Kevin Na on his “unusual ratio,” battling his slow play reputation, and overcoming actual golf nightmares

From Shinnecock to National Golf Links to Maidstone, the Hamptons knows how to do a golf course. That includes in one's backyard.

Patrick McDermottT.J. Oshie has had a pretty damn good summer. First, he won the Stanley Cup. Next he partied with the Stanley Cup. Then he partied with the Stanley Cup some more. Now he's in Tahoe playing some golf after hanging out in Truckee all weekend playing some golf. For most mere mortals, that would be a solid summer vacay—time pack up the ol' Ticonderoga no. 2's and schlepp it to the bus—but not for Oshie. To get a glimpse of the Caps winger's seemingly eternal summer, we caught up with him on the range at the American Century Championship to chat about everything from Alexander Ovechkin's liver to his slap-shot swing. A word of warning though: This is going to make you VERY jealous.
So you just won the Stanley Cup—has that sunk in yet?
Oh man it really hasn’t. It’s been crazy—a dream come true.
Is Ovi still alive?
I haven’t seen him since the Championship Parade, but I haven’t seen any headlines so I’m sure he’s doing fine. He definitely enjoyed cele..

SILVIS, Ill. (AP) Steve Wheatcroft shot a career-best 9-under 62 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic.

Wheatcroft birdied seven of the last nine holes to finish a shot ahead of Michael Kim. Johnson Wagner, Nick Taylor, Andres Romero and Joel Dahmen shot opening-round 64s. Francesco Molinari, who won the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago, was among a group of players three strokes back.

Zach Johnson shot 69 and three-time John Deere winner Steve Stricker finished at 1-under 70.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, the highest-ranked player in the field, withdrew because of a right shoulder injury.

DeChambeau, who won the Memorial Tournament earlier this season, first tweaked his shoulder on a shot out of the rough on the second hole. He pulled out after an awkward tee shot on No. 16.

”Look, I’m 24. I’m not that old. But I’ve used my body quite a bit. I’ve hit a lot of golf balls,” DeChambeau said. ”I’ve just got to take care of my body a little better.”..

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) Considering the historical importance for women’s golf, Elaine Crosby realized this round carried a good deal of significance.

Crosby shot a 3-under-par 70 Thursday at Chicago Golf Club for the lead after one round of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

”It’s history for women’s golf,” said Crosby, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour. ”We’ve worked really hard.”

A winner of two tournaments in 17 LPGA seasons, the 60-year-old Crosby owns a one-shot advantage over England’s Trish Johnson, Laura Davies and Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann heading into Friday’s second round.

Unlike the men, women professional golfers haven’t enjoyed an expansive senior tour with only a handful of events held on The Legends Tour.

So the chance to play a major USGA event for the first time has been important to the sport’s future.

”I mean, just being here, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Neumann said

Crosby had to qualify to play in the first senior open and on Thursday made the most of..

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) For only the second time in her seven-year career, Thidapa Suwannapura took the overnight lead at an LPGA Tour event.

Suwannapura shot a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday at the Marathon Classic and led seven players by one shot. The Thai player grabbed the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 18th at Highland Meadows – her 10th birdie of the day.

”I’m really happy about the way I played today,” she said. ”I didn’t really look at the leaderboard, and did not even expect anything. I have a chance, so let’s see how it goes.”

Suwannapura, who has three top-10 finishes in 120 career LPGA Tour starts, last had the overnight lead after the first round of the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, where she faded in the second round and finished in a tie for 65th.

The 25-year-old Suwannapura’s best career finish was seventh at the 2014 Kingsmill Invitational. That was also her last top 10. This season, her best performance was a tie for 18th three weeks ago in Arkansas.

Se..

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) Kenny Perry and Mike Small shot 7-under 65s to share a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Constellation Senior Players Championship on Thursday.

Bart Bryant, Glen Day and 2015 U.S. Senior Open champion Jeff Maggert were one stroke back in the fourth of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions schedule.

Defending champion Scott McCarron was in a pack at 5 under, while three-time Senior Players winner Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh were another shot back at Exmoor Country Club. David Toms, coming off a win at the U.S. Senior Open, shot 2 over.

The 57-year-old Perry made eight birdies and one bogey to put himself in contention for his fifth senior major.

Small is the longtime golf coach at Illinois and has never won on the PGA Tour Champions.

GULLANE, Scotland (AP) American golfer Luke List equaled the Gullane course record with a 7-under-par 63 to start the Scottish Open on Thursday.

List moved into the lead with his ninth birdie on the 15th hole and held it to finish the round ahead by one stroke.

He was followed by five players in a tie for second; Rickie Fowler, Lee Westwood, Robert Rock, Scott Fernandez of Spain, and Jens Dantorp of Sweden.

Masters champion Patrick Reed was part of an eight-strong group a shot further back following a 65, with Danny Willett continuing his resurgence with a 66, and Olympic champion Justin Rose returning a 67.

On a day when almost 100 players broke par, five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who won the 2013 British Open at nearby Muirfield, could only manage a level-par 70.

Fowler raised the prospect of recording the first 59 in European Tour history after five birdies and an eagle took him to 7 under after 12 holes.

But a bogey on the 13th was followed by five straight pars as ..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) A hole-by-hole look at Carnoustie, site of the 136th British Open to be played July 19-22. Includes name of each hole, along with the average score and how it ranked in order of difficulty during the 2007 championship:

No. 1, 396 yards, par 4 (Cup): Only the yardage suggests a gentle start at Carnoustie. The best position is on the high, left side of the fairway, which gives a clear view of the sunken green. But contours that Hale Irwin once called the ”elephants’ graveyard” tend to push tee shots toward the sand hills and bunkers on the right, leaving a blind approach. The green lies beyond a ridge, has a deep bunker on the right and is framed by wild rough on the left.

2007 scoring average: 3.94. Rank: 15.

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No. 2, 461 yards, par 4 (Gulley): Braid’s bunker is about 230 yards away in the middle of the fairway. The bigger concern are two bunkers right and one to the left. The fairway turns to the right and slightly tightens. The green is long and narrow, m..

You probably know Tania Tare from Instagram. She's Houdini with a golf ball instead of straight jacket. She's a killer all-round golfer and the reigning queen of trick shots and this week at the American Century Championship, the 18Birdies ambassador could be found on the range pulling off her typical V1 voodoo with some of the best athletes on earth. In between sessions with the likes of Robbie Gould and T.J. Oshie, we caught up with Tare to talk her trick shot process, overall game, and how professional athletes adapt to the weird, wild word of trick shots.
https://twitter.com/18BirdiesApp/status/1017457401132298240
On the process of creating a new trick shot:
TT: The hardest thing with trick shots for me is coming up with new stuff. I feel like there’s only so much you can do with a golf club. I’ve tried to create new juggles and stuff, but I don’t know if I’m not fast enough or not strong enough, but I can't really flip the club that quick. Also a lot of them are kin..