Golf

Bob Baffert and Wayne Lukas were sitting next to each other at a recent racing function when Baffert said to Lukas, "Everyone used to hate you. Now they hate me." It's as clear as a giant flowered hat, and just as ugly. At rowdy Churchill Downs today, the only thing more quietly despised than Bob Baffert will be a Breathalyzer. The 128th Kentucky Derby will feature 19 horses, 150,000 fans, and one villain. Baffert will saddle longshot War Emblem.

Riviera Country Club, which has been the course for the regular Los Angeles stop on the PGA Tour 37 of the last 39 years, has been selected by the United States Golf Assn. as the host course for the 2017 U.S. Amateur championship. The 1948 U.S. Open, won by Ben Hogan , and 1998 U.S. Senior Open, won by Hale Irwin , were played at Riviera. The PGA Championships of 1983, won by Hal Sutton , and 1995, won by Steve Elkington , were also held at Riviera, a course that became known as Hogan's Alley after Hogan won the L.A. Open three times there, in addition to his Open championship.

— False starts? Kevin Na even drives himself crazy sometimes with the number of times he backs off a shot. Bogeys? Not Saturday. Somehow blocking out the murmurs every time he stepped back from a shot, the South Korean-born pro used two birdies in his final three holes to take a one-stroke lead at the Players Championship — and perhaps set himself up for an even more nerve-jangling final round. "I know how to play under pressure," said Na, whose first PGA Tour win came seven months ago in Las Vegas.

The fans call their names. "Tiger, sign my arm," and "Please, Phil, sign my hat. " Yet it seems as if the most often-heard shout at professional golf tournaments televised by the Golf Channel and CBS is, "David, please, look this way. " Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. David Feherty. The three biggest rock stars in golf right now. Feherty was a golfer once too, a pretty good one, and he understands what it is like to be a star. He just wishes people would shut up about it sometimes.

David Joyce marched his way to the front of the U.S. immigration line using his pocketbook, sinking half a million dollars into a Vermont ski resort. The British citizen had spent years in a futile effort to secure green cards for himself, his wife and their 9-year-old son so they could relocate to sunny Florida. Then, a fellow emigre tipped him off to a little-known federal program that helps foreigners gain permanent U.S. residency by investing in American businesses. Graphic: Number of investors' visas to U.S. "In six months, we had our green cards," said Joyce, 51. "Considering everything we've been through, this was easy.

Before he was about to operate on the golfer's brain, J.B. Holmes' surgeon wanted to make sure there was one thing he didn't forget once he was finished with the delicate procedure. He had to remember to call his wife and wish her a happy birthday. As Holmes came back to consciousness after surgery Sept. 1 to address the debilitating effects caused by something called Chiari malformations, the first thing he said to his Johns Hopkins doctor, George Jallo, was: "Don't forget to call your wife.

Golf until you drop? OK, it's not the same as shopping, but a summer package at La Quinta Resort & Club allows you to spend as much time as you like on the resort's five golf courses. The deal: The "Desert Links" play-and-stay package includes a room and unlimited golfing for two starting at $229 per night at the 45-acre resort near Palm Springs. You also get a $25 credit for dining or other expenses, and the resort waives its usual $27-a-night resort fee. The more golf you play, the better the deal, given that a single round ranges from $59 to $109.

Lou Moore planted his wingtips in the sand trap, gripped the putter and promptly dispatched his golf ball across a carefully manicured putting green into the nearby rough. "Yeah, I'm a duffer," the 49-year-old mortgage banker from Lake Forest acknowledged as he brushed sand from his polished shoes. "But this is fun. I don't feel intimidated like I probably would on a real golf course." Moore and two co-workers were whiling away their lunch hour at the Greens, an 18-hole, $1.

City leaders in Burbank have agreed to lend $1 million to a cash-strapped municipal golf course, even as the city is considering cutting fire services, shelving library improvements and slashing youth jobs. The City Council on Tuesday also agreed to defer loan payments on $2.1 million in outstanding debt for two years as the troubled DeBell Golf Course tries to recover from a sharp decline in revenue. The council set aside an additional $1 million as a possible cushion for the golf course, bringing the total package to $2 million.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Looking back now, Rory McIlroy is quick to admit that skipping the Players Championship was a mistake last year. "It wasn't one of my brightest moments," the world's top-ranked golfer said. "Yeah, I'm glad to be back. " Wonder if Bubba Watson will feel the same way next year. Or Charl Schwartzel. Or Darren Clarke. For those who didn't pick up on the link, they are three of the last five major champions — none of whom are on the TPC Sawgrass campus this week.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Junior Seau spent Monday morning surfing in San Clemente and that afternoon playing in a charity golf tournament in Dana Point. He joked with his playing partners, was the first to offer fist bumps after clutch putts, sought out course workers to pose for pictures with him and seemed like a retired NFL superstar without a care. Less than two days later, in a bedroom of his beachfront home in Oceanside, while his girlfriend was at the gym, Seau, among the greatest linebackers in football history, put a handgun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

Nick Watney answered what he referred to as a wake-up call at the Wells Fargo Championship by taking the lead. Tiger Woods might need one after missing the cut. Watney had gone nine straight rounds on the PGA Tour without breaking 70 and had failed to crack the top 10 in all nine of his stroke-play tournaments this year. He worked hard to change that, and it paid off Friday with an eight-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead over Webb Simpson going into the weekend at Charlotte, N.C. A two-time winner last year, Watney had failed to crack the top 30 in a full-field event this year, and missed the cut in New Orleans for his first weekend off at a tournament since July.

Ben Curtis remained in position for his first PGA Tour victory since 2006 despite his first stumbles at the Texas Open, shooting a one-over 73 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round at San Antonio. Matt Every was second after a 73 in a bid for his first PGA Tour victory. Mayakoba winner John Huh (67), Seung-Yui Noh (68) and Charlie Wi (71) followed at four under. David Frost and Michael Allen birdied nine of the first 13 holes and combined for a nine-under 63 for a share of the second-round lead with Tom Purtzer and Brad Bryant in the Legends of Golf at Savannah, Ga. Bryant and Allen had a 65 to match Frost and Allen at 19 under at the Club at Savannah Harbor.

Carl Pettersson had another fast start and finished with a two-under-par 69 for a five-shot victory over Zach Johnson on Sunday in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Pettersson had a run of five consecutive birdies on the front nine during the third round Saturday to move in front. This time, Pettersson birdied three of the first five holes and built a five-shot lead by the turn that he never relinquished. He finished at 14 under. It was Pettersson's fifth PGA Tour title and first since the 2010 Canadian Open.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Well, back to the drawing board. Or in Tiger Woods' case, the Jupiter, Fla., practice range. Two weeks after his romp at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods tied for 40th — by far his worst Masters finish as a pro. "I had the wrong ball-striking week at the wrong time," he said. Woods fought a snap hook Thursday, blew his cool Friday, then spent the weekend trying to limit damage as the swing that won at Bay Hill mysteriously disappeared. "I get out there and I just don't trust it at all," he said.

A set of 23 golf clubs, each used by a former British Open champion, sold for $1.04 million. Auctioneers at Sotheby's said the woods and irons, belonging to winners between 1860 and 1930, went to an unnamed British company.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A guy named Bubba won the Masters on Sunday. Next we will have tattoos on the guards at Buckingham Palace. The Masters is as buttoned-down as it is wonderful. It is coat and tie and the-collar-better-be-pressed. Bubba Watson is blue jeans and sandals and who-cares-if-the-shirt-is-untucked. The Masters is ordered and traditional. Watson is hang-loose and go-with-the-flow. Your outfit and your equipment are much dissected here. Watson played in ice cream-vendor white and hit it off the tee with a pink driver.