Haas Wins in LA

Well, did you watch the LA Open today?

The Mickelson-Bradley back and forth written about this morning did take place, along with Bill Haas jumping in and out of the lead, and a lot of other guys, most notably Dustin Johnson, squandering shots and opportunities to get into the mix and take control of the tournament. After an afternoon of watching these guys ham-and-egg it all over Riviera, it appeared that Haas was the winner until both Mickelson and Bradley made two incredible birdies on 18 to force a playoff. Haas won on the second sudden death hole, a short - 314 yard - par 4 in an amazing display of golfing strategy. If you play golf, watching them play that 10th hole was completely fascinating. If you don't play golf, you probably have a quit reading before you got this far in the post anyway, so I won't go into it here. You can read about it in the paper tomorrow.

As I said, three and a half hours of ham and egging was all made worthwhile watching Mickelson and Bradley on 18 and watching them and Haas in the two sudden death holes. Great stuff.

And a couple of final comments on Keegan Bradley, who at age 25 certainly seems to have the chops to be a big factor on the PGA Tour for years to come.

• I wish he didn't use a belly putter (Haas does, too, by the way). Just doesn't seem right.



• He takes FOREVER to hit his shots. Recreational golf will take even longer to play if the weekend hackers start to imitate him.



• He spits a lot. A LOT. It has become fashionable to beat up on Tiger Woods for his habit of constant spitting on the course. I hope those same critics will come down on Bradley for this dubious habit. Unless, of course, there is a double standard among the golfing elite where someone who looks like Woods is concerned. Not that that could be possible in this day and age, of course. (It can be noted that Gary McCord did say that he would have to talk with young Keegan about the spitting.)

For Our Sunday Afternoon Viewing Pleasure...

Earlier this week I wrote about Phil Mickelson's victory at Pebble Beach last week and made the following observation: "At age 41, who knows how many victories like this Mickelson has left in him..."

Shows how much I know. This afternoon, Lefty will tee off in the final group of the LA Open (or whatever corporate name it goes by these days) at Riveria CC in Los Angeles tied for the lead with his playing partner, reigning PGA Champ Keegan Bradley. In many ways this pairing may be even more interesting that Phil's pairing last week with Tiger Woods. Bradley, a major champion at the age of 25, represents one of the new wave of Young Guns on the PGA Tour, and Mickelson is, well, Phil Mickelson. Aging Great vs. Young Lion. Crafty Vet vs. Promising Youngster. Old Guard vs. New Wave. Pick whatever cliche you like, but this has the makings of a very fun afternoon in front of the flatscreen.

If only Bradley didn't use one of those belly putters. I every golfer using one of those should have two strokes, minimum, added to his score over 72 holes.

Enjoy!

Great Stuff in Atlanta; Not So Great in Milwaukee

If you weren't watching the PGA Championship this afternoon, you really missed some great stuff as 25 year old rookie Keegan Bradley won the Championship in a three hole aggregate playoff over Jason Duffner.

In case you missed it...

Bradley was two shots behind Jason Duffner when he bogied the 15th hole par 3. Duffner stood on the 15th tee with a four shot lead and a five shot lead over Bradley. At that point, Duffner was the only player in the entire field who had played 15-16-17-18 without a bogey throughout the tournament. Well, Duffner proceeded to bogey 15-16-17 while Bradley birdied 16 and 17 to force the three hole playoff. The shots that both players made during the playoff were tremendous and really made for some great theater, but a three putt bogey on the second hole doomed Dufner, and Bradley is the Champ.

Really, really great stuff!!

By the way, in my prediction on Thursday, I did call for an American to win the Championship, so I got that going for me, which is nice. The players that I mentioned, Watney, Fowler, Watson, and Mahan finished far down the track. The guy I predicted to win, Dustin Johnson, failed to make the cut. Hey, I did say "watch, but don't bet."

*****

In the other sports story of the weekend, the Pirates were swept by the Brewers in Miller Park. I know, I know, dog-bites-man stuff if ever I heard it. Circumstances caused me to not see either of the first two games, but I did see much of today's 2-1 ten inning loss, and it was painful to watch.

Only the Pirates can lose in Milwaukee where a dropped third strike became a critical play in the game.

Only the Pirates can snuff out their bases loaded "rally" on a "ground ball" that traveled about 18 inches.

Clint Hurdle can say that Miller Park "ain't haunted" all he wants, but that place in the heads of those guys, and I don't know what's to be done about it. Maybe they hire a witch doctor for their next trip to Brewtown.

*****

SABR, Facebook, and Heinz History Center buddy, Jim Haller, and I began to draw up a list of guys we do NOT want to see on the Pirates in 2012. These guys MUST go before next season:

Joe Bieml

Steve Pearce

Ronny Cedeno

Matt Diaz

And I am this close to adding the name of Derrek Lee to the list. Apart from those two homers in his first game, have you ever even heard him speak since he's been here? The fact that he couldn't travel for Baltimore to Philadelphia to be with the team the day after he was acquired tells me he doesn't want to be here, and now, he's on the DL after playing in what, four or five games? I know it wasn't his fault, but what a bad sign. If the Pirates resign him, he would be the next in a long line of washed up guys that include Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, Sean Casey, Lyle Overbay, and, well, need I go on?

*****

The good play of the Pirates -up until the last two weeks at least - has obscured the fact that top two draft picks Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell remained unsigned by the Pirates, and the deadline is midnight tomorrow night. Everyone knew that Bell not signing was a distinct possibility, but if the team fails to sign Cole, thus squandering the overall #1 pick in the draft, what had been a season of good feelings and happy outlooks will be circling the drain at an alarming pace.

*****

Word has been leaked that the Pirates will be raising ticket prices in 2012. Personally, I understand this, and have no problem with it. What business do you know hasn't raised its prices in ten years? Pirates prices are way low when compared to other MLB teams, and they are certainly a lot cheaper than going to a Steelers or Pens game. That said, the team had better do its part with the increased revenue and put it to use in the major league product. The ticket buying public has more than done its part in 2011, so let's see something on the field at PNC Park next year that resembles a quality major league product.

Don't tell me the money is being used to sign a teenager from Mexico. Don't sign up and under-achieving free agents like Diaz, Overbay, and Scott Olsen. Don't trade for high priced bums like Aki Iwamura. Pay for somebody who can STILL play the game at a high level. Pay the money to lock up Andrew McCutchen to a long term deal that secures him through a couple of his free agency years.

This is what Nutting-Coonelly-Huntington have said is "the plan" and this is what they said they would do. We will know by Christmas time if they really meant it.