1. SPORTS SECTION
B
NEWS-JOURNAL
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015
HATS EARN BERTH
Stetson’s baseball team gets
into A-Sun Tourney thanks to
win over Lipscomb. PAGE 2B
Staff and Wire Reports
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — The latest
survey was unanimous, not anony-
mous. Rickie Fowler can deliver the
goods.
Facing a five-shot deficit with six
holes to play, Fowler produced the
greatest finish in the 34-year history
of the TPC Sawgrass. In a three-man
playoff on three of the most visually
intimidating holes in golf, he never
backed down.
When he faced that nervous shot
over the water to an island for the
third time Sunday, he was as good
as ever.
No, there was nothing overrated
about this kid.
Criticized in an anonymous
survey by some of his peers for not
being able to win, Fowler answered
with a captivating victory at The
Players Championship. At a tourna-
ment that dresses up like a major,
Fowler looked the part in beating
the strongest field in golf with an ar-
ray of shots that won’t be forgotten.
As for that survey?
“I laughed at the poll,” he said.
“But yeah, if there was any ques-
tion, I think this right here answers
anything you need to know.”
It was hard work.
He took six shots on the par-3 No.
17, which is not unusual for a Sun-
day except Fowler played it three
times. Even with the record-setting
finish at the Stadium Course — bird-
ie-eagle-birdie-birdie on the final
four holes for a 5-under 67 — Fowler
still had to face Sergio Garcia and
Kevin Kisner, who produced big
shots of their own.
Former Mainland and University
of Florida golfer Matt Every finished
with a final-round even-par 72 to
finish in a tie for 42nd at 2-under 286.
He made an eagle, a birdie, a bogey
and a double bogey in his round.
For the first time, The Players
went to a three-hole aggregate
playoff starting on the par-5 No. 16,
where earlier Fowler hit a 3-wood
into the breeze to 30 inches for an ea-
gle that made this moment possible.
They all made pars.
Kisner rolled in a breaking 10-
foot birdie putt on the island green
No. 17 to keep pace with Fowler,
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
RICKIE RALLIESFowler comes from 5 down, survives 4-hole playoff to win
Associated Press/LYNNE SLADKY
Using motivation from a Sports Illustrated Golf poll that called he and Ian Poulter the most overrated players,
Rickie Fowler won The Players Championship on Sunday in sudden death.
JENNIFER
HIDE
shot a
2-under 70
on Sunday.
Staff Report
PORT ST. LUCIE — Bethune-Cook-
man’s women’s golf team raised
the bar they have set by earning
a record 12th title, and Alabama
State’s men captured their first
team crown Sunday in the 29th
PGA Minority Collegiate Golf
Championship at PGA Golf
Club.
The Wildcats, behind senior
Jennifer Hide’s closing 2-under
par 70, recorded an unprec-
edented fourth consecutive
championship by a 33-stroke
margin over the University of
Houston-Victoria. B-CU fin-
ished its three rounds on the
Ryder Course with a total of
880.
“It never gets old to win the
PGA Minority Collegiate Golf
Championship,” Wildcats coach
Loritz “Scooter” Clark said. “I
was glad that we had a little bit
of a comfortable lead for once.
We’ll celebrate and look to
hopefully repeat next year.”
Hide, a 21-year-old senior from
PGA MINORITY CHALLENGE
B-CU’s women roll to easy victory
BREAKING THE RULES
Associated Press file
Some wonder how Richard Petty
won his final race with President
Reagan watching in 1984 at
Daytona International Speedway.
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jimmie John-
son pulled into Victory Lane after
his late-race gamble paid off to win
the rain-delayed Sprint Cup race at
Kansas Speedway, then pulled out his
cellphone and tried to dial his wife in
the first few minutes of Mother’s Day.
“Then I caught her on FaceTime,”
Johnson said, “and she was not so
happy to be on FaceTime with all
those people around. I think the
signal went out — or she hung up on
me.”
There’s a good chance Chandra will
forgive him.
Johnson, so dominant on 1.5-mile
tracks, held off Kevin Harvick as the
clock struck midnight heading into
Sunday. They were chased across the
line by Johnson’s Hendrick Motor-
sports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and Jeff Gordon after a dramatic final
few laps.
Most of the leaders had been con-
serving fuel after pitting with 58 to go,
right on the upper end of the pit win-
dow, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got
into the wall with 12 laps left. Johnson
was among those who pressed their
luck by staying on the track. Harvick
SPRINT CUP
Johnson’s gamble pays off
Fuel strategy at end helps 6-time series champion win at Kansas
Final Scoreboard
R. Fowler* 70-68-68-67—276 (-12)
K. Kisner 73-67-67-69—276 (-12)
S. Garcia 72-67-68-68—276 (-12)
B. Martin 68-71-68-70—277 (-11)
B. Haas 72-67-68-70—277 (-11)
Matt Every Watch
Sunday: Even-par 72
Position: Tied for 42nd
Eagle: 1 Birdie: 1
Bogeys: 2 (1 double)
Highlights: Driving
distance was 274.4
yards; 11 of 18 greens in
regulation
Associated Press/ORLIN WAGNER
Jimmie Johnson continued his short-track
dominance Saturday by winning at Kansas.
Up Next
What: Sprint Showdown
Where: Charlotte (North Carolina)
Motor Speedway
When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV/Radio: Fox Sports 1/1150 AM
Inside
How NASCAR is trying to reach
new fans, Saturday’s and Sunday’s
results, PAGE 6B
By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t
tryin’.
The credit for that old saying
generally goes to NASCAR legend
Richard Petty, but it just as easily
could have come from Tom Brady,
Gaylord Perry or pretty much any
of the millions who have thrown,
pitched or hit a ball since people
started playing sports.
Blurring the line between legal
and illegal, then figuring out how
to get away with it, is as old as
keeping score.
But what two New England
Patriots employees did when they
executed a plan to deflate footballs
to Brady’s liking — according to
an NFL-commissioned report by
lawyer Ted Wells — was a direct vi-
olation of a well-defined rule about
equipment that didn’t leave room
for shades of gray.
While America waits to find out
whether the penalty for Brady’s vi-
olation is unprecedented, or just a
slap on the wrist, the idea of taking
liberties with playing equipment is
hardly a new one.
Here’s a quick examination of the
way bats, balls, rackets, clubs and
other equipment has been manipu-
lated over the years:
NASCAR
What: A sport with an incredibly com-
plex rulebook; sometimes the rules are
rewritten during the season to catch
up with the latest forms of rule-bend-
ing.
Why: The most subtle change in a
car’s suspension, its height off the
ground or the makeup of its tires can
buy fractions of seconds in a sport
where every inch counts.
Exhibit A: Maybe it’s the stuff that
never got called and produced the
occasional too-good-to-be-true result.
How did Dale Earnhardt Jr., without
the help of a thought-to-be-mandatory
drafting partner on one of the sport’s
fastest tracks, overcome six cars down
the stretch to win the first race at
Daytona after his dad died there? How
was it on July 4, 1984, with President
Reagan in the stands, an aging Richard
Cheating
not new
in sports
Patriots’ situation is
just tip of iceberg
SEE CHEATING, PAGE 4B
SEE GAMBLE, PAGE 6B
SEE RICKIE, PAGE 5B
Inside
Daytona State’s women seeks
fifth title in six years in
national JUCO event that
begins today, PAGE 5B
SEE VICTORY, PAGE 5B