LAS VEGAS |
One of the enduring im-
ages of this year’s Ryder Cup was the
aftermath, when a visibly shaken and
emotional
Hunter Mahan
faced the
press after losing the final and deciding
match to
Graeme McDowell
.
Now that he has had some time in
between, he faced the press once again
at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hos-
pitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
“I felt like I played really good that
day,” said Mahan, who lost 2 and 1,
which gave Europe a 14½- 13½ vic-
tory. “I just didn’t make any putts. The
front nine I had five holes of putts that I
should have made, and that’s what kind
of put me in the position I was in being
3-down going into the back nine.
“I actually hit it great, and I thought
I was handling everything pretty well
and had a shot at being in that position.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be in a situation
like that again. You know, I was ex-
cited to have that opportunity to have a
chance to win the Cup like that. It was a
great experience.”
While the pundits insisted that losing
the match would scar Mahan for some
time to come, Mahan insists otherwise.
never met, and I really appreciate the
fact that they understand how much
we care about the Ryder Cup and how
much it actually means to us. Some-
times they haven’t seen that before.”
Cameron Percy
started the week
in Las Vegas at 185th on the PGA Tour
money list in a mad dash to try to get
into the top 125, which would make him
exempt for 2011. Percy shot a third-
round, 9-under 62 to get near the top of
the leaderboard.
“This is what I have to do. “There’s
no waiting for next week, said Percy,
who has one more Fall Series event
left, the Children’s Miracle Network
Classic Nov. 11-14 at Disney World.
Percy is a rookie on the PGA Tour
at age 36, having bounced all over the
world playing professional golf. He
gained his playing privileges on the
Tour by finishing eighth on the Nation-
wide Tour money list in 2009.
“I didn’t take up golf until I was 16,”
said Percy, who comes from Australia.
“I was just starting to get half decent
at the game, and I think I turned pro at
25. I didn’t have enough money to turn
pro. I would have loved to turn pro at
21 or 22, but I couldn’t afford to travel
anywhere.”
Percy started his career on the Aus-
tralasian Tour and the Asian Tour. He
even came to the U.S. with a friend and
the pair drove around the country for
six months, trying to get into tourna-
ments by Monday qualifying for the four
spots available each week. That was
a kind of pressure that he had never
experienced.
“You feel it every week,” he said.
“You’re just anxious, nervous, irrational.”
Nick Watney
is a Las Vegas resident
and a supporter of the
Justin Timber-
lake
event. The fact that it is a Fall Series
event is detrimental to the field. Watney
and Mahan are the two highest-ranked
players entered in the tournament.
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