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01/10/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker entered the 2012 season with plenty of questions surrounding his game. He battled through a neck injury at the end of 2011, and no one knew how he would bounce back once the calendar changed.
Stricker answered those questions, and more, in a three-stroke win at Kapalua.
If it weren't for those pesky first 13 holes, Stricker could have won by a dozen. For the week, he played the final five holes at 15-under par after going just minus-eight in the opening 13.
Though he doesn't have the flashiest game, Stricker solidified his place as the top American in the world rankings. He moved to No. 5 with the win.
The title was his eighth since the start of the 2009 season. It might comes as a surprise that Stricker is the only PGA Tour player with multiple wins in each of the last three years.
The 44-year-old has clearly taken the mantle from Vijay Singh as best player in his 40s. The victory was Stricker's ninth since turning the big 4-0.
Some might argue Phil Mickelson is the best player in his 40s, but he has won just once since turning 40, and he has dipped to 15th in the world rankings.
Much like Singh has battled a balky back through his career, it now seems as though Stricker will fight his neck injury for some time to come.
Admittedly, Stricker could barely move his left arm at the BMW Championship in September. Since then, he's had a pair of cortisone shots and done extensive physical therapy.
"I don't want to have surgery. I don't think at this point I need it. I'm just going to go ahead and try to do this maintenance that I've been doing the last couple of months and see if that'll remedy the problem," Stricker said after his win on Monday.
"But from what my physical therapist says, it's just something that I need to stay on, be on top of it all the time. So that's what I'm trying to do."
With other players injuring themselves off the course, Stricker is doing all he can to stay off the disabled list.
He heads to the Sony Open this week hoping to extend his tour-leading cuts made streak to 44.
Though he won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions by three strokes, Stricker was five clear after the second and third rounds. In each of the final two rounds, he lost nearly his entire lead.
In Sunday's third round, Stricker's cushion dipped to one. After playing the final five holes in five-under par in round two, Stricker birdied the last four holes of round three to push his lead back to five.
The final round was more of the same. His five-stroke advantage was down to one after just seven holes. He responded with birdies on eight and nine to give himself some room.
"When you start to lose your lead and see everybody playing well, I'm watching the leaderboard. I want to know where everybody is at, and I see what they're doing," Stricker said. "But that little stretch at eight and nine really kind of calmed me down a little bit. And that, I think, was the difference today."
His lead was back down to one late in the final round, but Stricker birdied 16 and 18 to seal the deal.
Ever the family man, Stricker said afterwards that his two daughters were, "glad we're coming back (to Hawaii). So, they're looking forward to it and so am I. It's a great place to start."
Stricker might be the top American player, he might be the best in his 40s, but his favorite titles are more likely to be father and husband.
We could all be so lucky to have such a role model.
ARE GOLFERS ATHLETES?
It is a debate that rages in grill rooms across the country - are golfers really athletes?
Plenty of top golfers have favorite hobbies like skiing, snowboarding or surfing. It seems recently that golfers are proving they aren't very nimble.
It all started last year at Kapalua when 2009 champion Geoff Ogilvy was unable to defend his title after cutting his hand on some coral in the ocean, days before the season opener.
Last week, within days of each other, Lucas Glover and Paul Casey both took themselves out of action with injuries.
Glover hopes to tee it up this week after having to withdraw from the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with a sprained MCL in his right knee. He was injured in a paddleboard accident early last week.
Meanwhile, Casey would have been defending his title next week at the Volvo Golf Champions if he didn't try his Shaun White impersonation last week. Actually, that's an insult to White.
Casey dislocated his right shoulder in a snowboard accident and will be out of action for up to two months, or more, as the injury heals.
These guys are giving the doubters more ammunition in the battle of whether golfers are or aren't athletes.
At least Tiger Woods broke his leg golfing, right?
MINI-TIDBITS
- Congrats to 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen on his successful defense of his Africa Open title, and on the pending birth of his second child.
- Seems strange that the PGA and European Tours are starting their second event of the season on Thursday and the LPGA Tour hasn't officially announced its 2012 schedule yet. I'm sure commissioner Michael Whan is working feverishly to get more events before the schedule is finally released.
<< Former Blues GM Caron dies
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former St. Louis Blues general manager Ron
Caron died Monday night. He was 82 years old.
Caron, nicknamed "The Professor" for his remarkable hockey memory, served as
the Blues GM from 1983-94 and aga
<< Parma turns to former Italy coach Donadoni
Parma, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Parma named former Italy boss Roberto Donadoni
its new manager Tuesday after it fired Franco Colomba.
Donadoni, 48, coached Italy from 2006-08, but after a quarterfinal loss in the
Euro 2008 tournament to even
<< Stricker up to 5th in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker's victory Monday at the
Hyundai Tournament of Champions moved the American up to fifth in this week's
world rankings.
Luke Donald remained in first, followed by Lee Westwood, Rory
<< West Brom adds Allan from Dundee United
West Bromwich, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Bromwich completed the capture
of Scottish Under-21 international midfielder Scott Allan from Dundee United
on Tuesday.
Allan, 20, joins the English Premier League club on a 2 1/2-year contra
Wisconsin C Konz to enter NFL Draft >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Wisconsin center Peter Konz has
decided to skip his senior season and will enter the NFL Draft.
Konz started 31 games for the Badgers in three seasons and was a First-Team
All-Big Ten selecti
SE Louisiana's Roberts adds familar coordinators >>
Hammond, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Southeastern Louisiana University football
coach Ron Roberts announced Tuesday the additions of Greg Stevens as offensive
coordinator and Pete Golding as defensive coordinator to his program.
Both coaches s
Green Bay coordinator's son dies >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The son of Green Bay Packers offensive
coordinator Joe Philbin has been found dead in a Wisconsin river.
Authorities had been searching for Michael Philbin, 21, since he was reported
missing Sunday
Oilers' Eberle out 2-3 weeks >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edmonton Oilers forward Jordan Eberle will
miss 2-3 weeks of action with a right knee injury.
Eberle suffered the injury during Saturday's game in Dallas. The results from
an MRI informed the team's decis
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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