Mickey Wright donates mementos to USGA for museum
SYDNEY — The silver U.S. Women’s Open trophies. Her famous Bulls-Eye putter she used for all but one of her 82 victories. Rare video footage of her golf swing, which Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson once called the best they ever saw.
Mickey Wright kept this treasure in her Florida home for nearly 40 years, some of it on tables and shelves, some of it stashed away in closets and under the bed. She never gave it another thought.
Considered by many to be the greatest player in LPGA history, Wright was never one to get wrapped up in the past.
“I’m not a real sentimental type,” she said.
That’s why it was such a major coup for the U.S. Golf Association when Wright agreed to donate some 200 personal artifacts for a permanent display at the USGA Museum in Far Hills, N.J.
Wright will be only the fourth player — and first woman — to have a gallery in her name at the museum. The others are for Hogan, Bobby Jones and Arnold Palmer. It is scheduled to open in June.
“This is exciting beyond belief,” USGA executive director Mike Davis said. “Many people suggest she had one of the finest swings ever in the game. She dominated women’s golf for a long time. And she’s got a little bit of that Hogan mystique. She’s pretty quiet, and when she left the game, she really did leave the game. People didn’t have a lot of access to her.”
The 76-year-old Wright has been inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and honored at the Memorial Tournament by Jack Nicklaus. The Mickey Wright Room at the USGA Museum is special — not just for her, but to draw attention to women’s golf.
“I’m so excited for this room, the first for a woman,” Wright said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s a great honor. The best thing will be the contrast that people will be able to see between today’s golf, which is a completely different game from what was played in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. I hope they can appreciate their roots.”
Wright spent the last few months helping to pack the 34 boxes that were shipped to the USGA and arrived last Thursday.
They include that putter given to her by the late Mary Lena Faulk, and the Wilson Staff golf clubs that she used in every win since 1963 except for one. She briefly came out of retirement in 1973 and won the Colgate Dinah Shore.
Trophies range from the 1952 U.S. Girls’ Junior to two of her four U.S. Open titles. She still has a contestant’s badge from the 1954 U.S. Women’s Open when she was an amateur paired with Babe Zaharias. Most special to her are the 25 scrapbooks compiled by longtime friend Peggy Wilson of clippings, letters and her nationally syndicated column, “Lessons from Mickey Wright.”
It was a rare occasion for Wright to look back on a career in which she won 44 tournament in a span of four years in the early 1960s, and 12 majors between 1958 and 1966.
“I’m not much for living in the past,” she said. “But I enjoyed doing it, reliving it.”
Two items she kept for herself were the Bob Jones Award she received last year, the USGA’s highest honor; and a three-page letter of “fatherly advice” that longtime USGA executive director Joe Dey wrote to her when she turned pro.
One of the last items she packed was a mat that was rolled up and had been collecting dust as she recovered from knee surgery.
For years, Wright used to hit balls off that mat from her patio onto the 14th fairway of the golf course where she lives each morning. Then, she would go out to the fairway to pick them up.
“I sat on her patio and watched her do it,” said Rhonda Glenn, a USGA historian and longtime friend. “It was a treat. I used to watch Hogan practice when I was a little girl, at Seminole. There was this crack when he hit the ball. I had never heard it again until Mickey was hitting balls, this crack with a 6-iron. Of all the great players I’ve seen, there were only two who hit it like that.”
A week ago, Wright cleaned off the mat, went out to the patio and one last time hit wedges out to the fairway.
1903 World Series program sells for $241,500
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A program from the first World Series game has sold at auction for $241,500.
Hunt Auctions says the program was sold Saturday at the Louisville Slugger Museum.
Company President David Hunt said there was enormous demand for the rare 1903 program from the series between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates, which Boston won.
He said he was “aware of only one other copy of this 1903 World Series program, and that copy resides in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
The program is well-preserved with its bound edge intact. It features pictures of Pittsburgh Pirates stars including Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner. The item sold for 5 cents at the game
Other auction highlights included a Pete Rose-autographed, 4,000th-hit baseball that sold for $66,700 and a baseball signed by Cy Young that sold for $51,570.
Yale QB gives up chance for Rhodes Scholarship
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale quarterback Patrick Witt has decided to give up the opportunity to compete for a Rhodes Scholarship in order to play against archrival Harvard.
The school announced Sunday that Witt has withdrawn his Rhode application, despite being a finalist for the prestigious scholarship. The scholarship interview had been scheduled for Saturday, the same day as what is simply called “The Game.”
The school had been trying to get the interview moved to Friday. But Witt, a senior transfer from Nebraska, said he decided to withdraw the application because, “My focus this week is solely on preparing for The Game alongside my teammates and coaches.”
Saturday’s game will be the 128th between the two schools. Harvard has won the last four and nine of the last 10.
Illini LB out for regular season with wounded hand
ST. LOUIS — Illinois linebacker Trulon Henry will miss the rest of the regular season after he was shot in the hand during a shooting at a large house party near campus hours.
Coach Ron Zook said on Sunday the incident happened after the slumping Illini lost their fourth game in a row.
Henry had surgery Sunday to repair the injury.
Urbana police said two thers were wounded in the shooting that occurred before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, just across the street from the campus health center and a student dorm near some of the school’s Greek organizations.
Zook said several Illinois players — largely underclassmen who weren’t immediately publicly identified — were at the party before the gunfire that police said followed a fight. None of the other Illini was hurt by the gunfire or took part in the dustup that preceded it.
Henry was not attending the gathering but — “being the leader that he is” — only went to there to clear out the other players after learning the get-together was “getting a little crazy,” Zook said.
The loss of Henry — a 27-year-old senior and two-year starter who last year played safety — could compound the troubles for Illinois (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten). The Illini lost 31-14 to Michigan on Saturday.
Henry’s possible availability for a bowl game appears unclear, Zook said.
Henry, who last season earned all-Big 10 honorable mention after leading the Illini with three interceptions and forced two fumbles, is ninth on the team in tackles and has two interceptions. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior had a solo tackle and an assisted one Saturday against the Wolverines.
Henry, a Washington D.C., native who’s married and has a daughter, is the older brother of Arrelious Benn, a former Illini standout wide receiver now playing with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The injury of Henry, who once served time in prison for a grocery store robbery before his 2007 release, marks the second time in recent years an Illini player has been injured trying to help teammates.
In December 2008, linebacker Martez Wilson — now with the New Orleans Saints — survived being stabbed in the back while reportedly aiding a former teammate who was outnumbered and being beaten outside a Champaign bar.
Police never made an arrest.
Cincinnati’s QB Collaros needs surgery on ankle
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros will have surgery for a broken right ankle, sidelining him for the Bearcats’ last three regular-season games.
Collaros hurt the ankle during the second quarter of a 24-21 loss to West Virginia on Saturday that left the Big East race wide open. He’ll have surgery on Monday and miss games next Saturday at Rutgers (7-3), at Syracuse (5-5) and home against Connecticut (4-5).
The Bearcats are hopeful that Collaros could return for their bowl game.
Sophomore Munchie Legaux will replace the fifth-year senior, trying to lead the Bearcats to their third league title in four years. Cincinnati leads the Big East by a half-game at 7-2 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Legaux hasn’t started a collegiate game. He rallied the Bearcats from a 10-point deficit in the second half against West Virginia. The Mountaineers regained the lead in the fourth quarter, and Cincinnati’s field goal attempt to tie it in the closing seconds was blocked.
“You never know when your time is going to come,” Legaux said after the game, when it was apparent he’d be starting. “When it does, you try to take advantage of it.”
Former LSU, Cardinals player jailed on rape charge
BATON ROUGE, La. — Charles Scott Jr., a former running back for LSU and the Arizona Cardinals, was arrested Sunday and charged with rape after an incident at his home near Baton Rouge.
Scott, 23, was booked Sunday afternoon at the Ascension Parish Jail, the sheriff’s office said. Bond had not been set as of late Sunday afternoon and it was not immediately known if he has an attorney.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Bacala told The Advocate newspaper that deputies responded to Scott’s home in the Baton Rouge suburb of Prairieville about 4 a.m. after someone reported a disturbance there.
He said the disturbance was the result of “an 18 year old alleging she was raped by Charles Edward Scott Jr.” No further details were available.
Scott, whose father played football at the Air Force Academy, graduated from LSU with 2,317 yards rushing. He was drafted in 2010 by the Philadelphia Eagles, who traded him to Arizona for another sixth-round pick. The Cardinals cut him in September 2010.
When he was named Louisiana’s Mr. Football in December 2005, Scott was described as humble, mild-mannered and the pride of Shady Grove Baptist Church.
Calls to the homes of Scott’s father and his high-school coach, and to LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette were not immediately returned.
WKU assistant accused of DWI
BATON ROUGE, La. — Baton Rouge police say Western Kentucky defensive coordinator Lance Guidry was arrested early Saturday on a drunken driving charge.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/tiu0Md) that a police affidavit shows that Guidry was booked shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday on one count each of improper lane usage and second-offense DWI.
According to the affidavit, Guidry registered a 0.123 blood alcohol content after officers saw his car weaving over the center line. In Louisiana, 0.8 percent blood alcohol or more is considered evidence of intoxication.
Western Kentucky released a statement Sunday in which Guidry apologized for his “poor judgment” and promised not to make the same mistake again, according to the Daily News in Bowling Green, Ky.
Coach Willie Taggart said he was disappointed in Guidry and would discipline him internally.
Argentine driver killed in crash on final lap
BALCARCE, Argentina — Argentine driver Guido Falaschi was killed in a crash at Juan Manuel Fangio track during the final lap of a race in the most popular motor sport competition in the South American country.
Race officials and a doctor confirmed the death Sunday of the 22-year-old Falaschi in the event known as Turismo de Carretera.
The accident took place when Falaschi lost control, hit a retaining wall made of tires, swerved back onto the track and was struck by a car driven by Nestor Girolami.
Girolami was in stable condition at a hospital.