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He never overclubs
Don Tyree never needs a caddy or a cart - or even a golf bag. The only club he carries is a beat-up, 30-year-old Acushnet Bullseye putter.
“I bought this club for $5 when I was 16,” the 46-year-old Tyree said before tackling 18 holes at Brunswick Plantation and Golf Links in Columbia, S.C., last week. “This is the original grip.”
The grip on the rickety old club is actually on backward. Gripped correctly, the putter faces in toward one’s shoes. In addition, the shaft is crooked, obviously from too many 200-yard drives, and the putter face has an ever-so-slight loft.
He warmed up for his 18 with a 46 on the back nine at Possom Trot, but playing from the blue tees at 6,215-yard Brunswick Plantation took its toll. He shot an even 100 - 48-52. “I never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “I shot a 73 once at Arcadian Shores, but I’ve also shot 115.”
Too many seven-putts that day.
No laughing matter
At 270 pounds, Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus has a hard time convincing his players to stay in shape. “I need another piece of cake like I need another injury on my team,” Majerus joked. “But the truth is, I’m really not that sensitive about my weight. I kind of laugh at it. I do kind of have a hard time telling my team to get in shape. Some guys smoke, some guys drink, some guys chase women - I’m a big barbecue sauce guy.”
For what it’s worth, Majerus does work out, running 4 miles a day. He ran a marathon in San Antonio in 1990, the year after he underwent quadruple-bypass surgery.
When he isn’t eating or running, Majerus lives basketball. And while his basketball-first lifestyle has helped the Utes win 74 percent of their games under Majerus, success has come with a personal price. The 47-year-old coach is divorced and doesn’t have children. He has lived in the a Salt Lake City hotel since he was hired in 1989.
“I guess it’s kind of sad (not having kids), but I’ve got a great life,” Majerus said. “I’ve traveled all over the world - I’ve been to every continent at least twice. I can’t complain. I wish I had some kids, but my sperm count is low and my cholesterol is high. Besides, you’ve got to find a girl to have kids. Hey, if I could incubate one myself, I’d have one.
“My problem is that I live like that guy on ‘The Odd Couple,’ and it isn’t the neat guy. I go into my room and I find pieces of pizza underneath laundry.”
Wayne’s world
Ever get the impression Detroit Lions coach Wayne Fontes may not be the best judge of talent? “The Minnesota Vikings are a great football team,” Fontes said Thursday, after his Lions improved to 6-6, somehow managing to roll up 410 yards passing in a 44-38 victory over those great Vikings.
Scott Mitchell did the passing for Detroit in that one, prompting another astute Fontes observation: “For (Mitchell) to miss one day of practice and stand in the pocket with that heat coming, I think everybody knows that he the guy that’s going to take us to the next level.”
Would that level be mediocrity?
The last word …
“Haven’t seen much of new forward Don McLean since his college days, but if his act hasn’t changed, he and Dikembe Mutombo will give the Nuggets the best whine-too punch in the NBA.” Denver Post columnist Todd Phipers
, DataTimes