Second thoughts

Prices for some one-day badges at the Masters had dropped 19.3 percent by 10 a.m. Wednesday on StubHub.com after Tiger Woods’ announcement Tuesday that he won’t play in this year’s tournament following back surgery.
Prices for some one-day badges at the Masters had dropped 19.3 percent by 10 a.m. Wednesday on StubHub.com after Tiger Woods’ announcement Tuesday that he won’t play in this year’s tournament following back surgery.

This golfer’s achievement for the birds

If there is a debate on which is better to pull off - a two on a par-5 or a one on a par-3 - there is a man that knows what it is like to do both in the same round.

Jim Dyer, 39, and from Mukilteo, Wash., was playing the Highlander Golf Course in East Wenatchee, Wash., on Saturday when he pulled off a feat that probably won’t happen again for a very, very long time.

Dyer, a self-admitted 18-20 handicap, nearly aced his ninth hole of the day, the par-3 18th, and made the turn without either of the two accomplishments. It was his back nine where things started to get wacky.

On the par-5 5th hole, Dyer hit a 3-wood from 230 yards and watched as it headed straight for the flag. The ball went in, the albatross was had, and his round of the year was complete.

Well, not quite. Two holes later, it was Dyer’s 9-iron that only needed one swing, smashing into the flag and dropping for an eagle, completing the double-eagle, bogey, hole-in-one run that is hard to fathom.

Dyer went on to shoot a 13-over 83 despite those crazy shots, but who really cares when those things happen in one round?

The website doubleagleclub.org lists nine golfers, including the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who have accomplished the feat of making a double-eagle and a hole-in-one in the same round. Wooden did it in 1939 on an Indiana course.

Tiger tails

It’s been nearly six years since Tiger Woods won a major championship, yet there is no question about his box-office power.

Less than 24 hours after Woods announced he was skipping this year’s Masters, tickets for this year’s tournament are down significantly on the online secondary market.

Some prices for one-day badges on StubHub.com dropped 10 percent within the first hour of Tiger’s announcement and overnight were off by nearly 20 percent, and trending further downward.

As of Woods’ midday withdrawal announcement Tuesday, badges for next Thursday’s opening round were going for $1,165 on StubHub.com.

By 10 a.m. Wednesday they were down to $940, a 19.3 percent drop in less than a day, and will likely continue to drop.

“No single athlete has a greater impact on our ticket prices,” said Glenn Lehrman, a spokesman for StubHub.

Fail in Chicago

Major League Baseball’s new agreement on performance enhancing drugs will ensure that those who are suspended during the season cannot participate in the playoffs.

Wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Ind.: “So, in other words, the punishment will be very similar to October with the Chicago Cubs.”

Quote of the day

“Every time we play them the games are good. There’s not a lot of chit-chat going on.”

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn on facing No. 1 South Carolina

Sports, Pages 16 on 04/03/2014

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