This video is the culmination of a summer long fantasy baseball bet made by Journal copyeditor/reporter Josh Russo and assistant sports editor Jeff Budlong. Let this video serve as a lesson to all you kids out there, watch what you bet…you might have to pay up.
Andrew

I have never been what you would call “a Phil Mickelson fan.”

That probably has more than a little to do with the fact that I’m jealous of him. Rich Southern California kid, athletically blessed his entire life, probably been worth a few million dollars since he was 18 (obviously quite a bit more than that today) and he has what seems to be a standard-issue, hot, blonde PGA wife. On top of that, he’s a Republican who has expressed his admiration for Condi Rice (shocker, a multi-millionaire golfer who votes GOP, right?)

That said, I am legitimately cheering for him this weekend to win the U.S. Open. Watching him deal with his wife’s breast cancer and listening to him talk about winning a big silver trophy for her hospital room instantly made me a fan. Listening to him talk about his wife, and the role she has played in his life, was extremely touching, and immediately made me feel awful. 

So, here’s to Lefty tearing up Bethpage Black this weekend. I’ll be rooting for him (along with just about everyone else, I think) for the first time ever.

- Padraic

Rapid City’s Wil Collins finished 45th in the Sony Open in Hawaii this weekend in his first tournament as a full-fledged PGA Tour member. Making the cut was big, but the fact that Collins was actually tied for the lead halfway through the third round was simply awesome. It was a little rough watching him lose ground after that (well, not exactly watching it, because near as I could tell The Golf Channel only put him on camera once) but all in all it has to be considered a pretty good weekend for Collins.

Here’s to hoping the experience of the weekend (both the good and bad) make Wil that much stronger as he works to make enough money to keep playing on the Tour for years to come.

Good luck.

- Padraic

With most deserving kudos to Wil Collins in another golf realted “good” news story, Spanish golf great Seve Ballesteros was released from the hospital Tuesday, more than two months after undergoing brain surgery to remove a malignant tumor.

The 51-year-old Spaniard left the hospital Tuesday morning but will continue to be treated as an outpatient, Madrid’s La Paz hospital said in a statement.

Ballesteros, one of Spain’s best-known sports personalities, was admitted Oct. 6 after fainting at Madrid’s international airport. He had several operations, including a 6½-hour procedure Oct. 24 to remove the brain tumor and reduce swelling around the brain.

A five-time major champion, Ballesteros is known for spectacular shots and fearless play. He retired in 2007, but has remained active in the sport, designing golf courses.

Keep it in the fairway Seve and here’s to good health in 2009.

-Lenn

Rapid City’s Wil Collins just drained the biggest putt of his life in the 6th round of PGA Tour Q school — a 20 to 25-footer on the final hole that he had to make to earn his Tour card for next year. Makes a 10-footer for 10 bucks on Saturday morning look like a walk in the park.

Collins was right on the cut-off line — tied for 25th — standing on the final hole when he hit his drive left into the rough. A tough lie forced a lay-up into the fairway where he hit a wedge to about 20 feet. His left-to-right breaking putt found the edge of the hole and dropped (as I whooped and raised my arms) and now another South Dakotan is going to give the PGA Tour a shot.

All the congratulations to Wil in the world … he’s a great guy who has sacrificed and worked at his craft as much as anybody I know.

Awesome stuff.

- Padraic 

Former Rapid City Stevens state champion golfer Wil Collins — a member of the Rapid City school system’s stellar class of 1997 — is currently sitting in a tie for 25th place at PGA Tour Q school. The top 25 players and ties get their Tour cards for next year, which would obviously be a HUGE deal for Wil. He’s got one more day (Monday) to try to hold on, but the pressure of Q school is immense.

“It’s so nerve-racking it’s a joke,” said Neal Lancaster to ESPN.com, who shot 2-under 70 Sunday and is two shots out of the top 25. “The hardest part is if you’re running in there about 30th place.”

Here’s to Collins winning the battle of nerves and getting onto the Tour for the year.

He deserves it as much as anybody, that’s for sure.

- Padraic

Does anyone care about the Ryder Cup? Really?

- Russo

Golf is the most addicitive, maddening, insane substance on earth. I’m not a good player by any means, but I can play respectably at times. This weekend at the Meadowbrook Club Championship was not one of those respectable times. In fact, it was almost enough to make me quit the game entirely. My best round of the summer is a 79 (sometimes you just get lucky) but I can just as easily shoot a 95. I was all excited to go out and shoot an 80 in the first round of the club championship before I went out and fired a 55 on the front nine on Saturday. A 55 (Fifty-five!!!!). That’s 19-over par. I’ve had the misfortune of enduring some horrific athletic experiences, but that one took the cake. Humiliation really is not a strong enough word for it.

The great thing about this crazy game is that I’ll still go back for more. I can’t help it. I guess it’s an enjoyable pain, or else I just love to be publicly humiliated.

I hate you, golf. But I kind of like you, too.

- Padraic

The SDGA match play event starts this week (July 10-14) at Aberdeen’s Moccasin Creek CC. There is plenty of West River talent playing (Geoff Mead and Lance Collins come to mind) but I’ll be rooting for former Journal employee Sean Welsh.

Tom Carlson of Sioux Falls is the event’s defending champion. Carlson defeated Michael Martin in last year’s 36-hole final at Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls. Former champions Paul Schock of Sioux Falls (2002), Roger Legge of Aberdeen (1996) and Steve Reiter of Sioux Falls (1994) are also in the event.

No matter what happens to Welsh (he’s a long shot) I’m sure he’ll make it an interesting weekend. Good luck to him.

- Padraic

I spent my morning watching the U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate cheering almost as hard for Rocco as I have been for the Celtics in the Finals.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Tiger, in fact I really admire how he handles himself, but seeing Mediate stone the ultimate Goliath in the toughest test in golf would have been unreal. Rick Reilly wrote a column before the Open saying that we should all be cheering for the underdog, Phil Mickelson, to beat Woods. Mr. Reilly said it would be like a salmon eating the bear if Mickelson were to win. I’m thinking a Mediate victory would have been something along the lines of a salmon egg getting stuck in the bear’s windpipe and choking it to death — or maybe the fish buckling up, piloting a Blackhawk helicopter into the woods and mowing the bear down with machine gun fire.

Alas, Rocco didn’t win the tournament — he lost on the 19th hole after Woods tied him at 71 with a birdie on 18 — but the 45-year-old certainly won a lot of fans, and I imagine a nice little boost to his Q rating that should fatten his pocket book far beyond the nifty little $810,000 check he got for second place.

What I’m wondering is, even if you are the biggest Tiger Woods fan on earth, would you have possibly minded even a little bit if Mediate won? I bet even Tiger’s mom would have been less than devastated to see Rocco pull that one out.

- Padraic