D12
EZ SU GOLF On tough day at Avenel, Kite’s at his best
3-under 69 yields one-stroke lead in Senior Players event
BY KATHY ORTON The more demanding the golf
course, themore it seems to bring out the best in Tom Kite. The 60-year-old Texan relished the challenge presented by the newly redesigned TPC Potomac at Ave- nelFarmonThursday andthrived while others buckled under its demands. Kite shot a 3-under-par 69 in
the first round of the Senior Play- ers Championship, taking a one- stroke lead over Michael Allen, MarkO’Meara and JoeOzaki. “I like the harder golf courses,
noquestionabout it,”Kite said. “It puts a premium on all parts of your game.” Overnight rains soaked an al-
ready soft course, forcing tourna- ment officials to shorten it to 6,869 yards and invoke the lift, clean and place procedure. Balls barely rolled on the fairways and stayed where they landed on the greens. Then swirling, gusting winds arrived, making it an even tougher test. O’Meara figured the windcreatedaone- toalmost two- club difference for the players. “Anything in the red around
thisgolfcourseisgoingtobeanice score,”he said. O’Meara was right. Only four
players finished under par, the fewest at a Champions Tour event since the 2008 Senior British Open. The first-round scoring av- erage of 73.74 is highest for this major since it was played in De- troit in2001. Several players ended way into
the black. Fred Couples, the sec- ond-leadingmoneywinner onthe ChampionsTour this year, shot an 8-over 78—hisworst score on the 50-and-older tour. His previous worst was a third-round 75 at the SeniorPGAChampionship. Mark Calcavecchia also had a
tough day, shooting his worst score on the Champions Tour this year, an 11-over 81. Corey Pavin, who admittedhehadn’tpickedup a golf club in sixweeks because of his Ryder Cup captain’s duties, shot a 76. Fred Funk scrambled to a 2-
over 72, making three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. Funkwas tied for 11th place along with defending champion Jay Haas. Bernhard Langer, who has won two majors this year, is tied for 11that 1 over. Though onemight suspect that
Kitebenefitedfromhavingwonat Avenel before, he said the current designcan’tcomparetothecourse on which he won the Kemper Openin1987. “They took what I thought was
aprettygoodgolf course, justkind of a nice golf course . . . and they improveditdramatically,”he said. “The look of the golf course is fantastic, but at the same time, they put a lot of teethinit.” Kite was one of the few who
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST TomKite follows through on a shot from the 10th fairway en route to the first-round lead atAvenel.
didn’t get bitten by Avenel. Even still, after going 1 over throughhis firsteightholes,hecalledthefront nine “a little bit of a struggle.” “Then on No. 9, I hit the first
really good quality shot that I hit thewholeday,”hesaidof the7-iron he hit to five feet fromthe pin on the par-3. That birdie jump-started his
round. He made birdies on three of the final nine holes to seize the lead. “He’s just amazing,” O’Meara
saidofKite. “Hehits itgood.At60, he still gets it out there. . . . He’s a grinder.” Kite, O’Meara and Jeff Sluman,
who finished tied for fifth at even par, were the second group to tee off on Thursday. The threesome benefited not only from the early start but also the grouping. O’Meara played the frontnine at 3 under to set the tone. “We all have similar personali-
ties,” O’Meara said. “We don’t get too high.We don’t get too low.We all like to play pretty quickly. . . . WhenI startedmakingsomebird- ies, I kind of brought them along withme. Itwas kind of a slingshot effect.” Allen, who played in the group
just ahead of O’Meara, also seemed to benefit from the early
HIGH SCHOOLS FIELDHOCKEY
Homick’s goal rewards Hawks’ effort against rival 1
BY GREG SCHIMMEL Thursday nightwas not a good
time for the Broadneck field hockey teamto have a letdown. The fourth-ranked Bruins had
suffered an emotional 3-2 dou- ble-overtime loss to top-ranked Severna Park on Monday, and traveled to No. 3 South River on Thursday hoping to prove their standing among Anne Arundel County’s elite. But SouthRiver outplayed and
outhustled Broadneck most of the game, and Hawks senior forward Heather Homick scored the only goal of the night off of a rebound with 22 minutes 29 seconds left in the second half to give South River a 1-0 win. “South River got that goal
because they played with the intensity and passion that they needed,” an emotional Broad- neck Coach Jen Parks said. “Our team broke down.We just didn’t play with the intensity that I know we can play with.” On the play that led to the
goal, Broadneck goalie Jenna Tribull was caught off-balance when she needed to stick out her leg to save South River’s initial long shot.When the Bruins were unable to clear the circle, Homick was able to put in the rebound. Several South River players
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
South River’sHeatherHomick goes airborne to celebrate the game’s only goal. TheHawks could meet Broadneck again in the playoffs.
were near the cage and had a whack at the rebound along with Homick. “There were so many people going after the ball that I just
SOUTH RIVER BROADNECK 0
kept pushing at it until it went into the goal,” Homick said. “I knew we had to score and you just have to finish.” Parks called a timeout after
the goal but Broadneck seemed to go flat after it fell behind. South River sophomore for-
ward Jennie Milligan nearly made it 2-0 with about 19 min- utes left when she streaked through the Broadneck defense on a great run. ButMilligan,who was running full speed when she approached the cage, couldn’t get off a clean shot and her attempt trickled wide. South River controlled posses-
sion for most of the second half and Broadneck never mounted a serious threat to tie the game. “We knew we had to keep the
pressure on until the game was over,” South River Coach Katie Corcoran said. “We just kept the pressure on and tried to keep the ball out of our defensive end.” The rivals will likely meet
again in a few weeks in the Maryland 4A East regional play- offs, but Broadneck knows it needs to regroup before then to avoid a similar outcome. “I don’t want to take anything
away from South River because they are a great team and they played a great game,” Parks said. “It’s just that I know that we just let down.”
schimmelg@washpost.com JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
KirkHinrich, left, can help the Wizards on offense and defense; he has guarded players like Paul Pierce and Caron Butler.
start. His 30-foot birdie putt on No. 10 was “the longest putt I’ve made in quite a while,” he said. “That kind of got things going.” Ozakihadachance totie for the
lead on No. 18 despite hitting his tee shot into the right rough. He landed a terrific second shot eight feet fromthe flag,but senthisputt one footpast thehole.Hisparputt lefthimtied for second. Notes:Hal Suttonwithdrewaf-
ter nine holes because of illness. . . .Despite the free admissionand pleasant weather, the galleries were sparse, even for the better- known players.
ortonk@washpost.com
KLMNO
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010 PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
Chicago’s loss, Wizards’ gain
Point guard Hinrich brings intangibles to new team
BY MICHAEL LEE
cleveland—KirkHinrichwas unofficially the first casualty of the summer free agent bonanza, when the Chicago Bulls decided to pawn off their captain and quiet but fiery leader to a re- building team in Washington simply to free up more salary cap space and increase their chances of luring the could-be King. TheBullswhiffedintheirpur-
suit of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and even Chris Bosh, set- tling on an $80 million grand prize—Carlos Boozer—who is sidelined for the next two months with a broken right hand. Although the Bulls never quite found a superstar shoot- ing guard to pair with all-star point guard Derrick Rose, or even a Hinrich replacement for that that matter, Hinrich won’t look back and gloat. “It was a deal where they felt
they had to swing for the fences and thiswas their time to do it. I understand it,”Hinrichsaid this week. “Youcanalways lookback and say, ‘What if they would’ve donethis?What if theywould’ve done that?’ But it’s just wasted time to think about stuff like that, because it’s over. There is nothing you can do about it, no sense dwelling onit.” Hinrich scored eight points
on Friday in the Wizards’ 97-83 winover theClevelandCavaliers atQuickenLoansArena. Ashepreparestoheadbackto
Chicago to face his former team for the first time on Friday,Hin- rich has embraced his new sur- roundings, although he admit- ted that itwas odd to look down athisNo. 12Wizardsuniformfor the first time on Tuesday in Washington’s preseason opener in Dallas. For their part, the Wizards are elatedthat theyhad the opportunity to acquire the 6-foot-3 guardwho is capable of playing both back-court posi- tions. Saunders praised Hinrich as
one of the two best players in training camp, along with No. 1 overall pick John Wall, and has been unable to keep him out of the lineup, starting himat small forward in the first two pre- seasongames. “Acoupleofpeopleare calling
him Elmer. He’s like Elmer’s glue,keepingeverythingtogeth- er,” Saunders said. “What I thought we were getting when we got him is a great defender, someonewithanextremelyhigh basketball IQ, an intelligent leader, a mentor for John. All those things I thought, that’s what he is.” Hinrich, 29, was credited
with helping Rose make the transitiontotheleague,whichis one of the reasons the Wizards were excited about making the deal forHinrich after they land- ed the top draft pick. Rose said this summer that he was disap- pointed to see Hinrich leave. “Kirkmeant a lot. I was kind of
mad at the time that we lost him,” Rose said. “He was a guy that gotus into the playoffswith justhisplayonthecourt,andisa guythatwe’redefinitelygoingto miss this year.” Wall said that he expects to
benefit from sharing the floor with Hinrich this season. “He helpsme awhole lot,”Wall said. “I think he helped Derrick. Kirk is a great defensive guy, but also a good offensive guy. He may have had one or zero turnovers every night, so there is a lot you canlearnfromhim.” Saunders will likely go to a
moreconventional startingline- up at some point, especially when Josh Howard returns fromhis leftkneeinjury.Butany concerns that the Wizards would struggle defensivelywith a three-point-guard offense with Hinrich, Wall and Gilbert Arenas were quieted some as Hinrich had what Saunders called an “astronomical” plus- minus ratio of plus-27 for the 28 minutes he was on the floor against the Mavericks. “I don’t know if it’s realistic that we’ll playthatwayallyear,you’llhave toaskFlipthat,but I justwant to be out there,”Hinrich said. Hinrich arrived in Washing-
tonwitha reputationforbeing a fierce defender, frustrating the likes of Wade and Paul Pierce over theyears.And,whenhewas matchedupagainst formerWiz- ard Caron Butler inDallas,Hin- rich battled himin the post and evenstrippedButler of the ball. “I always hated to lose defen-
sively,” said Hinrich, who fin- ished with nine points, four as- sists and two steals against the Mavericks. “It always drove me crazy tohave somebody scoreon me. The first time somebody torchedyouor killedyou, ithurt my pride too bad. I’ve been torchedbefore,because goodof- fensealwaysbeatsgooddefense. But getting in the league, you realize that’s how teams win championships. That’s how teamswingames.Youhave tobe talented, but you have to be able to defend.” Hinrichadvancedto theplay-
offs five times in his seven sea- sons in Chicago, which drafted him sixth overall in 2003. He said he was “blindsided” by the pre-draft deal, which also yield- ed 17th overall pick Kevin Seraphin and $3million for the Wizards,buthesaidhewouldn’t get too emotional when he re- turns. “I was over it fairly quickly,
just froma standpoint of, I can’t dwell on things I can’t control. The Wizards were excited to have me and I was excited to have a fresh start,”Hinrich said. “It’snot going tobe emotional at all forme. It’s going to be anoth- er game. It’ll be a little strange being in the other locker room or something like that. But it’s a gamewewant towin. “I’m excited, just to go back,”
Hinrichsaid. “I loveChicago. It’s a great city. Itwas really good to me.Great fansandtheorganiza- tion was good to me. I’ve got a real comfort level playing in United Center, so I’m just look- ing forward to going there and playing.”
leem@washpost.com
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