Few sports have been more racially divided than golf. Realizing that the NCAA was not inviting athletes from historically black colleges and Hispanic- and Native American-serving institutions to compete in their regional golf tournaments, the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship was created to open the doors. In recent years, however, there appear to be fewer and fewer minorities in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship.
Bubba Watson hit a miraculous shot during yesterday's sudden death playoff round to win the Masters golf tournament. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin joins us to talk about Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and the green jacket.
The 2012 Masters Golf Tournament at the all-male Augusta National Golf Club, which began Thursday, has sparked discussion about sexism and the legal rights of private organizations. Traditionally, the all-male golf club gives membership to the tournament's corporate sponsors, but for the first time in the club's history, one those CEOs is a woman. Gloria Feldt is the author of "No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power" and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, and Nicole Neily is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
22-year-old Rory McIlroy made golfing history at the U.S. Open yesterday, closing his four-day onslaught and setting twelve Open records at 16-under-par 268—eight shots ahead of his closest competitor, and four shots better than the U.S. Open record set by Tiger Woods. McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, and is the youngest winner of the tournament since the legendary Bobby Jones won in 1923. Mark Simpson, from our partner the BBC, joins us from McIlroy's Northern Ireland hometown, Hollywood, to discuss the match.
On Saturday, President Obama plans to play golf with House Speaker John Boehner. What is already being dubbed as the “Golf-Summit” has the political blogosphere abuzz. How will the two interact? Will the president’s competitive streak be enough to compensate for Boehner’s acumen? To date, President Obama has kept his golf outings limited to a close knit group of friends; does this invitation indicate that he has learned to use the links as a new political tool? Joining us to discuss historic moments in presidential golf is Don Van Natta, Pulitzer Prize winner author of “Wonder Girl: the Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias.” We’re also joined by Joan Cavanagh, President of Boardroom Golf, a company which teaches women how to use golf in order to advance their professional careers.
The Chicago Bulls will face the Miami Heat in the eastern conference finals and both teams have something to prove, says Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin. Tiger Woods withdrew from the Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida tournament after suffering a knee injury. It's becoming apparent that Woods is getting older.
The Masters Golf tournament got underway yesterday at Augusta National Golf Club, and 21-year-old Irishman Roy McIlroy is leading the pack. What he seems to lack in terms of experience, he apparently makes up in confidence. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin has more on the early favorites. And he says that Tiger Woods "is doing fine and is supremely confident" even as young golfers no longer fear him.
Today in Newport, Wales, the U.S. and European teams will kick off the longstanding, mostly-civilized competition of the Ryder Cup. Every two years since 1927, the competition has been a place for golf pros to shine — and sometimes to choke — in an international clash of the titans.
This year features a coaching battle between England's Colin Montgomerie and the U.S.'s Corey Pavin. In the last contest, the American team won the cup for the first time in nearly a decade. Can they hold on to it? Yesterday morning, the Americans were practicing on the wet course at Newport, while the European pros stayed indoors.
Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin tells us why a bad call during the U.S.-Slovenia World Cup game is good for American soccer. He also looks at Italy's World Cup game against New Zealand. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but it was a very emotional victory for New Zealand. "Italy is an old team," says Ibrahim, "they're playing uninspired soccer."
It was a winning weekend for Europe at the U.S. Open, where Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell became the first European in forty years to win the tournament. He shot 3-over-par 74 on Pebble Beach's treacherous course.
In the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin yesterday, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt left American Tyson Gay in his dust as Bolt broke his own world record, running the 100m in 9.58 seconds. And in golf, South Korean Y. E. Yang won the PGA championship, besting Tiger Woods by three strokes and becoming the first Asian-born player to win a major in golf. Sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin recounts the weekend's sports dramas.
Watch a video of Y.E. Yang golfing:
The Takeaway's sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin ventured out to Bethpage Black golf course on Long Island to witness a very wet U.S. Open this weekend. He's here with the latest from the soggy tournament and a preview of tennis's premier event: Wimbledon.
For more of Ibrahim's sports commentary, check out his blog post with all the weekend's highlights.
See some of the rainy scenes from Bethpage Black in the video below.
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