I Dig Sports
Jack McGrath didn’t need to drive race cars.
Unlike many of his peers who turned to racing during the Great Depression to put food on the table, McGrath had no such concerns. His family was wealthy.
McGrath’s father fully expected his son to join him in the family business, a meat processing plant in Los Angeles.
McGrath had other ideas, however. Auto racing captured his passion. It seduced him, fulfilled him and eventually killed him.
His infatuation was ignited by a fascination with cars. During his early teens, he laboriously rebuilt a $15 junkyard Model T.
“I got it running great,” McGrath told writer John Painter. “But my father wouldn’t let me drive it on the street. The only place I could ever give it a ride was around the plant’s yard.”
As much as McGrath’s father detested his tinkering with cars, his loathing erupted when McGrath began racing. A grievous rift resulted and years passed without father and son speaking.
In 1935, the 16-year-old modified a ’29 Ford roadster to run on the Muroc Dry Lakes. He hustled it to 100 mph. When more success followed, he opened a speed shop to provide engines to Los Angeles hot rodders.
World War II curtailed racing, but after the war McGrath became immersed in going fast. His reputation grew, catching West Coast promoter Bill White’s attention. In mid-1945, White offered McGrath a ride in his track roadster.
It was his first closed-course competition and he took to it instinctively. In 1946, McGrath won the first CRA championship and repeated as the organization’s champion in ’47. Along with the roadsters, he dabbled in sprint cars and midgets — and won in them.
In May 1947, barely 18 months after his first oval race, McGrath appeared at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, seeking a ride. AAA officials gave a startled glance at his thin résumé and sent him home.
McGrath turned to his hero, Rex Mays, “… I wish I could be like him,” he once said. Mays found him an AAA sprint car ride. McGrath capitalized on the opportunity, gained experience on the Championship Trail and qualified for the 1948 Indianapolis 500.
In 1949, McGrath arrived at Indianapolis in the little-regarded City of Tacoma Special. He put the car on the front row, the first of six front-row starts, five consecutive, in his eight Indianapolis 500s.
McGrath certainly knew how to get around the speedway. Explaining McGrath’s touch at Indy, his longtime mechanic Jack Beckley said, “He loved high speed. Many guys thought they wanted to run there, but once they saw those long straights they had second thoughts. Not Jack.”
For 1950, Kansas oil millionaire and car owner Jack Hinkle signed McGrath and Beckley. McGrath never drove for another owner.
Nicknamed the “Three Jacks,” the team was one of the best of the era. McGrath won at Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Speedway and the New York State Fairgrounds in 1950, and in six seasons claimed four championship wins, 26 top-five finishes and nine poles.
The one win McGrath never managed, however, was the one he most wanted — Indianapolis. He had front-row starts in 1951, ’52, ’53 and the pole with a track record in ’54. But nagging problems stopped him short of victory.
In 1955, again a favorite for the win, he charged from the front row only to be challenged by Bill Vukovich on lap four. What ensued was one of the most intense battles in Indianapolis history. For 54 laps, neither backed off.
Then, suddenly, McGrath was in the pits with the hood up. He was out of the race.
Three laps later he watched with a stunned crowd as Vukovich perished in a multi-car accident on the backstretch.
McGrath reconciled with his dad and intended to drive for Vuky’s crack mechanics Jim Travers and Frank Coon in 1956. With their mechanical expertise and McGrath’s uncanny talent, it was a dream scenario that could have led to Indianapolis glory.
But racing is a tragic sport and McGrath was killed in a wild accident on Nov. 6, 1955 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions invaded Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, for the annual running of the Lou Blaney Memorial.
COSTA MESA, Calif. – MotoAmerica has announced that Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys has come on board as a sponsor for the Sonoma Raceway round of the MotoAmerica Series, the Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma.
Additionally, Russ Brown will sponsor the Russ Brown Cycle Corral, a free motorcycle parking section within the racetrack.
“It’s great to have Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys’ support for our Sonoma round,” said MotoAmerica’s Lance Bryson. “We’re expecting a large contingent of people riding their motorcycles to Sonoma and they’ll appreciate having a safe, convenient place to park their motorcycles. So, thanks to Russ Brown for sponsoring the Cycle Corral.”
“MotoAmerica is the best series we have here in the U.S. to move American riders back onto the world stage of top-level motorcycle racing,” said Wendy Koro, Operations Manager at Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys. “Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys has been associated with MotoAmerica since its inception and we are proud to be a sponsor of this important series and the race at the historic Sonoma Raceway. We’re also diehard racing fans and the time spent in Sonoma is very special to us, not just as sponsors, but as fellow racers and riders. Stop by the Russ Brown booth and say hi and we look forward to seeing you there August 10-11.”
The Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma is round seven of the 2019 MotoAmerica Series and will feature all five classes – EBC Brakes Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000 and Twins Cup.
The San Jose Sharks re-signed restricted free-agent forward Kevin Labanc to a one-year deal, general manager Doug Wilson announced Monday. Terms were not disclosed.
Labanc, 23, made his case for a new deal with the Sharks last season by registering career highs in goals (17), assists (39), power-play points (20) and game-winning goals (4).
"Kevin took a big step forward in his production last season and has grown into an important part of our team here in San Jose," Wilson said "He's always had a dangerous shot but really stepped into a playmaking role for us last season and improved his 200-foot game as well. We think he still has even more potential to tap into and we're excited to see what he can do with an elevated role with this talented group."
Playing mostly third-line minutes, with Joe Thornton, the 23-year-old Labanc improved his goals and assists over last season in just about the same ice time. His Corsi percentage also stayed solid at 55.8 after a 54.5 campaign in 2017-18.
Labanc's 56 points were good for sixth on the team - tied with 27-year-old Evander Kane, whom the Sharks signed to a seven-year, $49 million deal in May 2018. Labanc added nine points in 20 playoff games.
In his three seasons with the Sharks, Labanc has appeared in 214 NHL games and recorded 116 points with a plus-two rating.
Feng avoids leaderboards, birdies 72nd hole to break drought
Shanshan Feng ended her victory drought in style Sunday at the Thornberry Creek Classic.
She beat Ariya Jutanugarn in a final-round duel to remind us all that she isn’t just a former world No. 1 and major champion. She’s still one of the world’s best ball-strikers.
Feng stuck a 7-iron to 3 feet at the last and made birdie to beat Jutanugarn by a shot.
She did this moments after Jutanugarn made birdie at the last in the pairing in front of her, but she didn’t realize she needed to make the putt to win until she looked at a leaderboard at the 18th green.
“Made me a little nervous,” Feng said.
Feng said she religiously avoids looking at leaderboards. She said it creates some awkward but amusing moments.
“I didn't know I was leading the tournament after three days,” she cracked. “My habit is I don't check the scores during the tournament, the whole tournament. Even after the first day, second day, third day, I don't check anything.”
In fact, Feng said, she has holed out her last putt at tournaments before not knowing that she had won.
“A few times, I’ve looked pretty confused,” she said. “That’s happened quite a few times.”
Feng, known for her good humor, said she had a pretty good idea she had a chance to win this week when she saw Sunday’s tee times.
“I was like, `Oh, looks like I'm in the last group, so maybe I’m leading,” she said.
Tied with five players early in the round, including Rolex world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park, Feng pulled away with her trademark iron play, firing at flagsticks in a bogey-free round of 9-under 63. She hit all 18 greens in regulation, leaving herself putts of 3 feet or less on three of the final five holes.
“My ball-striking is always my strength,” said Feng, 29. “But, actually, starting from last year, I kind of lost it a little bit.
“I tried to get more distance off the tees and then, maybe, just messed up the feeling, about controlling the ball. I got that back, so I'm really happy about that.”
The victory was Feng’s 10th LPGA title, but her first in 20 months. She reigned as the world No. 1 for 23 weeks, at the end of 2017 and early into 2018, but she was steadily sliding in the rankings. She missed the cut in all three of the majors this year and was down to No. 26 in the world coming into this week.
“I was kind of a little lost,” she said. “This week, I think I kind of got everything together.”
Feng finished at 29-under overall, the second lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history, just two behind the record Sei Young Kim set winning the Thornberry Creek Classic last year.
Tiffany Joh (67) and Amy Yang (65) tied for third, three shots back.
Hyo Joo Kim (64) finished fifth, her eighth top-10 finish in her last 10 starts.
Yealimi Noh, the 17-year-old making her LPGA debut as a pro, closed with a 68 to tie for sixth with the world No. 1 Park (69). Noh, who made it into the field as a Monday qualifier, will get another LPGA start next week. The Marathon Classic announced on the weekend that it extended her a sponsor’s exemption.
Jutanugarn, who swept all the LPGA’s major awards and honors a year ago, looked as if she was going to end her own winless spell and claim her first victory since winning the Ladies Scottish Open 49 weeks ago. She had a one-shot lead on Feng until making bogey at the 15th, where she hooked her tee shot into the edge of a hazard, pitched out, and then failing to get up and down for par after hooking her 6-iron approach into the rough left of the green.
“I didn’t feel comfortable hitting the 3-wood, but I just kept trying,” Jutanugarn said. “
Still, Feng wrestled the lead back from Jutanugarn after carving an 8-iron to 2 feet at the last to make birdie. She was gracious in the end, applauding as she sat aside the 18th green and watched Feng close with her birdie.
“It's a great win, because I think I got my game back, my confidence back,” Feng said. “And I believe that I can win more in the future.”
After capping a recent run of good results with a convincing win at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Jon Rahm is back inside the top 10 in the latest installment of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Rahm finished T-3 at Pebble Beach and T-2 at Valderrama, but he saved his best for Lahinch where he went 64-62 over the weekend to win by three shots. It's his second win of the year along with the team victory alongside Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic, and it lifted the Spaniard from 11th to eighth in the world. After starting the year at No. 6 and falling as far as 13th in recent weeks, he's back in the top 10 for the first time since the Masters.
Rahm wasn't the only player to make a move inside the top 10, as Bryson DeChambeau jumped from eighth to sixth with his T-2 finish at the 3M Open. The biggest jump from that event belonged to winner Matthew Wolff, who rose more than 1,000 spots to No. 135 with a victory in just his third start as a pro.
Collin Morikawa, who joined DeChambeau in a tie for second, went from No. 631 to No. 213 while securing temporary PGA Tour status. Adam Hadwin went from 74th to 63rd after finishing fourth in Minnesota, while Bernd Wiesberger jumped from 134th to 83rd after a T-2 finish in Ireland that also qualified him for The Open.
Brooks Koepka remained world No. 1 for another week after finishing 65th in Minnesota, followed by Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods. DeChambeau now sits at sixth, with Francesco Molinari, Rahm, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay rounding out the top 10. Xander Schauffele fell one spot to 11th with Rahm's entry into the top 10.
With The Open officially on the horizon, a pair of names remain at the top of the betting board for Royal Portrush.
Major magician Brooks Koepka opened as a 6/1 favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook when odds were released after the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, with Rory McIlroy next in line at 10/1. But the market has drawn them together in recent weeks, with Koepka and McIlroy both now listed as 8/1 co-favorites with the season's final major just a week away. Dustin Johnson, who opened at 12/1, remains at the same odds behind only the co-favorites.
McIlroy famously set the Portrush course record with a 61 at age 16, while Koepka has finished first or second in each of the first three majors this year.
Jon Rahm's win at the Irish Open drew some attention from bettors, as Rahm's odds fell from 20/1 to 16/1 over the weekend. That puts him alongside Tiger Woods, who opened at 12/1 after Pebble Beach and has since drifted slightly from the top spot.
Here's a look at the betting odds on some of the pre-tournament favorites, with the spotlight shifting to Northern Ireland in a matter of days:
8/1: Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy
12/1: Dustin Johnson
16/1: Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm
20/1: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose
25/1: Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood
30/1: Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
40/1: Matt Kuchar
50/1: Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell, Gary Woodland, Matt Wallace
60/1: Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed
80/1: Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Webb Simpson, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera-Bello
100/1: Danny Willett, Eddie Pepperell, Tyrrell Hatton
125/1: Chez Reavie, Zach Johnson, Kevin Kisner, Brandt Snedeker, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer
150/1: Scott Piercy, Abraham Ancer, Bernd Wiesberger, Daniel Berger, Sungjae Im, Russell Knox, Keegan Bradley, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alex Noren, Haotong Li, Branden Grace, Bubba Watson
R&A announces nearly 40-percent boost to Women's British purse
The R&A announced on Monday that it will increase the purse for next month’s AIG Women’s British Open to $4.5 million, a nearly 40 percent boost.
“This is an important first step, and we know it will take time to move closer to achieving parity with the men’s game,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “We will continue to work toward the long-term goal of a sustainable business model, but we can’t do it alone and the support of fans, sponsors and media are all key to achieving that success.”
The Open Championship’s purse this year is $10.75 million.
The AIG Women’s British Open purse is now the second largest in women’s golf, behind the U.S. Women’s Open ($5.5 million).
“We recognized that more needed to be done to elevate the prize fund for this great championship and are pleased that we have been able to make a significant increase this year as part of The R&A’s commitment to women’s golf,” Slumbers said.
The winner of this year’s Women’s British Open will take home $675,000. The event is scheduled for Aug. 1-4 at Woburn Golf Club north of London. Georgia Hall took home $490,000 as last year’s winner.
Noh, 17, playing Marathon on sponsor's invite after going from Mon. qualifier to T-6
American teenager Yealimi Noh will get another chance to build on her promising LPGA debut as a professional.
With Noh, 17, making a stirring run into contention at the Thornberry Classic last week, the Marathon Classic announced Saturday that she had accepted a sponsor’s exemption to play in its event this week. Noh ended up tying for sixth on Sunday.
“I'm just overall really happy with how I played and how I finished, too,” No said. “It was my goal to be inside the top 10.”
Noh made it into the Thornberry Creek field as a Monday qualifier. As an LPGA non-member, she wasn’t eligible for the top-10 berth into the Marathon Classic that was available to members not already in the Marathon field. The sponsor’s exemption spared Noh having to go through yet another Monday qualifier.
“I missed like five in a row [before making it into Thornberry Creek], even when there weren’t that many people,” Noh said. “So, I was really disappointed, but I knew my game could do better.”
Noh made a bogey at the last Sunday that cost her about $10,000, but she still took home $63,170 in earnings, which would rank her 104th on the LPGA money list, if she were a member. It’s important because she can earn LPGA status if she finishes the year with tour earnings that are equal or greater to the player who finishes the year 40th in money winnings.
Last year, Chella Choi finished 40th in money winnings with $253,217 in earnings.
Noh, from Concord, Calif., won the U.S. Girls’ Junior, the Junior PGA Championship and Canadian Women’s Amateur in consecutive weeks last year. She turned pro back in January and had been playing mostly mini-tour events while trying to Monday qualify for LPGA and Symetra Tour events.
Liverpool have edged out Europe's elite in their bid to sign Fulham's record-breaking midfielder Harvey Elliott, sources have told ESPN FC.
Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig all had designs on securing the services of the 16-year-old, who became the youngest-ever Premier League player in May.
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Manchester City and Chelsea were among the English clubs to scout the teenage sensation, who opted against remaining at Craven Cottage with sources close to the player having said he has decided his future is best served developing with the European champions.
Elliott will not turn professional until his 17th birthday, which is in April, and the maximum length of contract he can sign with Liverpool will be three years.
His schoolboy association with Fulham ended in June and the Cottagers can expect a weighty compensation fee from Liverpool for the England youth international. Elliott became Fulham's youngest player when he made his debut at Millwall in the Carabao Cup last September at 15 years and 174 days old.
He then broke the Premier League record in May 2019 against Wolves, aged 16 years and 30 days -- the first player born in 2003 to feature in the division.
Fulham captain Tom Cairney said at the time: "He doesn't look out of place and does some bits of magic that everyone says 'wow.'
"His attitude and his belief in himself at such a young age is frightening. He's a tricky winger who plays in the hole. He's got a great football brain, an eye for goal and is a very entertaining player."
Elliott represents an extension of Liverpool's commitment to recruiting hugely talented youngsters domestically and from the continent as seen with their signing of Sepp van den Berg.
The Reds will focus on a policy of retention rather than reconstruction this summer, while snapping up young talents for the future.
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