American Golfer (Aged 19 Years) Surges To Lead of Middling Tour Event.

If You Squint He Looks a Little Like McIl-Jesus.

At one point during the U.S. Open before there only became one story line someone trotted out the regrettable headline, “UCLA’s Cantlay Can Play.”  Even though that bit of wordplay might cost you some brain cells, it is at its very core, true. Patrick Cantlay, despite the fact that you’ve likely never heard of him (even after last week), was freshman all-everything at UCLA.  About the only thing missing on his resume is a USGA championship.  Forget about Peter Uihlein, the more heralded Amateur champion for a moment, in a world where the next big thing seems to change by the month, Cantlay is lengthening his lead on the field with a possibly historic run at the Travelers Championship.

No one will confuse the Travelers with a premiere even on Tour, but it’s always been friendly to young players and amateurs, and Cantlay is repaying their generosity with a scorching 2nd round.  He’s eight-under through 14 holes, 11-under overall and has a two-shot lead midway through a rain-delayed 2nd round.  He’s got a long way to go, and the event will be a ruthless a birdie binge, but for some perspective, Cantlay could become just the third amateur in the last 60 years to win a PGA Tour event, joining Phil Mickelson and Scott Verplank.  This isn’t Jordan Speith’s feel good top-20 lingering at his hometown track, Cantlay might actually take a run at closing this thing out.

If you did see the U.S. Open coverage you might remember either Johnny Miller’s effusive praise or the insistence that Cantlay was not interested in turning pro.  He intends to get his degree, he intends to play on Walker Cup teams and continue building his amateur resume.  It’s easy to say that when you are turning down relatively modest sums of money, but it would be hard to put a price on a two-year PGA Tour exemption.  He said the Tour will always be there after school, but you could say the same thing for school being there after the Tour.  I honestly don’t think he’s going to win, but it would be an amazing story if he did, and it would be one hell of a decision to make.

It’s hard to gauge these brief flashes of amateur brilliance.  For every guy like Phil Mickelson (or even Verplank) there is an all-world amateur who never makes it.  The phenom is something that has been missing from American golf.  We want it to be Rickie Fowler, or we want it to be Anthony Kim, or Charles Howell and Bryce Molder before them, but more often than not it doesn’t work out.  And now with Northern Ireland’s true phenom being forced down our throats as the next big thing, I have to say it’d be nice to see a teenage American player getting some attention that has been hogged by the likes of Rory and Ryo Ishikawa of late.

So, obviously in your right mind you would never turn on the Travelers Championship, but if you have that spare moment tomorrow afternoon maybe check in and see if Cantlay is holding it together.  I hope that I am not putting any of my notorious poison on him with this post, but he’s made a couple of pars since I started writing it, so I’m going to stick with it.

Great Moments in Jim Riggleman History.

The Bus? Not Getting on It.

Kind of a George Pickett moment from Jim Riggleman yesterday.  Gutsy, but not terribly strategic.  My initial reaction is to side with Riggleman.  The Nationals were blatantly using the guy as a placeholder, but then again he was getting paid $600,000.  That’s a pretty affordable rate for a major league manager, but not a sum Riggleman is likely to pick up in any other profession.  The Nationals are in what they hope is a transition into respectability.  I’m sure the plan was to let Riggleman do the dirty work, get them around .500, then when Strasburg is back and Harper is ready maybe they sign one more free agent and bring in a real manager.  Let’s throw some money at Bobby Valentine!  I’m sure this scenario was playing over and over in Riggleman’s head and he finally just snapped.

Riggleman had a team option for next season, also at $600,000, and from what it sounds like had been in near constant discussions about the Nats guaranteeing him 2012.  But, the Nats aren’t ready to do that, because what if 2012 is the year for the push?  After winning 11 of 12, Riggleman felt his bargaining power would never get any stronger so he threw down an ultimatum.  His reasoning that if the Nats weren’t going to pick up the option now that they never would was probably accurate.  If he was expecting to have his bluff called, well, that’s something only old Jimbo knows for himself.

Like I said, I see his side of the argument, but it’s tough to get behind the move in terms of the big picture.  Riggleman was not a terribly successful manager in the first place (not that he’s been blessed with any good teams), but to go out this way probably isn’t the best method of getting your name on the short list for upcoming openings.  Then you have the Nats GM throwing him under the bus that he refused to get on, dancing around the word, “quitter,” but implying it with some conviction.  We also got the most Jayson Werth quote of all-time.  Hard to believe a stand-up guy like Werth couldn’t even find a politically correct platitude to offer in the aftermath of Riggleman’s resignation.  He said, “We’re the ones that have been making the pitches and hitting the balls and winning the ballgames, so we’re going to keep going.”  To paraphrase, “Riggleman?  Never heard of him.”

Riggleman’s extend me or I won’t get on the bus line will probably be the butt of some jokes over the next couple of days, because it is kind of funny/ballsy, but also because he didn’t get on that dang bus.  If you know Riggleman, though, you’ll realize this is nothing new for him.  He has an almost uncanny success rate with ultimatums.  A sampling:

1960 Fort Dix, New Jersey:  “If you don’t think it was a foul, fine.  I’ll take my ball and go home.”

1987 Arkansas Travelers Team Bus:  “We’re watching Top Gun again.  Put in another movie and see what happens.  I will throw a fit in the aisle all the way to Huntsville!  Now, you can put the movie in, or you can just sit there and watch what happens!”  (Later became the inspiration for the porch scene in Rain Man)

1998 NLDS: “If you don’t let me pitch Kerry Wood, I’m quitting. What’s the worst that could happen?”

1999 Phone Call with Bell Atlantic:  “If you don’t take these damn roaming charges off my bill I’m switching to MCI!”

Outside of Disney World 2003: “Look, if I say the kid is under 10, he’s under 10.  You want a birth certificate?  Either you sell us a kid’s ticket or you sell us no tickets.”