Golf Capsules: Woods says divorce a sad time in his life
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — For the first time all summer, Tiger Woods showed up at a PGA Tour event knowing that his day would not include phone calls from a lawyer or divorce documents to approve.
He is only married to his golf now.
"This is my job," Woods said Wednesday. "This is what I do."
Even so, Woods slowly shook his head when asked if he felt relief that his divorce became official two days ago.
"I don't think that's the word," he said. "I think it's just more sadness. Because I don't think you ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced. That's the thing. That's why it is sad."
Woods still could not avoid talk about the end of his nearly six years of marriage to Elin Nordegren, brought on my numerous extramarital affairs that were exposed last Thanksgiving.
As he was teeing off in the rain during the pro-am, People magazine released an interview with his ex-wife in which she spoke openly about how her world fell apart and that she has "been through hell."
Before he completed the first hole, his agent and spokesman were outside the rope, each talking on a cell phone.
Then, after Woods hit his approach to the green, a tabloid columnist walked out into the fairway with notepad and pen to ask him questions. She had never been to a golf tournament and was not aware that reporters are to stay by the ropes.
It took five questions on his game before Woods was asked about his divorce and his ex-wife's interview, although Woods handled both questions with the same, measured tones, not revealing much.
"I wish her the best in everything," he said. "You know, it's a sad time in our lives. And we're looking forward in our lives and how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important thing."
They have two children, 3-year-old daughter Sam and 18-month-old son Charlie. The divorce allowed for "shared parenting," and Woods completed a four-hour program on family stability the day before he left for the British Open.
The process of getting a divorce consumed most of his summer, not only on the golf course, but during his weeks at home when he was practicing and preparing for the majors. Ten majors now have passed without Woods winning, matching the longest drought of his career.
Asked to describe how the details of divorce affected his practice, Woods said, "It was a lot more difficult than I was letting on."
"My actions certainly led us to this decision," he said. "And I've certainly made a lot of errors in my life. That's something I'm going to have to live with."
As for the job? That's not going so well, either.
Despite a tie for fourth in the Masters in his return from a five-month hiatus, and a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open, Woods has played so poorly that he comes to The Barclays at No. 112 in the FedEx Cup standings, with no guarantee he will make it to the next playoff event.
For starters, he has to make the cut at Ridgewood Country Club, a course he saw for the first time Wednesday. Then, he likely has to finish somewhere around the middle of the pack to move into the top 100 and qualify for next week's playoff event outside Boston at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which benefits his foundation.
Woods asked coach Sean Foley to look at his swing during the PGA Championship two weeks ago, and he met with Foley twice in Orlando, Fla., last week. On several holes during the pro-am, Woods tucked a golf glove under his right armpit during a full swing, a technique aimed to keep his arms connected.
Whether he hires Foley as his next coach has not been decided. Woods is not sure he wants to revamp his swing again, knowing how much time it will take and how much time he has lost already.
"It's an undertaking that I have to wrap my head around, because it's going to take some time," he said.
He drove the ball great at the AT&T National and British Open and couldn't make a putt. He hit the ball all over Wisconsin during the PGA Championship and kept in the game by making putts. And then there were weeks like Firestone, where he did nothing right and shot the worse score of his career, an 18-over 298.
For the ninth time this year, Woods can lose his No. 1 ranking to Phil Mickelson. His solution for staying at the top and getting a tee time next week on the TPC Boston is the same. "Winning takes care of everything," he said.
"I'm trying to get my game in order — work on some new things, working with Sean," Woods said. "And I'm trying to put that together and hopefully play well for the rest of the year. As of right now, I need to play well to make it to next week. So that's kind of the focus right now."
Even now, though, the focus is not entirely on golf.
"As far as my game and practicing, that's been secondary," he said. "We're trying to get our kids situation to our new living conditions and how that's going to be. That's where our focus is going to be right now."
Interview: Woods' ex-wife went 'through hell'
Elin Nordegren said she never had an inkling. She said she never hit her famous husband with a golf club. She said she's never felt so sad and devastated, and hopes she never will again.
All this and more from the woman the world has waited to hear from since that Thanksgiving night in November that shattered her marriage and the carefully crafted image of Tiger Woods.
"I've been through hell," Nordegren said in an interview with People magazine released Wednesday, two days after she and Woods were officially divorced. "It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden — was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived. It was hard, but it didn't kill me."
She and the couple's children, 3-year-old daughter Sam and 18-month-old son Charlie, have settled a mile from her ex-husband in a rented, five-bedroom house in a gated community in Windermere, Fla. — where Woods needs her permission to get past the guard. The two are sharing custody of their children.
She credits therapy and long runs with helping her deal with the last nine months, and she also kept a journal of her thoughts and emotions. "I haven't gone back to read what I wrote in December and January; I'm afraid to," she said.
She has not watched "one minute of golf." But she can laugh at things now, calling those "Saturday Night Live" and "South Park" parodies of her "pretty hysterical" (though totally untrue).
"She's been amazing," said Mia Parnevik, for whom Nordegren was working as a nanny when she met Woods more than a decade ago. "She has held her head high. To go through a divorce is not easy for anybody. To go through what she's gone through is not humane."
She is not, however, without scars. In the days before the divorce was finalized, Nordegren's long, blonde hair began falling out.
"She's held her head high. She has not caved in," said Parnevik, wife of pro golfer Jesper Parnevik. "She's not said bad things about him, and that's kind of an easy game to get into."
The Swedish-born Nordegren has always guarded her privacy as fiercely as Woods, if not more so. Even in happier times she was rarely quoted. She kept to herself at golf tournaments, staying well beyond the ropes and once turning away when she noticed photographers taking her picture.
Years ago, a reporter mentioned that he had never seen her on the 18th green after Woods won a tournament.
"That's just not my personality," she said.
But the car crash outside the couple's Florida home shattered any hopes she had of a normal life for her and her children.
The world knew the tawdry details of Woods' philandering, and many wondered if Nordegren had a hand in the accident, perhaps going after him in a fit of rage when she caught him.
"This was one of the things I had the hardest time with people thinking," Nordegren said. "There was never any violence inside or outside our home. The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous."
The interview with People, conducted at her home over four visits lasting a total of 19 hours, will be her only one, she said.
Nordegren approached People, and magazine spokeswoman Claudia DiRomualdo said no one was paid for the story. Nordegren would not disclose the amount of the divorce settlement but did say "money can't buy happiness or put my family back together."
Nordegren said she had never suspected Woods of cheating. She hadn't traveled as much the last few years, busy with the couple's children and her psychology classes at Rollins College.
"I felt stupid as more things were revealed — how could I not have known anything?" Nordegren said. "The word betrayal isn't strong enough. I felt like my whole world had fallen apart. It seemed that my world as I thought it was had never existed. I felt embarrassed for having been so deceived. I felt betrayed by many people around me."
Still, Nordegren said the couple tried for months to reconcile. Woods even spent two months in therapy at a Mississippi clinic in hopes of saving the marriage. The child of divorced parents herself, Nordegren said she wanted her children to have a "core family," a happily married mother and father.
Nordegren leaned heavily on her family during the turmoil. Twin sister Josefin, a London-based attorney, was part of her legal team, and her mother, Barbro Holmberg, traveled to Florida to be with her daughter.
But even that was not without drama. Holmberg, who has very low blood pressure, collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital during a December visit after the flu swept through Nordegren's house.
In the end, Nordegren said she decided that a marriage "without trust and love" wasn't good for anyone.
"I am now going to do my very best to show them that alone and happy is better than being in a relationship where there is no trust," she said.
Asked about his ex-wife's interview, Woods said Wednesday, "I wish her the best in everything."
"You don't ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced. That's the thing," Woods said from The Barclays golf tournament in New Jersey. "That's why it is sad."
Nordegren wasn't even interested in Woods when she was first introduced to him. But she eventually fell in love with him because they had "so much fun, and I felt safe with him." She called their Oct. 5, 2004, wedding in Barbados "one of the happiest days of my life" and told People she still has her Vera Wang wedding dress.
Now she is on her own, just her and the children.
Woods' golf game has suffered amid his personal turmoil, and he said Wednesday that his children's well-being remains his priority. But Nordegren said she still believes he'll wind up as the "best golfer that ever lived."
Just don't expect her to be watching. "Forgiveness takes time," and she's still working on it, Nordegren said.
"She should get a lot of credit for how she portrayed herself," Parnevik said. "The integrity and respect, that's her — not him."
-- Nancy Armour
Excerpts from Elin Nordegren interview with People
Some excerpts from Elin Nordegren's interview with People magazine. Nordegren's divorce from Tiger Woods was finalized Monday.
On Woods' infidelities:
"I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected — not a one. For the past 3½ years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school."
On her feelings when she first learned Woods was unfaithful:
"Absolute shock and disbelief. I felt stupid as more things were revealed — how could I not have known anything? The word betrayal isn't strong enough."
On the last nine months, since Woods' infidelities were revealed:
"I've been through hell. It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden — was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived. It was hard, but it didn't kill me."
On speculation she hit Woods the night of his accident that triggered the revelations about his behavior:
"There was never any violence inside or outside our home. The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous. Tiger left the house that night, and after a while when he didn't return, I got worried and decided to go look for him. That's when I found him in the car. I did everything I could to get him out of the locked car."
On why she is speaking out now:
"Before today I haven't felt ready, but now I see it as a step toward putting it behind me. ... I have no intention of addressing these matters again after this interview."
On whether she'll be able to forgive Woods:
"Forgiveness takes time. It is the last step of the grieving process. I am going to be completely honest and tell you that I am working on it. I know I will have to come to forgiveness and acceptance of what has happened for me to go on and be happy in the future. And I know I will get there eventually."
PGA
PGA Tour playoff begin at Barclays
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Ernie Els has been atop the FedEx Cup standings for the last five months, ever since he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his second PGA Tour win of the year. He knew all along he would be playing in The Barclays.
Scott Piercy was among the late arrivals. He was in dire need of a good finish last week at the Wyndham Championship just to get into the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and be eligible for the first round of the PGA Tour playoffs.
Piercy shot 68 in the final round, moving into No. 125 with two points to spare. Perhaps it was no surprise, but the first question he faced Wednesday was how well he knew Heath Slocum.
One year ago, Slocum's performance at The Barclays raised hope for everyone who narrowly made the playoffs, a group this year that includes Tiger Woods. He held off a world-class list of challengers and won with a birdie on the final hole, changing his fortunes quickly and dramatically. One week after barely getting into the playoffs, Slocum was assured a spot in the season-ending Tour Championship, and all four majors the following year.
"I'm really excited that I'm actually getting to play," Piercy said. "Hopefully, I can play two or three or four — all of the playoff events — and keep this little run going."
The fourth year of the FedEx Cup playoffs gets under way on Thursday at Ridgewood Country Club with hope for all, assurances for the few who have played the best this year.
Els is the top seed for the first time, followed by Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson. The points are quintuple the value they were during the regular season, with the top 100 advancing to the second round in Boston and the top 70 moving on to the third in Chicago. After that, the points are reset for the top 30, who will play for the $10 million prize at the Tour Championship.
"Totally different ball game the next four weeks," Els said. "It's very important for me to play well, like it is for everybody else."
But it's especially true for Woods.
In a year of turmoil off the course, it hasn't been much better inside the ropes. Woods is winless for the first time in his career this late into a season, and time is running out. With only two top 10s — and two tournaments he didn't even finish — Woods showed up at The Barclays at No. 112 in the standings.
He was No. 1 to start the playoffs the past three years, even in 2008, when he only played six tournaments. The first year of this playoff system, Woods was so far ahead he didn't even bother playing in The Barclays.
This time, he had no choice.
"As of right now, I'm only guaranteed one," Woods said. "So I need to play well to move forward."
Furyk isn't going anywhere, at least this week. His cell phone died overnight, which is notable because Furyk uses it for his alarm clock. He woke up at 7:23 a.m., leaving him no chance to get to Ridgewood on time for his pro-am. Players who miss their pro-am time are no longer eligible for the tournament, even in the playoffs.
Mickelson called it a "ridiculous" policy. Furyk blamed only himself. Either way, he is seeded so highly that he probably won't fall out of the top 10 this week and can put back on his playoff face next week at the TPC Boston.
Mickelson won the Tour Championship a year ago and finished second to Woods in the FedEx Cup. Not only does he have a good chance this year for the $10 million prize, he gets another opportunity at No. 1 in the world.
It's been that way since The Players Championship, with the odds of that happening moving more in his favor the worse Woods plays.
"I've been trying real hard to accomplish that. I just haven't played well enough yet," he said. "But hopefully, I'll be able to put it together this week. I feel like I'm playing much better golf. "
This is the time to do it.
The majors are over, but Mickelson can see the finish line. He has four playoff events over the next five weeks, then the Ryder Cup.
For Woods, the end might come much sooner.
-- Doug Ferguson
Furyk oversleeps, disqualified from Barclays
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Jim Furyk picked a bad time to sleep in.
Furyk overslept Wednesday when his cell phone lost power overnight and the alarm didn't go off, causing him to be late for his pro-am tee time in The Barclays. That left PGA Tour officials no choice but to make him ineligible for the first of four FedEx Cup playoff events.
A two-time winner on tour this year, Furyk is No. 3 in the standings as the race for the $10 million prize gets under way at Ridgewood Country Club without him.
It is unlikely he will fall too far down the standings, although he eliminated any chance of improving.
"I'm kicking myself," Furyk said. "I have a way of climbing into situations that are all my fault."
Phil Mickelson appeared to be more furious than Furyk.
"The rule itself applies to only half the field," said Mickelson, noting that only 54 of the 122 players were in the pro-am. "So if you're going to have a rule that does not apply to everybody, you cannot have it affect the competition. ... I cannot disagree with it more. I have no idea how the commissioner let this rule go through. It's ridiculous."
Mickelson said he told PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem how he felt at lunch.
Furyk sets his alarm on his cell phone, and he awoke at 7:23 a.m. to find out that his phone had lost power. He threw on some clothes and shoes, bolted out of his hotel room and rushed to Ridgewood, arriving at 7:35 a.m.
The pro-am was a shotgun start that began at 7:30 a.m. Furyk was to start on the 11th hole, and he realized when he arrived that he had no chance of getting there on time.
Furyk was in such a rush that he did not put on a belt or socks, and he still had not tied his shoes.
The PGA Tour adopted its policy on pro-ams in 2004 after some players began skipping the Wednesday events for suspect reasons. Now, players automatically are disqualified from the tournament if they miss the pro-am except for injury or family emergency.
Retief Goosen was disqualified from the Nissan Open in 2005 when he overslept and missed his pro-am.
Furyk said was the second time in his career that he had overslept and missed a pro-am time. The other occasion was years ago at Bay Hill, when an alternate filled in for two holes until he arrived. That possibility no longer exists under the new policy.
Although he said he was upset about not playing Ridgewood or the tournament, Furyk said the worst of his disqualification was "to possibly, severely hurt a good year."
"I played my heart out all year," Furyk said. "I've got no one to blame but myself."
It might not be all that bad. A year ago, Zach Johnson was No. 3 in the standings. If he had not played the Barclays, he would have fallen only two spots to No. 5. Furyk will have to see how many players behind him in the rankings play well this week.
He was headed home to Florida before going up to the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second round of the playoffs, next week outside Boston. Furyk's children started school this week.
"And I wound up missing that, too," he said.
-- Doug Ferguson
LPGA
Kane welcomes evolution of women's golf
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — When Lorie Kane looks around the golf course, the Canadian veteran sees the evolution of her sport.
Gone are the days when Americans and Europeans dominated the LPGA Tour.
This year 126 active players represent 28 different countries, with almost half hailing from Asia.
There's also been an influx of youth.
The average age of the top 10 players heading into this week's CN Canadian Women's Open at St. Charles Country Club is 24. Japan's Ai Miyazato, the No. 1 player on the Rolex World Rankings list, is just 25.
Players can't get their LPGA card until they're 18, but many are turning pro in their teens and playing on sponsors' exemptions.
Kane welcomes the new look.
"I think it's great," said the 45-year-old native of Charlottetown. "It means that women's golf across the world, not just across Canada and the U.S., is strong. I think that needs to be the fact to continue to grow the brand of the LPGA Tour."
This week's tournament — the only LPGA stop in Canada — begins Thursday with a field of 156 players, including 48 of the top 50 on the money list.
Those making the cut after 36 holes will vie on the weekend for part of the US$2.25 million purse, including $337,500 for the winner.
No Canadian made the cut at last year's event in Calgary and 14 will try to change that this weekend. The last Canadian to win an LPGA Tour event on home soil was Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973.
Alena Sharp is the country's top-ranked player. She's ranked 112th in the world and has earned $113,340 this year (53rd on the money list).
Sharp, 29, also believes the diversity of passports is good for the game, but she thinks young golfers would benefit more if they got a post-secondary education before turning pro.
"Because our schedule is so diminished right now, it's better to stay in school for the four years and then get a degree and then come out here," said Sharp, who turned pro after graduating from New Mexico State in 2003 with a marketing degree.
"In a couple more years, our tournaments will be back up. There's really no point, unless you're a phenom and you don't want to go to school and you're winning everything, I think you should stay in school."
There are fewer tournaments on the schedule these days. Tour commissioner Michael Whan admits the recession has hit the LPGA Tour hard.
"But I feel comfortable telling you that we'll play more in 2011 than we played in 2010," he said. "I feel comfortable telling you that what's going on at the LPGA has definitely caught the attention of companies, not just in the U.S. but around the world."
Fans in Winnipeg will get a glimpse of the future this week at St. Charles.
American Alexis Thompson will be playing on a sponsor's expemtion. The 15-year-old turned pro in June — the youngest female player to do so — and has already tied for 10th and second in two events.
Morgan Pressel, a 22-year-old Florida native, is also teeing it up.
She became the youngest player in tour history to win a major when she captured the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18 years 10 months nine days.
Tour veteran Juli Inkster, 50, said the young players have raised the exposure of the game, as has holding events outside North America.
"They dress great, they dress hip, I think it's great," the Californian said.
And she doesn't mind competing against girls less than half her age.
"That's the beauty of golf, you can," Inkster said. "You couldn't do that in tennis or baseball."
Doctor took suicide note to spare golfer's family
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The doctor who found the body of 25-year-old professional golfer Erica Blasberg told Nevada investigators he hid a suicide note and pills because he wanted to spare her family embarrassment, according to a court document released Wednesday.
A Henderson police affidavit detailed the hours Blasberg and Dr. Thomas Hess spent together playing golf, watching TV in a casino sports book and in her home in the days before he found her dead May 9 with a plastic bag over her head.
Detectives investigating the golfer's death searched the doctor's Mercedes-Benz, which was parked in Blasberg's driveway, and found a suicide note and Xanax pills obtained in Mexico.
Authorities have declined to release the contents of the note.
Hess, 43, told investigators he called 911 and grabbed the note and pills off her bed stand and stuck them in his car so her parents wouldn't think she took pills and killed herself.
"I know doing that was — was stupid, but I was trying to save some embarrassment for her," the doctor told investigators, according to the affidavit. Asked why he hid the items, Hess said, "I have no idea. I mean that — that whole thing was a — was a fuzz for me."
During the 911 call, the emergency operator told Hess, "Try not to touch anything."
He replied, "Yes ma'am."
Hess was arrested Tuesday on a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge and was released a short time later after posting $637 in bail. Henderson assistant city attorney David Mincavage said the nonviolent misdemeanor charge carries a maximum $1,000 fine and six months in jail.
Authorities have not said whether Blasberg was being treated by Hess.
Hess was unavailable for comment Wednesday, according to a person who answered the phone at his medical office. Calls to Hess' lawyer, Charles Kelly, were not immediately returned.
The Clark County coroner's office ruled Tuesday that Blasberg's death was a suicide due to asphyxia and toxic levels of prescription medications for headaches, cough, pain and anxiety.
The drugs in Blasberg's system included butalbital, temazepam, alprazolam (Xanax), codeine, hydrocodone, and tramadol, according to the coroner, but Nevada law doesn't permit the release of details on the amounts of medication.
A 911 call from Hess that summoned police came from the house. Officers found Hess outside the home and Blasberg's body inside. Blasberg's agent has said her bags were packed for a tournament in Mobile, Ala., when she was found.
Hess, who has said he was a friend of Blasberg who "knew her from the golf club," told a death scene investigator he played golf with Blasberg on May 7, two days before she died, at the Southern Highlands Golf Club. They met afterward at the M Hotel and Casino to watch a game on TV and left in separate cars about 9 p.m.
The next evening, Hess talked to Blasberg by telephone and he said she sounded intoxicated. He drove to her Henderson home and found her drunk, the affidavit said. He emptied bottles of liquor, ordered her to take a shower upstairs and they both watched TV on a downstairs couch until he left at 9 p.m.
Hess said he called her several times the next day and got no answer, so he drove to her house and found her dead.
Blasberg grew up in Southern California, and was in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour.
Her best year on Tour was 2008, when she earned a career-best tie for eighth at the SBS Open in Hawaii and more than $113,000 in winnings, the LPGA said.
Blasberg played in one event this season, tying for 44th in the April 29-May 2 Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico.
-- Jeff Wilson
Amateur
Davis takes out medalist Wilson in U.S. Amateur
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. (AP) — Amory Davis needed a missed 4-footer and then a birdie on the second playoff hole just to reach the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur.
Then nearly seven hours after he first arrived at Chambers Bay on Wednesday, Davis knocked out the top seed in match play.
Davis, a senior at Virginia, beat medalist Jeff Wilson 3 and 1 late in the afternoon to finish out the first round of match play, wrapping up a lengthy day along the shores of Puget Sound.
"I've always known match play was my gig, because I hit it long and crooked, and I ... don't seem to be scared or nervous, so I can unleash it," Davis said. "If (Wilson) had run into somebody who was playing OK golf today, he would have smoked him. I played pretty good today."
Davis was part of a 16-for-6 playoff that determined the final entrants into match play. After five of the 16 had birdied the first playoff hole, Davis watched another hopeful miss a 4-footer that sent the playoff to another hole.
Davis was the only one to make birdie on the 460-yard 11th hole.
"I told myself, it was a good tournament, try and make a par," Davis said of the playoff. "(That) took a lot of the pressure off me, and (I) felt really, really calm in the playoff."
Davis and Wilson, a 47-year-old car dealer from Fairfield, Calif., who shot 10-under 62 in the first round of stroke play, were all square through six holes before Davis won three of the next four to take a 3-up lead after 10. Wilson won back two holes later in the round, including a 70-foot birdie putt on the 13th.
But Davis held off Wilson, making par on the par-3 17th to end the match. Davis said it was the first time he'd played in match play since he was 15.
"Amory, he played very well. He deserved to win the match," Wilson said. "He would have beat most players who played today."
Wilson was the first medalist to fall in the first round since 2001.
Earlier in the day, reigning NCAA champ Scott Langley outlasted 51-year-old Tim Jackson in 19 holes.
After Jackson forced extra holes with a par on the 515-yard par 4 18th hole, the duo was forced to play the daunting first hole yet again. Langley knocked his pitching wedge from 115 yards onto the putting surface after Jackson missed the green from nearly the same spot.
Langley, who won the NCAA individual title as a junior and was the low amateur at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, then let out a fist pump as his birdie putt dropped to win the match.
"I would rather have won it in less holes and saved energy," Langley said. "... As soon as I saw Tim's name I knew I was going to have to play well to beat him. We had quite the match."
Langley was one of the bigger names to get through the first day of match play. Defending champion Byeong-Hun An rolled to a 3 and 2 victory over David Dannelly in his first match, while Pac-10 co-player of the year Eugene Wong needed 19 holes to beat Joe Saladino. Wong rallied to win the final four holes of the match after being 3 down with just three to play. David Chung, winner of the Western Amateur just a few weeks ago, beat Mike McCoy 3 and 2.
In the afternoon, the Oklahoma State duo of Peter Uihlein and Morgan Hoffmann advanced, along with Patrick Cantlay, who finished tied for second in stroke play.
Others weren't as fortunate. Local favorite and Hogan Award winner Nick Taylor — who played nearby at Washington — lost to Chian Kim 4 and 2. Kevin Tway, the son of Champions Tour player Bob Tway and the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur champ, was defeated 1-up by Blayne Barber.
Jackson was the low amateur at the U.S. Senior Open last month just up the road at Sahalee Country Club and finished ninth during stroke play here. He jumped out to a 2-up lead before Langley got up-and-down out of the greenside bunker on the ninth hole to trim the deficit. They were all square after the 16th, but Langley went ahead on No. 17 when his pitching wedge on the par 3 settled to 4 feet.
Jackson forced an extra hole by making a downhill 8-foot putt on the 18th after Langley's long par putt missed.
"I played well early and he played well in the middle holes and we both had chances. It came down to a putt (and) that's fun," Jackson said. "I'd like to be on the top side of that, but looking back I hit a lot of good shots and I competed well."
PGA European
Montgomerie supports Gleneagles absentees
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) — European captain Colin Montgomerie says he supports the decision of four leading European players to miss this week's final Ryder Cup qualifying event at Gleneagles in Scotland.
English trio Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Justin Rose and Ireland's three-time major winner Padraig Harrington have all opted out of the Johnnie Walker Championship in order to compete in the first of four events in the FedEx Cup playoff series in the United States.
That means they will need one of Montgomerie's three wild cards if they are to take part in the Ryder Cup.
