Posted: 31 Jul 2010 07:58 AM PDT

What do you like best about golf?
I love just how hard a game it is. It's something you can never master. You can get close, but it's one of those games that keep you coming back for more. As frustrating as it can be at times, that one great shot or one great hole keeps you coming back. It's relaxing. As crazy as I feel my life is at times, to step out on a golf course is therapeutic. Just to be outside, be in nature, enjoy the beauty of a golf course and be able to play a game that's still competitive. You're still working toward something: you're trying to birdie every hole, you're trying to play better than your handicap. And you play golf with people you like. There are so many great elements to it.

Standing under center, do you ever find yourself daydreaming about golf?
No. Never. If I thought of golf while I was under center, I would get my head knocked off [Laughs]. I try not to think about football when I play golf and I definitely don't think about golf when I'm playing football.

What was your best moment on the golf course?
I had my first hole-in-one last year at a course called Applebrook near Philadelphia. That was a pretty exciting experience. It was 199-yard par 3, but it was playing 205. I hit a pure 5-iron that was tracking to the hole the entire time. It's the only time I've actually hit one that the minute it left my club I was thinking, "This ball's going in the hole." I just knew it.

How does the exhilaration of a hole-in-one compare to throwing a touchdown pass?
Well, getting a hole-in-one is much more rare so that was a pretty good feeling. But the moment when the timing and everything has come together, whether it's the perfect pass or the perfect shot, it's a similar feeling.

Why are so many quarterbacks good at golf?
There are a lot of similarities between the quarterback's throwing motion and the motion of hitting a golf ball. Your hips, shoulders, and everything coming around in an efficient way and the timing element and the hand-eye coordination, it's all very similar. Plus, for quarterbacks, completing a third-down pass or fourth-down pass into tight coverage is like making an 8-foot putt to win on 18. There are a lot of parallels you can draw there.

If you, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre played a skins game, who'd take home the most money?
I don't know. That's a good question. Someone should organize that and we'll see.

If you got hurt and had to choose a pro golfer to quarterback the Saints, who would it be?
I'd say Bubba Watson. He's got some good height to him, he's about 6'2 or 6'3. I know he went to Georgia so he's used to a pretty good football tradition. He's exactly my age (31) and I think he's got the mindset for it. You watch him hit a golf ball and there's no doubt this guy could throw a football.

Are there any other pro golfers who might make gpd football players?
Ricky Barnes. His dad played professional football and he's built like a tight end so I'm saying Ricky Barnes could play tight end if he wanted to.

Who are the best and worst NFL golfers you've played with?
Trent Dilfer is pretty good. Tony Romo is a good player. Carson Palmer, Chris Chandler are good players. John Elway. I don't know any bad players, most of the guys I've played with are pretty good.

In March you played in the Honda Classic pro-am with Jack Nicklaus. What about Jack most surprised you?
He doesn't get to play a lot of golf because of his course-design business and other stuff, but he's still so consistent with his game. He gave me a lot of tips as we were playing. It was a really windy day when we played so he gave me tips on hitting shots into the wind -- choke down on the club, take an extra club, make a more compact swing, keep the ball a little lower. I was pulling my head up while putting so he gave me a little trick to keep my head down while I'm putting. I'm been working on those things and they've really helped my game. It's pretty cool when Jack Nicklaus is giving you advice.

Jerry Rice flamed out in his bid to join the Nationwide Tour. Do you feel that some football players — and pro athletes in general — underestimate the difficulty of succeeding in pro golf?
Yes, I think they do a little bit. I just got done playing in the Pebble Beach U.S. Open Challenge. I didn't play very well, but that course was so hard. The rough was so thick you couldn't hit anything more than an 8-iron out of it. Typically, you're just grabbing a wedge and trying to hack it 90 degrees back into the fairway. You're not advancing it at all. The wind was blowing, the fairways are tight, the greens are fast. You combine all those things together and it's like the perfect storm. You cannot make a mistake or it will cost you two or three strokes. I played terribly but it made me appreciate just how difficult a U.S. Open course is and the difficulty of tournament courses in general. To play that sport where you grind for four days straight and have to play really good golf in order to win a tournament is tough work and I have a lot of respect for those guys and what they're able to do.

When you hang up your cleats, could you see yourself making a run at pro golf?
I would love to. I feel like if I could dedicate the time to it, I could be a good player. Whether I'll have the time to do that, I don't know, but I definitely love the game of golf and I'm always going to play it.

Many QBs excel at the two-minute drill, maybe because they're not think over-thinking every play. Would golfers be better off if they took only two minutes to play every hole?
Maybe not two minutes, but the faster you play the hole, the better, because you don't have time to think. You don't think about all the problems on the shot, you don't over-think your club selection, you just grab your club and grip and rip. With the slow play you have to maintain your focus for so long. It can be mentally draining. That's why you've got to be mentally tough to play that sport. If you speed it up, it makes it a little easier. But if you did speed golf on the PGA Tour, I don't know if many of them would make it, because I'm not sure how great shape they're all in [Laughs].

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Golf outing to raise money for autism awareness

Posted: 31 Jul 2010 06:05 AM PDT

Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 9:00 AM

KALAMAZOO — A golf outing to raise money for autism is planned for 2 p.m. Aug. 15 at Thornapple Creek Golf Club.

The Autism Awareness Golf Outing is being organized by Jim and Missy Ohm, and its proceeds will go to the Kalamazoo Autism Center.

The registration deadline is Monday. For more information, call Jim Ohm at 269-823-2064.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Golf

Posted: 30 Jul 2010 10:22 PM PDT

Posted: July 31
Updated: Today at 1:00 AM

Golf

Women's British Open Scores

Friday

At Royal Birkdale Golf Club

Southport, England

Purse: $2.5 million

Yardage: 6,458; Par: 72

Second Round

a-amateur

Yani Tseng	68-68—136
Cristie Kerr	73-67—140
Amy Yang	69-71—140
Brittany Lincicome	69-71—140
Suzann Pettersen	73-68—141
Juli Inkster	71-70—141
Sun Young Yoo	69-72—141
Christina Kim	74-68—142
M.J. Hur	74-68—142
Hee Kyung Seo	73-69—142
Momoko Ueda	72-70—142
Jiyai Shin	71-71—142
In-Kyung Kim	70-72—142
Anne-Lise Caudal	69-73—142
Katherine Hull	68-74—142
Ashleigh Simon	74-69—143
Maria Hernandez	73-70—143
Inbee Park	72-71—143
Brittany Lang	71-72—143
Na Yeon Choi	74-70—144
Irene Cho	73-71—144
Hee Young Park	72-72—144
Stacy Bregman	71-73—144
Chie Arimura	77-68—145
Sarah Jane Smith	76-69—145
Azahara Munoz	74-71—145
Sakura Yokomine	74-71—145
Iben Tinning	73-72—145
Stacy Lewis	71-74—145
Stacy Prammanasudh	71-74—145
Ai Miyazato	76-70—146
Sherri Steinhauer	76-70—146
Meena Lee	75-71—146
Lee-Anne Pace	74-72—146
Karine Icher	74-72—146
Becky Brewerton	73-73—146
Karrie Webb	73-73—146
Wendy Ward	73-73—146
Laura Davies	72-74—146
Gwladys Nocera	71-75—146
Michelle Wie	70-76—146
Jeong Jang	74-73—147
Jimin Kang	74-73—147
Henrietta Zuel	74-73—147
Sophie Gustafson	73-74—147
Mariajo Uribe	73-74—147
Mindy Kim	72-75—147
Jee Young Lee	72-75—147
Ji Young Oh	79-69—148
Morgan Pressel	77-71—148
Florentyna Parker	77-71—148
Melissa Reid	77-71—148
Vicky Hurst	77-71—148
Alena Sharp	77-71—148
Jennifer Rosales	76-72—148
Song-Hee Kim	75-73—148
Shanshan Feng	75-73—148
Moira Dunn	75-73—148
Paula Creamer	74-74—148
Sarah Lee	74-74—148
Meaghan Francella	74-74—148
Katie Futcher	74-74—148
Janice Moodie	72-76—148
Angela Stanford	76-73—149
Giulia Sergas	76-73—149
Amy Hung	75-74—149
Haeji Kang	75-74—149
Seon Hwa Lee	75-74—149
Anja Monke	75-74—149
Kris Tamulis	75-74—149
a-Caroline Hedwall	74-75—149
Eunjung Yi	73-76—149
Anna Nordqvist	72-77—149
Carin Koch	72-77—149
Mi Hyun Kim	72-77—149

Failed to qualify

Caroline Afonso	78-72—150
Lindsey Wright	77-73—150
Sandra Gal	76-74—150
Misun Cho	75-75—150
Heather Bowie Young	75-75—150
Georgina Simpson	74-76—150
Maria Hjorth	73-77—150
Libby Smith	73-77—150
Lynnette Brooky	72-78—150
Hee-Won Han	72-78—150
Rui Kitada	80-71—151
Karin Sjodin	80-71—151
a-Kelly Tidy	78-73—151
Beatriz Recari	78-73—151
Malene Jorgensen	77-74—151
Na On Min	77-74—151
Trish Johnson	76-75—151
Louise Friberg	76-75—151
Candie Kung	75-76—151
Chella Choi	72-79—151
Eun-Hee Ji	77-75—152
Karen Stupples	77-75—152
Jane Park	77-75—152
Karen Lunn	75-77—152
Helen Alfredsson	75-77—152
a-Julie Yang	74-78—152
Linda Wessberg	80-73—153
Kyeong Bae	78-75—153
Amanda Blumenherst	77-76—153
Frances Bondad	77-76—153
a-Danielle McVeigh	74-79—153
Christel Boeljon	74-79—153
Vicki Laing	73-80—153
Jean Reynolds	80-74—154
Kristy McPherson	79-75—154
Diana Luna	79-75—154
Akane Iijima	80-75—155
Rebecca Flood	77-78—155
Pat Hurst	76-79—155
Lisa Meldrum	76-79—155
Silvia Cavalleri	81-75—156
Julieta Granada	79-77—156
Mika Miyazato	77-79—156
Rebecca Coakley	77-79—156
Sophie Giquel	77-79—156
Catriona Matthew	75-81—156
Paige Mackenzie	82-75—157
Karen Margrethe Juul	80-77—157
Mollie Fankhouser	79-78—157
a-Amy Boulden	78-79—157
Pernilla Lindberg	86-72—158
Kristie Smith	79-79—158
Martina Gillen	79-79—158
Allison Hanna	78-80—158
Lynn Kenny	78-80—158
Veronica Zorzi

Virginie Lagoutte-Clement

81-78—159

Caroline Masson

77-82—159

Krystle Caithness

77-82—159

Jade Schaeffer

84-76—160

Stephanie Michl

81-79—160

Nina Reis

83-78—161

Mariana MacIas

82-79—161

Melodie Bourdy

81-80—161

Sophie Sandolo

77-84—161

Matia Maffuletti

81-82—163

Marianne Skarpnord

83-81—164

Teresa Lu

78-WD

Soo-Yun Kang

79-WD

Irish Open scores

Friday

At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club

Killarney, Ireland

Purse: $3.5 million

Yardage: 7,161; Par: 71

Second Round

Ross Fisher, England	69-61—130
Francesco Molinari, Italy	67-66—133
Anders Hansen, Denmark	67-68—135
Seung-yul Noh, South Korea	66-69—135
Padraig Harrington, Ireland	68-67—135
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Spain	66-69—135
Brett Rumford, Australia	66-69—135
Michael Hoey, Northern Ireland	66-69—135
David Dixon, England	67-68—135
Richard Green, Australia	65-70—135
Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland	67-68—135
Chris Wood, England	71-65—136
Paul McGinley, Ireland	68-68—136
Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland	66-70—136
Johan Edfors, Sweden	67-69—136
Chris Wood, England	71-65—136
Anton haig, South Africa	66-70—136
Damien McGrane, Ireland	65-72—137
Patrik Sjoland, Sweden	68-70—138
David Drysdale, Scotland	67-71—138
Simon Khan, England	68-70—138
Paul Lawrie, Scotland	66-72—138
Sam Hutsby, England	69-69—138

Also

David Howell, England	64-75—139
Danny Lee, New Zealand	67-73—140
Anthony Kang, United States	69-71—140

The Greenbrier Classic Par Scores

Friday

At The Old White Course

White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Purse: $6 million

Yardage: 7,031;Par 70

Second Round

a-denotes amateur

Jeff Overton	64-62—126	-14
Boo Weekley	67-63—130	-10
Jimmy Walker	67-64—131	-9
Erik Compton	63-68—131	-9
Aaron Baddeley	67-65—132	-8
Briny Baird	67-65—132	-8
Chris Stroud	69-63—132	-8
Charles Howell III	65-67—132	-8
Scott Piercy	66-67—133	-7
Scott McCarron	67-66—133	-7
Richard S. Johnson	66-67—133	-7
Chris Couch	66-67—133	-7
Jim Furyk	68-65—133	-7
Brendon de Jonge	65-68—133	-7
Spencer Levin	66-67—133	-7
Ben Crane	66-67—133	-7
Pat Perez	64-69—133	-7
Matt Bettencourt	65-69—134	-6
John Rollins	65-69—134	-6
Davis Love III	68-66—134	-6
Paul Stankowski	69-65—134	-6
Bob Estes	66-68—134	-6
Stuart Appleby	66-68—134	-6
D.A. Points	68-66—134	-6
Troy Matteson	69-65—134	-6
Jonathan Byrd	69-65—134	-6
Brett Wetterich	67-68—135	-5
Steve Flesch	68-67—135	-5
Sergio Garcia	68-67—135	-5
Tom Gillis	72-63—135	-5
John Senden	68-67—135	-5
Skip Kendall	67-68—135	-5
Roger Tambellini	69-66—135	-5
Matt Every	63-72—135	-5
Tim Herron	69-66—135	-5
Woody Austin	67-68—135	-5
Stephen Ames	68-67—135	-5
Carl Pettersson	71-64—135	-5
Justin Leonard	67-68—135	-5
Ben Curtis	69-66—135	-5
Chad Collins	66-69—135	-5
Charley Hoffman	70-66—136	-4
Michael Bradley	69-67—136	-4
Chris DiMarco	70-66—136	-4
John Huston	71-65—136	-4
Charlie Wi	69-67—136	-4
Kevin Sutherland	67-69—136	-4
Kevin Na	70-66—136	-4
Arjun Atwal	68-68—136	-4
Brian Stuard	67-69—136	-4
Bill Lunde	69-67—136	-4
Brandt Snedeker	68-68—136	-4
Marc Leishman	68-68—136	-4
Troy Merritt	69-67—136	-4
Dean Wilson	66-70—136	-4
Mathew Goggin	66-70—136	-4
Jeev Milkha Singh	67-69—136	-4
Aron Price	65-71—136	-4
Michael Letzig	72-65—137	-3
Graham DeLaet	70-67—137	-3
John Daly	69-68—137	-3
Cameron Percy	69-68—137	-3
Brent Delahoussaye	68-69—137	-3
Joe Ogilvie	68-69—137	-3
Charles Warren	69-68—137	-3
Greg Chalmers	68-69—137	-3
Chris Riley	68-69—137	-3
Jay Williamson	66-71—137	-3
Garrett Willis	71-67—138	-2
Ricky Barnes	70-68—138	-2
Roland Thatcher	71-67—138	-2
Joe Durant	70-68—138	-2
Craig Bowden	68-70—138	-2
J.J. Henry	69-69—138	-2
J.B. Holmes	69-69—138	-2
Rocco Mediate	70-68—138	-2
a-Jonathan Bartlett	70-68—138	-2
Jerod Turner	69-69—138	-2
Nicholas Thompson	70-68—138	-2
Jeff Quinney	66-72—138	-2
Cameron Beckman	68-70—138	-2
Matt Kuchar	69-69—138	-2
Derek Lamely	69-69—138	-2
Blake Adams	71-67—138	-2
Brenden Pappas	71-67—138	-2{ql}

Failed to qualify

Paul Goydos	66-73—139	-1
Will MacKenzie	73-66—139	-1
Trevor Immelman	71-68—139	-1
James Nitties	76-63—139	-1
Cameron Tringale	74-65—139	-1
Garth Mulroy	68-71—139	-1
Bob Sowards	71-68—139	-1
Jerry Kelly	70-69—139	-1
Daniel Chopra	70-69—139	-1
David Toms	70-69—139	-1
Johnson Wagner	73-66—139	-1
John Mallinger	66-73—139	-1
James Driscoll	68-71—139	-1
Kevin Streelman	73-66—139	-1
Steve Wheatcroft	70-69—139	-1
Andrew McLardy	71-68—139	-1
Drew Weaver	68-71—139	-1
Martin Flores	71-68—139	-1
Tim Petrovic	72-68—140	E
Billy Mayfair	70-70—140	E
Matt Jones	70-70—140	E
Brett Quigley	72-68—140	E
Greg Owen	68-72—140	E
Tom Pernice, Jr.	72-68—140	E
Alex Hamilton	67-73—140	E
Brad Faxon	73-67—140	E
Lee Janzen	67-73—140	E
George McNeill	64-76—140	E
Josh Teater	72-68—140	E
Gary Woodland	71-69—140	E
Patrick Moore	68-72—140	E
Justin Bolli	68-72—140	E
Kevin Stadler	73-68—141	+1
Ted Purdy	73-68—141	+1
Ryuji Imada	72-69—141	+1
Todd Hamilton	73-68—141	+1
Jarrod Lyle	71-70—141	+1
Glen Day	71-70—141

Brian Gay

74-67—141

Rod Pampling

71-70—141

Barry Evans

71-71—142

Vance Veazey

71-71—142

Chris Tidland

71-72—143

David Morland IV

73-70—143

Mark Wilson

69-74—143

Steve Lowery

72-71—143

Kenny Perry

75-68—143

D.J. Trahan

72-71—143

Robert Garrigus

71-72—143

Sam Saunders

73-70—143

Omar Uresti

73-71—144

John Merrick

70-74—144

Brian Davis

74-70—144

Martin Laird

69-76—145

Kevin Johnson

74-71—145

Mathias Gronberg

74-71—145

Alex Prugh

73-72—145

David Lutterus

72-73—145

Cliff Kresge

76-70—146

Alex Cejka

77-69—146

Henrik Bjornstad

73-73—146

Jeff Gove

75-71—146

Jeff Maggert

71-75—146

Chris Wilson

71-75—146

Michael Connell

76-71—147

Webb Simpson

74-76—150

+10

Rich Barcelo

77-73—150

+10

Willis Ring

77-73—150

+10

Mark Hensby

76-75—151

+11

Dick Mast

71-81—152

+12

Nationwide-Cox Classic Scores

Friday

At Champions Run

Omaha, Neb.

Purse: $725,000

Yardage: 7,165; Par 71

Second Round

Kyle Thompson	63-65—128
Kevin Chappell	64-64—128
Bob May	67-63—130
Steven Bowditch	63-67—130
David Mathis	67-64—131
A.J. Elgert	67-64—131
Scott Gardiner	64-67—131
James Hahn	69-63—132
Dicky Pride	66-66—132
Ryan Armour	69-63—132
Scott Stallings	68-64—132
Aaron Watkins	65-67—132
James Vargas	66-66—132
Morgan Hoffmann	65-67—132
Ron Whittaker	68-64—132
Jim Herman	66-66—132
Tommy Gainey	67-66—133
Jason Gore	67-66—133
Jon Mills	68-65—133
Brendan Steele	66-67—133
Andrew Svoboda	68-65—133
Alistair Presnell	69-64—133
Justin Smith	67-66—133
Ken Duke	68-66—134
Adam Bland	68-66—134
Geoffrey Sisk	66-68—134
Matt Davidson	68-66—134
Berry Henson	65-69—134
Roberto Castro	67-67—134
Tag Ridings	68-66—134
Bobby Gates	67-67—134
Hunter Haas	65-69—134
Jhonattan Vegas	69-65—134
Robert Streb	69-65—134
Ty Harris	69-66—135
Scott Brown	69-66—135
Kent Jones	67-68—135
Tjaart van der Walt	67-68—135
Scott Sterling	66-69—135
Brian Bateman	67-68—135
Martin Piller	69-66—135
Michael Putnam	67-68—135
William McGirt	67-68—135
Bubba Dickerson	69-66—135
Peter Tomasulo	69-66—135
Joel Edwards	68-67—135
Scott Dunlap	67-68—135
Dave Schultz	70-65—135
Paul Claxton	69-66—135
Scott Gutschewski	67-68—135
Jin Park	69-66—135
Jason Enloe	70-66—136
Jeff Gallagher	68-68—136
Luke List	68-68—136
Stephen Poole	71-65—136
Fabian Gomez	66-70—136
Chris Nallen	71-65—136
Colt Knost	71-65—136
Brandon Crick	68-68—136
Jamie Lovemark	72-64—136
Brandt Jobe	65-71—136
Zack Miller	68-68—136
Matt Marshall	64-72—136

Failed to qualify

Brad Adamonis	68-69—137
John Riegger	70-67—137
Chris Kirk	65-72—137
Camilo Benedetti	71-66—137
Nick Rousey	73-64—137
Mark Anderson	68-69—137
Bradley Iles	67-70—137
Tom Byrum	69-68—137
Ray Beaufils	65-72—137
Fernando Mechereffe	73-64—137
Keegan Bradley	68-70—138
Jim Carter	66-72—138
Doug LaBelle II	67-71—138
Kevin Kisner	71-67—138
Brian Vranesh	68-70—138
Oskar Bergman	69-69—138
Jon Petersen	68-70—138
Rick Price	70-68—138
D.J. Brigman	72-66—138
Todd Fischer	69-69—138
Patrick Sheehan	71-67—138
Marc Turnesa	70-68—138
Jonas Blixt	69-69—138
Jeff Curl	70-68—138
Sal Spallone	72-66—138
Frank Lickliter II	69-70—139
Ryan Hietala	67-72—139
Kelly Grunewald	72-67—139
Manuel Villegas	74-65—139
Ben Portie	66-73—139
Clint Jensen	72-67—139
Darron Stiles	73-66—139
Gavin Coles	67-72—139
B.J. Staten	72-67—139
Jeff Brehaut	71-68—139
John Kimbell	69-70—139
David Hearn	70-69—139
Daniel Barbetti	70-69—139
Daniel Summerhays	68-71—139
Josh Broadaway	70-70—140
Michael Clark II	71-69—140
Garrett Osborn	71-69—140
Jess Daley	74-66—140
Nick Malinowski	71-69—140
Barrett Jarosch	71-69—140
Ewan Porter	65-75—140
Marco Dawson	73-67—140
Gary Christian	68-72—140
Brady Schnell	75-65—140
Trevor Murphy	68-72—140
Miguel Angel Carballo	70-70—140
Leif Olson	67-73—140
David Branshaw	72-69—141
Casey Wittenberg	69-72—141
Nate Smith	73-68—141
Won Joon Lee	70-71—141
Jay Delsing	69-72—141
Steven Alker	71-70—141
Esteban Toledo	70-71—141
Rob Oppenheim	71-70—141
Billy Horschel	72-69—141
Ted Brown	73-68—141
Kyle Reifers	71-71—142
Matthew Borchert	72-70—142
Ted Potter, Jr.	70-72—142
Nick Flanagan	70-72—142
Andrew Buckle	68-74—142
David McKenzie	70-72—142
Joe Affrunti	68-74—142
Jonathan Kaye	70-72—142
Byron Smith	72-70—142
Kyle Stanley	77-66—143
Jason Schultz	74-69—143
Phil Tataurangi	72-71—143
Diego Vanegas	70-73—143
David D. Schultz	71-72—143
Brad Elder	73-71—144
Adam Meyer	69-75—144

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Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Saturday, July 31, 2010