Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/8/2018

Another Masters and another first time major winner.  And we can't get enough.  After what had seemingly set up as a match play final, the top of the leaderboard was crashed by a former champion and another major virgin and drama on the last three holes.  But it was Patrick Reed who leveraged his 3 stroke lead coming into Sunday into a 1 stroke victory.  And his first major.  The incredibly likeable pro was bidding to go four rounds under 70, but did just enough to hold off Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler to secure his place in history.  Simply hitting par on the last four holes with a fury of birdies by Spieth and Fowler was enough to win his first green jacket.  Finishing under par for all four rounds, and a total of -15 on a week which saw low scores, Patrick Reed secured his place in Augusta lore, and is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/13/2017

There's a new era of golf, and the young guns are taking over.  With the abrupt collapse of Tiger Woods career, with the aging of current legends like Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, a crease was opened and the likes of 2017 British Open Champion Jordan Spieth, U.S. Open Champion Brooks Koepka, and now Justin Thomas are busting through.  The latter put together a masterful four days at the 99th Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour Championship, to capture his first major win at age 24.  This follows British open winner Spieth who is also 24, and Koepka, also born after 1/1/1990.  Thomas was the only golfer who finished under 70 the last three rounds.  Coming home in the second group, he only needed bogey to win.  By two strokes.  Lack of drama fits Thomas personality, his stoic, surgical approach to hitting fairways, making putts, and keeping pressure on rivals should suit him well over the next three decades.  Thomas is our Sportsman of the Week, and will be a golfing force for years to come.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/23/2017

It's been no secret over the past 2+ years that Jordan Spieth was an emerging star on the PGA tour.  It's starting to look more like emerging legend.  The 23 year-old Texan secured his third major; only the all time legend Jack Nicklaus completed three sooner.  Although he led for most of the weekend, it was how he finished the back nine that cemented his legacy.  After a shaky 13th hole in which he took a 1-stroke penalty on an awful tee shot but still made bogey, he coughed up the lead to playing partner and fellow American Matt Kuchar.  From there it was lights out.  14 - 17, he went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie knocking down putts of 4', 50', 30', and 7'.  He had an easy par on 18 with his three shot victory secure.  Just two weeks until the PGA Championship, a tournament in which Spieth will be a heavy favorite.  He is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/14/2017

Busy times continue in sports, but a surprise winner in the unofficial "fifth" major in golf won the week.  21 year-old Si Woo Kim of South Korea showed flashes of greatness in remarkably consistent performance for the week, with a 69-72-68-69 to win The Players Championship by three strokes over Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen.  He wasn't really challenged down the back stretch.  It was Kim's second tour win, following up the Wyndham Championship last August just after he turned 21.  Will Kim be the next big threat to the precocious Jordan Spieth?  Is there a shot he makes a run at another major this year?  Time will tell, but Si Woo Kim is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsmen of the Week Ending 6/19/2016

I promise I don't plan to make a habit out of this, but there were two good sports stories this week that were too incredible to ignore.  For the third time in blog history (first | second) I present co-Sportsmen of the Week

The label "best player without a major" can at best haunt a golfer for years (Phil Mickelson), at worst, haunt them for life (Greg Norman).  Dustin Johnson was in the "years" category as his tools seemed to inevitably place him on the path to greatness.  And it has, but after some detours.  After a much publicized suspension from the tour, he has returned and contended among the top golfers.  And at the 116th United States Open, he busted through. I'll spare a blog about the odd penalty shot ruling, and just focus on the fact that down the stretch, he was going pars and birdies, while the nearest contenders were going bogeys or worse.  A year after coming up short to one of the great sports stories of 2015 in Jordan Spieth, Johnson claimed his major.  And it is not likely to be his last.

LeBron James is used to doing things that they say can't be done.  Given up for dead after losing three of the first four games of the NBA finals by double digits, the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied behind their superstar.  And he delivered.  In the three games of the week all won by the Cavs, James scored 109 points, 35 rebounds, and 29 assists.  Rounding up, that's averaging a triple double.  He also added nine blocks and nine steals.  The Golden State Warriors had no answers to him walking into their arena and walking out with their trophy.  It's James third nod as Sportsman of the Week, but his first since 2013.

Sportsmen of the Week Ending 4/10/2016

For the SECOND time in Blog history, we are going to have TWO Sportsmen of the Week.  The first was on 1/5/2014 where I just couldn't decide.  This decision was even worse.  An historic start to a major league baseball season versus a first time major winner who defied all odds to beat what many thought was a foregone conclusion of a winner.

We'll start with the most improbable hero of the first week of the Major League Baseball season.  Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story was a virtual unknown on opening day, but has most resembled Babe Ruth incarnate.  To the tune of SEVEN home runs in his first six career games (yes, that's a record).  To go with 12 RBI, and before you think it's all Coors Field, 4 of the 7 HR were on the road.  He just won't stop, and could not be denied a piece of the Sportsman of the Week.

Turning over to The Masters, one of the greatest sporting events in America, it was a Britain that surprised.  England's Danny Willett leaped from obscurity to torch the back nine (at the same time fan favorite Jordan Spieth was collapsing).  Willett shot a 67 on the final round, the second best round of the tournament (to Spieth's 66 on Thursday).  Talk about clutch.  Bogey-free Sunday, and -3 in the last six holes, that's how you win majors.  And a major winner is Willett.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/16/2015

The PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin wrapped up the PGA's "major" season and this week's sportsman set it on fire.  Australian Jason Day notched the best scoring tournament in a major ever.  Better than Tiger ever did, better than Jack, he Golden Bear, Jones, you name it.  Finishing at 20 under par, Day seemed to never miss a shot.  With two-time 2015 major winner Jordan Spieth breathing down his neck all day Sunday, he continually kept he (and other significant challengers) at bay.  And many remember Day's challenges at the U.S. Open, where he battled vertigo over the weekend, collapsing to the ground at one point, and eventually finishing and impressive 9th when many thought he would have to withdraw.  Day had completed six of the last 19 majors in the Top 5.  This time, he finished number one.  Golf has another deserving major winner, our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 4/12/2015

There is no question this week which athlete stood head and shoulders above the rest.  Arguably the most renown of the PGA Majors was held and a 21 year-old set an all time course record.  Jordan Spieth dominated a star-studded field to finish at -18 tying a Masters record with Tiger Woods. And he had a make-able putt to break the record but didn't quite nail it.  Spieth became the first golfer to lead the tournament after each of the four rounds since 1976 (Ray Floyd).  And he set a number of records for "first by age 21" throughout the way.  To say the sky is the limit for Spieth may be an understatement, there seems to be nothing this kid can't achieve.  A worthy sportsman of the week.