AT Sports: October 2011

Sunday 30 October 2011

Carl Edwards NASCAR

NASCAR
Edwards does a backflip, after winning at Texas Motor Speedway

Edwards' big break came in 2001, when he competed in 7 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for MB Motorsports. His best finish in the seven races was 8th at Kansas Speedway. He also ran one Busch Series race for Bost Motorsports, finishing 38th at Gateway International Raceway. However, it was enough to impress Jack Roush, and Edwards became a full-time Truck Series competitor in 2003, driving the #99 Ford F-150 sponsored by Superchips. He won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in addition, to three race wins, eventually finishing 8th in the points standings at the end of the season. In 2004, he notched three more race wins, including the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the Daytona International Speedway. At season's end, Edwards finished 4th in the points. In August 2004, he made his NEXTEL Cup Series debut, replacing Jeff Burton, who left the team, in the No. 99 Ford Taurus for Roush Racing, at the Michigan International Speedway. He finished 10th. He drove the #99 Ford for the remainder of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup. He also once again ran one Busch Series race; this time for Bobby Benton's RAB Racing team at Bristol Motor Speedway with sponsorship from Mac Tools.

Carl Edwards

Luke Donald Professional Golfer

Coming from England, he joined College Prospects of America, a service also employed by golfer Martin Laird, which created a résumé for him and sent it to all the major colleges and universities in the United States. Several coaches responded, including Wally Goodwin at Stanford University. Goodwin recruited Donald to join his golf squad, but Donald was not admitted to the university

Donald subsequently took a golf scholarship at Northwestern University in 1997, where he studied art theory and practice, and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. His golf coach at Northwestern University was Pat Goss.[5] He won the individual NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships men's title in 1999, beating the scoring record formerly held by Tiger Woods.[citation needed]
[edit] Professional career

Donald turned professional in 2001. The following year he won the rain-shortened Southern Farm Bureau Classic – becoming only the 11th rookie in PGA Tour history to earn more than $1 million in his first season.

In 2004 he won the Omega European Masters and the Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour. In the same year he was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and also won the WGC-World Cup for England in partnership with Paul Casey. By early 2005 he was in the top twenty of the Official World Golf Rankings and his win in the 2006 Honda Classic moved him into the top ten for the first time. Soon afterwards he moved up to ninth and in January 2007 he moved up to seventh in the world.

Donald, along with Tom Watson, was one of two players to play with Jack Nicklaus in the final two rounds of golf in his career, at the 2005 Open Championship at Old Course at St Andrews.

Donald won his singles match, 2&1 against Chad Campbell in the 36th Ryder Cup to help ensure Europe win the trophy for a third successive time. Donald took part in three matches and won them all. He also won in the foursomes twice, with Sergio García.

Donald has amassed career earnings on the PGA Tour of over $17,000,000, as well as over €7,000,000 on the European Tour.[8] In May 2010, Donald won the Madrid Masters by one shot for his first title in four years.[9] In October 2010, Donald was a member of the European team that won the 2010 Ryder Cup with a one point win over the USA.
[edit] 2011 WGC win

Donald's biggest win to date came in February 2011 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when he defeated the German and subsequent world number one Martin Kaymer 3&2 in the final. During the final, Donald built a three-up lead over the first five holes, however Kaymer pegged him back and won three of the next four holes meaning the match was all square entering the back nine. Donald was able to regain his lead with two successive wins at holes 11 and 12, then followed that up with a birdie on hole 15 to re-build his three-up lead with three holes to play. Both players then parred the par three 16th ensuring Donald's first World Golf Championship title and biggest victory of his career.

Donald had been in exceptional form all week and held an unprecedented record of having never trailed at any point during the week. He started the tournament off in fine fashion with thumping 6&5 win over American Charley Hoffman. The second round was much more competitive and his toughest test all week when he faced fellow Ryder Cup team mate Edoardo Molinari. It was a tight match that went down to the 17th, when Donald would win the hole with a birdie to seal a 2&1 victory. His third round opponent was another Italian, this time the young 17 year old Matteo Manassero, however Donald effectively won this by the time the pair reached the 10th hole with a five-up lead. The Italian fought back on the back nine winning two holes off Donald but it was all in vain as Manaserro went down 3&2. In the quarter final on Saturday, he faced American Ryan Moore and Donald again found himself five-up at the 10th hole, but this time finishing it off at the 14th with a 5&4 victory. Later that Saturday his semi final opponent was another United States player in Matt Kuchar, but Donald was in scintillating form, crushing Kuchar 6&5, having found himself seven-up through the first 10 holes.

It was indeed Donald's form on the front nine all week that took him to this title, as apart from the final when Kaymer clawed it back, Donald was able to build unassailable leads on route to victory. As a result of this tournament win, Donald climbed to his highest ever World Ranking position of World Number Three.

Luke Donald

Danica Patrick Post-Crash Interview Las Vegas 10-16-2011

Patrick would return for the 2011 IndyCar Series season driving again for Andretti Autosport, as well as competing part-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving for JR Motorsports, sponsored by GoDaddy.com in both. In the season opener at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Patrick started in 19th and finished 12th after sustaining front wing damage and having to pit for a replacement twice, first after being hit by Ana Beatriz, and later in a similar incident by Justin Wilson. She was also penalized for "avoidable contact" with J.R. Hildebrand, putting her back by one position.

In the second race of the season that took place at Barber Motorsports Park, Patrick would have a strong run starting from 22nd position, working her way up to 7th; however, unfortunate pit strategy involving her tires not being changed over would cause her to finish 17th instead. In her third race, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Patrick started 20th and finished 7th, moving up 13 positions, more than anyone else in the race.

In her fourth race of the season, the São Paulo Indy 300, Patrick would start in 17th position. Heavy rainfall would ensue early on in the race that would result in a collision in Turn 2 between her and former teammate Tony Kanaan, along with Helio Castroneves and Simona de Silvestro, putting them all out of the race. After numerous other accidents caused by the weather and poor visibility, the race itself was postponed and scheduled to restart the next morning from Lap 14. Unfortunately, because Patrick's accident took place nine laps prior to the race being stopped, she, along with others involved were forced to restart nine laps down. She would finish the race in 23rd.

On May 21, due to unexplainable team-wide flaws with the cars, Patrick, along with the rest of her full-time teammates would fail to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500, forcing them all to have to attempt to qualify on the following day for the last nine positions in the race. Despite being one of the fastest in the following morning's practice, when it came time for qualifying, her car failed tech, and she was thus placed in the back of the qualifying line. She would almost be denied an opportunity for a qualifying attempt because it started to rain. The rain stopped just in time for her to make a qualifying effort that put her safely in the race, qualifying 26th.

On the day of the race, May 29, she would start in 25th because of Ryan Hunter-Reay being reinstated into the race and starting in the back of the field. Despite strong showings in a car she was struggling with getting speed out of throughout the race and eventually taking the lead, she began to run out of fuel and this would cost her the win, causing her to finish 10th.

Ongoing handling issues with her racecar would follow Patrick to her next race at Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone Twin 275's: a set of two individual races that took place the same night. She started 10th in the first race but finished 16th. The second race starting grid was determined by a drawing. The results of the drawing would have her start 20th, but she would overtake several cars early on in the race and would actually end up finishing 8th. Patrick tweeted, however, that she was still upset with both finishes. Like almost all the other drivers, she criticized the drawing to determine the starting positions for the 2nd race, stating that it would have been better that the field had been inverted instead like the original twin races.

Her next race at the Milwaukee Mile saw her starting 15th and finishing 5th after climbing 10 positions, her first top 5 finish of the season. Her next race was the Iowa Corn Indy 250 night race. Despite a successful qualifying run, starting 2nd, things took a severe turn for the worse when handling problems showed up at the final practice just prior to the race. As a result, Patrick lost positions very quickly in the opening laps and spent most of the time mid-pack, hardly passing anyone, however, was able to hold her position somewhat, and made a few passes late in the race, finishing 10th. At the Edmonton Indy she managed to finish 9th after starting 22nd, her best ever result on the City Centre Airport. Because this was the year of the 2011 IndyCar World Championships tragedy, Kentucky was the last race in which Patrick was able to edge out Helio Castroneves for 10th in the points championship. Patrick announced that she would no longer be driving full-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series after this season and would focus her full attention to driving stock cars in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Danica Patrick

Saturday 22 October 2011

Luke Donald No 1

Luke Donald

Luke Donald Hot Girlfriend

Luke Donald Girlfriend

Luke Donald With Wife

Luke Donald Wife

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Dustin Johnson FedEx Cup

Tiger Woods has hired Joe LaCava to be his third full-time caddie.
LaCava decided to leave Dustin Johnson, one of the most talented young Americans, to go to work for the former world No. 1 who hasn't won in the last two years.
According to a story posted on Woods' website Sunday night, LaCava approached Woods and his agent, Mark Steinberg, about the job.
"This was an important decision, and I wanted to think about it carefully," Woods said in the story. "Also, out of deference for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, I decided to wait until they were concluding to have substantive talks. We then spoke to Joe and came to an agreement.
"Joe is an outstanding caddie, and I have known him for many years. I've personally seen the great job he did for Freddie (Couples). I'm anxious for us to be working together."
David Winkle, Johnson's agent at Hambric Sports Management, also confirmed LaCava was going to work for Woods and a search for a new caddie would begin immediately.
"Needless to say, Dustin and I were completely surprised, as they have enjoyed a great relationship and have been very successful together," Winkle said. "Nonetheless, we think highly of Joe, both as a caddie and a person, which is why he was hired in the first place. We wish him nothing but the best with his new employer."
LaCava was the longtime caddie for Couples, a relationship that ended in the summer because Johnson was looking for a caddie and Couples' playing schedule was being reduced because of his health.
Swing coach Butch Harmon recommended LaCava to Johnson, and said Sunday night he was "shocked" by the change.
"The thing that bothered me the most was T.W. not calling Dustin and asking if he could talk to Joe," said Harmon, who used to work with Woods. "That's the way it's done. I'm a little disappointed with the way Tiger handled it. But I'm not surprised."
The post on Woods' website said he talked to Johnson after LaCava informed his employer he was leaving to work with Woods. The website story also said Woods spoke to Couples about the decision.
Woods fired Steve Williams after nearly 13 years this summer after Williams worked for Adam Scott while Woods was recovering from a knee injury.
A person familiar with the deal said LaCava informed Johnson of his decision in the locker room after the final round of the Tour Championship. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither Woods nor Johnson had spoken publicly about the hire.
LaCava was flying home and could not be immediately reached. Johnson left for a corporate photo shoot in Georgia, then was headed for Scotland for the Dunhill Links Championship.
"I'm excited to be working with Tiger," LaCava said in the story on Woods' website. "I contacted Tiger and Mark because this is a unique opportunity to be part of something very special. Tiger and I have been friends for a very long time, and I know what he can do.
"I want to thank Dustin (Johnson) for the opportunity to work with him, and I wish him nothing but the best."
LaCava waited for Johnson at his courtesy car to load up his clubs, and their farewell in the parking lot was routine. Johnson had planned to take a couple of friends to Scotland to caddie for him and his brother, Austin, his amateur partner.
Johnson won The Barclays last month with LaCava on the bag, and the news was a surprise. However, LaCava has two children, ages 12 and 14, and as long as he has been a caddie, wants to be spending more time at home. Johnson also is leaning toward taking up European Tour membership next year, which would mean about four additional tournaments overseas.
Woods, even when fully healthy, plays a limited schedule.
The question is whether Woods can make this a profitable move for LaCava. Woods hasn't won in more than two years on the PGA Tour, and he did not qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs this year, mainly because he missed nearly four months with an injury.
Woods has said his left leg is stronger than it has been in years. Woods next plays at the Frys.com Open in two weeks at CordeValle, about an hour south of San Francisco. Woods also is playing the Australian Open and the Presidents Cup, a competition that will feature all of his caddies — Mike Cowan (now with Jim Furyk) and Williams, who works for Scott.

Dustin Johnson

Luke Donald Best Golf Player

Luke Donald