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T he C oast News
JULY 15, 2022
Sports
Carmel Valley’s Schauffele is on a jolly good roll
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information felix taverna
Sports, by the numbers
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t’s all about the numbers. Numbers matter in almost every aspect of life and identify our favorite sports stars. Take this quiz on famous athletes’ jersey numbers. How many can you name correctly (without Google)?
Quiz
1. Walter Payton (NFL) 2. Michael Jordan (NBA) 3. Dale Earnhardt (NASCAR) 4. Brett Favre (NFL) 5. Bill Russell (NBA) 6. Babe Ruth (MLB) 7. Derek Jeter (MLB) 8. Wilt Chamberlin (NBA) 9. Bart Starr (NFL) 10. Tony Gwynn (MLB) 11. Gordy Howe (NHL) 12. Batry Sanders (NFL) 13. Jerome Bettis (NFL) 14. Mike Trout (MLB) 15. Jackie Robinson (MLB) 16. Lionel Messi (Soccer) 17. Gayle Sayers (NFL) 18. Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR) 19. Mickey Mantle (MLB) 20. Joe Montana (NFL) 21. Roberto Clemente (MLB) 22. Phillip Rivers (NFL) 23. Lou Gehrig (MLB) 24 Eric Dickerson (NFL) 25. Hank Aaron (MLB) 26. Wayne Gretzky (NHL) 27. Lance Alworth (NFL) 28. David Robinson (NBA) 29. Peyton Manning (NFL) 30. Magic Johnson (NBA) Numbers are so important … like 1090 The Mightier AM ESPN Radio where you can find Race & Sports Radio at 9 a.m. every Saturday for all the horse racing action from Del Mar Racetrack. Follow The Mightier on Twitter: @1090TheMightier Answers:
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ander Schauffele’s custom home is still under construction on a plush North County golf course. His golf game? It’s in pristine shape. Carmel Valley’s Schauffele is on a worldwide roll. How else to explain winning three times in three countries in three weeks? The run has catapulted Schauffele, the former San Diego State star, to No. 5 in the world as he sets his sights on this week’s Open Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland. He enters as among the favorites, although it’s rare for any golfer at any level to stay this hot, this long. “I’m not sure if that’s like a curse or something,” Schauffele told reporters after winning Sunday’s Scottish Open. Instead he’ll curse the media, with a smile of course, as they invariably bring it up this week. “I’m going to ignore all the media as much as possible,” he said. “There’s a few guys that like to tell me about history and all, but I’m obviously in good form and going to try and carry that.” It was a heavy lift at the Scottish Open, where Schauffele started the final round with a two-stroke lead. But he was down a stroke at the turn and he didn’t seize the lead back until a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 14. Then a two-shot edge went to one, which was his margin of victory. “I came out of the gates very nicely and kind of hit a wall and was looking a bit sketchy for a little bit,” he said. “It was nice to sort of steady the ship on the way in.” A work of art? Nope. A way to land another win? Yep. “It’s what links golf promotes, getting the ball in the hole,” Schauffele said. “I was telling myself that it doesn’t have to be pretty, unfortunately, but I got the ball in the hole and one better than everyone else.” Schauffele, 28, has left many in his wake of late after winning last month’s Travelers Championship in Connecticut for his first individual PGA Tour title in three years. Then came the J.P. McManus Pro-Am in Ireland before he prevailed in Scotland. He’s only the fifth American to win the Scottish Open but the third with North County ties. Rancho Santa Fe’s Phil Mickelson (2013) and part-time Del Mar resident Tom Lehman (1997) also won there. Schauffele is the sixth player in the last 10 seasons to enter a major coming off wins in consecutive PGA Tour starts. Only Rory McIlroy followed up with a major victory. “Xander is awesome,” Collin Morikawa said before the British Open, which is called the Open Champi-
XANDER SCHAUFFELE took a threeevent winning streak into this week’s British Open at St. Andrews. Photo via Twitter
onship on the pond’s other side. “I’ve kind of been trying to figure out how he’s been playing so well.” Schauffele would like to swipe something off Morika-
wa’s resume, which includes two major titles. Winning one of the big four — PGA Championship, Masters, U.S. Open and British Open — is the one gap in Schauffe-
sports talk jay paris le’s career. Even before his trio of triumphs, Schauffele’s body of work was still impressive. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and he teamed with Patrick Cantlay to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier this year. Schauffele is a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour as he again brings the
spotlight to the SDSU golf program. An Aztec has won four of the last 16 PGA Tour events, with J.J. Spaun taking the Valero Texas Open. It’s hardly a surprise Schauffele, a La Jolla native, shined after a stellar career on Montezuma Mesa. He had 21 top-10 finishes at SDSU and was a third-team All-American selection before graduating with a degree in social science. Now he’s perched on the brink of golf immortality, if he can win a major to complete his major run of success. Contact Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com and follow him @jparis_sports
A BANNER DAY FOR CARLSBAD YOUTH BASEBALL
Carlsbad Youth Baseball brought home its first-ever Pony League regional banner in the Shetland division (ages 3 to 6) after its all-star team defeated San Marcos, 17-15, in the Pony West Zone Southwest Regional Championship on July 4 in Escondido. The Carlsbad team is competing in the 2022 Pony West Zone Finals from July 14 to July 19 at the youth baseball complex in Simi Valley. Team members include AJ Garcia, Peyton Monroe, Brax Amavisca, Gabe Anderson, Pierce Erickson, Raymond Thill, Kalem Solis, Graham Dahl, Judah Shokair, Mario Luis, Mason Asher, Isiah McBrayer, Duke Cassaro, head coach Frank Garcia and assistant coaches Brian Thill, Ryan Solis, Brian Cassaro and Ben Monroe. Courtesy photo
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