Brooke’s Magic

After shooting a final round 64 to take the lead into the clubhouse, Brooke Henderson waited while the rest of the field finished all of their drives and chips and putts. One other competitor, Lindsey Weaver- Wright, birdied the 18th hole to tie Brooke, requiring a playoff. The tournament was called the Ladies Professional Golf Association ShopRite Classic.

Golf fans geared up for the playoff. Henderson had overcome a four shot deficit to lead the pack. Weaver-Wright, a 28-year-old veteran on the tour, had never won a title. Henderson has taken the podium ten times. For golf enthusiasts, the tension continued to mount. Weaver- Wright had birdied four of the last six holes to tie Henderson. And then? And then?

The network cut its coverage of the playoff, and switched over to the men’s tournament in progress, the Canadian Open. We were advised to we could catch the playoff by “streaming” the women’s game. Did not happen.

We did learn of the result via the newscasts much later. Brooke eagled the first playoff hole to win the tournament. “I knew it was going to take a little bit of magic, and I’m just really happy that I’m sitting here next to the trophy. I thought that the victory was a possibility.” She received $262,500 along with the silverware.

It was a shameful blunder by the network. I recall a similar situation, many years ago, when, in the dying minutes of a football game, the network switched to show the Disney presentation of Heidi. The Jets were leading the Oakland Raiders, in the fourth quarter. The Raiders stormed back to win the game. The network flashed the final score on the screen to further infuriate the fans. There was hell to pay for that. Will there be consequences for the network following the golf tournament? Likely not. We know the reasons for that.

Rory McIlroy fired a final round 62 to win the Canadian Open. He also won the previous Open, and it was his 21st victory on the tour. He made note of the fact that the fans were “Boisterous, and loud, but respectful”.  The crowds were huge, at the event in Toronto. The players move on to the US Open to take place at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Another American golfer, Phil Mickelson, will also attend the Open. He is slated to play with Shane Lowry and Louis Oosthuizen. Mickelson has led the revolt from the American-based Professional Golfer’s Association to play in the Saudi-funded LIV group. (All of the events are 54 holes—LIV are the Roman numerals for 54). How quaint! Mickelson hopes to add the title to his list. He has been a runner-up six times at previous Open tournaments.

The Stanley Cup final gets underway Wednesday evening. It is a long and arduous journey for teams to reach the final: the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be there. Both teams have large and dedicated fan bases, and they will rock the rinks for the next few games.

Alek Manoah turned in another fine performance last Monday night for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has a sparkling 1.67 earned run average, and is near the top in the American League, as far as pitchers are concerned. The big bats have come alive in recent days. Vladimir Guerrero smashed his 15th home run to lead the team. They are now 36-24 on the season, but are having difficulty overcoming the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers are in Toronto for a series this weekend.

The Golden State Warriors are one win away from capturing their third straight National Basketball title. They defeated the Boston Celtics at home on Monday night. They travel to Boston for the next game, and just might have game seven back in San Francisco. Stephen Curry had a quiet night on Monday night; however , his teammates, led by Canadian Andrew Wiggins, picked up the slack and bested the Celtics with a fourth-quarter surge.

I will be responsible for the remote this week.