I Dig Sports
SONOMA, Calif. – Derek Kraus is only 17, but he has more racing experience than many drivers twice his age.
His experience paid huge dividends at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday during round four of the Trans-Am Presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship.
Currently leading both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West standings, Kraus made his Trans-Am debut in the No. 11 Shockwave Marine Suspension Seating Chevrolet Camaro handed over to him for qualifying by team owner David Smith after losing an engine in his No. 5 just before qualifying.
Kraus rewarded Smith and the Shockwave team by qualifying on the TA2 Powered by AEM pole, then seizing the TA2 class lead on lap seven of 38 laps around the challenging Sonoma course and never relinquishing it.
Kraus was jumped on both the start and a lap four restart by third qualifier Anthony Honeywell, but managed to find a way past the West series TA2 points leader within two laps on both occasions.
“I was really surprised at the start, going into turn one three wide, coming out that way,” said Kraus. “Wasn’t really expecting it. But at the end, it all worked out. I just want to say thanks to David Smith and everyone at Shockwave — the whole crew. They worked their tails off all weekend. They gave me a really good car, and I knew I just had to stay patient in the race.”
Second overall (and second in TA2) was Kraus’ Shockwave teammate Chris Cook, who finished nearly 18 seconds behind. Cook and Kraus have a long history together, and thanks to Smith, who made cars available to both Kraus and Cook as well as a third young up-and-comer, Lawless Alan, they were able to race together for the first time.
“I love working with raw talent like that guy right there in the NAPA [driver’s] suit (Kraus)” said veteran driver coach Cook. “Really good job by Derek today, and my car was really good, too. Just a huge thanks — I love driving race cars, and a huge thanks to David Smith. Amazing man and you should read his story! Huge thanks to David and all the guys on the team — Team Shockwave kicks ass.”
“I knew if there was going to be a late-race yellow, Chris was going to be really good,” Kraus said later, explaining his hard pace throughout. “[Chris] helped me this whole weekend. Two years ago when I met David and Chris and came here, I had no idea what I was doing. And ever since, Chris has been helping me. Shockwave gave me a really good race car and I ended upon top.
Third in TA2 went to Michael Mihld, who inherited the position from Lawless Alan when the brakes in Alen’s car failed. Matthew Butson finished fourth in class.
In the TA class, Simon Gregg had a lonely race after both the pole winner Michelle Nagai and fast local driver Michael Fine retired in the opening laps with mechanical problems. Gregg won TA and was third overall, but was frustrated about finishing behind a pair of TA2 cars.
“The TA2 cars were really good this weekend,” he said. “I had a good time out there. Thanks Jim (Derhaag); Joy, my significant other for going to the races with me; John (Clagett, Trans Am Co.) for the work you do — I’m glad to be a part of the West Coast Trans-Am series.”
Finishing behind Gregg, fourth overall but winning the SGT class, was U.S. Touring Car Championship front runner Carl Rydquist, who started last in a unique Prototype Development Group Factory Five GTM Supercar — a street-legal kit car assembled using extensive Corvette components.
The PDG team received permission to enter on Sunday morning, chased down a set of Pirelli tires and started from the back. Rydquist carved through the field to his fourth-place finish, with TA winner Gregg in his sights as the checkered came out.
The GT class was won by fast-qualifier Clark Nunes, who led from flag to flag.
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HERMON, Maine – Reigning Pro All Stars Series National champion Derek Grifithnailed down his second PASS North victory of the season on Father’s Day afternoon in the Hopkins Milling & Paving PASS 150 at Speedway 95.
For Griffith it was his second win at the tricky, banked short track located just outside of Bangor. Griffith now has four straight podium finishes in PASS competition at Speedway 95. He got the lead away from hometown Hermon racer Mike Hopkins before driving to victory.
The local favorite was just breaking in a new racecar and while it looked exceptionally quick early on, it was no match for Griffith and the LCM Motorsports No. 12 after the 22-year-old Granite Stater had worked his way into second position after starting the race from 11th spot.
Nick Sweet earned runner-up honors in his first visit to the tricky track and gave some credit to veteran Rowland Robinson. Sweet and Hopkins seemed to battle for the balance of the race after Griffith took command for good. Hopkins was the third-place finisher.
Championship points leader Garrett Hall aided his title hopes with a fourth-place performance. Six-time PASS Northchampion Johnny Clark filled out the top-five rundown.
Kate Re, a 15-year-old Fryeburg Academy sophomore, made her father Rick Re awful proud on Father’s Day, racing to her second PASS Mod win and first this season. Re led all 40 laps, but it certainly was not without challenge, most notably from Tyler King, in just his second PASS Mod race.
King spent, at least, the final one-third of the race in the outside groove trying to get around Re, but she held her line and fended off King. Mike Carignan grabbed the third-place trophy.
Kyle Hewins cruised to victory lane in a 50-lap Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series main event, posting his first victory of the season in the class.
The finish:
Derek Griffith, Nick Sweet, Mike Hopkins, Garrett Hall, Johnny Clark, Travis Benjamin, D.J. Shaw, Gabe Brown, Bobby Therrien, Wyatt Alexander, Nick Jenkins, Gary Smith, Scott Chubbuck, Ben Rowe, Andy Saunders.
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With a round of 2-under 69 and a closing birdie on the 72nd hole, Gary Woodland won the 119th U.S. Open Championship by three shots over Brooks Koepka. Here’s how Woodland triumphed Sunday at Pebble Beach:
Leaderboard: Woodland (-13), Koepka (-10), Xander Schauffele (-7), Jon Rahm (-7), Chez Reavie (-7), Justin Rose (-7)
What it means: This is Woodland’s fourth PGA Tour victory and his first major. Up one to start the day, at 11 under, he carded birdies at Nos. 2 and 3, shrugging off an opening 3 from Rose, who briefly tied the lead, and an early charge from Koepka, who circled four of his first five. Following bogeys at Nos. 9 and 12 – only his third and fourth dropped shots of the week – Woodland was right back where he started: 11 under par, the leader by one. In the fairway at the par-5 14th, he staked his claim to the trophy when he went for the green in two and carried the front bunker, setting up a birdie-4 that pushed him to minus-12, two clear of Koepka. Following pars at Nos. 15 and 16, Woodland flared his tee shot at the par-3 17th and elected to chip his ball from the putting surface over the ridge that bisects the hourglass green. He nearly holed it, setting up a kick-in par. Two up with one to play after Koepka failed to birdie No. 18, Woodland went iron-iron-wedge up par-5 finisher for a closing birdie and a three-shot win. With the victory, Woodland wins $2.25 million and locks up PGA Tour status through the 2023-24 season. He is exempt into the Masters, the PGA and The Open for the next five years and into the U.S. Open for the next 10 years.
Best of the rest: If not for Woodland, Koepka would be a five-time major winner. Four back through 54 holes and trying to catch Willie Anderson as just the second man to win three consecutive U.S. Opens, Koepka birdied four of his first five holes to get within one of the lead. He bogeyed the eighth to make the turn in 32. Just when appeared poised to make a back-nine push following a birdie at No. 11, he gave a stroke right back with a bogey at the 12th. From there, he parred his way into the clubhouse, burning the edge with a final birdie bid at 18. With his 3-under 68, Koepka becomes the first player in U.S. Open history to record five straight rounds in the 60s. Sunday marks his second runner-up in a major, following his tie for second at the Masters in April. In his last six major starts, Koepka has finished first, 39th, first, second, first and second.
Biggest disappointment: Just one back through 54 rounds, Rose finished six behind in a tie for third, at 7 under, with a Sunday 74. The 2013 U.S. Open champ looked poised to capture his second major when he tied the lead with a birdie at No. 1. But he followed with a bogey at No. 2 and likewise erased a birdie at the sixth with a bogey at eighth. He faded for good with bogeys at Nos. 12, 13 and 15. This marks his 10th career top-5 finish in a major.
Low amateur: In his final event before he turns professional, Viktor Hovland made history. The 2018 U.S. Amateur champion at Pebble Beach finished tied for 11th in his return trip at 4 under for the week after a closing 67. His 72-hole total of 280 is the lowest score by an amateur in U.S. Open history, bettering Jack Nicklaus’ 282 at Cherry Hills in 1960. He will make his pro debut this week at the Travelers Championship.
Shots of the day: Woodland’s 3-wood to 14:
His chip from the green at 17:
And his clinching birdie putt at the last:
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – After he scrambled his way through the first three rounds of the U.S. Open in a manner that might have made Seve Ballesteros blush, Justin Rose’s short game finally ran out of gas.
Rose was in search of his second U.S. Open title, and he appeared in prime position heading into the final round at Pebble Beach at 10 under, one shot behind Gary Woodland and at least three shots clear of every other player in the field. While the Englishman snagged a share of the lead with a clinical birdie on the opening hole Sunday, he gave back that shot on No. 2 and would never again share the top spot.
Instead, he stumbled to four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch from Nos. 8-15 to torpedo any chances of another major title, settling for a share of third place after a 3-over 74 in the final round.
“Obviously didn’t quite have it early, but did a brilliant job of hanging around,” Rose said. “I was right in the tournament, and then just kept missing in the wrong spot.”
Typically an elite ball-striker who hopes to hang on around the greens, Rose flipped the script through 54 holes at Pebble by getting up and down from everywhere. He needed only 22 putts en route to an opening-round 65, and he required just 23 more while shooting a 68 in the third round to snag a spot in Sunday’s final pairing.
But once under the spotlight he began to falter, missing four par putts from inside 12 feet, including a 4-footer on No. 12, while Woodland and runner-up Brooks Koepka left him in the dust. Rose’s two-putt birdie on No. 6, his second of the day, proved to be his last of the tournament.
“The putter wasn’t quite as warm as it was yesterday. Took a bit of a day off,” Rose said. “But I felt like I had to have a day where I pieced everything together to win. It was close. But coming in, once the momentum leaves you a little bit, it just becomes hard to grind it out.”
This is the sixth time that Rose has finished T-3 or better in a major since 2012, a run that also includes his lone triumph at Merion six years ago. While he’ll have to wait until at least Royal Portrush to add another trophy, the former world No. 1 put a positive slant on his week despite sputtering down the stretch.
“The way it happened for me today, it’s like, yeah, I’m more proud of the fact that I even gave myself a chance. I didn’t have my ‘A game’ this week,” Rose said. “And to contend in a major with no game, really, I take the positive from that.”
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Watch: Amy Bockerstette thrilled as buddy Woodland wins U.S. Open
Published in
Golf
Sunday, 16 June 2019 15:10
Earlier this year, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Gary Woodland met Special Olympian Amy Bockerstette.
Woodland, who was playing a practice round alongside Matt Kuchar, embraced Bockerstette and encouraged her to hit a tee shot at TPC Scottsdale's infamous par-3 16th hole.
Amy not only hit the tee shot, she ended up making a par that amazed Woodland and went viral.
Woodland became a Bockerstette fan that day and Amy became a fan of Gary's as well.
Fast-forward five months and Amy watched live as Woodland captured his first major title at the 119th U.S. Open. And, as you can see below, she was more excited for Woodland's win that she was for her inspirational performance in Phoenix.
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Gary Woodland won the 119th U.S. Open by three shots on Sunday at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Here are the golf clubs he used to win:
DRIVER: Ping G410 (7 degrees), with Accra RPG 472 M5+ shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Ping G410 LST (13.5 degrees), with Accra Tour ZX 4100 M5 shaft
IRONS: Wilson Staff Model Blades (3-PW), with KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (53 degrees, 58 degrees), TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-Toe (64 degrees), with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 125 X shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron Newport prototype
BALL: Titleist Pro V1
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Schauffele (T-3) affectionately calls Koepka a 'cockroach'
Published in
Golf
Sunday, 16 June 2019 15:18
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Xander Schauffele boasts one of the most impressive major résumés around for a guy just three years into his PGA Tour career. Although he hasn’t broken through for his first win, the 25-year-old has finished T-5, T-6, T-2, T-2 and now T-3 in 10 cracks at the Big Ones, with only one missed cut.
As he proved once again with his final-round 67 at the U.S. Open, it seems as though Schauffele has mastered the art of hanging around until the end. The four-time PGA Tour winner makes contending in major championships look easy – second in the category at the moment to only Brooks Koepka.
“I was laughing. I was walking down the ninth fairway, and he was 4 under through 8. This guy - I have a lot of respect for [Koepka],” Schauffele said. “He's doing exactly what he's saying. If you want to quote me, he is a cockroach. He'll probably laugh at that.
“You know, majors are tricky. There's a lot of pressure, and there's a heavy load on individuals. I don't think he's far off by saying [majors are easier to win]. I'd never come out and say it. If I won four majors, it'd probably be easier to say it. But until then, they are hard to win. And he knows that,” Schauffele said. “But he's like a cockroach, he just won't go away.”
Top-5 finishes are a long way from back-to-back U.S. Open and PGA Championship wins. But it wouldn’t be a shock to see Schauffele break through at some point in the future, especially with the attitude he brings to the golf course, which sounds an awful lot like a certain “cockroach.”
“There's a big A my team likes to talk about, which is Accepts. If you can't Accept, then you're never going to play well in the U.S. Open. … I thought the setup was definitely easier than Shinnecock, or even in 2010. But I'm indifferent. I don't really care, honestly, what the USGA does with the setup. I'm just here to play.”
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Carli Lloyd had just scored on an 18-yard volley to put the United States ahead 11 minutes into its Women's World Cup match Sunday against Chile. After leaping, pumping a fist and hugging teammate Lindsey Horan, she raised both hands chin high and made four tiny pitter-patter claps, the type seen more frequently at Pebble Beach than Parc des Princes.
A message? You bet.
Easy wins and lots of goals are par for the course when it comes to the U.S. women's national team.
"I can't take credit for it. I'm not sure if Lindsey is taking credit for it," Lloyd said after a 3-0 victory in Paris clinched the U.S. a spot in the round of 16. "She had told me if we score, that's what we're going to do, so I just went along with it after I did my little celebration. But it was fun. I think it made a statement on the sideline there. It was cool."
A record-setting 13-0 rout of Thailand that opened the tournament for the Americans sparked a debate back home. Celebration had not been discussed this much since Kool & the Gang. Some cried poor sportsmanship. Others argued players shouldn't be asked to let up on soccer's biggest stage.
All the harrumphing was heard across the Atlantic.
"I guess we could have just passed it around the back for a million times, but that's boring. That's disrespectful to everyone: fans, ourselves," veteran Megan Rapinoe said. "The only thing you ask of an athlete really is to put it all out there and do the best you can. It's not in our DNA ever."
Horan said Emily Sonnett, a 25-year-old defender at her first World Cup, suggested responses. Trolling critics was the goal.
"We decided to do something different today," Horan said with an impish smile. "Handshakes were part of it. Golf clap was part of it."
Coach Jill Ellis speculated Lloyd's inspiration was Lloyd's spouse, professional golfer Brian Hollins.
"I'm guessing it was a shout-out to her husband," Ellis said.
The 13 goals against Thailand did pay off in the end, after Sweden also won Sunday; they give the U.S. a superior goal difference, allowing the Americans to win Group F should Thursday's final group-stage game against the Swedes end in a draw.
But winning the group likely would put the U.S. on track for a quarterfinal matchup against host France in Paris. Ellis would not speculate whether her team would be better off finishing second and winding up in the other half of the bracket.
"There's a lot of grass to navigate between now and potential matchups," she said. "This game is a crazy game, and you have to bring it every single match."
No team has won consecutive Women's World Cups since the event began in 1991, a reason for sangfroid.
"We're climbing up a mountain now," Lloyd said, "and it's only going to get harder."
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Uruguay crushed Ecuador 4-0 in their Copa America opener on Sunday with help from an early sending off that deflated their opponents and assured the 15-times champions the simplest of starts to their campaign.
Uruguay were already leading 1-0 from a sixth minute Nicolas Lodeiro goal when Jose Quintero was shown a VAR-assisted red card for throwing an arm in an aerial challenge.
The 23rd minute sending off put Uruguay firmly in the driving seat and Edinson Cavani with an acrobatic volley and Luis Suarez with a poacher's goal made it 3-0 by half-time.
The Uruguayans took their foot off the pedal in an uneventful second half but an own goal from Arturo Mina 12 minutes from time, confirmed by VAR, sealed a miserable night for Ecuador.
"We had our chances in the first half and we took them. That allowed us to manage the game," Cavani said. "They went down to 10 men and that allowed us to control the match."
The result, Uruguay's biggest win in the Copa America since 1967, puts them top of Group C, with Japan to play Chile in the second group game tomorrow.
Ecuador, one of only two South American sides never to win the tournament, looked poor throughout the game at the Mineirao stadium and will have to recover quickly before facing Chile, the current Copa America champions in Salvador on Friday.
Uruguay's next match is against Japan in Porto Alegre on Thursday. (All matches live in the U.S. on ESPN+).
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Sometimes things take a 180-degree turn. Up becomes down. White is now black. Thor turns out to be Loki. Your certainties end up being replaced by what you thought was heresy.
Welcome to the Maurizio Sarri managerial experience at Chelsea, which officially came to an end on Sunday. It's hard to tell what would have seemed more absurd this time a year ago: that Sarri would leave Chelsea to join Juventus, or that his biggest shortcoming at Stamford Bridge would be playing a style of football that pundits and fans did not enjoy.
The conventional wisdom when he was appointed was pretty clear. Sarri would implement his style of football, based on short passing, coordinated movement and a high press, and it would be fabulously entertaining if potentially a bit naive. If he failed, it would be solely down to results, because more pragmatic and cynical opponents regularly smashed and grabbed their way to the points. As for the idea of him leaving for Juventus after just one season, the idea that Sarri truly would be on his way felt only slightly less plausible than that of Cristiano Ronaldo becoming a Franciscan monk.
Instead, what do we have? Sarri is confirmed as the next Juve manager. Chelsea finished third, behind two teams that finished with two of the three highest points totals in Premier League history. They also won the Europa League final and reached the League Cup final, where they were beaten only on penalties. Any way you slice it, Sarri ticked the results box.
And yet, folks didn't like his football. Or, perhaps more accurately, they liked it at first when it was accompanied by results -- Chelsea lost their first game in all competitions in late November, winning 15 of 17 in all competitions along the way -- and then turned on it when they hit a road bump. That's when the floodgates of criticism opened. That's when some supporters and ex-pros-turned-pundits started moaning about "like for like" substitutions (the Ross Barkley-for-Mateo Kovacic move, and vice versa, was a classic) and saying stuff like, Gee, wouldn't Chelsea be so much better if Jorginho and N'Golo Kanteswitched positions. (The latter was often said with a straight face.)
- When does the new Premier League season start?
- Who has qualified for Europe from the Premier League?
- When does the transfer window close?
Sarri never recovered. He became a caricature, some sort of googly-eyed dogmatist whose explanations were laughed off by the braying masses. Such as when he said his system is predicated on a deep-lying playmaker: It doesn't necessarily need to be Jorginho, but it can't be Kante, because Kante doesn't have the skill set to play there. Many understood that it would be akin to asking Adele to front a metal band. To others, it was a simple equation: "Look! He really has lost it! He thinks Kante is better than Jorginho -- what a fool!"
At the boardroom level, Chelsea were miffed. They had appointed Sarri because they believed that European football had changed, that you needed to play proactive, attacking and possession-based football. That's what every top club played, with the possible exception of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, Max Allegri at Juventus and Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. (Not coincidentally, two of those three have since moved on.)
They also felt that having a "system" manager would also be more cost efficient relative to his predecessors, Mourinho and Antonio Conte. After all, at Napoli, Sarri had played a key role in the development of players such as Lorenzo Insigne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Allan and Dries Mertens. Given the assembly line of talent churned out by Chelsea's academy -- from Callum Hudson-Odoi to Ethan Ampadu, Ruben Loftus-Cheek to Reece James, Andreas Christensen to Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount to Tammy Abraham -- they reckoned he'd be the sort of guy to help develop it over time.
Instead, his football -- especially when the winter set in -- left many cold, and this is perhaps where, in the modern game, it's worth remembering another key element to management: In addition to delivering results, developing the team and keeping the bosses happy, you need to connect with the fans. Or, more accurately, if you connect with the fans, the job gets a whole heck of a lot easier.
Ultimately, the fans are your customers, the folks who pay your salary. You represent the brand they love. If you're a match, or they see you as a match, the road ahead is downhill. Just ask Jurgen Klopp. Or Pep Guardiola. Or Mauricio Pochettino. Or, because there is more than one way to connect, Simeone.
Sarri never achieved that connection with enough of the fan base, meaning the portion of the supporters who go to Stamford Bridge and scream the loudest when things go wrong. One school of thought is that Chelsea fans connect best with a certain type of pragmatic, bellicose manager who plays to the crowd and Sarri isn't that (unlike Conte and Mourinho). It's no coincidence the one Chelsea boss before Sarri who tried to bring about a philosophical shift to proactive attacking football, Andre Villas-Boas, also failed to connect with the fan base and, at times, felt like a foreign object.
Culture matters, and while it can change and evolve over time, it's not an easy process.
Chelsea were willing to go down that road with Sarri. Had Juventus not come calling, Sarri would have been back next season. The transfer ban that would have made it difficult to attract a top manager, the departure of Eden Hazard and the nearly $50 million already shelled out in compensation to sacked managers over the past four years no doubt would have played a part in that decision, of course. But the belief that the club's style needs updating remains.
In Sarri's case, it wasn't the message and it wasn't even the messenger, though a different one may have fared better. It was simply circumstance and the way it was received. Perhaps also the realisation that shaking 15 years of history and expectation will take more than a season.
The curious thing is that Sarri's next chapter takes him to a club trying to execute a similar philosophical and cultural U-turn after eight seasons of dominance in Serie A under Allegri and Conte. You can only hope that some lessons were learned from Sarri's season at Stamford Bridge. By Sarri and by Chelsea, sure, but also by Juventus.
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