Fast Break
Winter X Games
Holland wins title 4th time in row
Sandpoint native Nate Holland can carve his way down a mountain better than just about anyone, winning a record-setting fourth straight snowboarder X title Saturday at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo.
He’s not nearly as good with a razor.
Holland made a pact with fellow U.S. snowboard team member Graham Watanabe that they’d show up at Winter X with perms. Watanabe followed through, Holland didn’t.
Holland then took a razor to Watanabe’s perm the other night, shaving the top of his head shiny clean, leaving the sides long. Watanabe’s new style looked like a trim gone seriously wrong.
“We got together over a couple of bottles of wine and made some bad decisions,” Holland laughed as he explained the pact.
Snowboarder X is an event that combines speed and jumps as boarders battle their way down the slope.
Watanabe wound up second and Stian Sivertzen took third.
“It was a pretty amazing feeling coming into the last kicker – I didn’t hear anybody,” the 30-year-old Holland said. “I couldn’t see anybody in my peripheral. I was like, ‘No way, I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it.’
“Honestly, I’m at a loss for words, four-peating this thing.”
Golf
Stricker lowest of the low
Steve Stricker shot a 10-under 62 on Saturday to reach 33 under and overtake Pat Perez after 72 holes in the birdie-fest known as the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif.
With 18 holes remaining, Stricker and Perez, three shots back at 30 under, both have a chance to rewrite the PGA Tour’s 90-hole record Joe Durant set in 2001.
After another of what has been a string of warm, windless days in the desert, Stricker was at 255, with his 33 under bettering the tour’s 72-hole mark of 31 under set by Ernie Els in the 2003 Mercedes Classic.
Stricker’s 61-62 also was a tour low for consecutive rounds. Mark Calcavecchia set the record by shooting 60-64 in the 2001 Phoenix Open, and Perez tied it with his 61-63 start in the Hope.
Tommy Armour holds the record for lowest 72-hole score, winning the 2003 Texas Open on a par 70 course at 254, which was 26 under.