Orange observations
Published: 6/25/2007 1:55 PM
Last Modified: 6/25/2007 1:55 PM
***Hunter Mahan's triumph Sunday at the Travelers Championship continued the fine run of solid golf this season by former Oklahoma State standouts on the PGA Tour.
In February, Charles Howell III broke his long streak of second-place finishes by downing Phil Mickelson in a playoff at the Nissan Open.
In April, Scott Verplank paid tribute to one of his mentor's and golfing heroes Byron Nelson by winning Nelson's tournament in Dallas.
On Sunday, Mahan made it a trio of OSU triumphs this year in Hartford. Mahan's give and take with caddie John Wood over club selection for the second shot on the 18th hole was great stuff. Mahan's execution of the shot and subsequent birdie putt to force a playoff was great as well. But Mahan added more drama with another clutch, dead-on approach shot when he and Jay Williamson replayed the 18th hole in the playoff.
If the PGA of America wants to get another strong gathering of fans at the Southern Hills away from Mr. Woods' group, how about an all-OSU pairing of Verplank, Howell and Mahan?
***More problems for the OSU basketball program. Obi Muonelo's arrest over the weekend is another blemish for a program that has not had a lot of good news since the turbulent 2006-07 season ended (in disappointment, of course).
Sean Sutton isn't running an outlaw program and would never want his program labeled as outlaw. Still, Muonelo's arrest and the arrest of Terrel Harris earlier this month does not help the image at all.
***The Waco Herald-Tribune recently compiled its annual Big 12 All-Sports rankings list. OSU finished sixth behind Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Baylor. The OSU program was third in men's sports behind Texas and Texas A&M. In women's sports, OSU was seventh.
---- Matt Doyle
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
