June 2010 Archives

Congratulations to Nancy Walker of Skungamaug River GC in Coventry for winning the Southern New England Women's Golf Association's first major championship of the year.

Walker shot a 7-over-par 79 at Cedar Knob GC in Somers to win the SNEWGA Senior Championship. Walker finished one shot ahead of Jane Sanford of Grassy Hill CC in Orange.

Click here for the full results.

Adam Scott made his first appearance at the Travelers Championship last week, but you had to get to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell early if you wanted to see the Aussie. Scott, winner of the Valero Texas Open in May, missed the cut for the second consecutive week and wasn't too happy about it. He offered these thoughts on his blog:

It's been awhile since I updated my blog so I finally have the time tonight before I fly to Paris in the morning. I was disappointed to miss the cut at the U.S. Open and it makes it even harder when you miss it by one stroke. The USGA gave Pebble Beach a facelift and the course was challenging. The weather was dry, so the greens and fairways got firmer by the hour. Oh yeah, and the USGA added this high stringy grass on the edges of the bunkers. That was interesting when your ball landed in the two-foot rough! Your short game had to be spot on and obviously mine wasn't the best it needed to be. I just couldn't get putts to fall and it cost me the opportunity to play through the weekend. It was a great venue; it really doesn't get any better than Pebble Beach.

I was able to catch some of the final round on Sunday and I'm glad I had the chance to see Tom Watson walk up No. 18 for probably the last time at Pebble Beach in a major. Tom Watson is truly one of the greats and still is amazing to watch play. It was pretty cool to see him toss his golf ball into the ocean like he did in 1982. I have a feeling he has a lot of golf left; watch out at St. Andrews.

It's unfortunate I missed the cut again last week at the Travelers Championship. It was my first time playing TPC River Highlands and the course was in good shape. The greens were a lot softer than at Pebble so at the start of the week I was looking forward to making some putts and gain some confidence. I usually play well on TPC courses but just couldn't get it going in Cromwell. I'm working on my wedge play and three quarter shots and hopefully can get it going this week in Paris.

I'll write more from Ireland next week. I'm playing in the JP McManus Pro-Am on Monday and Tuesday. It's a very special event and a lot of guys from the TOUR are playing in it this year so should be a good time for a great charity. You can also check out my Facebook and twitter pages for more up-to-date information before next week.

Until next time, take care. Adam

The Texas Open victory is Scott's only finish in the top 13 this year, so here's hoping the personable and thoughtful Aussie can get his game turned around, especially with the British Open only two weeks away at famed St. Andrews Golf Links in Scotland.

When Bubba Watson beat Scott Verplank and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin a playoff to win his first PGA Tour title in the Travelers Championship, he became the only player other than Dustin Johnson in the last two years to win a tournament in which he led the field in driving distance. Johnson had done twice.

Johnson's victory made him the ninth lefthander in PGA Tour history to win. Lefties have won a total of PGA Tour titles, with Phil Mickelson accounting for 38. Mickelson is the only player in the history of the PGA Tour event in Connecticut to win back-to-back titles (2001-02).

Watson's win was the 276th by a former Nationwide Tour player on the PGA Tour and the 16th this year.

Paul Kenyon, the longtime, excellent sports writer for the Providence Journal, had this entertaining story about CVS Charity Classic co-host Billy Andrade and fellow Wake Forest grad Bill Haas after the first round of the tournament in Rhode Island. Andrade has been a longtime supporter of Connecticut's PGA Tour stop, playing his first event in 2010 last week on a sponsor's exemption into the Travelers Championship. He has done seven of 15 telecasts for the Golf Channel, which will show the CVS event in September.

Congrats to Billy and co-host Brad Faxon, winner of the 2005 Buick Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, for their continued terrific charity. They rightfully received the prestigious Charles Bartlett Award from the Golf Writers Association of America for their work in the community several years ago.

BARRINGTON -- Maybe breaking up was not such a bad thing to do for Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon.

The two Rhode Islanders acted as partners the first few years they co-hosted the CVS Caremark Charity Classic. They decided to split up so they could partner with some of the game's greats, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Greg Norman as they walked Rhode Island Country Club, their home course.

This year, the two have split up again. Both spoke Monday about how much fun they had in the opening round as each partnered with one of the game's bright young stars. Andrade is with Bill Haas and Faxon with Rickie Fowler. Both teams are tied for third after opening 63s.

For Andrade, it is an opportunity to play with a guy he calls his little brother.

"I've known Bill since he was a few weeks old," Andrade related. "We're family. His uncle (Jerry Haas) was my college roommate. When I first came out on tour his father (Jay Haas) helped me get started.

"I've babysat him," Andrade said as his 28-year-old partner sat next to him and listened. "I remember one time I babysat when the kids (the Haas' also have another son, Jay Jr.) were probably 4 or 5 years old. I read them a bedtime story. I didn't know anything about kids then. I read a scary story. Then they couldn't sleep. I think the two boys slept with their mom that night. Jan Haas (the boys' mother) was not very happy with me that night."

"I've heard him telling those stories. I don't really remember," Bill Haas said. "What I remember is Jerry and Billy coming down and us playing together. They were the guys you wanted to hang out with. We'd play whiffleball and football. They might be more my father's age, but to me they were really cool to be with."

Andrade stopped playing regularly on tour this year and works for The Golf Channel. Bill Haas made his debut memorable.

"The first telecast I did was the Bob Hope," Andrade said. "Bill won it."

Kenny Perry was admittedly tired and battling an ailing right hip while trying to defend his Travelers Championship title last week at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. It was a major reason he shot a couple of 3-over-par 73s on the weekend to finish in a tie for 73rd and beat only one player, Tim Herron. Then on Monday, he had to go to Hop Meadow Country Club in Simsbury to do a clinic for one of his major sponsors, The Hartford, before heading home to Franklin, Ky., to see a chiropractor and get some much needed rest.

The Connecticut Section PGA Junior Golf Tour had its first tournament of the year Monday at Ellington Ridge Country Club.

Click here for the full results.

Congratulations to Nicholas Torrance of Lake of Isles GC in North Stonington for qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship July 19-24 at Egypt Valley CC in Ada, Mich. Torrance shot 1-under-par 143 for 36 holes at Mill River CC in Stratford to tie for second.

Click here for the full results.

I’m bummed out that Seve Ballesteros won’t be able to make the trip to fabled St. Andrews in two weeks to be part of the British Open

The swashbuckling Spaniard planned to be at the site of one of his most memorable major championship wins in 1984 in his first major public appearance since life-saving surgery for a brain tumor two years ago. But doctors advised the three-time Open champion to avoid putting “himself under any undue stress or in potentially emotional situations.”

There certainly would have been plenty of those, so it’s probably best that Seve doesn’t try to go to Scotland to compete in a pre-Open, four-hole exhibition for past champions. Of the 28 champions scheduled to compete in the Champions Challenge, Seve would have received the most applause and fan fare. Even if he didn’t hit a shot, the man with unparelleled passion would have been royally receieved.

But while Seve will be absent, he certainly won’t be forgotten —- and likely feels even worse than fans like me. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Seve. God bless and hope you can make it back to The Open in 2011.

Bubba Watson’s first PGA Tour victory in the Travelers Championship on Sunday moved him within range of a second consecutive British Open appearance in two weeks.

Ken Green has endured plenty of pain the last 12 months, and it was just too much to bear Sunday.

Green had to withdraw from the Champions Tour's Dick's Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y., because of nerve pain in his right leg, the lower part of which had to amputated after he was in a car accident last June that killed his brother, girlfriend and dog. He also withdrew from this week's event in Montreal.

Green shot 8-over-par 152 for 36 holes before having to pass on the final round of his third Champions Tour start and second solo since the accident. Here's an entry on Ken's blog Sunday:

So unless there's a major improvement in his condition, it sounds like Ken won't be making his scheduled next start, the Connecticut Open July 26-28 at the Country Club of Fairfield. Green won the event in 1985 and 1992 and was low pro in 1999, when amateur Jay Rice won on his home course, Wee Burn CC in Darien.

While Green headed to his home in Danbury, Loren Roberts birdied the 18^th hole for a 7-under 65, 54-hole total of 15-under 201 and a one-stroke victory over Fred Funk (65). Roberts finished with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys, the second coming on No. 17 and dropping him into a tie for lead. But he birdied No. 18 for his 12th Champions Tour victory after trailing by five shots with eight holes to play.

Local favorite and first-round leader Wayne Levi, winner of the 1990 Canon Greater Hartford Open, shot 69 to tie for third at 203 with 1993 GHO champion Nick Price (68) and third-round leader Dan Forsman (71), who tied for second in the 1992 GHO.

Mark Calcavecchia, Green's longtime friend making his Champions Tour debut, shot 69-204 to tie for sixth.

Tim Petrovic got a first-hand look at one of the most unique nine holes in Travelers Championship history.

The University of Hartford grad was paired in the final round Sunday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell with Scott Verplank, who is five inches shorter but plays a similar game.

"He plays like 'Petro golf,' control golf, keeps everything in front of him, and is a good putter, too," Petrovic said. "He doesn't try to overpower the ball. He plays to his strengths, which are his putting and short game. He pops it out in the fairway, and that's what I've been kind of doing over the last month, just keeping everything in front of me. It's fairway and greens, but boring is good."

But Verplank was hardly boring on the 13^th and 15^th hole. He holed a 50-foot putt for eagle 3 at No. 13 and a 45-foot bunker shot for eagle 2 at No. 15.

"I did some crazy things on the back nine," Verplank said. "The putt hit the hole with a lot of aggression. It might have gone off the green if it wouldn't have gone in. But it was center cut, thank God.

"Then on 15, I watched a guy in front of me kind of flub it out of the bunker, and it was a very difficult shot. I got in there and had a perfect lie and said, 'Well, you can try to be real cute.' You know, it just wasn't that kind of shot. I got in there and said, 'You know what? I gotta try to make it. That's the only way to get it close.'

"Hit a great shot, came out, had a little spin, rolled in just like a perfect putt. That was pretty exciting. That's always fun to do. Had some exciting moments today."

Said Petrovic: "That was a great bunker shot."

And Verplank's other seven holes on the back nine? Boring pars.

But they were good for a bogey-free, 6-under 64, which tied the low round of the day, and a tie for first with Corey Pavin (66) and Bubba Watson (66) at 14-under-par 266. Watson and Verplank birdied the first playoff hole, No. 18, and then Watson won his first tour title with a par at the second extra hole, No. 16.

Petrovic, meanwhile, had a roller-coaster 69, capped by a 16-foot birdie putt at No. 18 for 69-271 and a tie for 21^st.

"I made enough birdies (six) but had too many bogeys (five)," Petrovic said. "I was a little bit tired and woke up with a stiff neck, so I left a few tee shots out to the right and missed a couple short putts. I started bad and then got back on track with three birdies on the next five holes.

"But the turning point was on the seventh where I had a 10-footer for birdie and rolled it over the edge. Then I just made a bad swing on the next hole and ended up bogeying the next three holes, including at 10 when someone clapped as I was about to tap in my second putt and I flinched. I heard it, and it just kind of took my focus off the ball."

Petrovic will play in this week's AT&T National, skip the John Deere Classic and then head to Scotland for his fourth British Open and second at St. Andrews Golf Links, where he missed the cut in 2005.

Jerry Kelly was steadier than his former U of Hartford teammate, carding three birdies, one bogey and 14 pars for 68, which improved him six spots to 63^rd at 278.

J.J. Henry had a disappointing ending to his 12^th consecutive PGA Tour appearance in his homestate tournament.

"I had a tough start but was kind of proud of the way I fought back to get under par for the day after 13," the Fairfield native said. "Then unfortunately I got caught on 14, 15 and 16 (with bogeys), but that's golf sometimes."

Henry, whose only tour victory came in the 2006 Buick Championship at TPC, said he "wasn't quite on and the putts just didn't want to fall."

"I struggled coming in for whatever reason, and it's obviously a little disappointing," said Henry, whose 2-over-par 72 gave him a 72-hole total of 6-under 274 and a tie for 42nd. "But at the same time, I played great Saturday (64) to kind of get myself back into it, and you never know what could happen with a good low round today.

"But that's golf sometimes, and you just have to roll with the punches. I hit some good putts, too, but it was just one of those days kind of like on Thursday and Friday (71-67). Not that I hit it great, but I probably hit it better than I scored, so it's just unfortunate that I got off to a bad start again. It's disappointing, but at the same time, how disappointed can you be when you come here and they call your name on the 18^th as a past champion and you see all the people screaming, yelling and clapping? It makes you feel good."

Henry also felt good about the 15 birdies, three on Sunday, that he made during the tournament. They raised money for D.J. Gregory, who has cerebral palsy and walked every hole of every course on the PGA Tour last year. This year, Gregory formed the Walking for Kids Foundation (www.walkingforkids.org), and he has one or two tour players each week donate a certain amount for each birdie and eagle made. Henry and Bo Van Pelt (14 birdies, three on Sunday) donated this week.

"D.J. has been a great kid and obviously an inspiration to a lot of people," Henry said. "I was excited for him to walk with us this week and to help donate to his foundation. I don't know yet exactly what I'll be donating."

After the round, Henry headed home to host his first junior-am Monday to raise money for the First Tee programs in Connecticut and Metropolitan, N.Y., at the Patterson Club in Fairfield, where he learned to play golf with his father, Ron, a standout amateur.

Festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. with a clinic, followed by a trick-shot artist, lunch and the junior-am, which has a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. Ninety-six amateurs who paid to play in the event will play one First Tee youngster, who earned their way into the event by raising the most money. A cookout, dinner, auction and awards ceremony will cap the day.

"I'm really looking for to it," Henry said. "We're trying to benefit the First Tee, and it should be pretty neat and a nice day."

It's the latest major adventure for the Henry House Foundation (www.henryhousefoundation.com), which Henry started in 2006 with seed money from his victory in the Buick Championship at TPC and playing on his first Ryder Cup team. The foundation is a non-profit with a mission to generate public awareness and to support community-based programs that focus on the healthcare and well-being of children. It makes donations to fund specific, tangible projects initiated by children's medical and support services and organizations in Southern New England and Fort Worth, Texas, where he lives.

The sold-out event isn't open to the public, but Henry said he hopes it might expand to that.

"We're just going to see how this works and go from the there," Henry said.

Jay Williamson has PGA Tour playing status through the end of this season and said several times during the Travelers Championship that it could be six months or six years before he calls it a golf career.

Sunday, the Trinity College grad emphasized if things don't change quickly, the end of the 2010 season will be it for him.

"I can't get anything done," Williamson said after a 2-under-par 68 in the final round at TPC River Highlands on Sunday. "I can't get into tournaments, and then when I do have a chance to play well, I choke and don't get it done. It has been 15 years of just incredible mediocrity, and I'm (bleeping) tired of it."

Williamson, 43, a playoff loser to Hunter Mahan in the 2007 Buick Championship at TPC, said he has never felt as low as he is now.

"There's just too much stress, and I can't overcome it," Williamson said. "My life has become reality. It's no longer fantasy, and that's the hard part about it. People say, 'How can you (retire from the tour)? It's so (bleeping) glamorous. This ain't glamorous, dude. Spend one week out here with three kids, and you'll learn it's not so glamorous.

"Don't get me wrong. I love being out here with the family (wife and three children). And I love being in Hartford, but it just doesn't make any sense anymore when I don't compete. Finishing 40^th and not playing good is not competing. And the way I finished (Saturday), I just can't deal with it anymore. I'm going to lose my mind."

While playing with longtime friend Scott McCarron for the third consecutive round Saturday, Williamson was 2 under with five holes to go and then closed with four bogeys, including on the last three holes.

Sunday, Williamson carded five birdies and was 4 under for 14 holes, then hooked his drive into the water and made bogey at No. 15, bogeyed No. 17 and left an 8-foot birdie putt at No. 18 about a foot short, giving him a closing 68 for 274 and a tie for 42nd.

"I can't get anything going, and I'm tired of it," said Williamson, who tied for eighth in his last start in the St. Jude Classic two weeks ago. "I'm too old, and this could very easily be my last time here. I've had my chances out here, and I can't deal with the constant week after week failure."

If Williamson does retire after this season, he'll go into insurance. He's working for an insurance company in St. Louis and studying for his property and casualty license.

"Insurance isn't easy," said Williamson, who majored in political science at Trinity College. "Unfortunately professional golf doesn't really prepare you for the next phase of life, whatever it is."

And while the stars of the game hop in their jets and head to the next tour stop, Williamson gets in his rental call with his family and wonders what life holds down the road. He can't get into this week's AT&T National and then will compete in the John Deere Classic, which he lost in a playoff to 2009 Travelers Championship winner Kenny Perry in 2008.

But that has been the exception rather than the rule for Williamson.

"I just haven't had a good enough career," he said. "It's time for me to sit down and face reality, and that's what I'm doing. I can't get in any of the invitationals and can't get any sponsor exemptions. I got in here through the qualifying school, but that doesn't matter anymore. (The tour) doesn't want me out here; they really don't. They don't want the old white guys out here. They want the young foreign guys, so it is what it is.

"But I've got to stop doing what I just did for the last 36 holes. I can't continue to be on the fringe, on the border. It's not doing anything for me or my kids or my wife."

Travelers Championship defending champion Kenny Perry said finishing with a double-bogey 6 that included a chunked chip on the 18th hole was "kind of typical of how the week went."

"I played bad, got what I deserved," said Perry, whose closing 3-over-par 73 Sunday was 10 shots higher than last year's final round and his highest score at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell in 37 rounds since 1999, when a 77 cost him the cut. "But that's OK. Now I just move on."

Perry's 3-over-par 283 total for 72 holes beat only one player, Tim Herron, a playoff loser to Woody Austin in 2004, who made triple-bogey 7 on the first hole on the way to 83 for 287. A year ago, Perry shot a TPC tournament record-setting, 22-under 258 to win his 14th PGA Tour title, 11th after the age of 40. This year, Perry plans to see his chiropractor in Franklin, Ky., to have an ailing right hip checked.

"It's OK," said Perry, who becomes eligible for the Champions Tour when he turns 50 on Aug. 12. "Just old age."

Ken Green continued to show his mettle Saturday and reversed a recent trend of late woes in the second round of the Champions Tour's Dick's Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y.

The Danbury native, who had the lower part of his right leg amputated after a car accident that killed his brother, girlfriend and dog a year ago, was 3 over par for his first nine holes, the back nine. But he played 1 under on the front side for a 2-over 74, which was four less than Friday, when he and a double bogey at No. 13 and bogeyed the last four holes.

Green, playing in his second individual event since the accident, is 20 strokes behind leader Dan Forsman, who birdied the first three holes on the way to a seven-birdie 66 for 132 and a one-stroke lead over Brad Bryant (67). Russ Cochran (66) and first-round leader Wayne Levi, winner of the 1990 Canon Greater Hartford Open, are tied for third at134.

Green is scheduled to play in the Connecticut Open July 26-28 at the Country Club of Fairfield. Green won the event in 1985 and 1992 and was low pro in 1999, when amateur Jay Rice won on his home course, Wee Burn Country Club in Darien.

It was hard to tell if Tim Petrovic was more interested in his third round in the Travelers Championship or the United States versus Ghana in the World Cup. Petrovic, known for his silky putting stroke, lipped out several birdie tries at TPC River Highlands, notably on the 15th and 17th holes from about 12 feet. The University of Hartford grad then nearly missed a 25-footer for birdie at No. 18, settling for a bogey-free, 4-under-par 66. Then Petrovic really got upset.

“I looked up and saw it was 1-0 Ghana,” Petrovic said, referring to the African nation’s early goal in the fifth minute. “My card was clean, and I was hoping the U.S. soccer team could keep a clean card, but dang it.”

Petrovic then left the premises to watch the end of the game and must have been livid when Ghana scored in the third minute of overtime and then held on for a 2-1 victory in the first extra-time game for the Americans in the World Cup. Petrovic birdied three of the first eight holes but made only one more, at the par-5 13th, where he hit a curling 76-foot putt through a swale to 3 feet and knocked it in. “It was a pretty cool shot,” Petrovic said of his first putt. “And (playing partner) Scott (Verplank) liked mine so much he putted it too (from 60 feet). He got up-and-down, too.”

 But it wasn’t cool at all to keep missing from makeable birdie range.  Still, despite the frustration on the greens, Petrovic improved 21 spots to a tie for 13th at 8-under 202. “I hit the hole a few times, and that’s all I can do,” said Petrovic, who is at 8-under 202 after 54 holes. “Had a happy horseshoe on 17, and the one on 18 really could have gone, too. I gave up on it too early. I thought it was going to miss low, and it just kind of straightened out and caught the low part of the hole. I thought, ‘Come on.’ Then I looked up and saw it was 1-0.”

Petrovic, a Glastonbury native, was a goalie as a freshman at Kingswood-Oxford in West Hartford. “It’s a hard job,” he said. “Some days you feel like you’re defending the State of Texas, and some days you feel like you’re in a hockey goal when you’re on. It’s tough because you’ve got a lot to learn. And when you dive, you have to make sure it’s in front of the goal post. One time I dove and hit part of my head and shoulder. It wasn’t the round ones, it was the hard wooden ones. I got a slight concussion.”

Petrovic said he didn’t feel unfortunate on the greens this week, but a migraine might not be far away. “I’m hitting the putts the way I want, but with the greens being poa annua, that’s what you’re going to get,” Petrovic said. “There’s not a lot of grass on them, it’s all flower tops, so the ball sometimes breaks and sometimes it won’t. (Legendary putter Ben) Crenshaw wouldn’t have complained on the last two putts. You hit ‘em as well as you can. If you hit that much hole, you’ve hit a good putt.

“I really don’t like poa greens, but I think I’ve handled it pretty well. You just try to be patient, and I tried to be a little more aggressive. It’s the same stuff as Pebble Beach, and if you put this stuff there, they’d be golden. As far as poa greens go, you’re not going to get much better than this.”

Petrovic said he was disappointed the crowds aren’t as large as in the 1990s and early 2000s. “Where is everybody?” he said. “I’d like to say they’re watching the soccer match, but that can’t be it. It’s a beautiful day. On a scale of one to 10, it’s a 10 for playing golf. I expected a little bigger crowd, so hopefully they’ll come out tomorrow.

 “Now I have to go try and catch that Rosie kid (Justin Rose). He lapped us at the Memorial on the final day (three weeks ago), and he’s up to his old tricks again. A couple 64s on the weekend might have been nice, but that might not have been good enough the way he’s playing.”

J.J. Henry didn't make a par until the sixth hole Saturday, but he wasn't complaining.

Nine-iron to 15 feet, birdie. Sand wedge to 6 feet, birdie. Wedge to 6 feet, birdie. Approach shot wide right, bogey. "A beautiful high" 4-iron to 15 feet, birdie.

The Fairfield native then got stuck in neutral, making seven consecutive pars before birdies on three of the last five holes, including at No. 18, for a 6-under-par 64, which tied the low round of the day and was one off his all-time low at TPC River Highlands. Henry improved 47 spots to a tie for 13th at 8-under 202, eight behind leader Justin Rose (68).

Henry, who became the only native son to win the PGA Tour stop in Connecticut in 2006, credited his turnaround in the Travelers Championship to returning to the Odyssey putter he had used for two years before trying a different model while just making the cut after shooting 66-71.

"I actually hit the ball probably just as good the first two days, but I'd switched putters just to try to mix it up a little bit and try something different," Henry said. "I love playing here and felt something could kind of jump-start my week, but it didn't work out. It felt good Tuesday and Wednesday, but it wasn't quite as good (in the tournament), so I knew I was going back today to my old one that I know I can putt with and have a little more feel with.

"You always go back to what works, and I'd been hitting the ball well all week, but to finally make some putts and shoot a good round and back in the mix is nice."

Down the stretch, Henry two-putted the par-5 13^th and par-4 15^th for birdies before capping his day with a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 18.

"The golf course is obviously conducive to low scores because the greens are soft and the fairways are wide and pretty soft with not much wind, so you're going to see some good scores," Henry said. "But anytime you shoot 64 on a Saturday, you usually feel good about yourself and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.

"I knew I had to get off to a good start, and it was nice to finish with a birdie. I birdied the holes you're suppose to birdie and didn't come close to making bogey except on the hole I did. Unfortunately I might be a little too far back after the first two days, but you never know. I can remember when I won here in 2006, I shoot a pretty good round on Saturday (all-time low 63 at TPC), so hopefully I can continue to do what I did today and have a nice finish."

After the round, Henry headed home to watch TCU, his alma mater, play UCLA in the College World Series. After the final round, he'll head home to get ready to host his first junior-am Monday to raise money for the First Tee programs in Connecticut and Metropolitan, N.Y., at the Patterson Club in Fairfield, where he learned how to play golf with his father, Ron, still a standout amateur.

Festivities on Monday start at 9:30 a.m. with a clinic, followed by a trick-shot artist, lunch and the junior-am, which starts at 12:30 p.m. Ninety-six amateurs who paid to play in the event will play one First Tee youngster, who earned their way into the event by raising the most money. A cookout, dinner, auction and awards ceremony will cap the day.

"I'm really looking for to it," Henry said. "We're trying to benefit the First Tee, and it should be pretty neat and a nice day."

It's the latest major adventure for the Henry House Foundation (www.henryhousefoundation.com), which Henry started in 2006 with seed money from his victory in the Buick Championship at TPC and playing on his first Ryder Cup team. The foundation is a non-profit with a mission to generate public awareness and to support community-based programs that focus on the healthcare and well-being of children. It makes donations to fund specific, tangible projects initiated by children's medical and support services and organizations in Southern New England and Fort Worth, Texas, where he lives.

The sold-out event isn't open to the public, but Henry said he hopes it might expand to include spectators.

"We're just going to see how this works and go from the there," Henry said.

Henry also said he would like to have a skybox for kids like the one adjacent the 10^th hole at the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas. It has all kinds of things for youngsters, including food, drink and rememberances.

And this week, Henry is helping raising money for D.J. Gregory, who has celebral palsy and walked every hole of every course on the PGA Tour last year. This year, Gregory formed the Walking for Kids Foundation (www.walkingforkids.org), and he has two tour players each week donate a certain amount for each birdie and eagle they make. Henry (12 birdies, no eagles) and Bo Van Pelt (11 birdies, no eagles) are donating this week.

"D.J. is my man this week," Henry said. "He's bringing me good luck, and he liked those seven birdies today. We haven't really figured out (how much per birdie and eagle). I'm going to see how it goes at the end of the week. Hopefully I make a lot more birdies (Sunday) and write D.J. a nice big check."

Kenny Perry won’t be joining Phil Mickelson as the only players to win successive titles in the PGA Tour’s annual stop in Connecticut. Perry assured that Saturday, when he made five bogeys and was 5 over par before birdies at the 16th and 18th holes enabled him to salvage a 3-over-par 73, which tied his playing partner for the third consecutive round, University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly.

“I was voting for a (second) cut so I wouldn’t have to play tomorrow,” said Perry, who is battling an ailing right hip and sounded as if he still had a hangover from last week’s U.S. Open. “I played awful. I don’t have it (this week). Bottom line? That’s golf.”

The usually effusive Perry then tried to inject some levity into the situation at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, poking fun at longtime friend Steve Kirsche of Wethersfield, who is caddying for Perry for the first time because Perry’s son, Justin, is attending a friend’s wedding.

“On the 16th hole, I told Steve, ‘I’ve only changed one thing between going from first to last — my caddie, ’ ” said a smiling Perry, who is at even-par 210 after 54 holes after shooting a TPC tournament-record, 22-under 258 last year. “But he’s done a great job. I wish I could blame him, but it’s not him. I’ve got the hooks going, especially with the driver and 3-wood. I’ve got the club lying underneath me, and every time I do that, I hit it in the heel and hook it. It’s not a lot of fun to hit the ball out of the heel and hit a hook. It’s not pretty.”

And his hip? “It’s killing me,” Perry said. “I don’t know what the deal is with that. Old age.”

Perry, who will become eligible for the Champions Tour when he turns 50 on Aug. 12, said his problem wasn’t a 30-pound weight loss since he began using a trainer this year. “I haven’t had any problems because of that,” said Perry, who fell 21 spots into a tie for 69th. “I hit it great last week at the Open. It’s probably the best ball-striking I’ve had all year. I was really looking forward to coming in this week, but that’s golf. Anyway, off we go. The tour continues on.”

Sounds like Bernie really had his irons dialed in while beating friend and longtime adversary Nick Taylor 8 & 6 Friday in the scheduled 36-hole final at one of the state's best courses, the Country Club of Waterbury. And Bernie obviously heeded the advice of longtime state golf standout Bill Hermanson, whom he beat in the semifinals Thursday.

Ironically, Waterbury's head pro, Tom Gleeton, couldn't be on hand because he was playing in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. Tom could have used a few of the 19-year-old kids' birdies since he shot 70-78 to miss the cut. But it's just great that you qualified, Tom.

Meanwhile, it looks like Bernie and Nick might be competing against each other for many years to come. Now here's hoping the CSGA moves its premier amateur week away from the state's largest sporting event so it can get the coverage it deserves. 

But here's a well-written account by David Borges that appeared in the New Haven Register today:

By David Borges, Register Staff
dborges@newhavenregister.com

WATERBURY -- Bernie D'Amato had received some very simple advice from past champion Bill Hermanson after defeating him in the 108th Connecticut Amateur Championships semifinals the day before.

"Fairways and greens," Hermanson told him.

D'Amato kept that advice in the back of his mind after dropping consecutive holes in the afternoon portion of his 36-hole championship match with Nick Taylor on Friday at The Country Club of Waterbury.

"I wouldn't say I was going into panic mode," D'Amato said, "but ... (I just had to) keep that mentality, fairways and greens, and make (my) opponent have to make birdies."

D'Amato, whose lead had gone from 6-up to 4-up through 25 holes of play, promptly hit his tee shot on the 150-yard, par-3 eighth hole pin-high to about 12 feet, watched Taylor nearly chip in, then curled in a birdie putt to get back on track.

The Weston native won three of the next four holes to win, 8-and-6, and become, at 19, one of the youngest players ever to win the Connecticut Amateur.

"It feels fantastic," D'Amato said. "The CSGA puts on a terrific event, and I feel I played really well. I went up against a great opponent in Nick Taylor, and it just feels fantastic to win."


D'Amato won with an iron game that Taylor, a good friend, labeled one of the best he's ever seen. Content to hit mostly 3-woods off the tee at the relatively short (6,556-yard) track, he made up for his relative lack of distance with radar-like iron play.

"I definitely wanted to be in the fairway," he said. "I've been hitting my irons good enough where I feel like I was putting pressure on my opponents the whole week by being anywhere from 160-200 yards out on holes that, if I took a driver, I could have been much closer. But I was hitting my 6, 5 and 4-irons very well. They may have been expecting sometimes that I wasn't going to hit the green, but I ended up hitting some very good shots and making birdies. I just felt comfortable taking 3-woods and hitting longer irons from there."

Gushed Taylor: "I think he's the best iron player I've ever played with. I mean, it was unreal. The best ball-striker, I think. That's why he won. This is a ball-striker's course, obviously. If it's all par-4's, you've got to be a good ball-striker. He can scramble just as well I can scramble, that's how he got it done."

D'Amato, an all-Ivy League player at Princeton this past spring, made the turn in the morning 1-down, but made birdies on 11 and 12, took advantage of a couple of Taylor mistakes and led 5-up through the first 18. In the afternoon round, he got to 6-up after hitting a 220-yarder from the fairway to five feet. But Taylor countered with a birdie at No. 6, and D'Amato couldn't get up-and-down from the right rough on No. 7 to see his lead shrink to 4-up.

Then came the birdie putt at No. 8, which got him right back on track.

"I had a similar putt in the morning that I misread, a little too much break," D'Amato said. "It went about five feet past and I made a good comebacker for par. He almost chipped it in. I heard yesterday he was chipping in very well. I know Nick has a great short game, so you can never count him out, no matter where he is on the course."


Indeed, while Taylor's short game had led him to victory in Thursday's semifinal match with Ryan Leahey, it simply wasn't there for him on Friday. Taylor, a Southbury native and sophomore-to-be at Fairfield, lipped out on his chip shot at No. 8, three-putted from 15 feet on No. 9 and lipped out a 30-foot par putt on the 10th.

"I put myself in a lot worse spots today, that's why the short game wasn't as good," he said.

"It went downhill the second shot on 13 (in the morning round). I was just hitting everything left. Then, when I hit a good shot, I'd three-putt. The short game wasn't there today, it was one of those days ... I'm just happy I got this far, and I'm happy Bernie won, because he deserves it. He's been a great player for so long. I'm actually surprised it took him this long to win it."

Indeed, the two have been close friends since going head-to-head in high school (D'Amato at Weston, Taylor at Pomperaug). With both just 19 and finalists in the 108th Connecticut Amateur, it's likely they'll be going head-to-head plenty of times in the future, as well.

The PGA Tour is known for its benevolence, as demonstrated by the more than $1 billion it has raised over the years for charity. Two Connecticut natives are doing even more on their own.

Fairfield native J.J. Henry started The Henry House Foundation (www.henryhousefoundation.com) in the fall of 2006 to help children through projects that physically and emotionally benefit the communities they love. That was a few months after winning his only tour title in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

University of Hartford graduate Tim Petrovic, a Glastonbury native, started his foundation three years ago. “Our charity, For Every Child (www.hopetotes.org) helps neglected and abused kids,” Petrovic said after making the cut Friday. “It’s a similar kind of charity to Hole In the Wall. But their kids are sick and receiving treatment.”

The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, founded by the late great actor, auto racer and philantropist Paul Newman and located in Ashford, and the Greater Hartford Jaycees are the beneficiaries of the Travelers Championship. After playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday, Petrovic visited about 10 campers. “I wanted to do more than just hand someone a check,” Petrovic said. “The foundation lets me do that.”

Petrovic called Newman, who died in 2008, “Mr. Charity. “If I can get close to his level in terms of helping, it’ll be unbelievable,” Petrovic said.

Even if you don’t, Tim, guys like you, J.J. and others connected with the PGA Tour can be proud of what you’re doing. There’s no greater cause than helping others. There’s not supposed to be any cheering in the press box — er, media center — but I know two guys I’ll be rooting for this weekend.

By the way, after barely making the cut at 2-under-par 138, this morning Henry birdied his first three holes and is off to a fast start. The Big Golfer in the Sky must be watching. Hope Tim can start nearly that hot.

A quick spin around the TPC River Highlands:

_ Leader Justin Rose became the first player to make five consecutive in successive days since Todd Fischer in the 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open. Rose birdied No. 13-17 in a first-round 66 and Nos. 11-15 in a second-round 62, one off the course record. That gave him 10 birdies in 12 holes. Rose's personal best is six straight at the 2006 Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney in an opening, career-low 60.

_ This is the seventh time Rose has held or shared a 36-hole lead, most recently in the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and he's 0-for-6 so far.

_ Back-to-back wins would enable Rose, who won the Memorial Tournament earlier this month, to match Ernie Els' successive victory in the World Golf Championships CA Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

_ Vijay Singh's 65-66 start is his lowest back-to-back rounds since opening with two 64s at the 2008 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where he finished tied for sixth.

_ Hunter Mahan had scored in the 60s in 15 of his last 19 rounds at TPC River Highlands But he missed the cut (71-72) Friday after finishing in the top five in his last four starts in the Travelers --- tied for second, first, tied for secon, tied for fourth).

_ Brad Faxon, who won the 2005 Buick Championship, made his 26th appearance in the tournament, passing 1988 champion Mark Brooks and Mark Calcavecchia for the most in tournament history. Faxon missed this year's cut (75-73) for just the eighth time. Now he'll head back to his home in Barrington, R.I., to host the CVS Charity Classic Sunday through Monday with Bill Andrade at Rhode Island Country Club. Faxon will be paired with tour rookie Ricky Fowler in the 36-hole, two-man, best-ball tournament.

_ The field averaged 69.718 in the first round and 69.316 in the second round, when the playing conditions were much more benign.

_ Kevin Stadler was qualified after the first round for signing an incorrect scorecard.

What started so promised ended so disappointing for Liz Janangelo on Friday.

The West Hartford native began the second round of the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, N.Y., tied for 20th at even par.

Janangelo was 3 over and one under the 36-hole cut before making a double bogey and bogey at the 14th and 15th hole and closing with three pars for a 6-over 78 and 36-hole total of 150 that was two too many.

Janangelo's fiance, Jason Caron of Jupiter, Fla., didn't fare much better than Liz. He shot 1-under 69 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, but his 36-hole total of 2-over 142 missed the Travelers Championship cut by four.

Cristie Kerr, the only American to win a LPGA title in the last 10 events, birdied four of the last five holes for 66-134 and a five-stroke lead over Mika Miyazato and Inbee Park.

Former LPGA player Sue Ginter, winner of the 2007 Connecticut Women's Open and a teaching pro at Rolling Hills Country Club in Darien, shot 81-160.

Ken Green has been complaining about tiring at the end of rounds, whether on the Champions Tour or during fun practice rounds at Richter Park Golf Course in his native Danbury. Green demonstrated why in the first round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y., his second solo start on tour since having the lower part of his right leg amputated after a traffic accident a year ago that claimed his brother, girlfriend and dog.

A chip-in birdie at the 12th got him to even par, but he double bogeyed the 13th and bogeyed the last holes for a 6-over-par 78, which beat only two players and and upset him. “I am trying to swallow my anger pills five hours later,” Green said on his blog. “I still have immense anger and frustration from day one. To be this angry five hours later is actually a good sign that my competitor juices are still intact. “After chipping in on No. 12, I managed to play my last six holes in 6 over. It sounds strange, but I actually did not hit it that bad. I putted the ball like a hippo on Valium. I have to relax and not try so hard on my putts. The old ‘the harder you try, the worse you putt theory’ was in full bloom! “I have one small correction to make in the swing, and if I can accomplish that, along with just relaxing on the greens, I still believe I can shoot under par one of the last two rounds. So this hippo must take a warm bath and relax for tomorrow is a new battle. I will keep you posted. Be good and take care.” Green is 13 shots behind leader Wayne Levi, the 1990 Canon Greater Hartford Open winner who didn’t have a bogey. Levi is one ahead of Dan Forsman and Brad Bryant and two in front of 1998 Canon GHO champion Olin Browne, Lonnie Nielsen, Fred Funk, Blaine McCallister and Mark Calcavecchia, who was making his Champions Tour debut.

Want to support kids and charity? Head to the dedication of a unique learning links for kids Saturday at 9:15 a.m. adjacent to the TPC River Highlands practice range in Cromwell.

The four-hole Karl Krapek Family Learning Links will officially become part of the River Highlands facility. The 17-acre facility were made possible largely by half of a $1 million donation by national First Tee trustee Karl J. Krapek, the former chief operating officer of United Technologies Corp., honorary chairman of the then-Canon Greater Hartford Open in 1998 and a member of the board of directors of the Travelers Championship.

Krapek, Travelers Championship tournament director Nathan Grube and David Polk, the new president of The First Tee of Connecticut, will speak during a scheduled 15-minute ceremony, and nine First Tee of Connecticut youngsters representing the nine core values taught by the First Tee will tee off simultaneously.

Ian Baker-Finch, winner of the 1991 British Open and a CBS golf commentator, will join the aforementioned dignitaries and community leaders for a “patrons’ breakfast” at 9:30. PGA Tour players who missed the cut Friday or have a late starting time Saturday also are scheduled to be on hand.

The learning links were designed by Faxon & Booth Golf Design, which includes Brad Faxon, whose eighth and final tour victory came in a playoff victory over Tjaart van der Walt in 2005. The links have nine tees that enable players to play various distances and varying holes. A scorecard for the 1,210-yard, par-29, nine-hole course will be handed out.

The First Tee of Connecticut, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is a statewide, youth development organization with a national reputation for serving more than 50,000 young people annually from across the state in life skills development through various golf programs.

Tim Petrovic was cruising along early in the second round of the Travelers Championship, having made three birdies in six holes to get to 6-under and tied for second. Then the University of Hartford graduate hit what he called “buzz kill” on the 158-yard 11th hole, the shortest and one of the easiest on the TPC River Highlands course in Cromwell.

Petrovic hit his tee shot into a bunker, left it in after trying to blast out of damp sand, hit to 16 feet and three-putted, missing a 3-footer for double bogey. “Bad swing, sand that was like clay, then compounded it with a three-putt after trying to rip my bogey putt, so the wheels were spinning,” Petrovic lamented afterwards. “It was like Mike Tyson when he faced Buster Douglas, looked away for a second and all of a sudden, he was down.”

Petrovic wasn’t enamored with the bunker but lauded the putting surfaces. “I wish the grounds crew had put some sand in that bunker,” he said. “But the greens are pretty good for poa annua greens. You could move these greens over to Pebble Beach (site of last week’s U.S. Open); they’d be in good shape. Pebble Beach should come over and look at these poas because they’ve got no clue what’s going on over there.

“They’re going to have the U.S. Open at Congressional, so they dug those greens up. You go to Pebble Beach, and they’re not going to dig those up? What, are you kidding me? They closed Congressional for a year. Pebble Beach? No, (they say) these are good greens; we’ll leave those. They’re the worst greens on (the PGA Tour). If you want to have a U.S. Open there, you have to redo those greens. They redid the greens at Torrey Pines, and that’s a public course. They didn’t have to dig those up, though. They just kind of let the poa grow in.”

Other than the disaster at the 1st Petrovic was generally satisfied with a 1-under-par 69, capped by a birdie at the 18th, for a 36-hole total of 136 and a tie for 34th.

“It was pretty solid, and the putter actually felt a little better,” Petrovic said. “I missed some putts, but I made a lot of good strokes. I had a couple of three-putts, but I was a little more aggressive on the greens.”

Jay Williamson didn’t have any problem making his 4:30 a.m. wakeup call Friday. In fact, the Trinity College graduate was awake before the alarm sounded, then headed to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell for the second round of the Travelers Championship in a joyous mood.

“We have adjoining rooms at the hotel, so it’s good,” Williamson said as 4-year-old George, his youngest of three children, tugged as dad’s pants. “We (wife Marnie and Jay) are kind of used to this. I love having the kids out with me, and I love for them, especially George, to be out and kind of understand a little bit more. Whitney (11) has been out here awhile, she’s a veteran now.

“Getting up at 4:30 will get your attention a little bit, but for some reason, it’s helps a lot when it’s light out. And it was light when I was leaving the hotel at 5 (for a 6:50 starting time). As long as there’s some light, it doesn’t seem as early as it is.”

And Williamson has seen the light and enjoyed himself for years in Hartford, especially in 2007, when he lost a playoff to Hunter Mahan. “I don’t go to many places where people are saying, ‘How’s Williamson doing?’ ” he said with a smile. “So it’s nice to at least have you guys (the media) know my name. It’s fun to come back to Hartford. I know a lot of people here, and it’s great to see so many friendly faces.

“And it really puts it all into perspective for me. I have to pinch myself a little bit walking down the fairways here. The course fits me well, and for some reason I’m a little more confident here.”

Williamson played the first two rounds with longtime friend Scott McCarron and PGA Tour rookie sensation Rickie Fowler. They were in the first group off the 10th tee, and it was happy Friday for the threesome. It started with Williamson birdying the first three holes from 10, 3 and 6 feet to move into a tie for second behind equally hot Justin Rose, who finished with an 8-under 62, one off the course record, and a 36-hole tournament record 14-under 126.

Williamson birdied the 15th hole for the second straight day before driving into a fairway bunker and making his only bogey at his bugaboo 18th. He birdied the 1st, saved par at the 2nd after chunking his approach into a bunker, then birdied the difficult 4th hole before admittedly struggling while worrying about making the cut. But he parred the other seven holes on his inward nine for 65-134 and a tie for 17th.

“To start out with a hat trick (of birdies) was nice, but the last nine holes on Friday trying to make the cut are the most uncomfortable holes for me, and I felt it again today,” Williamson said. “It’s like I can’t get it enough under par to make sure I make the cut. It’s a tough game, and I hate to even talk about or think about the cut, but it’s an important deal for me because you have to make the cut before you can play the weekend.

“I don’t know how I shot 65 with the way I finished. I was really leaking oil and really butchered the par-5 (6th) pretty bad and it kind of discombobulated me for awhile. When I signed my scorecard, the number was 65, but it didn’t really feel like that. I got off to a great start, couldn’t miss a shot, felt great about my game, but this game is amazing. Coming in, I had a hard time hitting the clubface. But 65 on a day like today is good. It should have been a little bit lower considering the way I started, but it was great playing with Scott and Rickie and we really enjoyed the round.

“I love playing with Scott because he rolls it so well and usually makes a lot of putts. We’ve been friends for a long time (since they joined the PGA Tour together in 1995), and it was fun playing with Rickie, who is really respectful of guys like Scott and I. We were the veterans, don’t call us the old guys, and we were playing with the rookie. We really enjoyed the round today.”

McCarron, a three-time tour winner, rallied from a bogey-bogey start, making six birdies, including at the final hole to shoot 66 and tie Williamson. Fowler, who has had three second-place finishes since joining the tour in October, would have finished tied with elders if he had duplicated McCarron on the 9th. But Fowler, who holed an 85-yard sand wedge shot for eagle at the 2nd, made bogey at the 9th to shoot 65 for 136.

So it’s little wonder that Williamson “really enjoyed” his time with McCarron and Fowler considering they shot a combined 14 under Friday and are 18 under for the tournament. Then again, that’s only four better than Rose, who had five consecutive birdies for the second day in a row for 10 in a 12-hole stretch. Amazingly, Rose actually did that previously, birdying 10 of the 12 holes in the first round of the Walt Disney Classic in his hometown of Orlando, Fla.

“You know, my golf crowd keeps wondering if (my career) would last six months or six years, Williamson said. “Obviously if I keep shooting 65 on Friday, it might last six more years. It’s a crazy game and I’m trying as hard as I can, but I need to make a few birdies this weekend and just keep enjoying being here in Hartford.”

Norwich Golf Club head pro John Paesani, one of the real good guys in the Connecticut Section PGA and golf, will be playing in the U.S. Senior Open July 29-Aug. 1 at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.

And John will have a special person alongside as his caddie, 15-year-old son Matt.

Paesani qualified for his fourth major championship by shooting a 2-over-par 72 at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y., and then surviving a four-way playoff for the last of three

spots in the 150-man field. Paesani made a 20-foot par putt on the third extra hole to stay alive, and then made a 5-footer for par on the hole and advanced when Darrell Kestner three-putted for bogey.

Tony Kelley, another section standout from Wyckoff Park Country Club in Holyoke, Mass., was suppose to be in the playoff, but he left early because he didn't think 72 would be good enough. He left this morning for the National PGA Professional Championship in French Lick, Ind.

Paesani, a four-time section player of the year and winner of three section championships and the 2001 Connecticut Open, also played in the 1988 and 1997 PGA Championship and the 1991 U.S. Open.

"The best part of this will be having Matt on the bag," Paesani said via e-mail. "What a great father-son experience. We can't wait."

Great job, John. Play well and have a terrific time with Matt.

Two fortysomethings wielding long putters bested someone young enough to be their son in the first pairing off the 1st tee in the afternoon wave of the Travelers Championship’s first round Thursday.

Trinity College graduate Jay Williamson and Scott McCarron, who have been friends since they joined the PGA Tour together in 1995, were paired with 20-year-old Rickie Fowler at the TPC River Highlands. Williamson, 43, and McCarron, 45, are so close that McCarron’s wife Jennifer is the godmother of Williamson’s daughter, 11-year-old Whitney.

So it was easy for Jay and Scott, who have three and two children, to chat during a longer-than-usual round, interrupted at the 9th hole for 90 minutes because of rain and lightning. Fowler, who joined the tour a year ago after an All-American career at Oklahoma State, was equally cordial, though a bit quieter and more standoffish after a second double bogey on the 13th hole.

“I didn’t even know what to talk to him about,” Williamson said, smiling. “But he’s a great kid, not like most of the young kids who come out here and don’t have time for you. I think he respects that I’ve been out here for a long time and that Scott has won (three) times. He’s a great kid with a bright future, no doubt about it.”

Fowler, who has finished twice three times in his first 22 tour starts, had to take a backseat to his elders this day. He quickly got behind the eight-ball when he skulled a bunker shot on the 1st and had to get up-and-down for a double-bogey 6. He recovered to get to 1-under with a 25-foot putt on the 10th for his second consecutive birdie before hitting his drive in the water and making double-bogey 7 at the 13th on the way to 72 and tie for 99th.

McCarron won the father-son battle with a 68, built on a gutty stretch on the back nine after he pulled his drive over railroad tracks and out of bounds on the 13th while at 2-under. But he got up-and-down for birdie with his second ball, holed a 50-foot chip over a bunker at the 14th and made a 20-foot birdie putt at the 15th. McCarron got a saving par from a gulley behind the par-3 16th green, made bogey after pulling drive into the rough at the 17th and parred the 18th to finish in a tie for 35th.

Williamson was one back of his buddy largely because he couldn’t get approach shots close to the hole. Williamson, tied for 57th, bogeyed the 1st, birdied the 3rd and hit 13 greens in regulation, but he recorded only one more birdie when he drove the 296-yard 15th hole and missed an 18-foot eagle try.

“It got a little difficult with the wind, and the greens are tricky,” said Williamson, followed by former Trinity hockey coach John Dunham. “I hit a lot of greens but just nothing real close. And I just couldn’t make the 20-footer, which is usually the case. I didn’t like the swing on 18 (a drive hooked into the left rough), but other than that, I liked the way I played. And I made par at 18 on a decent day, not a great day, and hopefully (Friday) morning I can shoot 4 or 5 under.”

Williamson is searching for his first PGA Tour victory after coming closest in playoff losses to Hunter Mahan in the 2007 Travelers Championship and to 2009 Travelers Championship winner Kenny Perry in the 2008 John Deere Classic.vWilliamson would cherish a victory not far from where he attended college, but he’s not enthralled about having to arise today around 4:30 a.m. — 3:30 in his hometown of St. Louis — for the first tee time (6:50) on the 10th hole.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Williamson said, smiling again. “But we’re hoping for a little weather delay so we go out later.”

Sorry, Jay, but all 156 starters finished, so make sure that alarm’s set on time —- and loud.

Chad Campbell certainly wasn’t outwardly enthused about the hole-in-one he made on TPC River Highlands’ 16th hole Thursday. Then again, it was the 10th ace of his career and second on the PGA Tour in eight months.

But holing a 165-yard, 6-iron shot hardly seemed to register on the Campbell meter.

“It’s always awesome because it doesn’t happen too often,” Campbell said rather matter-of-factly. “I’ve played a lot of golf and to make 10 of them … There are some people that play a whole lot and don’t make any, so I’m definitely excited.”

But Campbell was more excited that the ace kick-started a 3-under-par 67 in the first round of the Travelers Championship. It also earned Campbell — more likely his wife, Amy — a shopping spree at Lux Bond & Green, but he obviously didn’t know it was for $50,000. “There’s something with a jewelry store, but I’m not quite sure right now,” Campbell said.

And Campbell wasn’t sure he had even made the hole-in-one. “There wasn’t much reaction on the green, so we didn’t know if it was going in,” said Campbell, whose other ace on tour came in the Frys.com Open in October. “You heard it hit the pin, but you couldn’t tell if it went in. There were pretty much just marshals back there, so we didn’t know for sure if it was in. Obviously we figured it out pretty quick.”

Campbell, a playoff loser to Angel Cabrera in the 2009 Masters, was 1-under for six holes after starting at No. 10. After the ace, he birdied the 17th and had several more chances to get under par, settling for nine pars and a birdie 2 at No. 8.

Jerry Kelly nearly wore out himself and Cleveland Golf rep Jeff Burleigh Tuesday.

After an 81-77 finish at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last weekend dropped the University of Hartford grad from sixth to a tie for 63rd, Kelly spent six hours on the TPC River Highlands practice range trying to get a new set of irons fitted properly.

“It wasn’t as much swing because I was swinging well, which is how I could tell the irons were a little off,” Kelly said after a 4-under-par 66 in the first round of the Travelers Championship Thursday. “But I put in a solid, solid session because I put new irons in my bag a month ago and new shafts last week.”

Kelly made five visits to Burleigh before feeling everything was right. Kelly said Harrison Frazer was waiting for his 4-, 5- and 6-iron because he had lost his clubs and there was only one set left.

“I realized the longer irons were a little weaker than I’d like,” Kelly said, “so I had to change shafts in them and go back and forth with grips and what not, so it took a long time to really dial everything in. I feel like I got the work I needed to with the irons and left feeling very comfortable and just wanted to go play.”

Kelly had one final adjustment made to his “a little whippy” 3-iron before the Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday and felt ready to go, especially after talking to his coach and brother-in-law, Jim Schulman, on Sunday night.

“We got a lot out on the table,” Kelly said. “I wish I would have talked to him on Saturday night, but I got some really strong pressure thoughts moving forward, so I feel pretty good about where I’m at.”

But despite hitting the ball well at the start Thursday, Kelly failed to get much from his game, standing at even par after five holes. Birdies at Nos. 6 and 7 got him under par, but he bogeyed the par-5 13th to fall back to even par. But he closed with a flourish, making three birdies in four holes, starting with an 18-foot putt at No. 14.

After hitting into a fairway bunker on the short 15th hole, Kelly hit what he called his best shot of the day, a 30-yard shot that set up a 6-foot birdie putt. Then after hooking his tee shot into another fairway bunker at the water-lined 17th hole, Kelly hit a 7-iron to 9 feet and made another birdie.

Kelly got a bit of an unlucky bounce when his approach hit the top of a greenside bunker and rolled into a down slope. After blasting to 6 feet, Kelly grinded to save his strong finish and made the par putt.

“I played well all day, but I just made some putts in the end,” Kelly said. “That last putt was big for me. I gives me confidence going into the next three rounds.” Kelly compared it to the United States in World Cup soccer, pressing for birdies but failing to score.

“Unfortunately I let a few goals by,” Kelly said. “They didn’t, but (goalie Tim) Howard is tough back there. But there’s a pretty good goalie in front of that hole sometimes.”

But Kelly was happy to get back in the hunt again. He said he had solid chances to win in the Masters, U.S. Open and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and had a low round of the day in the Masters, Colonial and Players Championship. but hasn’t been able to finish it off.

“My record sure hasn’t shown that I’ve been in the hunt a lot this year,” said Kelly, whose best finish in 15 starts is a tie for 12th in the Masters. “I’m playing world-class golf but not consistently enough. So the mental is getting a little more frustrated as I don’t finish up there. There’s some tailspins happening, and I’ve got to stop them. I was much better at getting mad than getting down (Thursday), so I was able to keep the adrenaline up so I could finish it off.

“I feel good about my game, and after last week, I don’t want to forget it. I want to remember it. It’s something I can draw off of. If you can draw off a bad round is when you’re going to improve. I’d like the old hockey player to sneak out a little more, so I get fired up. I’ve done a pretty good job of kind of calming my temper down, but it let me go on the other side of the hill, and I want to stay aggressive.”

Kelly, of Madison, Wis., would like nothing better than to win his fourth PGA Tour title within shouting distance of his alma mater.

“This is basically my second home,” Kelly said. “After losing the tournament in Milwaukee, this is the tournament outside of a major that I’d like to win most.”

After the round, Kelly met one of his favorite fans, 2008 Connecticut Women’s Open champion Lynn Valentine of East Lyme, another University of Hartford grad, for the first time.

“I’ve really wanted to meet Jerry and Tim Petrovic,” Valentine said. “I’ve been living under a rock.”

Kenny Perry was plenty blunt about how he played in the start of his Travelers Championship defense Thursday.

“I played bad,” Perry said after a 1-under-par 69 at TPC River Highlands. “I had a rough day. I was tired mentally and physically. My legs were shot, and I couldn’t get through the golf ball early in the round. Hopefully we can figure it out.”

Perry, who won his 14th and final PGA Tour title a year ago with a tournament-record, 22-under 258, registered two of three birdies on the par-3 eighth and 16th holes but couldn’t get else going.

“I hit my driver bad the first nine holes, didn’t hit a fairway,” Perry said. “I hit my 3-wood a lot and hit that fine. But I fought it and shot 1 under, so I’m not out of the tournament. So I have to shoot 6 or 7 under (Friday), and I’ll be back in it.”

Despite his so-so start, Perry got some levity out of first-time caddie Steve Kirsche having his bag fall over for the third time this week, running their fine total to $300. Kirsche, whose family in Wethersfield has hosted Perry since his rookie year on the tour in 1987, is toting for his longtime friend because Perry’s son, Justin, is attending a friend’s wedding.

“He’s not going to get much salary,” Perry joked. “He’s going to up the (rental) rate on me. I’ll just go somewhere else.”

Kirsche was sheepish about the latest incident, saying he’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Better not, Steve, or Kenny might not return to the Hotel Kirsche. Actually, I doubt it. Friendships like yours really are forever.

Liz Janangelo of West Hartford birdied four of her first six holes to take the early lead at 3 under par in the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, N.Y.

A double-bogey 6 at the third hole on her inward nine derailed the strong start, but she birdied her final hole, No. 9, for an even-par 72 and a tie for 20th at the end of play Thursday.

Janangelo was four strokes behind tri-leaders Stacy Lewis, Seon Hwa Lee and Christie Kerr, the only American to win in the last 10 LPGA events. Janangelo finished one better than her fiance, Jason Caron, who shot 3-over 73 and is tied for 133rd after the first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

Former LPGA player Sue Ginter, the 2007 Connecticut Women's Open champion and a teaching pro at Rolling Hills Country Club in Darien, started double bogey-bogey-bogey and shot 79 to tie for 132nd in the 150-player field.

If you're looking for some trends in trying to pick a winner among the 156 starters in the Travelers Championship, consider these:

_ Seven of the last eight PGA Tour tournaments have been won by international players, capped by Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who captured his first major title Sunday in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Overall, foreigners have won 12 of the 26 tour events this year.

_ The last three winners have come from the British Isles: Englishman Justin Rose (Memorial), Englishman Lee Westwood (St. Jude Classic) and McDowell. There are 36 international players in the Travelers, including 2010 winners Rose and Aussie Adam Scott (Valero Texas Open), who is at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell for the first time.

So the pick of this corner of the golf world? A Rose is a Rose is a Rose. Good luck to the personable Justin, who was 0-for-162 on the PGA Tour before winning three weeks ago and now could be 2-for-2 come early Sunday night. He failed to qualify for our national championship, so he's rested after not having to endure the torture chamber known as the U.S. Open. Plus, he could be inspired after winning the Hole 151/2 contest Tuesday, earning $10,000 for his favorite charity, Central Florida Children's Home, located about a mile from his home in Orlando, Fla. Here's hoping it's not the start of a jinx like at the Masters, where no player has ever won the Par-3 Contest and tournament in the same year. But I'm more concerned that Rose tees off today at 12:32 p.m. on the 10th tee with 2007 champion Hunter Mahan and Scott Verplank. Severe thunderstorms could be hitting the Cromwell area this afternoon. But, please, no tornado like last year on Friday afternoon.

If not Rose, then Irishman Padraig Harrington, who said he enjoyed the course and his surroundings in his Travelers debut in 2007, promised to return and finally fulfilled his pledge this year. Amazingly, Harrington hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2008 PGA Championship, but the end of that streak would have plenty of Irish eyes and those of tournament officials smiling.

Justin Rose admits it took him longer to win on the PGA Tour than he expected. 

But the personable Englishman finally broke through in his 162nd try at the Memorial Tournament three weeks ago and got an added bonus: a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus as he walked off the 18th hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

Rose smiled as he recalled the moment Wednesday, obviously thinking, "What a way to finish off No. 1." 

And the adventure has already produced some memorable moments for Kirsche, filling in for Perry's son, Justin, who is attending a friend's wedding this weekend. A year ago, Kirsche, his wife Martha and four kids ran onto the 18th green after Perry won his 14th and last tour title, the 11th after he turned 40.

But Kirsche wasn't laughing Tuesday. The first yardage that he gave Perry didn't quite work out as planned. "We had a marker that was (at) 220 yards, and I walked nine paces toward the hole," Kirsche recalled. "I said, 'Kenny, you've got 220, plus nine, so you're 229.' But I added instead of subtracted."

Perry promptly airmailed the green. "It was funny," Perry said with a smile Wednesday. "I was like, 'Where did you come up with that (yardage)? He goes, 'I added instead of subtracted.' I'm like, 'You've gotta be kidding me.' "

Then came Episodes II and III. "He was sitting there, really kind of on pins and needles," Perry said. "He's not paying attention, and there's the bag, and the next thing you know, smash. I said, on tour that's a $100 fine for every time you let the bag hit the ground. He did it twice, as a matter of fact."

Kirsche said he likely isn't going to pay the $200. "He hasn't gotten the bill from the Hotel Kirsche yet," Kirsche said. And Kirsche might not have to ply anything.

Perry played his practice round with Vijay Singh, Boo Weekley and tour rookie Blake Adams, whom Perry has taken under his wing and plays with every Tuesday. On the 8th hole, Singh challenged his playing partners to a $1 skins game, and Perry birdied four straight holes.

"Kenny said, 'When Vijay put a couple bucks on the line, I just kept making birdies,' " Kirsche said.

But Kirsche owes Perry from an earlier wager. "When he called me in January, I weighed 236 and now I'm 206," said Kirsche, who spent about 90 minutes daily on a gym elliptical machine in his home and ate 800-900 calories a day. "We had a contest (for weight lost), and he beat me by a couple (of pounds). Then on Media Day (in April) when he said his 57-year-old tour rookie is going to die but I don't know which hole, I said, 'Well, that ain't going to happen.' "

If Kirsche makes it 72 holes and earns 10 percent of Perry's $1,080,000 first prize, that $200 fine will quickly be forgotten.

Despite all the early high jinks, Perry noticed Kirsche wasn't relaxed Wednesday morning on the drive from Wethersfield to Cromwell despite the fact he was only going to be a spectator as he checked out yardages during the Celebrity Pro-Am, walking with Perry and his 32-year-old son, Steve Jr., who caddied for Perry.

"I looked at him and said, 'Man, you're nervous,' " Perry said. "He goes, 'I'm focused.' I'm like, 'It's pro-am. Come on.' It's going to be interesting to see (how Kirsche reacts during the tournament). I'll get more of a kick out of watching him than he will watching me. But it's going to be pretty interesting (Thursday) watching him go."

Perry has had a so-so season with only one top-10 in 13 starts, a tie for sixth in the season-opening SBS Championship. He has made 12 cuts but is 62nd on the money list ($792,727) and FedEx Cup points list (450). But he has been encouraged lately because of less pain in his elbow and knee, getting better adapted to the new V-groove wedge rule, improved driving, flexibility and distance after the weight loss and getting his old set of R7 irons back and finding another Ping Craz-E putter last week.

"I'm still in a learning curve, so I'm getting closer to where I'm comfortable with every club in the bag," Perry said. "I'm actually hitting the driver in the center of the face again, so that tells me I'm more on top of the golf club. I'm starting to do things that were right last year, so we're going in the right direction."

Perry, eligible on the PGA Tour through 2014, also has returned to a course where he has had six top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts, capped by his 14th victory and 11th since he turned 40 last year. He turns 50 on Aug. 10 and doesn't know how much he'll play on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, though he plans to return to events where he feels welcome, likes the course and plays well, such as the Travelers Championship, Memorial, Waste Management Phoenix Open and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

"Sandy, she's like the grandmother out here, the mother, the mom to all the wives," Perry said, "but she hangs out with all the girls and she's part of the big Wives Association and everything. She's got a lot of great friends out here, and she loves it. And she should have fun because she stayed home and raised the kids while I was traveling. Now she's getting to travel every week because my youngest just graduated from SMU, so my three kids are out of the house (in Franklin, Ky.). It's just me and her traveling.

"If she enjoys the Champions Tour, we'll spend more time over there, but if she still likes it over here better, you'll see me playing over here more. It's not going to be a money thing or anything like that. It'll just be where me and her enjoying spending our week. That's kind of how we're going to approach the Champions Tour."

It's no secret, though, how Perry is approaching this week, especially after a torturous time in last week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, where he tied for 33rd at 12-over-par 296. A year ago, Perry opened the Travelers with a course record-tying 10-under 61 and closed with 63 for a tournament-record total of 22-under 258.

"It was nice to come here and have a lot of laughing because you didn't have a lot last week," said Perry, who was 2-under for 12 holes Wednesday before losing focus in the heat and finishing with a 1-over 72. "U.S. Open conditions will make you feel claustrophobic, but it's nice to come to a fun golf course and it's great to come back to a place where you've won. I'm kind of a creature of habit. It seems like when I win once, I win that tournament a couple of times. I've never done very well in defense, but if I was ever going to defend a title, this is probably the place I could do it.

"It's going to be a fun week no matter how it turns out, how I play. I'm enjoying the walk right now. Golf is still important to me, and I still want to win, but if I don't, it's fine. My career has been awesome for where I've come from in life and what I've done and how long I've stayed out here and competed.

"I know I'm living on borrowed time on tour with my golf game, but there are certain venues I can still be very competitive and that magic will still happen. It may not be on a U.S. Open-style venue, but I really think it can happen at an event like here. I've got a chance to win again, so my thinking is changing."

It would be special again if it happened Sunday. Kirsche said he feels he'll be fine in his PGA Tour debut after toting for his longtime friend in the 2000 Canon Greater Hartford Open Celebrity Pro-Am and 2009 Masters Par-3 Contest.

"I'm focused," Kirsche reiterated. "I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can because it's like caddying for your brother."

CROMWELL _ As longtime tournament and PGA Tour official Henry Hughes was about to be honored on the first tee at TPC River Highlands just before noon Wednesday, a loud roar emanated from a nearby hospitality tent.

It wasn't for Hughes, but the stoppage time goal that Landon Donovan scored to enable the United States to advance to the second round of the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Algeria.

But the Wethersfield native who started and will end his golf management career in Connecticut certainly deserved such applause.

Travelers Championship and Greater Hartford Jaycees officials honored Hughes for more than 30 years of service to the tournament and the PGA Tour. He received an iPad and permanent reserved parking spot from Nathan Grube, who said, "We consider you a past champion."

After the 10-minute ceremony ended, Ted May, the longtime liaison between the tournament and the tour, made another presentation with three other longtime friends and tournament associates -- Roger Gelfenbein, Dan Kleinman and Mike Wheeler.

"You've got lots of flags signed by all kinds of champions, so here's a champions'  flag from us," May said as he handed Hughes a Players Championship flag with the autographs of Ted, Roger, Dan and Mike.

Hughes has managed The Players Championship for several years, one of the last of the many hats he wore since joining the tour in 1984, when the Connecticut event moved from Wethersfield Country Club to TPC of Connecticut, now River Highlands. Hughes started with the local tournament as a volunteer in the late 1960s and was co-chairman of the 1975 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open.

But the 62-year-old Hughes will end his long run on Tuesday, when he retires to do things he hasn't been able to do with his wife, Patty, as they split time between Glastonbury and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home of tour headquarters.

"The tournament and Travelers can't thank you enough," said Andy Bessette, Travelers executive vice president and chief administrator officer. "We always say there's a storied history of the tournament, but there's also a storied history of Henry Hughes. You served on the tour staff for many, many years and were a great partner for us, especially with the bridge plan in 2006 to make sure the tournament survived long enough for us to figure out this is the right thing to do.

"Anything you contributed to this tournament has been so special and so important to our community. (Travelers chairman and chief executive officer) Jay (Fishman) and I always says this is great for our community, great for our charities and is the right thing to do. Having you here to honor you and to say thank you is part of moving forward. You asked if you can continue to help in any way, so I'm announcing you can consider it done.

"You're the next part of our team. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done, and we look forward to working with you going forward."

Hughes said it was special to have Connecticut be his sayonora tournament on the tour, and he felt fortunate to have had a "wonderful" staff.

"I've been involved with tournaments across the country, but home always has a special place in your heart," Hughes said. "When you have one of our very best tournaments and a title sponsor like Travelers who's committed to a project in their hometown and talk to their employees and talk to their community just makes for a perfect relationship.

"Thank you everyone for supporting the tournament. It's wonderful to be home. Patty and I will be spending the warm months here and the cold months where it's warm. We hope to be around to see everyone as often as we possibly can."

Henry, Connecticut will have its arms open for you forever and thankfully you were around to help make the state's largest sporting event what it is.

If you’re at the Travelers Championship around noon on Wednesday, take a few minutes to mosey to the 1st tee and thank Henry Hughes for all he has done for the largest sporting event in Connecticut.

Hughes, a native of Wethersfield, will fittingly end a 30-plus-year run with the PGA Tour’s annual stop in the state and holding numerous high-profile tour positions not far from where it all started. He officially retires next Tuesday, and to commemorate the occasion, Travelers Championship and Greater Hartford Jaycees officials will recognize Hughes Wednesday before defending champion Kenny Perry tees off in the Celebrity Pro-Am at noon.

Then on Saturday night, Hughes will receive the Ralph A. Hart Award for commitment, integrity and service during the Past Chairman’s Association dinner at the TPC. Hart, a former chairman of Heublein Inc., was the honorary chairman in 1964, a year after Clayton Grengras, the honorary chairman when Hughes was co-chairman, introduced him to Hart.

Hughes, 62, was co-chairman of the then-Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open in 1975 before joining the tour in 1984, when the event moved from Wethersfield Country Club to the new TPC of Connecticut, now River Highlands. Hughes rose to the ranks of the right-hand man of PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and helped his beloved GHO/Buick Championship/Travelers Championship through some mighty rough sledding.

Helping the Jaycees put together a bridge plan to keep the tournament alive and secure Travelers as a title sponsor lands Hughes in the tournament Hall of Fame. We always had a standing joke that whenever I asked a question about the tournament or the tour, Henry’s first comment would be, “No comment.”

Well, as Hughes’ memorable career winds down two towns south of where he grew up, let me freely comment that no one deserves the honors more than Henry. I’ve been fortunate to know hundreds of people in nearly four decades covering the tournament who have meant so much to the event raising more than $25 million for charity, and Henry can take a backseat to few, with close friend Ted May, also of Wethersfield, giving him a good run for the title.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some PGA Tour players who benefitted from Henry’s countless hours on the job(s) were at the 1st tee Wednesday around lunchtime. On Tuesday, I tried to pass the word to some players who have often supported the event by their presence, and everyone not playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am at the time said they’d try to make the ceremony. And they should. The more the merrier for one of the truly good guys in golf — and the world.

The TPC River Highlands practice range in Cromwell got more of a workout than usual Tuesday.

It was Fan and Family Day, and while PGA Tour players rifled high majestic shots down the new 23-acre, state-of-the-art driving range and tried to fine-tune their strokes on massive practice greens, dozens of CT Section PGA pros helped hundreds of youngsters attempt to improve all phases of their game. Longtime tournament supporter Billy Andrade, who has done eight of his 15 stops as a TV commentator and makes his 2010 playing debut this week on a sponsor’s exemption, also lent a helping hand at a clinic. Then, 40 First Tee of CT youngsters competed in a Pro-Junior Tournament with 10 PGA Tour players on the TPC’s front nine. Unfortunately, it was cut short by a thunderstorm.

It was all part of the First Tee of CT’s bid to get more kids hooked on golf. And youngsters have a first-rate facility second to none that hopefully will include a learning center in the near future.

“I was with (PGA of America president) Joe Steranka, and he was really impressed with what we have here,” said David Polk, the new president and executive director of the First Tee of CT. “This is a model for the way youth golf facilities should be. It was extremely well thought out, especially with the kids next to the pros.”

A four-hole First Tee course now fully usable has nine tees that enable anyone to play various distances and varying holes. It was made possible largely by a $1 million donation by national First Tee trustee Karl J. Krapek, the former chief operating officier of United Technologies Corp., honorary chairman of the then-Canon Greater Hartford Open in 1998 and a member of the board of directors of the Travelers Championship.

Half of Krapek’s donation was earmarked for the Connecticut chapter of the national First Tee, so it’s not surprising the Karl Krapek Family Learning Links will be dedicated in his honor Saturday morning at the third annual First Tee of Connecticut patrons breakfast. The festivities will include 1991 British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch and several PGA Tour players who miss the cut Friday or have later starting times Saturday.

Thanks to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, three members of the First Tee of CT — Allen Hanrisuk of Glastonbury, Fabio Colon of East Hartford and Nicole Clemons of Manchester — will play with tour pro Scott Piercy today at 8:20 a.m. off the 10th tee in the Celebrity Pro-Am. Hopefully, such exposure will help Polk & Co. raise about $1 million needed to build a learning center south of the four-hole course.

“So many people have had so much to do with this project being as good as it is,” Polk said. “The learning center would cap things off.”

Suzy Whaley has what you could call a bit of a seven-year itch since becoming the first woman to play in what is now the Travelers Championship.

Between giving clinics and lessons on Family Day at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Whaley was walking the range alongside 13-year-old daughter Kelly, a 3-handicap, taking shots of PGA Tour pros with a camera that shoots 1,200 frames per second.

"I study golf most of the day. I'm a total golf geek," said Whaley, who works at TPC when not giving lessons or clinics nationwide. "Every swing is different, but I try to match a body type to a pro. How do they make it work with techniques that can be applied to the average player.

"I usually match girls with girls and guys with guys, though there are some of my collegiate girls can take a lot from guys, especially on the putting stroke."

Whaley then started shooting players on the large putting green behind the driving range before heading to a clinic being conducted by the Connecticut Section PGA. Whaley's victory in the 2002 section championship earned her a spot in the Buick Championship, the first woman to qualify for a tour event in 58 years.

Whaley capped her day by watching Kelly and her other daughter, Jenn, play in the Pro-Junior Tournament on the TPC's front nine. Ten PGA Tour players competed with members of the First Tee of Connecticut.

Whaley is currently recognized by Golf for Women as a top 50 female instructor and is a board member and advisor for numerous organizations, including Golfer Girl Magazine. She is an LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) member who played on the LPGA Tour in 1990 and 1993.

The Connecticut State Golf Association has announced just how important golf is to the Connecticut economy. Not surprisingly, it's more than $1.1 billion, considering the state has one of the highest median incomes in the country. Here's the release that the CSGA just released, and if you want to hear more, be at the TPC River Highlands practice range at 3 p.m., when CSGA officials and members of the Connecticut Golf Alliance will be making a presentation on their findings.

Connecticut Golf Industry Delivers Economic Impact of $1.1 Billion, Employs 11,570 with Total Wage Income of $336 Million. 

June 22, 2010 - The Connecticut Golf Alliance announced the golf industry in the state comprised of 185 small businesses and the Travelers Championship delivers an annual economic impact of $1.1 Billion.

The study completed by SRI International identified the following elements:

                                    Direct              Indirect           Total                Total                Total

                                                                &                                                                 Wage

                                    Impact             Induced           Impact             Jobs                 Income

                                    ($ M)                                       ($ M)                                       ($ M)

Golf Facility                $425.6             ----------            $783.7             8,830               $250.5

Operations

Golf Course                $59.8                                       $8.1                 61                    $2.6

Capital

Improvements

Golfer Supplies           $70.5                                       $134.3             933                  $37.1

Tournaments &           $14.0                                       $28.0               399                  $10.3

Associations

Real Estate                  $20.9                                       $24.4               182                  $7.7

Hospitality /                $46.9                                     $89.7               1,165               $28.4

Tourism

Total                           $637.7                   $1068.2           11,570             $336.6

The study further reveals the Golf Industry is comparable to revenues generated by other key industries in the state, such as accounting and tax preparation ($1.5 billion), limited menu (fast food) restaurants ($1.3 billion), and nurseries/greenhouses ($273.8 million).

Additionally the golf industry employs 11,570 earning $336 million and generated $32 million for charity.

Golf is important to Connecticut for the diverse group of businesses the game supports, the people it employs, the tax revenue it creates, the tourism it spawns, the charity it generates, and the environmental leadership it provides.

The Connecticut Golf Alliance members are the Connecticut State Golf Association, The Connecticut Section Professional Golfers Association, The Travelers Championship, The First Tee of Connecticut, The Connecticut Women's Golf Association, The Connecticut Association of Golf Course Superintendents, The Connecticut Club Managers Association, The Southern New England Women's Golf Association, representatives of Connecticut High Schools, Colleges and Universities, and Public access golf courses. The mission of the Alliance is to protect and grow the game of golf.

I'm usually a positive guy, but I was left with plenty of negative vibes after what Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods did after the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

Johnson, the 54-hole leader who imploded during a final-round 82, and Els, the two-time champion who faltered down the stretch to finish third, failed to talk to media when it was over. Sure there's major disappointment in the year's second major championship, but that's no excuse for gassing the media. People would have liked to know how they felt after coming so close to winning one of golf's biggest prizes. You can be sure each would found his way to the media center if he had left Pebble Beach with the winner's silver trophy rather than Graeme McDowell.

Woods, still trying to recover from several months of personal issues being revealed to the public, was generally on his best behavior until his press conference, when he basically dissed caddie Steve Williams, no angel himself, for three mental mistakes that helped prevent the world's No. 1 from winning a 15th major title. Woods attributed two of the mental errors to wrong club selections and third, at No. 10, on Williams suggesting that he fire at a pin that was on the right side of the green near a hazard. Woods found the hazard and made a third bogey on the holes where the mental mistakes occurred.

"All it did was cost me a victory," Woods said afterwards.

While placing blame on Williams isn't cool, at least Woods stood up to his questioners. Hopefully none of this nonsense occurs when the Travelers Championship begins Thursday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

Graeme McDowell made his first visit to fabled Pebble Beach Golf Links memorable Sunday.

McDowell, who lost the midway lead in the 110th U.S. Open to long-hitting, hard-charging Dustin Johnson, avoided the major disasters that struck many other contenders Sunday and became the first from Northern Ireland to win America's national golf championship.

McDowell made only one birdie in a closing, 3-over-par 74, the highest final round by a champion in 25 years. But he never made worse than bogey while other contenders carded too many black numbers, most notably Johnson's triple-bogey 7 at the second hole that knocked him from the solo lead for good.

McDowell's even-par 284 total for 72 holes was one less than Frenchman Gregory Havrat, who missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have forced an 18-hole playoff on Monday.

"I was feeling fine and hit some really strong shots," said Havret, ranked 391st in the world. "I was confident, but it's a shame about the (missed putts on the) 17th and 18th holes. I just pulled the putt on 18. I hit too quick, and I knew it was left right away."

With that miss, McDowell, playing behind Havret in the final group, knew he needed only a par to win, and he quickly elected to lay up with an 8-iron on the par-5 hole. McDowell wedged to 20 feet, left his first putt 18 inches short and tapped in for the victory.

"I can't explain how I feel," McDowell said after being presented the winner's silver trophy on the 18th green. "I guess the golfing gods smiled on me. I took a peek at the scoreboard at No. 10 and just tried to make a bunch of pars on the back nine.

"This golf course is really hard, and bogeys can get you. I've dreamed about this all my life, a two-putt to win the U.S. Open, and I can't believe I had 20 feet to do it. Having my father (Kenny) here from Northern Ireland on Father's Day and jumping into his arms (walking off the 18th green) was really special. I said, 'Happy Father's Day, dad.' "

And dad's response? "You're something, kid," Kenny McDowell said.

Something indeed. McDowell, 30, became the first European to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. And he's the first from the British Isles to win a major since Paul Lawrie captured the 1999 British Open in a playoff after a 72nd-hole triple bogey by Frenchman Jean Van de Velde.

Johnson, who began the day three strokes ahead of McDowell, met his Waterloo much earlier, slashing his way through the greenside rough in making the triple bogey at No. 2 from the fairway with a wedge to the green after a 343-yard drive. Then he lost his drive at the third hole and made double-bogey 6, followed by a bogey at No. 5.

Johnson, nicknamed the Prince of Pebble Beach after winning the last two AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournaments, carded nine pars and five bogeys the rest of the way to finish in a tie for eighth at 289. His 82 was the highest final round by a player leading after 54 holes since Fred McLeod shot 83 in 1911. All this after the seemingly unflappable Johnson had an eagle and six birdies in a third-round 66 that matched the low round of the championship. He left the grounds without speaking to reporters two days before his 26th birthday.

Johnson's early disaster opened the door for a plethora of challengers, including three-time winner Woods, No. 2 Phil Mickelson and No. 7 Ernie Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion. But each made critical mistakes at the worst possible time, with Els making a double-bogey 6 at No. 10 on the way to 73 and third place at 286, then also refused to talk to the media.

Havrat closed with 72, three less than his playing partner, Woods, who finished in a tie for fourth with Mickelson (73).

"I never expected this in my first U.S. Open," Havret said of his runner-up finish. "But it was very exciting, and I had a chance. It's a shame I came up one shot short."

Mickelson, the Masters champion, thought a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe at No. 1 might kickstart his first U.S. Open victory after a record five second-place finishes. But he didn't make another birdie and had to scramble to keep his bogeys to only three.

"After that first hole, I had a good chance," said Mickelson, who missed a chance to supplant Woods and become No. 1 for the first time. "And when Dustin made the triple bogey on the second hole, it was anyone's ballgame. It was challenging at parts, but I thought the first 6-7 holes were chances to make birdies and make up some ground, but it just wasn't there for me. I didn't take advantage of my chances.

"But obviously Graeme played some incredible golf and withstood some tough holes. I'm just happy to have had an opportunity to win at Pebble Beach."

Woods, who also tied for fourth in the Masters in his return from a seven-month sabbatical because of personal issues, wasn't as ebullient.

"I made three mental mistakes, and all it did was cost me a chance to win the U.S. Open," Woods said. "I hit the wrong club on 6 (bogey), went for the flag on 10 (bogey) and hit the wrong club on 12 (bogey). My instincts told me to do other things, but I didn't do them.

"It's disappointing because I started off so poorly again and left myself above the hole. Every putt I missed was from above the hole. (Saturday in a 66) I made everything because it was all below the the hole. These greens are bumpy enough where putts above the holes is just pot luck. But below the hole it takes a lot of that break out, and the putts I had (Sunday) that were below the hole I made."

Woods was much more positive about his playing partner.

"(Havrat) played beautifully," Woods said. "He did everything he needed to do to win the championship. He hung in there. He grinded. He was placing the ball in the correct spots. When he did miss, he missed in a great spot. He left himself with all the green to work with. You look at the miss he made on 15, that was a beautiful play, just hit it way left, so he had an angle to pitch back up. Great up-and-down."

Matt Kuchar was the top finisher among those playing in the Travelers Championship, which begins Thursday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. Kuchar birdied three of first six holes on the way to 69, which tied the low round of the day and vaulted him into a tie for sixth with Davis Love III, who also was 3 under after six holes but needed his fourth birdie at No. 18 to shoot 71.

Shaun Micheel, who also will be in Cromwell this week, had the shot of the tournament when he holed his second shot on the par-5 sixth for a double-eagle albatross. But he promptly made a double-bogey 5 at No. 7 en route to a 72 that moved him into a tie for 22nd at 293.

But they were pretenders to McDowell, whose first PGA Tour victory came in his 64th career start and fifth try in the U.S. Open, with his best previous finish being a tie for 18th last year.  His best finish in 18 previous majors was a tie for 10th in the 2009 PGA Championship, but he now has finished inside the top 20 in six of his last eight major starts.

McDowell, who was born and still lives in Portrush, Northern Ireland, has five European Tour victories, including the Celtic Manor Wales Open two weeks ago at Celtic Manor in City of Newport, Wales, where the Ryder Cup will be played Oct. 1-3. He is certain to be on that team for the second straight time after earning a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Open and five-year exemptions into the Masters, British Open, PGA Championship and the Players Championship.

Ai Miyazata is quickly becoming the new Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa.

The Japanese sensation won her fourth LPGA title of the year Sunday, shooting a bogey-free, 7-under-par 64 to overtake second-round leader M.J. Hur and win the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J.

Miyazata had a 54-hole total of 16-under 197, two less than Hur, who closed with 68. The fifth victory of Miyazata's career, first on American soil, moved her past Jiyai Shin and into No. 1 in the LPGA rankings. Shin replaced Ochoa after the Mexican star retired earlier in the year. Sorenstam dominated the world rankings through most of the early part of the decade.

Miyazata won the year's first two events and three of the first five. She's the first player since 1966 to win consecutive titles to start the year.

It's only late June, but it'll take quite a showing by another player to steal player of the year honors from Miyazata, who is in her fifth full season on the tour.

Kenny Perry, who begins defense of his Travelers Championship title Thursday, had one birdie and four bogeys Sunday for a 3-over-par 74 and 72-hole total of 296, improving nine spots to finish in a tie for 33rd in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly continued to struggle, carding two double bogeys, three bogeys and a lone birdie in a 77 for 300 that dropped him 15 spots into a tie for 63rd. Kelly shot 81 Saturday after carded 72-70 to stand in a tie for sixth after two rounds.

Perry and Kelly were expected to be among the players, family and caddies flying to Connecticut via a charter flight offered by the Travelers Championship for the start of the state's largest sporting event at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

In 1982, Tom Watson holed a memorable chip from the rough alongside the 17th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links, then made a 25-foot putt for another birdie at the famed 18th to overtake Jack Nicklaus and win his only U.S. Open title.

Watson predicted the chip-in to his late caddie, Wethersfield native Bruce Edwards, and then hugged the man who was like a son for nearly 30 years after his final putt dropped. After winning the tournament he cherished most, Watson called his father to thank him for all he had done since starting him in golf and share the ecstasy of winning a national championship.

Sunday, Watson, the only person to play all five U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach, trekked around the seaside course in his 122nd Open round with son Michael toting his bag. Dad started the final round tied for 16th, and if the 60-year-old legend could finish in the top 10, he would have qualified for the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

But after being 1 under for eight holes, Watson had six bogeys in the next eight before two closing pars, missing an 18-inch birdie putt at No. 18, where tears filled his eyes as he approached the green to thunderous applause.

After hitting his third shot from a greenside bunker to the seeming tap-in range, Watson got a tap on the shoulder from his son. Then after missing the birdie bid, the second oldest man to make the cut in the U.S. Open threw his ball into Stillwater Cove in mock disgust, just as he had done in 1982.

"I wasn't thinking much about that putt with all the emotions of the situation," Watson said. "What you do, you give the ocean its due because you never know when it's going to take it from you. I've hit it into that ocean off the tee a few times, and throwing the ball in the ocean is kind of a thank you for not taking it one more time.

"Walking up 18, I started thinking about my son on my bag, and then everything else started rushing into my mind. I owe probably most of what I have to my dad as far as my ability to play golf. My love for the game, my passion for the game, my ability to play the game, that came from my dad.''

Watson would have loved to impersonate Nicklaus in his final hole in a major, a birdie from 15 feet on the 18th at St. Andrews Golf Links in Scotland. Watson had to settle for a hug from Michael after his final putt disappeared for 76-295, a tie for 29th and a final extended roar from the crowd.

But Watson could get a shot to duplicate Watson next month when he plays in the British Open at St. Andrews. In 2009, a 59-year-old Watson nearly pulled off one of the most stunning victories in the world's oldest major before missing an 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole and then losing a playoff to two-time Travelers Championship winner Stewart Cink.

Hope you have as much success in Scotland this year, Tom. And if this was your last U.S. Open, thanks for all the memories. I'm sure your buddy Bruce Edwards was smiling --- and probably shedding a tear or two, too --- in that great golf course in the sky that's nicer than Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Augusta National combined.

Tiger Woods came growling down the backstretch at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Saturday and is suddenly in position to win a 15th major championship.

Woods shot a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine, capped by a sliced 260-yard, 3-wood second shot around two cypress trees on the par-5 18th hole that stopped 15 feet from the cup, setting up a two-putt birdie for a 5-under-par 65 that tied the low round of the championship.

Woods, a three-time champion, had eight birdies, five more than in the first two rounds combined, and his 31 was four lower than anyone else and eight less than what the other 82 players who made the cut averaged Saturday.

"Just a hold-it 3-wood," Woods matter-of-factly told NBC after he improved 22 spots. "I was just trying to get back to even par or 1 over. I thought it would have been a nice place to end at.

"I just kept telling myself it's a process," said Woods, whose 66 is the lowest round since his return to golf in April after a five-month hiatus due mainly to numerous marital infidelities that became public. "You just gotta hang in there, and I did that."

Woods, who bogeyed two of the first three holes to fall nine shots back, birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th for a 1-under 212 total for 54 holes that put him in third place, five behind Dustin Johnson, who made eagle 2 at No. 4 and then closed with two birdies for 66-207, three ahead of second-round leader Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland (71).

Woods' 66 was his second-lowest round, relative to par, in the U.S. Open to the opening 65 at Pebble Beach in 2000, when he finished with a record 12-under total and record 15-stroke victory.

"It's been a while," said Woods, who called Johnson "stupid long" after playing a practice round with him early in the week. "I hadn't played good enough for anyone to cheer anything. So it was nice to actually put it together on the back nine and put myself right back in the championship."

The long-hitting Johnson, who won the last two Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams, kickstarted his round with a 3-iron on the 295-yard, par-4 fourth hole that ran to within 4 feet of the cup to set up his eagle. He then nearly aced the 99-yard seventh, the shortest hole in U.S. Open history (post World War II), before missing a 3-foot par putt at No. 9. But he made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 11, bogeyed the 13th and then made a curling, 25-foot putt at No. 17 and two-putted the 18th for two closing birdies.

"Ever since I've come here, I've liked the place," said Johnson, whose best finish in three U.S. Opens is a tie for 40th last year at Bethpage Black on Long Island. "I had a few loose shots on the back nine but held it together and made a few birdies coming in.

"Nothing is going to change with the game plan (Sunday)," added Johnson, the first player since Woods to come out of college and win in each of his first three years on the PGA Tour. "I'm hitting it very straight with the driver and like to hit it, so I'm going to keep doing it. If I keep doing what I've been doing, I'm going to be tough to beat."

McDowell hit only nine greens in regulation but had just 13 putts in the final nine holes to stay close.

"I felt a little anxiety leaving the hotel but felt really good when I got out on the course," said McDowell, who began the day with a two-stroke lead. "I really wasn't in control of my swing like I was (Friday), and bogeying 16 and 17 was disappointing. But if you'd given me even par starting out I would have taken it, but Dustin went out and played such a great round of golf. He's going to be tough to beat, but I'm going to give it my best shot. I'd love to be picking up that trophy Sunday."

Gregory Havret, who beat Phil Mickelson in a playoff to win at Loch Lomond in 2007, had four birdies in a 69 that moved the Frenchman into a tie for fourth at 213 with two-time champion Ernie Els (73). Havret, ranked 391st in the world, will play with No. 1 Woods today in the next-to-last twosome. Woods has never won a major when not leading entering the final round, and the winner of the four U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach have been in the final group on Sunday.

Mickelson, seeking his first U.S. Open title after a record five second-place finishes, bogeyed the first two holes and made double-bogey 6 at No. 9 after nearly hitting into the water in a front-nine 38. But he closed with a 1-under 35 on the back to move into a tie for sixth at 214 with two-time champion Ernie Els (73).

"I fought hard," Mickelson said. "I didn't hit it as well as (Friday in a 66), but I made some ridiculous up-and-downs to shoot what I did and keep me in the tournament. But strange things in the final round on Sunday. I didn't think I was going to be this far behind, but I'm playing ahead of the leaders, so I have to get off to a good start.

"Dustin has played some great golf on a tough course, but that's what you have to do to win an Open. And he obviously likes this course, so he could be tough to beat."

Tom Watson, who won the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and is the only player to compete in the five national championships on the Monterey Peninsula, shot 70 to move into a tie for 16th at 219. If the 60-year-old finishes in the top 10 Sunday, he'll qualify for the 2001 championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and not need a sponsor's exemption that he received this year.

University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly made double-bogey 6s on the first two holes, made two more on Nos. 9 and 10 and finished with an 81 to drop from a tie for sixth to a share of 49th at 223.

If you want to warm up for next week's Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, go to pgatour.com and watch 4 minutes, 11 seconds of memorable shots and finishes in tournaments won by David Frost (1994), Greg Norman (1995), Notah Begay III (2000), Phil Mickelson (2002), J.J. Henry (2006) and Hunter Mahan (2007). Henry, a Fairfield native, is the only state player to win the event since it began at the Insurance City Open in 1952. Kenny Perry begins title defense of his 11th and final PGA Tour title Thursday.

Kenny Perry appeared as if he was warming up for a good title defense in next week's Travelers Championship early in the third round of the U.S. Open Saturday at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Perry, who begins defense of his 11th and last PGA Tour title Thursday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, birdied four of the first seven holes to leap 44 places into a tie for 15th at 2 over par. But he made double-bogey 6 at the ninth, then had four bogeys on the back nine to shoot 2-over 73 and finish only 17 spots higher than he started, in a tie for 42nd at 222.

Love holed a 20-foot putt for eagle 2 at No. 4 and made four birdies in an outgoing, 5-under 30, one off the U.S. Open record for nine holes. Despite seven pars and bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes in a back-nine 38, Love finished with a 54-hole total of 217, improving 49 spots to a tie for 10th.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee recorded the first hole-in-one in this year's U.S. Open at the 181-yard fifth at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Saturday. Jaidee's ace was the 41st in championship history and first since Peter Hedblom made 1 in the third round in 2006 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Six other players have made aces in U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach, and three have come at the fifth -- Jerry McGee, 1972; Bobby Mitchell, 1972; and Bob Brodell, 1982). NBC commentator Johnny Miller aced the 12th hole in 1982, and Tom Weiskopf and Todd Fisher made aces at No. 7 in 1982 and 2000.

Jaidee finished with a 3-over-par 74 and is tied for 50th at 223 entering the final round Sunday.

A week after making her first check in her second LPGA season, West Hartford native Liz Janangelo missed the cut in the State Farm LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J.

Janangelo shot a 1-over-par 72 Saturday, an improvement of five strokes over her first round, but 149 missed qualifying for Sunday's final round by six.

M.J. Hur birdied five of the last 10 holes for a 7-under-par 64, 36-hole total of 131 and a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer (65), who is playing in only her third event this year and second since having surgery on her left thumb on March 30. Creamer carded seven birdies to finish one ahead of Catherine Hull (63) and Ai Miyazato (67), the LPGA Tour's leading money earner after winning the year's first two events.

After making her first check ($4.033) in her second LPGA season last week, West Hartford native Liz Janangelo will be hard pressed to make it two cuts in a row in the ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey.

Janangelo, who started on the 10th hole Friday, made back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 and never recovering in shooting a 6-over-par 77, which put her in a tie for 133th after one round.

The cut Friday in the three-round tournament would have been 71, so Janangelo will need to card her career low as a pro to reach the final 18 holes Sunday.

Veteran Sherri Steinhauer leads at 64, one ahead of Tania Elosegui and Natalie Gulbis. Alexis Thompson, 15, who won the U.S. Junior Girls Championship at Hartford Golf Club in 2008, shot 71 in her pro debut while playing on a sponsor's exemption. She was 4-0-1 in leading the United States to victory over Great Britain-Ireland in the Curtis Cup last weekend.

The two players in the U.S. Open with Connecticut ties had quite different results through the first 36 holes at picturesque but problematic Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey peninsula on the California shore.

University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly had four birdies in a 1-under-par 71 Friday that put him in a tie for sixth at 142, two behind Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (68). McDowell, making his fifth U.S. Open start, is two strokes ahead of two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els (68), Dustin Johnson (70), 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa (71) and Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who has finished second a record five times in the national championship and shot this tournament's low round, a 66.

Tiger Woods, who won by a record 15 strokes when the tournament was last played at Pebble Beach in 2000, shot 72 for 146 and is tied for 25th in a group that includes defending champion Lucas Glover (73). Mickelson can overtake Woods as the world's No. 1 if he wins his fifth major and first U.S. Open on Sunday.

Meawhile, Fairfield native J.J. Henry birdied the last two holes for 71, but that wasn't enough to offset an opening 79, which included three double bogeys. Eight-three players made the 149 cut because of the 10-shot rule in which the top 60, plus ties, and anyone within 10 shots of the lead gets to play on the weekend.

But Henry wasn't among the 83 and got an early start home to Connecticut for next week's Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. His only PGA Tour title came in the 2006 Buick Championship at the TPC.

Kenny Perry, who won his 11th and final tour title in Cromwell last year with a tournament-record, 22-under 258 total, had four bogeys and a double bogey Friday for 77-149. Others at the cut number included Sergio Garcia (76), Steve Stricker (74), Davis Love III (74) and Tom Watson (71), the 1982 champion and only person to play all five U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach.

Golf Channel did a terrific special entitled "Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story," which was based on the life of the Wethersfield native who worked nearly 30 years for Tom Watson (with a little time with Greg Norman in between). It starts with Edwards' early days at Wethersfield Country Club, know as the "home of caddies," especially during the Greater Hartford Open, now the Travelers Championship.

The special followed Edwards through his more than three decades on the tour before he died five years ago of ALS early in the morning of the first round of the Masters, his favorite tournament. It gave a bittersweet ending to a wonderful 90 minutes, especially for those who knew Bruce so well. It first aired Monday and again on Wednesday, but for those who missed it, here are the repeat times:

Tonight, midnight; Saturday, 11 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30 p.m.; Sept. 2, 1 p.m.; Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m.; and Sept. 9, 12:30 p.m.

Even if you're not a golf fan, tune in. It's worth the watch.