Hearn looks to score big win with assist from Gretzky

Hearn looks to score big win with assist from Gretzky

Steve Keating August 8, 2013







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Canada's David Hearn reacts after his par on the 12th green during the first round of the 2013 PGA Championship …


By Steve Keating

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - David Hearn could win this week's PGA Championship and go on to capture golf's three other majors for a career grand slam but would still not be the most famous Canadian to call Brantford, Ontario, home.

Hearn, 34, fired a four-under-par 66 to briefly feature atop the PGA Championship's first-round leaderboard on Thursday and put himself squarely in contention for a maiden major.

But even if Hearn were to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy high on Sunday, it will never replace the image of Brantford's favorite son, hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, holding the National Hockey League's treasured Stanley Cup above his head.

"The Gretzky family is huge in our town for obvious reasons," said Hearn, who has met the Hall of Fame hockey player several times. "Wayne has been such a great inspiration for everybody in Canada, let alone Brantford.

"I'll be doing everything I can to make Brantford proud and give them another athlete to cheer for, for sure."

While there is a lot of golf still to be played before the season's final major is decided, not since Mike Weir slipped into the winner's green jacket at the 2003 Masters, has a Canadian golfer created some major buzz.

Playing in his first PGA Championship, Hearn got his round off to a stumbling start with a bogey at the first and finishing it the same way with a bogey at 18.

But in between, Hearn was flawless, carding six birdies to sit one shot back of clubhouse leader American Jim Furyk, who signed off with 65.

"Obviously a little disappointed with the finish, but after that bogey on one, got a birdie right back on number two and that kind of got me back in the direction pretty quickly," assessed Hearn. "In between that, I hit a lot of good shots, and yeah, really solid round."

While Gretzky, who now lives in California, was pegged for hockey stardom from an early age - the hockey stick that the 13-year-old used to score his 1,000th minor league goal selling at auction for $38,838 - Hearn would be known in hockey circles as a "grinder."

He has spent a large part of his career travelling golf's back roads scratching out a living on the Canadian, Asia and U.S. satellite tours.


But this season, Hearn's perseverance has started to payoff as he closes in on his first PGA Tour success.

Hearn enjoyed improved form ahead of the PGA Championship, recording a career-best second place finish at the John Deere Classic last month.

He sits 49th on the FedExCup standings and has earned $1 million in prize money this year - a third of his career earnings.

"The John Deere was a step forward for me in my career at this time; to be in contention on the biggest stage, maybe not the biggest tournament on the Tour, but definitely, in the playoff with Zach (Johnson) and Jordan (Spieth)," recalled Hearn.

"I took a lot of positives. I think when I do get in that situation again, I'll be able to pull from that and I'll look back at it as a great learning experience."

Certainly Hearn does not lack from high-profile support or advice.

Gretzky, who at one time sponsored a tournament on the Nationwide Tour and whose daughter Paulina is dating PGA Tour golfer Dustin Johnson, enjoys playing golf and has shared some of his competitive wisdom with Hearn.

Weir, Canada's most successful golfer, has also taken time to provide Hearn with some valuable career guidance.

"Coming from a hockey background, it wasn't directly golf related," said Hearn. "(Gretzky) definitely just shows a good example of how he became successful.

"Mike is at a point in his career now where he definitely wants to give back more and he's definitely doing a good job of that.

"He's definitely trying to take on that mentorship role."

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

Golf-Furyk in control at Oak Hill, Tiger toils

Golf-Furyk in control at Oak Hill, Tiger toils

August 8, 2013








* Furyk sets pace with opening 65

* Woods double-bogeys final hole for a 71 (Adds detail, Woods and Furyk quotes)

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ROCHESTER, New York, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Jim Furyk took advantage of rain-softened conditions to surge into an early one-shot lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday asTiger Woods double-bogeyed his final hole to finish six strokes adrift.

American veteran Furyk, whose only major victory came at the 2003 U.S. Open, fired a five-under-par 65 in the opening round to take control on a sunny day at Oak Hill Country Club.

The 43-year-old piled up six birdies and a lone bogey, at the par-four ninth, to finish one ahead of Canadian journeyman David Hearn, who is making his debut appearance in the year's final major.

"Obviously I'm pleased with the round, I really felt in control this morning," said Fury, who has not won on the PGA Tour since 2010.

"I feel very comfortable with what I'm doing with my driver right now, and I've been doing some work on the putting, as well. Today was probably one of the best putting rounds, if not the best putting round I've had this year."

Englishman Paul Casey, Americans Robert Garrigus and Matt Kuchar, and Australian Marcus Fraseropened with 67s while American Steve Stricker and in-form Swede Henrik Stenson were among a group of six knotted on 68.

Woods appeared to be on track for a one-under round after relying on his renowned scrambling abilities for much of the day but he made a complete hash of the par-four ninth to return a one-over 71.

After hitting his second shot into tangly rough short of the green, he chunked his third under the lip of a bunker from where he splashed out to 15 feet. His bogey putt then lipped out and he had to settle for an ugly six.

"I'm still right there," said Woods. "As of right now, I'm only six back and we have got a long way to go.

"I feel like I played well today and made some nice key putts and the key is I left it in all the good spots too. The round realistically could have been under par easily."


Woods was a heavy favourite coming into this week after romping to a seven-stroke victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, but is hunting his first major victory since the 2008 U.S. Open.

EARLY PACE

Hearn, who has played most of his professional golf on the lower-tier tours, began and ended his round with bogeys but piled up six birdies in between to set the early pace.

The 34-year-old, who lives in Brantford, Ontario where ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky was born, hit 10 of 14 fairways and produced some sparkling approach shots to move into contention for a first victory on the PGA Tour.

"I did a little bit of everything well, and drove it well," said Hearn, whose best finish on the U.S. circuit was a playoff loss at last month's John Deere Classic.

"It feels good for me to be in contention and I feel like I've been playing some really good golf the last few months."

Watched by massive galleries, Woods made an encouraging start with a birdie at the par-five 13th, his fourth hole, where he laid up in two after taking an iron off the tee before hitting a stunning approach to a foot short of the cup.

He also birdied the par-three 15th, sinking an eight-footer there, to reach the turn in two-under 33.

Woods squandered a golden birdie opportunity at the par-four second after he struck a superb approach to three feet, his putt not even touching the hole as it curled away on the low side.

His round unravelled over the closing stretch as he bogeyed the par-five fourth after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker before his messy finish at the ninth.

"I was completely blocked out and tried to shape one over there and I drew no lie at all from my third shot," Woods said. "I was just trying to play 20 feet long, putt back and try and just get bogey.

"I didn't even get over the bunker (with the third). Came out nowhere. Didn't really have much from there, hit a beautiful putt, just lipped out."

Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who is seeking to turn his game around after a poor year by his standards, was among the late starters.

Also setting off in the afternoon was the marquee group of this year's major winners - Australian Adam Scott (Masters), Englishman Justin Rose (U.S. Open) and American Phil Mickelson (British Open). (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

A lost opportunity for Tiger in first round

A lost opportunity for Tiger in first round
DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer) August 8, 2013AP - Sports







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PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- Oak Hill was there for the taking. Tiger Woods gave away too many chances.

Woods had everything he needed to start the final major championship of the year on a good note. The conditions were soft, still and ideal for scoring. He was one shot out of the lead Thursday morning in the PGA Championship when he made the turn, and there was nothing to suggest he would stray too far away.

Instead, he staggered off the course with double bogey on his last hole for a 1-over 71. That's not bad on a course where there typically is a premium on par. It just looked ordinary compared with the 28 rounds at par or better from other early starters in the opening round.

A wasted opportunity?

''A little bit,'' Woods said.


That was a phrase he mentioned three times when going over a round that featured four tough putts for par, but a round that should have been in red numbers.

Oddly enough, it was his best stretch of golf that stalled his round.

After making the turn at 2 under with a simple bunker save on the 18th hole - Woods had 11 putts on the back nine - he hit his approach 12 feet below the cup on No. 1. His shot into the par-4 second hole caught the side of a hill and settled 4 feet away as the largest crowd at Oak Hill roared. Woods drilled his tee shot on the 214-yard third hole to 10 feet left of the hole.

He missed every putt, and he missed them badly. The worst of them was at No. 2, when Woods said he should have taken more time except that his group was on the clock. It was a side hill putt, difficult even from 4 feet on the greens at Oak Hill. Woods was so tentative that the ball fell sharply to the right and never even touched the cup.

A momentum killer?
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Tiger Woods lines up a putt on the 15th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tou …

''A little bit,'' Woods said.

The real killer was the par-5 fourth hole, the only time Woods removed that Tiger head cover off his driver. After several rehearsals with his swing, the ball sailed well to the right, Woods simply picked up his tee. There was no emotion. It was almost as if he expected to miss the fairway. What he didn't count on was his next shot out of deep rough clipping a tree and spitting sideways into the fairway, costing him some 30 yards of roll.

From there, a poor 9-iron came up short and into the bunker, and he finally missed a par putt from 5 feet.

''Just one of those holes where I laid up and caught the tree,'' Woods said. ''It was supposed to be way down there if it just happened to get through there, but it didn't. And I stuck a 9-iron into the ground.''

Woods didn't have a single birdie chance on the last four holes - a chunked 3-iron off the tee at No. 7, a shot from the fairway into the bunker at No. 8. Even so, he was still at 1-under par and headed for an acceptable start.
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Tiger Woods reacts after hitting a shot from the fairway into a bunker on the fourth hole during the …

That changed on his final hole. Woods hit a 3-wood to the first cut of rough on the right side, the worst place to miss with a tree blocking his view of the green on the dogleg right. He came up short and left, in rough so deep that he was trying to just land it on the green about 20 feet away. He didn't even reach the green, coming up short and into the bunker, and he blasted out to 12 feet and two-putted for double bogey.

For a guy who has struggled on the weekend at the majors, Woods didn't help himself in the opening round.

The good news? It was his lowest score in five rounds at Oak Hill. And it was only Thursday.

''I'm still right there,'' he said. ''And we've got a long way to go.''

Golf-Tiger unable to tame Oak Hill, not soured by late stumble

Golf-Tiger unable to tame Oak Hill, not soured by late stumble

August 8, 2013








By Frank Pingue

ROCHESTER, New York, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods, who arrived at this week's PGA Championship as the overwhelming favourite to win a 15th major, was still liking his chances despite a messy finish to his opening round on Thursday.

Woods, who is looking to snap a five-year title drought in golf's elite championships, had a bogey and double-bogey over his final six holes as part of a one-over 71 that left him six strokes behind clubhouse leader Jim Furyk. {ID:nL4N0G94EJ]

"I'm still right there," said Woods, who started out on the back nine and was two under after six holes. "As of right now, I'm only six back and we have a long way to go."

In relatively benign conditions on an Oak Hill course that was softened by overnight rain, Woods scrambled to make several par-saving putts but was unable to take full advantage of any spurts of momentum.

On his first hole, the par-four 10th, Woods sent his tee shot into the first cut of rough and then yelled at himself after leaving his approach short of the green. Woods chipped past the hole but sank an eight-footer for par.

He missed the green on his next hole, the par-three 11th, but salvaged par with a short putt after chipping out of some greenside rough.

Woods picked up his first stroke of the day at the massive 598-yard, par-five 13th hole, tapping in for birdie after a stunning approach shot left him just short of the cup.

ENORMOUS ROAR


The world number one got to two under when he drained a eight-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th that set off an enormous roar from an adoring gallery that followed his every move at sunny Oak Hill.

Woods also did well to save par at his ninth hole when he got up and down from a greenside bunker.

"The round realistically could have been under par easily," said Woods, who arrived at Oak Hill fresh from a seven-stroke win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

"I feel like I played well today and made some nice key putts and the key is I left it in all the good spots too."

The world number one's round started to unravel when he bogeyed the par-five fourth after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

But it was his final hole that was a far cry from the red-hot form he has been showcasing of late to earn the nod as title favourite in the year's final major.

"I was completely blocked out and tried to shape one over there and I drew no lie at all from my third shot," said Woods, who is seeking his first major crown since the 2008 U.S. Open.

"I was just trying to play 20 feet long, putt back and try and just get bogey.

"I didn't even get over the bunker (with the third). Came out nowhere. Didn't really have much from there, hit a beautiful putt, just lipped out." (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Clark records first ace of week at Oak Hill

 

Mark Lamport-Stokes August 11, 2013

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

 ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - South African Tim Clark recorded the first ace at this week's PGA Championship when he holed out with a hybrid three-wood at the 220-yard, par-three 11th in Sunday's final round.

 Clark watched in amazement, then smiled from ear to ear after his ball landed on the green and bounced three times before disappearing into the cup.

 The 37-year-old, whose only PGA Tour victory came at the2010 Players Championship, shared high-fives with both caddies in his pairing and also with playing partner Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain as he walked off the tee.

 Clark's ace was a rare bright spot in his closing round at sunny Oak Hill Country Club as he improved to two over for the day and seven over for the tournament.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Engraving the Wanamaker Trophy in 12 minutes

 

Eric Adelson August 11, 2013Yahoo! Sports

Gail Hedgepeth engraves the Wanamaker Trophy given to the winner of the PGA Championship. (Yahoo! Sports)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There is one person at Oak Hill Country Club who cannot afford to make a mistake on the final day of the PGA Championship.

In an empty room in the clubhouse at 1 p.m. Sunday, that person readies for the most important day of the year.

Meet Gail Hedgepeth, the engraver of the Wanamaker Trophy, given to the winner of the final major of the year.

"I need it about 10 degrees cooler in here," she tells her brother Gary, and he rushes out to fix the issue.

Hedgepeth, 51, is one of fewer than 200 master certified hand engravers of precious metals in the nation. She has worked in front of a U.S. president. She has had an M-16 pointed at her face. She has spent months obsessing about a fox's head. She has carved the name of 15 straight PGA Champions on arguably the most famous trophy in golf. And for the last five years, she's done it on the premises, meaning she has only a short time to carve a name and make it perfect. Last year, she completed Rory McIlroy's name in 12 minutes.

As the golfers head out to warm up, Hedgepeth is already etching "2013" onto a band made of sterling silver. She uses tools handed down to her from her master, who passed away in 1986 after engraving for Lyndon B. Johnson. Those same tools were handed down to him from an engraving pioneer. So Hedgepeth is engraving with instruments that are more than a century old.

Gail Hedgepeth engraves the trophy, while her brother Gary rushes it to the winner. (Yahoo! Sports)

When it looks like a winner is emerging, Hedgepeth will write a name in powder. This is magnesium powder, which is highly reactive and got her in trouble with security on a flight through Chicago. So much trouble, in fact, that agents splayed her up against a wall and pointed a rifle directly at her face. Hedgepeth tried to explain, but an agent barked, "Don't speak!" Her situation was made worse by the fact that her polishing compound looks conspicuously like C-4 explosives.

Believe it or not, this happened before 9/11. She's flown only twice since then.

The powder is also a touchy subject to those who might be superstitious. Because there has been at least one time when she wrote a golfer's name in powder and he went on to lose the PGA Championship. She won't say who the golfer was, and it's hard to blame her.

As soon as the winner is known, Hedgepeth will begin to engrave the first letter. "When he throws his hands in the air," she says, "I start cutting." No, she doesn't cheer for players with short names, though she confesses she was pleased when Ernie Els won. (Fortunately for her, Kiradech Aphibarnrat vanished from the leaderboard over the weekend.) Circumstances haven't always been perfect; three years ago at Whistling Straits, she found herself working in the kitchen area of the clubhouse. 

When she's done, her brother, Gary, will rush the trophy to the staging area for the presentation. That, of course, is a pressure-packed job as well, but Gary is there to support his sister and make sure she doesn't spell "Bradley Keegan" instead of Keegan Bradley.

Hedgepeth, who lives in Williamsburg, Va., has never had a single complaint. Els thanked her for a job well done. And one PGA Champion – again unnamed – recently contacted her because he didn't like the engraving on a trophy from another tournament. She gave him a price and he told her he'd contact her after he got back from Western New York.

She says she's never nervous, in part because she's been doing this since she was 16. Her most tense moment came when she was 20; that was when Richard Nixon came to watch her engrave.

"Am I making you nervous?" he asked, peering over her shoulder.

"No, Mr. President!" she lied.

These days, nothing surprises her. A couple years ago, she got a call from a number in Reston, Va. That meant one thing: government. A male voice on the other end said he needed an engraving for his 41st wedding anniversary, and he needed it immediately. She said OK, and offered her address.

"Ms. Hedgepeth," the man interrupted. "We know where you live."

Not long after, a couple of black town cars pulled up in front of her house, with one license plate reading "SPYONE." A man appeared in her doorway and she apologetically informed him that he would have to watch Andy Griffith reruns while she worked. He did as he was told, and then dropped $500 in cash on her desk as he accepted the engraving and left. She never figured out who the man was.

Then there was the time Hedgepeth got a call from a woman in Pennsylvania who had a very odd and specific request: She was a seventh generation foxhunter with a $65,000 clock. She wanted a fox's head engraved on the pendulum. And she wanted the fox to appear as if its hair was blowing in the breeze as the pendulum swayed.

OK then.

Hedgepeth spent months on the fox's head, even studying the making of "A Bug's Life" to see how to create a 3-D effect. She became obsessed with the project, mulling over the design at dinner and in the bath. She finally completed the work, making the fox's hair look windblown, and the client was thrilled.

Then, not long after, the client called again. She was crying. A maintenance worker had mistakenly drilled two holes in the pendulum.

Hedgepeth calmed the woman down and asked her to send the pendulum to her. She engraved grapes over the holes. Problem solved.

So if you think about the fox's head, the spy, the question from Nixon, and the rifle in her face, you can see why the Wanamaker Trophy doesn't make Gail Hedgepeth all that skittish.

And besides, golfers are pretty understanding. She once had a conversation with 2008 PGA Champion Padraig Harrington about his rather-long name. He felt bad that Hedgepeth had so little time to engrave so many letters. Next time, she suggested, maybe she would just engrave "Padraig H" for the ceremony and do the rest later. He grinned and said, "You have yourself a deal!"

Nice of him. But then again, what other choice does he have?

Bubble players take center stage at Wyndham

JOEDY McCREARY (AP Sports Writer) August 15, 2013AP - Sports

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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- For Padraig Harrington and the rest of the players on the bubble, the PGA Tour's postseason starts this week at the Wyndham Championship.

A strong showing in the tournament that starts Thursday could propel them into the FedEx Cup playoffs. But a rough week in central North Carolina, and they can forget about the postseason.

''There is a different sort of feel to it ... and your preparation is different,'' Harrington said. ''It's definitely a distraction in it, and yeah, maybe on Sunday if I'm right in the bubble coming down the stretch. ... Starting off as well on Thursday, you could be a little bit cautious, because you're trying not to play your way out of anything at the start.''

Harrington arrived at Sedgefield County Club at No. 129 on the points list and probably needs to break the top 40 to jump into the playoff field. The top 125 qualify for The Barclays next week.

Only one bubble player played his way into the postseason at this event last year, and among the recognizable names joining Harrington outside the top 125 are Vijay Singh, David Toms and Davis Love III.

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Davis Love III watches his tee shot on the tenth hole during the pro-am of the Wyndham Championship  …

''All the work I do this week, it really isn't to be playing well next Monday,'' Harrington said. ''It's to be playing well this week, whereas at most regular events, as much as you're trying to play that well that week, you're always trying to get your game ready going forward, whereas this week has a finite end to it.

''If I don't play well this week,'' he added, ''it's the end of the season for me over here.''

There isn't quite as much urgency for past winners Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson because their playoff spots have long been secured.

At No. 3 on the points list and No. 7 in the world golf rankings, Snedeker - who won this tournament in 2007 - is the top-rated player in the field.

Simpson, the 2011 winner, isn't too far back at No. 18 on the points list and 26th in the world rankings, and another victory here could give him enough points to qualify for the Tour Championship, the final event in the four-week playoff schedule.

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Vijay Singh, of Fiji, gestures on the ninth hole during the pro-am of the Wyndham Championship golf  …

''Every point means something,'' Snedeker said.

Those two join defending champion Sergio Garcia for a threesome Thursday and Friday. A bad sign for Garcia: Nobody has won this tournament two years in a row since Sam Snead in 1955-56.

''It's part of the tournament, I guess, to see the history of it, but I don't know what the actual cause of it is,'' Garcia said. ''Obviously, I think that it's a very demanding golf course. ... Hopefully it will be nice to change that bit of history. The only thing I can do is go out there, hopefully play well like I know I can do and we'll see if that's good enough to repeat.''

Low scores certainly have been the norm for winners at Sedgefield.

The last two champions - Simpson and Garcia - finished at 18 under par when they won, 2010 winner Arjun Atwal was at 20 under and Carl Pettersson set a tournament record with a 21-under performance in 2008 in its first year back at this course.

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Webb Simpson walks to the ninth green during the pro-am of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament  …

Snedeker predicted a score of 12-to-15-under might be good enough to win here this year because the greens are playing faster.

''Last year, what got the scores a lot lower was how much rain we got and the greens softened up,'' Simpson said. ''I don't quite see 18 (under) being out there, but you never know with how good guys are playing. You get hot. But I definitely think it's more challenging than it was.''

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Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/joedyap

Pepper welcomed back into Solheim Cup circle

EDDIE PELLS (AP National Writer) August 15, 2013AP - Sports

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PARKER, Colo. (AP) -- Never mind that Dottie Pepper's comment about ''chokin' freakin' dogs'' inspired the U.S. women in their stirring, come-from-behind victory at the Solheim Cup in 2007.

Those three little words nearly cost Pepper so much of what she had achieved over her distinguished career: Her reputation. The friendships. Her standing as America's heart and soul in the premier team event in women's golf, to say nothing of a future role as captain that had been all but preordained.

Pepper spent six long years in exile because of those words, uttered during the 2007 broadcast when she thought she was off the air. But after being coaxed back into the fold with a fence-mending move by current U.S. captain Meg Mallon, she is back wearing red, white and blue for one of the biggest weeks in her sport.

''Meg did something nobody else had probably thought of doing in the past,'' Pepper said Wednesday, two days before the United States begins the quest to regain the cup it lost to Europe two years ago in Ireland.

It was in 2007 in Sweden that Pepper became a pariah to the team she had led not so long before.

While doing color commentary for the Golf Channel, Pepper got frustrated watching the Americans miss putt after putt that turned a couple of likely wins into disappointing ties. Thinking the telecast had gone to commercial after one particularly galling miss, Pepper called the Americans ''chokin' freakin' dogs.''

Word of the insult spread quickly, and it turned out to be the fuel that triggered a huge American comeback in the rain and wind of Halmstad, Sweden. After the U.S. won 16-12, most of the talk was about Pepper, and how her inadvertently aired words motivated a number of players and captains she had once called friends.

''Hurtful, very, very hurtful to all of us on the team,'' then-assistant captain Beth Daniel, a contemporary of Pepper's, called the comments after the 2007 victory was sealed. ''Dottie's been there. She knows what it's like. Even if she said it off the air, it was ill-spirited.''

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United States' assistant captain Laura Diaz talks on her radio as she watches the United States team …

Though Pepper has never been known for hiding her emotions, or her opinion, the words did come as something of a shock. Pepper, after all, lists her 13 Solheim Cupvictories - more than any American besides Juli Inkster - at the top of an accomplished career that also includes two major championships.

In earlier times, she made it a habit of getting under the Europeans' skin. They once rigged up a ''Dottie Pepper punching bag'' to take out their aggression on the woman who went 10-1 from 1994 to 1998, when the U.S. won the cup three straight times.

Then suddenly, it was Pepper inflicting pain on her former team.

''The older you get, the better you used to be,'' 2007 captain Betsy King said in the aftermath of the win. ''You think you were perfect, and you don't remember anything.''

What hardly anyone knew at that time was that Pepper had tried to apologize almost immediately after she found out her words had made the air. The problem was that producers on the Golf Channel didn't tell her until six or seven hours after they'd aired. By that time, the story had taken on a new, inaccurate life of its own, including the rumor that Pepper had used an expletive to describe her one-time teammates. It took nearly five years to patch things up.

''It did hurt me,'' Pepper said. ''What hurt the most was that I went to the players that night and was told, 'We don't want to talk to you.' They slammed the door in my face. That's the part people don't know. They think I just blew it off.''

Shortly after she was named the 2013 Solheim Cup captain, Mallon set about repairing the damage. And it would take someone of her stature - universally well-respected and with an impressive 13 Solheim Cup victories of her own - to do this job.

''When I came home and listened to the telecast and heard how she said it, I started laughing,'' Mallon said. ''Because I know Dottie and I knew she had inserted herself in that match and that's what she would've called herself in that match. So I got it. From that point on, I felt like, OK, this is a little silly.''

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United States' Lexi Thompson watches her tee shot during a practice round for the Solheim Cup golf t …

It was no small thing, however, to sell Pepper's return to the American team - or to convince Pepper that coming back was in everybody's best interest.

''Meg told them, 'You need to know the facts before you continue to harbor all of this,''' Pepper said. ''That was a big deal.''

One of the deepest scars left from the affair was between Pepper and Laura Diaz, a player on the 2007 team who is serving as Mallon's other co-captain this year. Pepper and Diaz go back - way back - to when Pepper dated Diaz's brother back in high school. Diaz went years without speaking to Pepper. That relationship has been smoothed over, as well.

''I've known Laura Diaz since she was 6 years old and I went to prom with her brother,'' Pepper said. ''If you can't eventually move past that, then we're not very good people. Like I said in March (when she was announced as co-captain), the Solheim Cup is big enough to drive people apart but it's also big enough to drive people together, and that's what happened.''

Once considered a shoo-in as a captain someday, Pepper said she had ''grown content with the thought that nothing would ever happen with me in the Solheim Cup again.''

Now that she's back in the family, it doesn't seem impossible anymore. But that debate is for later.

For now, she's simply happy to be back.

''Meg has brought the team together and she deserves a lot of credit,'' British Open champion Stacy Lewis said. ''Because we needed Dottie.''