Scottish-born Colin Montgomerie predicts the United States team will win the Ryder Cup when the famous biennial golf competition with Europe is held September 30-October 2 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska. Montgomerie, in town for last weekend’s 3M Championship in Blaine, is now on the senior tour but is famous as one of Europe’s legendary Ryder Cup players.
Europe has won six of the last seven Cups but Montgomerie told Sports Headliners he expects a supportive and electric crowd at Hazeltine will be among key reasons the United States wins the match play event. He believes the U.S. team will be motivated to end Europe’s domination that includes three consecutive Cup wins.
Montgomerie said other factors favoring U.S. success are the leadership of captain Davis Love III, and the “aura” of having vice captain Tiger Woods being around the American players. The 12-man U.S. roster won’t be finalized for awhile but qualifying point totals show Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker will be leading the team.
Montgomerie will be covering the Ryder Cup for both British and American television. A former captain, he played for Europe eight times and was on five winning teams. Undefeated in Ryder Cup singles matches, he is famous for holing the winning putt at the 2004 competition at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan.
Montgomerie makes his feelings known about the Cup on his website with this quote: “If I tell you that I can remember virtually every shot I have hit in a Ryder Cup, it will go some way towards explaining how much this biennial contest means to me.”
After the second round of the 3M Championship on Saturday, the 53-year-old Montgomerie was tied for fourth with Jeff Maggert at 11 under. When the tournament ended Sunday, nine other golfers were ahead of Montgomerie. Joe Durant won $262,500 with his playoff win yesterday against Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Worth Noting
NBC’s Olympic coverage seen locally on KARE 11 had Minneapolis-St. Paul area ratings of over 7 yesterday afternoon, while the Twins-Rays game on Fox Sports North was under 1.
It will be interesting to see who emerges as Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner’s favorite receiver this season. That role last year went to KJ Maye but among the possibilities now is senior wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky. He is the team’s leading returning receiver, having caught 39 passes for 524 yards in 2015.
Off the field Wolitarsky is majoring in English and is an avid writer. He has written several science fiction stories and had a six-part short story published in The Wake, a student-run magazine at the University of Minnesota.
At Saturday’s second practice of training camp, Leidner was impressive with deep passes. He had difficulty with long throws last season while playing on an injured left foot.
Bob Coughlin, father of promising Gophers freshman linebacker Carter Coughlin of Eden Prairie, told Sports Headliners on Saturday his son has no lingering problems from the mild concussion he suffered in a national prep all-star game last January.
Rob and wife Jennie were chaperones at the family’s lake residence when Carter hosted about 19 of his freshmen teammates earlier this year. Rob said players from the south wore socks into the lake, explaining that is what they do back home.
Jennie handled the cooking for the lake getaway. Asked about the sizeable appetites of Carter and teammates, Rob said, “Thank God for Costco.”
There was talk following spring practice that redshirt junior Ryan Santoso, who probably will be the team’s punter, might also handle long field goal attempts this fall. Gophers coach Tracy Claeys said he hadn’t even thought about that after two training camp practices.
“If I had to make a decision today, I’d say no,” Claeys said. “I’d just as soon he punt and live with that. Emmit (Carpenter) has done a good job on the field goals, and we would go (with him). We get closer to around 15 practices, we should have that all fine for sure.”
Santoso concentrated on field goals last season, making 17 of 21. His .810 percentage was second best in the Big Ten. The Gophers, though, need to replace graduated all-conference punter Peter Mortell. Santoso punted in high school in Florida and Carpenter, a redshirt sophomore from Green Bay, has impressed this year in practices, although he has yet to attempt a field goal in a Gopher game.
Recruiting authority and writer Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners the Gophers haven’t offered a scholarship to Chicago-area defensive back Juawan Treadwell but might do so. Treadwell’s older brother Laquon Treadwell, a wide receiver from Ole Miss, was the Vikings No. 1 draft choice earlier this year. Burns said the younger Treadwell was in the green room on NFL Draft night when the Vikings selected his brother—an indication of their relationship.
Last Monday’s column about U.S. Bank Stadium and TCF Bank Stadium prompted emails including from readers who noted the walking distances from the University’s student center (Coffman Memorial Union) to both facilities. One reader wrote that it’s 1.5 miles to U.S. Bank Stadium and 0.7 to TCF Bank Stadium.
Much was written and said about Tony Dungy last weekend when the former Vikings assistant coach and Super Bowl winning Colts head coach was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A detail forgotten about Dungy is that while on scholarship as a Gophers quarterback, he played basketball for one season. During 1973-74 Dungy was a reserve guard, averaging 2.6 points per game while making .485 percent of his field goals and .600 percent of his free throws.
The Vikings will have a 6,000 seat outdoor stadium as part of their new practice and team headquarters in Eagan. Dave Stead, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, told Sports Headliners the Twin Cities Orthopedics Stadium could be the site of prep football, lacrosse and soccer games. Among details to be determined is how the Vikings would compensate host schools for revenues lost by moving games to Eagan. The stadium is expected to open in 2018.
Apparently no decision yet on whether 40-year-old Kevin Garnett wants—or will be asked—to play another season for the Timberwolves. The process might be slowed by new Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau being at the summer Olympics where he is an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team. Garnett is a strong locker room personality and it’s not known how Thibodeau will view that as he shapes a new culture with his new team.
Dave,
Your column, like you, has embodied quality for a very long time! Keep up the great work!