Hunter Mahan was one of the most successful golfers on the PGA Tour in 2009. Even though he didn’t win a single tournament last year, Hunter Mahan had 6 Top 10 finishes including a runner-up finish in the AT&T National.

On Sunday, he finally took home his second PGA Tournament trophy when he beat Rickie Fowler by a single stroke, -16 to -15. Mahan’s victory in the Phoenix Open is his first after winning the Traveler’s Championship in 2007. Mahan did it by shooting a 65 third round and a 65 fourth round for a final score of 268 in the Phoenix Open.

Sunday was a masterful day for Mahan who had to rally from four strokes down in order to win the tournament. He finished the last two rounds of the tournament bogey-free and became the 8th U.S. player in his 20’s to win more than one tournament. Mahan was sort of a forgotten man in the golf sportsbook as he was going off at higher than 20 to 1 to odds to win the Phoenix Open Trophy.

Even though it ended up being Mahan’s day, the real story to come out of the Phoenix Open is 21 year old Rickie Fowler. Fowler, the balley-hooed player from Oklahoma State the same school that produced Hunter Mahan, shot a brilliant final round 68 to finish a stroke off of Mahan.

Fowler didn’t shoot anything higher than a 69 in all four rounds. Although he’s missed the cut in three tournaments in 2010, the Sony Open, Bob Hope Classic, and Northern Trust Open, he scored a 5th place finish in the Farmers Insurance Open and a 27th place finish in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am.

Fowler is one to watch. If he continues to improve his game, then he could end up being a solid play in the golf sportsbook to both win and beat his opponent in individual matchups.

Snedeker and Mickelson Fall Flat

Brandt Snedeker, who was leading in the Waste Management Phoenix Open after the 3rd Round, proved that sometimes the pressure can be just a bit too much.

Snedeker shot a ridiculous 78 on Sunday to finish at -7, 9 strokes off of winner Hunter Mahan. Snedeker dropped from 1st to 43rd in the tournament. He just didn’t have it on Sunday even though up until that disastrous 4th Round, he had been putting as well as anybody on the PGA Tour.

Snedeker wasn’t the only one who didn’t have it, however. Phil Mickelson, who has gone off the favorite in every single tournament that he’s entered with Tiger Woods in rehab, finished at -9. That’s better than what Snedeker did, but Snedeker was going off at higher than 20 to 1 odds in the sportsbook to win the Phoenix Open.

Mickelson was going off at +750. Mickelson hasn’t won a tournament yet in 2010. In all four of the tournament’s he’s played in, Lefty has gone off as the favorite. What he has to show for is only one Top 10 finish, an 8th in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and a reputation as a big time underlay in the sportsbook.

Katie Sylvan doesn’t know how to surf. In fact, some of her success might be attributed to staying away from the sand and out of the water.

Francis Parker High School golfer Katie Sylvan outlasted 123 other golfers to win the individual title at the Lady Triton Invitational in San Clemente earlier this month. Instead of the usual trophy, she received a surfboard.

As a standout golfer at Francis Parker High School, Katie must spend time working on her game. Her score depends on it. Maybe her older brother Michael realizes that. For years, he has refused to teach her how to surf.

At the Lady Triton Invitational in San Clemente this month, Katie outlasted 123 other golfers to win the individual title. It wasn’t the senior’s first victory, but it may finally convince her brother that she is ready to test her skills in the water.

Instead of the usual trophy, the winner received a new surfboard.

“A surfboard is way cooler,” said Katie, who lives with her family in Mission Hills. “Plus it’s a cool story. I won it at a golf tournament. It’s just so random.”

It was out of frustration that Katie picked up a golf club for the first time. The game has become one of her passions, but it started simply as a way to challenge her brother for their father’s attention.

“My dad and my brother played together, and I was jealous because they were spending a lot of time together and golfing together,” Katie said. “So I would ask to tag along, and one day I picked up a golf club and tried it.”

These days, golf is something different to Katie. While some players’ emotions fluctuate with every swing, she smiles through bogeys and birdies as if she were at home making her favorite meal, blueberry pancakes. Even with college recruiters paying close attention, her composure never seems to change.

“Even numbers are just bad numbers,” Katie said with a laugh. “Just atheistically, I like the appearance of odd numbers.”

Inside the girl who is just having fun is someone who strives to help others, a trait that runs in her family.

Katie’s parents are physicians who graduated from Yale. Paul Sylvan is a radiologist. Ellen Heyneman is a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at University of California San Diego and a director at Rady Children’s Hospital.

Katie has volunteered at the San Diego Zoo, considers herself an environmentalist, and one day may join the Peace Corps. For the past year, she has volunteered to help toddlers, many of whom are at risk for autism.

“It’s amazing to interact and connect with these kids,” Katie said. “A lot of the kids are unable to communicate verbally, but at the end they are able to string together 10 sentences. It’s really incredible.”

She also has a passion for language. After studying Spanish in Barcelona, Katie is learning Italian and Chinese.
But she still needs someone to teach her how to surf.

Originally written by Matt Arnold, Special to The Union Tribune

Trophy News from ESPN

Kobe Bryant recently said he would rather win an Olympic gold medal than the NBA championship. Was he merely saying what was politically correct before the Olympics? Did he say it only because it sounds better than “I would rather win an Olympic gold medal than lose the NBA championship”? Or does an Olympic gold medal really mean more to him than a professional championship?

Only Kobe knows for sure but what about you? What sporting trophy means the most to you? Of all the things you could win in sports, which would you choose? A Super Bowl ring? The Masters green jacket? The Heisman Trophy? The Cy Young Award? A World Series? A Final Four? There are dozens upon dozens of championships and awards to win, but which would you most want to claim?

Here are a few quick caveats on my rankings:

The form of the award matters. Trophies top plaques, and the bigger the better. After all, you want the damn thing to look impressive in your trophy case.

Names count, too. Awards named in honor of a person (such as the Cy Young) just resonate more than those that, while prestigious, are named something boring and generic like the “MVP award.”

Durability counts. Generally, the longer the award has been around, the more it means.

Originally Written by Jim Caple for ESPN