The reason Kendall Fuller isn’t higher on this list is because he does most of his work from the slot. While that limits his utility to a degree, what he does with the position made him NFL1000’s top-ranked slot cornerback in 2017. In just his second season, Fuller allowed an opponent passer
He was the final member of an impressive triumvirate of golfers born in San Diego during The Great Depression – Gene Littler and Billy Casper the others – and as a young pro he was widely considered the equal to a contemporary named Jack Nicklaus. But if Phil Rodgers’ PGA TOUR career didn’t match its promise or reach the standards of those other men, he did something that is a rarity in today’s world. He took ownership. As honest as he was brash, Rodgers told golf.com’s Alan Bastable in 2008 that “I wanted to win more, but something always stopped me. I couldn’t do what my mind wanted me to do. I probably talked myself out of being a great champion more than I talked myself into it.� Rodgers’ 17-year PGA TOUR career included just five victories but was noted for the absence of major championship success that Nicklaus, Littler and Casper all had. That was difficult for some to rationalize, especially those who watched Rodgers’ great success as a junior, a collegian, an amateur, and a two-time winner in his first full PGA TOUR season, 1962. “He was so good, it was frightening,� former PGA TOUR player John Schroeder told Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union Leader. “Mechanically, he had it.� But what Rodgers also had and always used effectively was an unyielding passion to teach the game. That came shining through as stories circulated upon the news of Rodgers’ death Tuesday morning in his University City home in San Diego with his wife of 33 years, Karen, by his side. Rodgers was 80 years old and had battled leukemia for more than 15 years, though he appeared to handle that as flawlessly as he did bunker shots. Leonard, in his tribute to Rodgers, said the gregarious instructor might have been in a wheelchair, but up until a few months ago he was still at his post, teaching the game he loved at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego. Reacting to the news of Rodgers’ death, Nicklaus on his social media account expressed his heartfelt condolences: “My heart hurts today after the passing of dear friend, Phil Rodgers . . . Terrific ball-striker & great short game, he became a gifted teacher. Miss him already.� In fact, were he capable of re-writing the PGA TOUR record books, Nicklaus would affix two major championships beside Rodgers’ name, with an asterisk. That’s how strongly Nicklaus felt about his friend’s contribution to what took place in 1980, the year the Golden Bear turned 40. Not only had Nicklaus in 1979 recorded his first winless season since turning pro in 1962, but good gracious, he had missed the cut at the 1978 PGA and finished T-33 at the 1980 Masters, meaning he had failed to triumph in six straight majors. Even worse, “it was almost to the point where I had to putt around bunkers,� Nicklaus once told reporters. Unable to stand over a chip shot, Nicklaus called Rodgers, who came to North Palm Beach, Fla., and spent two weeks with his longtime friend. A few weeks later, Nicklaus won his fourth and final U.S. Open, then he added a PGA Championship, the penultimate triumph in his record parade of 18 majors. “Phil totally revamped my short game and gave me confidence,� Nicklaus once gushed to Sports Illustrated. And if you wanted a summation of Rodgers’ ability, no one offered it with more praise than Nicklaus, who told Bastable: “If you ever watched him hit the ball, if you watched his short game, if you watched him putt, you would say, ‘How could anybody ever beat him?’ � Nicklaus wasn’t alone, because Rodgers as a junior and collegian left others feeling similarly. Former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman, who called Rodgers “a lifelong friend,� recalled the first time their paths crossed, at the 1954 U.S. Junior Amateur at Los Angeles CC’s North Course. “I was a hot-shot kid from the East and when the tournament was over, I spent a week in LaJolla playing golf with Phil. We were 16 and I’ll tell you what I’ve said 100 times over the last 65 years – Phil Rodgers at 16 was an accomplished ‘professional’ golfer. He could have left high school right then and been successful on the PGA TOUR. “We played with Gene Littler (then 24 and a PGA TOUR member) that week and Phil beat him. That’s how good he was.� Born April 3, 1938 (Littler was born in 1930, Casper in 1931), Rodgers won the 1955 national Jaycee Junior Golf Championship (Nicklaus was in the field), earning a $1,000 scholarship. He chose to attend the University of Houston, “a sort of training camp for aspiring pro golfers,� wrote Walter Bingham in a feature story on Rodgers for Sports Illustrated in 1963 that included a cover headline: “Phil Rodgers: The Brashest Man in Golf.� Bingham, of course, had to time the college story just right, because Rodgers played in just three tournaments, all of which he won. The exclamation point was the 1958 NCAA Championship at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass., where he and teammates Jackie Cupit and Jim Hiskey – both former PGA TOUR players – led the Cougars to No. 3 in a string of five consecutive titles. Not only did Rodgers shoot 69-70 to be co-medalist during the team portion of the competition, but in the individual phase he overwhelmed Purdue’s John Konsek, 8 and 7, to leave college undefeated. “Phil knew more about golf than any kid we’ve ever had here,� Houston’s late and great coach, Dave Williams, told Bingham. “But I couldn’t understand him. I never knew what the guy was going to say. After he beat Deane Beman in the second round (of the NCAAs), I went up to shake hands with him. “That’s the last time that’ll ever happen, he yelled to me. ‘What do you mean, Phil?’ ‘That’s the last time I’ll ever be over par on this track,’ he said. It was, too.’ � While Nicklaus came along to star on the 1959 and 1961 Walker Cup teams and win U.S. Amateur and NCAA titles, Rodgers chose to enlist in the Marines, though he didn’t exactly see the world. Instead, he served his stint right in San Diego and was able to keep his golf game sharp. Which is why, Schroeder told Leonard, that “it was neck and neck to see who was best,� Nicklaus or Rodgers. Eerily, they were of similar builds – “stocky� or “pudgy� or “stumpy,� depending on whose correspondence you read – with blonde hair and fans often had to do a double-take when they saw them together back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But while Rodgers conceded to Leonard that no matter how he conducted his career, “I never would have been in Nicklaus’ category,� he loved to tell the story of that one category in which he was an equal. Eating steaks. Legendary for preferring it the color of his favorite wine, red, at Augusta National Golf Club it only mattered to Rodgers that he and Nicklaus could have it whenever they wanted. So, they had filets for breakfast, a New York Strip for lunch, and Chateaubriand for dinner. “They finally came to us and said, ‘No, you can’t do that. You can only have one steak per day.’ � After his stint in the Marines ended in 1961, Rodgers joined the PGA TOUR for 14 tournaments, but oh, how he hit the ground running in 1962. Tied with Fred Hawkins through 54 holes in the LA Open at Rancho Municipal GC, Rodgers closed with a sizzling 62 to win by nine. “Rodgers is golf’s golden boy today,� exclaimed golf writer Jerry Wynn, who expressed a theme that was prevalent in those days when it came to the flamboyant Rodgers. “He’s not only good, he knows he’s good.� Laughed Beman, “Oh, yeah, he was cocky. But he could back it up. He had complete control of all aspects of his game.� Chances for major championship glory slipped from Rodgers’ grip early in his career. Stubbornly, he refused to take an unplayable lie from a tree at Oakmont in Round 1 of the 1962 U.S. Open, took a few whacks at it, made a quadruple-bogey or else he might have won that, not Nicklaus. Then, at the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Rodgers got whipped in a 36-hole playoff against Bob Charles, 140-148. Rodgers had been surrounded by World Golf Hall of Famers for so many years – mentored at La Jolla CC by Paul Runyan, who often had Rodgers play blindfolded to appreciate how to “feel� his way around a golf course; nurtured in teenage games against the likes of Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Ralph Guldahl; befriended by Nicklaus; a local hero alongside Littler, who won two majors, and Casper, who had three. But the iconic success that each of those men enjoyed never filtered down to Rodgers. He won twice in 1962, his first full year on the PGA TOUR, added another win in 1963, then two more in 1966 (notable for being the first wins by a player using a long putter that he “anchored�). But that was it. There were no more wins and Beman is among the many who often wondered why. “Hard to say,� said the former commissioner. “Maybe he was so damn good he didn’t realize you had to keep working at it.� While Rodgers shouldered responsibility – “I never thought I did my job as well as I could have or should have,� he told Leonard – his legion of friends, colleagues, and contemporaries praised him for his passion and for excelling as not only a man who designed wedges for Cobra, but as one of the game’s greatest instructors. “When I lived in Orlando (in the 1980s), I used to visit Phil over at Grand Cypress,� said Brad Faxon. “He used to hit bunker shots with just his left hand and he’d beat all of us. He had a great eye and was also one of the first teachers to use technology developed by Ralph Mann, looking at bio-mechanics. Such a great teacher and character.� In six seasons on the PGA TOUR Champions, Rodgers won just once, but his presence was always a treasure. “With the passing of Phil Rodgers, the game of golf lost a true gentleman and a man who sincerely impacted the lives of those around him,� said PGA TOUR Champions president Greg McLaughlin, who noted that he and some players were pleased to see Rodgers just a month ago at the Insperity Invitational. “It was wonderful to watch everyone light up in his presence,� said McLaughlin.
The Germans, who fell to South Korea in a stunner, won’t advance to the knockout stage while Sweden finishes atop the group and Mexico also goes through.
El Tri is off to a flying start at the World Cup, but they can still be eliminated without a result against Sweden.
El Tri is off to a flying start at the World Cup, but they can still be eliminated without a result against Sweden.
The 14th of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s U.S. Senior Open Championship. It begins on Thursday. Scroll for tournament notes, 25 notables and three wild cards from the field of 156 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Most champions who return to the same course on which they prevailed automatically belong on our short list. That’s an obvious statement even for rookie gamers. But every once in a while, all of the arrows are pointing at the defending champion. This is one of those weeks. Kyle Stanley was my Don’t Take during the Facebook Live fantasy show for last week’s Travelers Championship. I cited the course’s prerequisite of being a good putter and his relatively poor record at TPC River Highlands. It’s not that he’s a bad putter, but he profiles as the tee-to-green specialist who can capture a victory when putting isn’t at a premium. Case in point, Stanley eked out a playoff victory at last year’s Quicken Loans National. In line with his projection, he lost strokes to the field on the greens, but unfamiliar surfaces benefit average-to-below average putters. What’s more, the targets are only 5,300 square feet, so fewer putts are totaled. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is a ball-striker’s paradise, which is also reflective in the fact that it was the hardest par 70 in all non-majors last season. Yet, what did Stanley do in Connecticut last week? He finished seventh in strokes gained: putting and tied for 15th with four red numbers. Boom. He’s a full bank of green lights as he defends the QLN. The only other no-brainer in the field worth your consideration is Francesco Molinari. He’s also a perfect foil for the ball-striking challenge at TPC Potomac, but he’s also a strategic dream given understood hesitation to burn the likes of Rickie Fowler or Marc Leishman. If the Italian was available to me, he’d be my pick. I could insert Stanley, who I would if I was front-running and who league leaders should play, but I need to force the action. Thus my pivot to Beau Hossler. It’s not overthinking – perhaps that’s what I should do given my position – but I’ve swayed so far from my once-upon-a-time philosophy to play aggressively (and even accept my role as a placebo for you) that it’s time to reset when it seems counterintuitive. I also dig that Hossler is still chasing an exemption into The Open Championship. (He’ll snag one easily for the PGA Championship later.) Jimmy Walker is tempting, but he’d look even better if he commits to next week’s stop at The Greenbrier. Don’t hesitate if you don’t want to play that waiting game. As he often is when he’s active, the elephant on this page is Tiger Woods. He’s No. 8 in my Power Rankings, and I prefer him hitting full shots over relying on what might be a new putter, but he’s never played TPC Potomac in competition. For the Shire among horses for courses, the land of the unknown isn’t desired territory for our purposes. Two-man gamers could nibble on Hossler, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Byeong Hun An and Jamie Lovemark. If 2017 QLN runner-up Charles Howell III is somehow still on your board, your season must have started late. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (10); Dell Technologies (6) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) J.B. Holmes … Greenbrier (5) Billy Horschel … TOUR Championship (4) Martin Laird … Barracuda (1) Marc Leishman … Open Championship (1) Kevin Na … John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier (8); Dell Technologies (7) Tiger Woods … WGC-Bridgestone (3) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE U.S. Senior Open Championship With total prize money of $4 million, the national open is the richest tournament on the PGA TOUR Champions. The winner will receive $720,000. Kenny Perry defends and goes for his third U.S. Senior Open title in the last six years. The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado, returns as host for the first time since its debut in this tournament in 2008. It’s 10 yarder longer at 7,264 yards, but it’s still a par 36-34=70 with two par 5s. Par is almost always a great score in this tournament, and at over 6,200 feet above sea level, it’s an equal-opportunity event regardless of power off the tee. Eduardo Romero prevailed by four strokes at just 6-under 274 in 2008. Fred Funk was the runner-up. This is the second of three tournaments with a cut. The low 60 plus ties at the conclusion of 36 holes are guaranteed another 36. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Stephen Ames … U.S. Senior Open (6); Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Fred Couples … Usable everywhere. Defending the Chubb and American Family. Joe Durant … U.S. Senior Open (7); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … U.S. Senior Open (4); 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Lee Janzen … U.S. Senior Open (2) Miguel Angel Jiménez … U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Brandt Jobe … U.S. Senior Open (4); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (5); Boeing (8) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Tom Lehman … U.S. Senior Open (3); SAS (9) Jeff Maggert … Shaw (5) Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … U.S. Senior Open (6); SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Shaw (3); SAS (5) Kenny Perry … U.S. Senior Open (6); 3M (1); DICK’S (11); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … U.S. Senior Open (2); Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Boeing (2); SAS (4) Kirk Triplett … SENIOR PLAYERS (1); Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Shaw (5) WILD CARDS (short list of golfers not included above but on the rise or still building portfolios after recently turning 50): Steve Flesch; Rocco Mediate; Scott Parel.
Haas boss Guenther Steiner says 2018 is the first opportunity Kevin Magnussen has had to showcase his true racing talent.
F1’s return to France didn’t got to plan for all concerned and in this week’s talking points we discuss the traffic, Sebastian Vettel’s Turn 1 error and McLaren’s deepening problems.
The jokes have slowed considerably. The playful jabs have begun to subside. Tim Tebow is proving he belongs, and lately he’s doing more than that. He has been performing at a high level this month. Just ask opposing Double-A managers who raved about the strides the former Heisman Trophy winner has made this year with the Mets’ affiliate in Binghamton. They have cited his improved plate discipline, pitch recognition and opposite-field power. “He looks like a different guy than last year,� Double-A Hartford manager Warren Schaeffer told The Post in a phone interview. After quitting football following failed stints with the Broncos and Jets, and signing in September 2016 with the Mets, the doubts
Javier Baez provided the power and some magic, collecting four hits, including a solo homer and a grand slam, to power the Cubs to a 9-4 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night, snapping Chicago’s five-game losing streak and sending Jon Lester to his sixth straight win and his NL-high-tying 10th on the season.
