05/09/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Golf Betting) - There have been significant winning streaks in golf over the years, and there have also been plenty of players who have stressed family over golf. Occasionally the two intersect.
Consider the case of Juli Inkster, who will miss the upcoming McDonald's LPGA Championship because her daughter is graduating from grade school.
Inkster last missed a major in 1994, missing the Kraft Nabisco Championship that year due to the birth of her youngest daughter, the same one on the verge of graduation. Inkster has played every major since. That is 56 straight majors played, the seventh-longest unbroken string on the all-time LPGA list.
The soon-to-be-snapped streak trails those of Amy Alcott (74), Betsy King (73), Meg Mallon (68), Liselotte Neumann (62), Jane Geddes (60) and Laura Davies (57). Davies' streak is the only active one on that list.
If she hadn't missed the '94 Kraft, Inkster's streak would be at 73 straight majors.
During this stretch, Inkster has missed just five cuts and was disqualified once. She collected four of her seven major championship titles along the way, including back-to-back wins at the 1999 LPGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open. Those were her first wins at both of those majors.
In the midst of picking up titles, Inkster also posted at least one major top-10 finish in 10 of the 14 years of the streak. Her best year in the stretch was 1999, when she finished tied for sixth, first, first and third at the four majors.
There have been many notable players who have taken time off to be with their families, or in Jack Nicklaus' case, taken a plane after a round to see a child's performance and flown right back to the tournament site.
Add Inkster to that list of notables.
CADDIE BENEFITS
Tour caddies normally have pre-arranged deals with their players regarding how they get paid on a weekly basis. Two of the past three PGA events have had an added bonus for the loopers.
At the Byron Nelson Championship, Adam Scott defeated Ryan Moore for the title. That meant Scott's caddie, Tony Navarro, was awarded a brand new Cadillac XLR-V courtesy of tournament sponsor EDS.
Couple that with his 10-percent cut of the $1.2 million paycheck Scott collected, and Navarro had a huge week.
At this week's Players Championship, the island green 17th has traditionally hosted some of the best drama on the PGA Tour. The drama of hitting the island green switched to the caddies on Wednesday.
Players used to stuff money in a jar on the tee box, and the winning caddie collected whatever was stuffed into the jar.
According to Michael Collins from the Golf Channel, winning caddie Jeff Willett was given a new laptop from the PGA Tour and CDW after knocking his shot to 17 inches.
Willett didn't get the jar money, which instead went to a cause near and dear to the tour caddies' hearts, the Bruce Edwards Foundation. Edwards was Tom Watson's regular caddie for many years and passed away due to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, on April 8th, 2004.
WHO CAN WIN ON THE LPGA TOUR?
The LPGA is playing its' 11th event this week. There are 22 more after this. So far, just four players have won titles.
Not surprisingly, Lorena Ochoa has continued her remarkable play this year with five wins in seven starts. That comes after she won eight events last year.
Along with Ochoa, the other three winners are Paula Creamer (two), Annika Sorenstam (two) and Louise Friberg (one).
The field has its work cut out for it this week at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. Sorenstam is one back and Ochoa two back after the opening round. Ochoa has shared second place here three times in the five years of the event.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo missed the cut a U.S. Open qualifier this week. Romo, who said afterwards that he hadn't practiced enough, shot 75 at a local qualifying event and missed a playoff by four strokes. If he had played in the playoff, he could have won a spot in a sectional qualifying event.
- Michelle Wie returned to action this week, marking her first appearance since the Fields Open in Hawaii in February. She continues to battle wrist injuries, and opened with a four-over 75 on Thursday. Wie will need to shoot 68 or better to stay around for the final two rounds. She hasn't posted a top-10 finish since tying for second at the 2006 Evian Masters.
<< Reds place Mercker on DL
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed relief pitcher
Kent Mercker on the 15-day disabled list on Friday, retroactive to May 6,
with lower back pain.
The 40-year-old left-hander has a 3.86 earned run average
<< Columbus gunning for fifth straight win at San Jose
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When asked how the Columbus Crew, who have
won four straight and five of six, could continue their early-season success,
forward Alejandro Moreno had a simple answer.
"Well," Moreno said, "we keep doing t
<< Cubs activate Eyre
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated pitcher Scott Eyre
from the 15-day disabled list and optioned left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall
to Triple-A Iowa on Friday.
Eyre, 35, has missed the first 34 games this seas
<< Wolfsburg, Stuttgart highlight key Bundesliga games
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath described
Saturday's Bundesliga match against Stuttgart as a "final."
Wolfsburg has climbed from 11th at the halfway point of the season to seventh
- only Bayern Munich an
Houston looks for first win vs. first place Rapids >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The back-to-back defending Major League Soccer
Cup champion Houston Dynamo will be gunning for their first win of the 2008
season on Saturday night when they host the Colorado Rapids.
The struggling Dynam
Federer falls in Rome quarters >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek
Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-
up.
The un
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PHOENIX (AP) -Despite rampant speculation that Mike D'Antoni is headed to Chicago or New York, Phoenix point guard Steve Nash expects his coach to be back on the Suns' bench next season.Beyond that, the two-time NBA MVP had little to say about the S
Report: Knicks negotiating with D'Antoni >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks are reportedly
negotiating with Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni to become their next coach.
The New York Post reported on its website on Friday, citing a league source,
that co
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According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
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Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
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Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
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