Jimmy Walker won the PGA golf championship to complete a year of first-time major winners. He joined Masters champion Danny Willett of England, US Open champ Dustin Johnson of USA, and Champion Golfer of the year for the British Open, Henrik Stenson of Sweden. The biggest surprise of the week was the fact that the tournament was completed on time, given the 3 1/2 inches of rain that fell on the course during the week. Walker played 36 holes on Sunday and survived a last ditch effort charge by the number one player in the world, Jason Day. Day, who was one group ahead of Walker, made an eagle three on the last hole to pull within one shot. Walker finished with a strong par to retain his lead. Even though Jimmy Walker is not a household name, his win did not come out of the blue. Before this week he had garnered 5 wins on the PGA tour in the span of three years. He definitely had the talent to pull this off. I was actually happy to see this tournament become that close because it made the ending a lot more exciting.
The Olympic Games officially start this weekend on the NBC family of networks. I hope everyone enjoys watching all of the sports they can actually find on their TVs or computers. In Brazil, nobody knows who the last celebrity Olympic torch bearer will be. I hope they have chosen Pele, the Brazilian soccer star, so that the audience can discover how amazing he was as a player. His career wa from the 50's to the 70's. He was the first international soccer player I had ever heard of right before the World Cup in 1994 when I was only 10.
The Phillies did not do anything this year at the trade deadline which is not surprising to me. Until the Phillies can get rid of the contracts for Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz, they can't complete their rebuilding process. The available players weren't experienced enough to tempt any of the other teams in the league. The rest of the year will be about trying not to finish in last place and to keep their young pitching staff healthy.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
