, so Palmer, with his fingers crossed, reached out to Rahm during the Desert Classic in January.
“I shot him a text hoping he would bite,” Palmer said. “When a 42-year-old player is calling him, he's probably like, ‘Why does he want to play with me?’”
Said Rahm: “I’m really happy I said yes.”
Rahm and Palmer have actually been friends for a few years. They first met at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, where Rahm, then a junior at Arizona State, competed as an amateur. They were in the second-to-last group in the final round, along with Zach Johnson. Palmer shot 66 to tie for second and Rahm carded a 68 to share fifth.
“He made every single putt he looked at and I looked how he made every single putt,” Rahm said.
The pair’s relationship has strengthened since then. When Rahm turned pro a year later, Palmer was the first pro to invite Rahm to play in his charity event. They’ve been paired a few times in the past few seasons, too. Now, they’ve shared a victory together.
“You never know when that next win is going to come,” Palmer said, “and man, to come in at 42, and obviously in a partnership with Jon, and to have my wife and my son fly in this morning from Dallas, some friends are here from Amarillo, as well, this will live with me the rest of my life.”
And neither player plans to end a good thing.
Said Rahm: “Jordan and Wesley, sorry, we already have a partner for next year.”
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Putting powers Palmer-Rahm to victory at ‘crusty’ TPC Louisiana
Published in
Golf
Sunday, 28 April 2019 13:17
AVONDALE, La. – For the first 54 holes at the Zurich Classic, Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer drove it spectacularly and took advantage of soft conditions at TPC Louisiana.
That was far from the case Sunday.
Rahm and Palmer combined to hit just five fairways, and the greens – three days removed from getting soaked by heavy storms – became firm, fast and fiery.
“I couldn't find the planet [off the tee] to save my life for the most part of the day,” said Rahm, who found only two fairways – both with irons – in the final round’s foursomes format.
And the greens? Probably faster than what players saw two weeks ago at Augusta National, Palmer reckoned.
“The greens were crusty,” he explained. “… Your putter blade slips around on it when you put the putter behind the ball, so you're really cautious with that. And when you get greens that are that crusty, it's hard for the friction to kind of grab the ball and take breaks, and then the speed is so different from what you're used to.”
Despite the adversity, Rahm and Palmer were still able to deliver a three-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia. After 54-hole co-leaders Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings bogeyed the first hole, Rahm and Palmer led outright the rest of the way, making four birdies and just one bogey.
Rahm had some highlight-reel moments on the back nine. He holed a 14-footer for birdie at the par-4 10th hole, stuck a wedge to 3 feet at the par-4 13th and sank a 24-footer for par at the par-4 15th.
But Rahm was quick to give credit to his partner.
“What got us going for the most part was a lot of those par putts that Ryan made,” Rahm said.
A day after he holed a crucial bogey putt that helped get the duo into Sunday’s final pairing, Palmer made four par saves from 5 feet and out. He also sank an 11-footer for birdie at the par-3 14th hole.
Not bad for a guy who was one of the worst putters on Tour just two years ago.
“I'm not going to use that word, what we were going through in putting,” Palmer said, “but it was getting close to it.”
Palmer had used his college putter for most of his pro career, but decided it was time for a change during the 2016-17 season, which he finished ranked 190th in strokes gained: putting.
“I didn’t even know there were 190 players out here,” Palmer quipped.
Palmer remembers going to a golf store and buying six putters. He also recalls showing up at a friend’s club with 10. It wasn’t until he changed his grips that things started to turn around.
First, at the 2017 John Deere Classic, Palmer’s caddie James Edmondson talked his boss into switching to the claw grip. Then, at the end of that season, Palmer’s coach Randy Smith outfitted Palmer’s putter with a Flat Cat grip.
“He said, ‘Let’s just try it. I think it could be the key,’” Palmer said. “… I've been with it ever since, same putter, Flat Cat grip, and it's turned my game around.”
It’s also helped Palmer, a top-30 putter this season, get back in the winner’s circle.
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Lee wins at LA Open to continue under-the-radar rise to LPGA's elite
Published in
Golf
Sunday, 28 April 2019 14:49
Minjee Lee is the LPGA’s stealthiest star.
She flies under the radar more than any top player in the women’s game, with a skill set that isn’t as celebrated as it ought to be.
Maybe that’s about to change.
With her victory Sunday at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, Lee is expected to climb to Rolex World No. 2 in Monday’s release of the new rankings. That’s right. She has put herself on the cusp of ascending to world No. 1 about as quietly as you can do so.
How much will she be driven to go all the way to the top?
“Being that close, it's in the back of my mind, but I'm not going to dwell too much on it,” Lee said. “Just, obviously, going to try my best every week, and, hopefully that will happen one day.”
While there’s respect for Lee’s talent, she hasn’t been in the conversation over who is really the best player in the women’s game. With so much focus on Jin Young Ko’s ascendance this year, with Nelly Korda off to such a terrific start, and with Sung Hyun Park, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson getting so much attention for their big games and with Inbee Park still a factor, Lee has toiled in the shadows.
Not Sunday.
Not in the City of Angels, not in the shadow of tinsel town, not with a primetime Golf Channel finish.
And now Lee will take winning momentum to San Francisco and this week’s LPGA Mediheal Championship, where she nearly won last year, falling to Lydia Ko in a playoff.
“Coming into the first part of the year, I’ve been hitting it pretty solid,” Lee said. “I felt like it was close. I feel pretty good with this one.”
Lee won on one of the tour’s newest venues but most venerable courses. She showed her versatility winning at Wilshire Country Club, once host to the PGA Tour’s L.A. Open.
Lee isn’t flashy, outspoken or controversial. She doesn’t seek a lot of attention. For climbing so high in the world rankings, she also hasn’t won a lot, with Sunday’s title her fifth LPGA victory. Still, she has shown an ability to consistently contend. She has five second-place finishes in the last year, going back to that playoff loss at the Mediheal. This was just her second title in the last two-and-a-half years. Still, she’s only 22 and still trying to build a major championship resume. She has just three top-10 finishes in her 25 major championship starts, but she’s learning to put all the pieces of her game together.
They came together at Wilshire.
With Sunday’s 3-under-par 68, Lee was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s. At 14 under overall, she was four shots better than runner-up Sei Young Kim (66).
Kim was five shots back of Minjee with six holes to go and made a charge, making back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th to gets within two shots after Lee bogeyed 11th, but she couldn’t get closer.
Lee was solid the rest of the way.
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Zurich Classic purse payout: Palmer, Rahm don't need to split spoils
Published in
Golf
Monday, 29 April 2019 00:49
Here is the complete FedExCup points and purse breakdown for winners Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm and the rest of the players who made the cut at the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Money and points represent what each player earned.
| Finish | Player | FedEx | Earnings ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer | 400.00 | 1,051,200.00 |
| 2 | Sergio Garcia/Tommy Fleetwood | 162.50 | 423,400.00 |
| T3 | Brian Gay/Rory Sabbatini | 96.25 | 256,412.50 |
| T3 | Kyoung-Hoon Lee/Matt Every | 96.25 | 256,412.50 |
| T5 | Hank Lebioda/Curtis Luck | 64.37 | 163,337.50 |
| T5 | Seamus Power/David Hearn | 64.37 | 163,337.50 |
| T5 | Roberto Castro/Cameron Tringale | 64.37 | 163,337.50 |
| T5 | Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown | 64.37 | 163,337.50 |
| T9 | Peter Malnati/Billy Hurley III | 44.00 | 92,345.00 |
| T9 | Martin Laird/Nick Taylor | 44.00 | 92,345.00 |
| T9 | Nick Watney/Charley Hoffman | 44.00 | 92,345.00 |
| T9 | Ian Poulter/Sam Horsfield | 44.00 / - | 92,345.00 |
| T13 | Kevin Tway/Kelly Kraft | 28.75 | 51,136.50 |
| T13 | Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy | 28.75 | 51,136.50 |
| T13 | Alex Cejka/Alex Prugh | 28.75 | 51,136.50 |
| T13 | Scott Stallings/Trey Mullinax | 28.75 | 51,136.50 |
| T13 | Adam Hadwin/Jim Knous | 28.75 | 51,136.50 |
| T18 | Joel Dahmen/Brandon Harkins | 17.50 | 33,716.87 |
| T18 | Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover | 17.50 | 33,716.87 |
| T18 | Russell Henley/Ryan Blaum | 17.50 | 33,716.87 |
| T18 | Henrik Stenson/Graeme McDowell | 17.50 | 33,716.87 |
| T22 | Troy Merritt/Robert Streb | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | Chris Stroud/Jason Kokrak | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | Austin Cook/Andrew Landry | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | Russell Knox/Brian Stuard | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | J.T. Poston/Stephan Jaeger | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | Shubhankar Sharma/Anirban Lahiri | - | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | Brooks Koepka/Chase Koepka | 8.45 / - | 19,609.62 |
| T22 | J.J. Spaun/Matt Jones | 8.45 | 19,609.62 |
| T30 | Corey Conners/Mackenzie Hughes | 4.90 | 15,987.00 |
| T30 | Shawn Stefani/Bill Haas | 4.90 | 15,987.00 |
| T32 | Julián Etulain/Andres Romero | 4.10 | 15,403.00 |
| T32 | Justin Harding/Branden Grace | - | 15,403.00 |
| T34 | Bubba Watson/J.B. Holmes | 3.30 | 14,819.00 |
| T34 | Tom Hoge/J.J. Henry | 3.30 | 14,819.00 |
| 36 | Keegan Bradley/Jon Curran | 2.85 / - | 14,381.00 |
| T37 | Whee Kim/Sungjae Im | 2.45 | 13,797.00 |
| T37 | Denny McCarthy/Roberto Díaz | 2.45 | 13,797.00 |
| T37 | Cody Gribble/Joey Garber | 2.45 | 13,797.00 |
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