Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/33977
2B Daily News – Tuesday, June 14, 2011 OPEN (Continued from page 1B) town. ‘‘It meant a lot to me because it’s my hometown, and Congressional is a very special spot. It’s pretty neat.’’ No other major has so many dreamers, from the 13 ama- teurs in the 156-man field to the 28 players who had to go through 18-hole local and 36-hole sectional qualifying. The last player to win the U.S. Open after going through both stages of qualifying was Orville Moody in 1969 in Houston. Despite a career that features The Players Championship among his eight PGA Tour victories, Funk could fall into that category. He is the oldest player at Congressional this week. On a course that measures 7,574 yards on the scorecard, Funk was among the shortest (albeit straightest) off the tee even when he was young. And he has nearly 10 years on the old- est U.S. Open champion in history; Hale Irwin was 45 when he won at Medinah in 1990. A dreamer? Funk isn’t buying that. He found something at that qualifier last week. Instead of worrying about his mechanics, he went back to enjoying himself. And with his 15-year-old son Taylor on the bag — he will also caddie at Congressional — Funk played like he was back in his prime. After getting into the U.S. Open, he closed with a 62 on Sunday in a Champions Tour event to finish in a tie for third. ‘‘Nobody knows how good they’re going to play, but I still have high expectations,’’ Funk said. ‘‘I’m not here just to walk two rounds or four rounds and just show up. I want to be able to be competitive, and I truly believe I can still be competitive when I’m playing well and feeling good.’’ Funk played the U.S. Open last year as the reigning U.S. Senior Open champion and he tied for 70th. The year before, on what many consider one of the strongest U.S. Open courses at Bethpage Black, he still went through qual- ifying. Funk made the cut and wound up in a tie for 60th, better than expected from a 53-year-old on a beast of a course. Then again, Funk has been defying odds for nearly as long as he has been playing. He didn’t make the golf team at Maryland as a freshman, so he transferred to a junior college until he was good enough to play for the Terps. He tried the mini-tours out of college until he ran out of money, then took over as Mary- land coach and kept working on his game until he realized he wasn’t far off from the big leagues. He qualified for his first PGA Tour event in the 1982 Kemper Open. It was held at Congressional, and Funk tied for 51st to earn a check of a whopping $947.20. ‘‘I don’t know why I made it,’’ he said. ‘‘I was just a very hard worker, tenacious, and somewhere along that line I started believing in myself. I look back and I just go, ’Man, I did all right.’’’ Only now is not the time to look back. ‘‘I still expect to achieve a lot more,’’ Funk said. He’ll have the crowd on his side, not only from being a hometown favorite but as an inspiration as a guy who wouldn’t quit. He’ll need much more than that on a Con- gressional course with greens that already are getting firm under warm sunshine, and in a major which only twice in the last five years has yielded a winning score under par. Monday was the first full day of practice. The range was filled with mostly amateurs and local qualifiers wanting to soak up the experience. Others spent the day chipping and putting, hitting balls, perhaps getting in nine holes of prac- tice, knowing to pace themselves for what figures to be a long week. Ten players have won the last 10 majors, suggesting par- ity is greater than ever in golf, especially with Tiger Woods no longer on top of his game — and not even at Congres- sional for the U.S. Open as he tries to mend his left leg. Even so, PGA champion Martin Kaymer figures only 30 or 40 players have a realistic chance of winning. He didn’t mention names, although Funk was probably not on that short list. MLB taps Forest Service to solve broken-bat danger MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When it comes to baseball, Dave Kretschmann always keeps his eye on the bat. A casual fan whose loy- alties are split between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, Kretschmann watches games much differently than he did three years ago. When a player steps to the plate, Kretschmann isn't thinking about the pitching matchup or second-guessing the manager. He's focused on the brand, shape and composition of the bat the player has in his hands. If Kretschmann sees something he doesn't like, he worries about whether it's about to shatter into flying fragments that could hurt a player, a coach or a fan. "I know too much now," he said. Faced with an epidemic of dan- gerous broken bats in 2008, Major League Baseball turned to the U.S. Forest Service for help in solving the problem. And who knows wood better than the Forest Ser- vice? Led by Kretschmann, a research engineer at the Forest Ser- vice's Forest Products Laboratory near the University of Wisconsin campus, the partnership appears to be working. Since the broken-bat issue reached its peak in the middle of the '08 season, the overall number of broken bats has remained rela- tively steady. But Kretschmann has tracked an approximately 50 percent reduction in the most dan- gerous type of broken bat, where a piece or pieces of the bat literally come flying off the handle after contact with the ball. Kretschmann calls it a "multi- ple-piece failure." Others in the game call it just plain dangerous. "They're flying into stands with the jagged edge sticking out, they're flying into the ground all over the field," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. Dan Halem, MLB's senior vice president of labor relations, credit- ed Kretschmann for leading the way in making significant steps for safety. "It's a pure safety issue," Halem said. "The only interest that we have here is making sure that there are no safety incidents with on- field personnel or fans because of a broken bat." After sorting through thousands of broken bats — including nearly every bat that broke in the second half of the 2008 season — Kretschmann and colleagues at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts Lowell identified issues that made bats more prone to shattering. Many in baseball have blamed the rise of maple bats. "I do a lot of woodworking," Roenicke said. "I work with maple and I work with ash. Ash, you can take a screw and drill right through it. Maple, you do that and it busts. It's a fact." Indeed, research showed that bats made of particularly low-den- sity varieties of maple instead of ash are more prone to multiple- piece failures. There also are prob- lems with the shape of bats pre- ferred by some of today's sluggers — bats with thin handles and thick barrels; Kretschmann calls them "tennis rackets." But those aren't the biggest problems. Kretschmann said the main issue with bats that break into multiple pieces is the so-called "slope of grain" in the wood. Ideally, a bat would be made so the grain runs perfectly straight along the length of the bat. But if it's off by more than three degrees from parallel, the bat can lose about 20 percent of its strength and Kretschmann found himself exam- ining bats that were off by 10 degrees or more. Today, equipment manufactur- ers can be fined if they make bats that don't meet new standards that include slope-of-grain restrictions, KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The United States enters the final group-stage match of an international soccer tournament for the third straight year needing a win to secure a place in the knockout stage. The Americans did it twice before, at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009 and the World Cup in 2010. Now, depending on the result of Tuesday night’s early match, the U.S. could find itself in a must-win sit- uation against tiny but tena- cious Guadeloupe in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. ‘‘It would be nice to cruise through the group and be able to put your feet up,’’ goalkeeper Tim Howard said after Monday’s training session at Livestrong Sport- ing Park. ‘‘It doesn’t always happen that way.’’ Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Panama, its first group-stage defeat, left the U.S. in sec- ond place, tied with Canada on points but ahead on goal differential. Regardless of the out- WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB San Antonio 3 0 1.000— Minnesota 3 1 .750 .5 Sparks 2 1 .667 1 Seattle 1 1 .500 1.5 Phoenix 0 2 .000 2.5 Tulsa 0 4 .000 3.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Chicago 2 1 .667 — Connecticut 2 1 .667 — Indiana 2 1 .667 — New York 2 1 .667 — Washington 1 2 .333 1 Atlanta 0 3 .000 2 ————————————————— Today’s games Atlanta at New York, 4 p.m. Tulsa at Indiana, 4 p.m. come of the early match between Canada and Group C leader Panama, a victory will guarantee the U.S. a quarterfinal berth. If Canada and the U.S. both win Tuesday, three teams will have six points each and all three will advance. But the third-place finisher will have to face Group A winner Mexico, which dominated its first three matches, in the quar- terfinals. With so much on the line, Panama coach Julio Dely Valdes insists his team won’t ease up against Cana- da. ‘‘We’ll look at it the same as any other game,’’ Dely Valdes said through a trans- lator. ‘‘We want to win it and we want to be first in the group. This is a process, and you always want to win it.’’ While Panama is riding high going into the last MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy FC Dallas 7 4 4 25 18 16 Seattle 8 2 7 31 22 14 5 4 7 22 18 15 Colorado 5 3 7 22 17 14 Salt Lake 6 3 3 21 14 7 QUAKES 54 4 19 20 16 Chivas USA 4 5 5 17 17 16 Portland 5 6 2 17 15 19 Vancouver 1 6 8 11 16 22 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Philadelphia 6 3 4 22 16 11 New York 5 2 7 22 21 13 Houston 4 5 6 18 19 18 Columbus 4 4 6 18 14 16 D.C. 4 5 4 16 18 24 Chicago 2 4 8 14 16 19 Toronto FC 2 5 8 14 15 25 N. England 3 7 4 13 11 18 Kansas City 2 6 4 10 16 20 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ————————————————— Wednesday’s game Toronto FC at New England, 5 p.m. group game, U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan said the Americans have to put aside the disappointment of Satur- day’s loss. ‘‘If you want to be one of the teams standing at the end, it’s a marathon,’’ he said. ‘‘You have to be care- ful not to get caught up in one result, one way or the other, in a group stage.’’ No matter the result of the early match, U.S. coach Bob Bradley said, his team has to focus on avoiding a repeat of its slow start against Panama. ‘‘We’re going out with mentality to win this game,’’ Bradley said. ‘‘Our response after a game we weren’t sat- isfied with is important.’’ The U.S., 22nd in the most recent FIFA rankings, is a heavy favorite against Guadeloupe, a small French possession in the Caribbean. GOLF World Golf Ranking 1. Luke Donald ENG 9.11 2. Lee Westwood ENG 8.36 3. Martin Kaymer GER 7.29 4. Steve Stricker USA 6.44 5. Phil Mickelson USA 6.08 6. Matt Kuchar 7. Graeme McDowell NIR 8. Rory McIlroy NIR 9. Dustin Johnson USA 5.08 10. Paul Casey ENG 5.07 11. Charl Schwartzel SAF 5.04 12. Bubba Watson USA 4.89 13. Ian Poulter 17. Robert Karlsson SWE 4.25 18. Jason Day 19. Jim Furyk KOR 4.43 AUS 4.24 20. Hunter Mahan USA 4.15 21. Adam Scott 22. Francesco Molinari ITA 4.03 23. Ernie Els USA 4.20 AUS 4.04 SAF 3.91 24. Martin Laird SCO 3.76 25. Alvaro Quiros ESP 3.74 26. Retief Goosen SAF 3.63 27.Miguel Angel Jimenez ESP 3.59 28. David Toms USA 3.57 29. Justin Rose ENG 3.40 30. Matteo Manassero ITA 3.39 Guadeloupe is not a FIFA member and competes only at the regional level. That said, Guadeloupe — unlike the other two last- place teams in group play — has not been a pushover, with a goal differential of only minus-2 despite play- ing a man down for much of its first two games. ‘‘We’re frustrated,’’ said midfielder Stephone Auvray, who plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. ‘‘If we had played a full team in one of those matches, things could be different now. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll be able to do it.’’ MLB West Division Texas East Division American League WL Pct GB 36 31 .537 — Seattle 34 32 .515 1.5 Angels 31 36 .463 5 A’s 28 39 .418 8 WL Pct GB Boston 39 26 .600 — New York 36 28 .563 2.5 Tampa Bay 35 31 .530 4.5 Toronto 32 34 .485 7.5 Baltimore 30 33 .476 8 Central Division WL Pct GB USA 5.58 5.46 5.40 Cleveland 35 29 .547 — Detroit 36 30 .545 — Chicago 33 35 .485 4 Kansas City29 37 .439 7 Minnesota 26 39 .400 9.5 ————————————————— Monday’s results ENG 4.80 14. Nick Watney USA 4.71 15. Tiger Woods USA 4.53 16. K.J. Choi Cleveland 1, New York 0 Detroit 2, Tampa Bay 1, 10 innings Los Angeles at Seattle, late Today’s games Kansas City (Duffy 0-2) at Oakland (Outman 1-1), 7:05 p.m. Cleveland (Masterson 5-4) at Detroit (Verlander 7-3), 4:05 p.m. Texas (Ogando 7-0) at New York (Sabathia 7-4), 4:05 p.m. Baltimore (Jakubauskas 1-0) at Toronto (Villanueva 4-0), 4:07 p.m. Boston (Wakefield 3-1) at Tampa Bay (Shields 5-4), 4:10 p.m. Chicago (Floyd 6-5) at Minnesota (Pavano 3-5), 5:10 p.m. Los Angeles (Weaver 7-4) at Seattle (Fister 3-7), 7:10 p.m. a minimum handle diameter and maximum barrel diameter. Players using bats that don't conform can have them confiscated. MLB employs TECO, a certifi- cation and testing agency for wood products, to inspect bats. And now that broken-bat incidents are being tracked and categorized, the data can be used to target specific teams, players and manufacturers. "It becomes very obvious what players are breaking the most mul- tiple-piece failures," Kretschmann said. "What teams are they on? What are the teams that are break- ing a lot of bats? You can kind of pinpoint where you go." Halem did not disclose those details, though he said that manu- facturers have been fined and bats have been confiscated — some- thing players don't necessarily appreciate. "Players are very choosy about the bats that they use," Halem said. "It's the instrument of their trade.” United States needs win to secure spot in next stage of Gold Cup Guadeloupe’s determina- tion and its strong history in the Gold Cup — including a run to the semifinals in 2007 — certainly has the Ameri- cans’ respect. ‘‘It’s not going to be an easy game,’’ U.S. forward Clint Dempsey said. ‘‘They want to win and they have a good team.’’ Still, the U.S. does have a recent history of clutch per- formances in the last round of group play. Two years ago in the Confederations Cup, the Americans needed — and MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB GIANTS 37 29 .561 — Arizona 37 30 .552 .5 Colorado 31 34 .477 5.5 Los Angeles31 36 .463 6.5 San Diego 29 38 .433 8.5 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 40 26 .606 — Atlanta 38 29 .567 2.5 Florida 32 33 .492 7.5 New York 32 34 .485 8 Washington 30 36 .455 10 Central Division Milwaukee 38 29 .567 — St. Louis 38 29 .567 — Cincinnati 34 33 .507 4 Pittsburgh 32 33 .492 5 Chicago 26 39 .400 11 Houston 25 42 .373 13 ————————————————— Monday’s results Arizona 12, Florida 9 Chicago 1, Milwaukee 0 Houston 8, Atlanta 3 Pittsburgh 3, New York1 Cincinnati at Los Angeles, late San Diego at Colorado, late Today’s games San Francisco (Cain 5-4) at Arizona (Collmenter 4-1), 6:40 p.m. Florida (Volstad 2-6) at Philadelphia (Hamels 8-2), 4:05 p.m. St. Louis (J.Garcia 6-2) at Washington (Maya 0-1), 4:05 p.m. New York (Niese 5-5) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 8-2), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Gallardo 8-3) at Chicago (R.Wells 1-1), 5:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Karstens 3-4) at Houston (Norris 4-4), 5:05 p.m. San Diego (Undecided) at Colorado (Nicasio 1-1), 5:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Cueto 3-2) at Los Angeles (Kershaw 6-3), 7:10 p.m. got — a 3-0 win over Egypt to get out of the group stage on their way to a runner-up finish. Last year, the U.S. drew in its first two World Cup matches before Dono- van’s late goal against Alge- ria gave them the points they needed to move on. ‘‘Our teams have always come back really well,’’ Bradley said, ‘‘from games when we haven’t been at our best.’’ NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Carl Edwards 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Kevin Harvick 5. Kyle Busch 6. Kurt Busch 7. Matt Kenseth 8. Clint Bowyer 9. Tony Stewart 10. Ryan Newman 11. Jeff Gordon 12. Denny Hamlin 492 486 482 481 467 457 448 419 417 417 411 408 13. Juan Pablo Montoya 395 14. Greg Biffle 15. Mark Martin 16. David Ragan 17. Kasey Kahne 18. A J Allmendinger 19. Paul Menard 20. Martin Truex Jr. 21. Marcos Ambrose 22. Brad Keselowski 23. Joey Logano 24. David Reutimann 25. Jeff Burton 26. Brian Vickers 27. Regan Smith 28. Bobby Labonte 29. Jamie McMurray 30. David Gilliland 31. Dave Blaney 32. Casey Mears 33. Andy Lally 34. Robby Gordon 35. Tony Raines 36. Bill Elliott 37. Ken Schrader 38. J.J.Yeley 39. Michael McDowell 40. Terry Labonte 41. David Stremme 42. Michael Waltrip 43. Brian Keselowski 44. Steve Park 394 383 371 371 371 361 358 348 345 333 332 325 314 311 303 301 239 221 212 152 150 117 100 73 46 44 40 24 20 3 2 Upcoming Schedule June 19 — Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, Brooklyn, Mich. June 26— Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sono- ma July 2 — Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 9 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky