MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019
BAKER CITY HERALD — 7A
PGA GOLF
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Luck shocks NFL by retiring
By Michael Marot
AP Sports Writer
Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution-TNS
Rory McIlroy tees off on the 14th hole with Brooks
Koepka looking on during the fi nal round of the Tour
Championship on Sunday.
McIlroy rolls to
FedEx Cup, wins
record $15 million
By Doug Ferguson
AP Golf Writer
ATLANTA — Rory McIlroy
marched to the 18th green
Sunday at East Lake with
victory in hand and $15 mil-
lion in the bank.
Even better was what he
saw — and heard — behind
him.
The scene was all too
familiar. The gallery ducked
under the ropes and rushed
to encircle the green to watch
the fi nish of a class perfor-
mance in the Tour Champion-
ship. Before long, the chants
began to ring out: “Rory!
Rory! Rory!”
This time, McIlroy had the
stage to himself.
A mere bystander last year
amid the chaotic celebration
of Tiger Woods’ return to vic-
tory, McIlroy soaked up the
perfect ending to a solid year
when he surged past Brooks
Koepka, held off Xander
Schauffele and captured the
FedEx Cup and the richest
payoff in golf.
Turning to Harry Dia-
mond, his caddie and best
friend, McIlroy told him, “This
walk is a little more pleasant
than last year.”
He closed with a 4-under
66 to fi nish four shots ahead
of Schauffele, joining Woods
as the only players to win the
FedEx Cup twice.
“Any time you can do
something that only Tiger has
done, you’re doing something
right,” McIlroy said.
There was so much more
than $15 million — $14
million in cash, $1 million
deferred — to this victory.
Regardless of the new for-
mat that gave some players a
head start to par depending
on their FedEx Cup ranking
— McIlroy began fi ve shots
behind before the tournament
started — he wanted to post
the lowest score of anyone in
the 30-man fi eld.
He shot 13-under 267, the
best by three shots.
And when he was paired
with Koepka in the fi nal
group Sunday, it was a chance
for atonement. A month ago,
McIlroy laid an egg in the
fi nal group at a World Golf
Championship, just like he
did with Woods the year
before at East Lake.
“I thought a lot about that,”
McIlroy said. “I thought about
the fi nal group with Tiger
last year, the fi nal group
with Brooks in Memphis a
few weeks ago, and I really
wanted to go out there and
play well and really take it to
him, and I did that.”
The fi nal round turned on
the seventh hole with a three-
shot swing — McIlroy made
a 25-foot birdie, while Koepka
lost his tee shot in the trees
and made double bogey. There
were consecutive two-shot
swings on the back nine, and
then it was a matter of hold-
ing off Schauffele.
McIlroy was four shots
ahead until back-to-back
bogeys, and he was on the
verge of watching his lead
shrink to one when he holed
an 8-foot par putt on the 16th.
Schauffele had to settle for
pars, and McIlroy fi nished
with a fl ourish.
He was the only player to
break par all four days.
Schauffele closed with a
70 to fi nish alone in second,
which paid out $5 million.
INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck
watched one last game from the side-
line Saturday.
Then he said goodbye to the NFL.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback
heard boos as he walked away from the
fi eld, then walked to the podium and
made the surprise decision offi cial: The
oft-injured star is retiring at age 29.
“I’m in pain, I’m still in pain. It’s been
four years of this pain, rehab cycle,”
Luck said. “It’s a myriad of issues —
calf strain, posterior ankle impinge-
ment, high ankle sprain. Part of my
journey going forward will be fi guring
out how to feel better.”
Luck wasn’t planning to make the
announcement following Saturday’s 27-
17 loss to the Chicago Bears. But when
ESPN fi rst reported the news during
the fourth quarter, Luck changed the
plan for a Sunday afternoon announce-
ment.
Instead, he held a 25-minute im-
promptu news conference.
At times he sounded wistful. At oth-
ers, his voice cracked with emotion.
One thing was clear: The endless
barrage of injuries stripped away his
joy for the game and prompted him to
walk away so he could enjoy the life he
wants.
“There’s no doubt when you hear
him talk about the cycle of pain and
injury and rehab, you can hear that,”
coach Frank Reich said. “There’s a say-
ing in football that everyone knows and
everybody lives by, it’s next man up and
even though this situation is unique, no
one is exempt.”
That task now falls to Jacoby Bris-
sett, a fourth-year player whom the
Colts acquired in a cutdown weekend
trade two years ago who has been prac-
Bob Self / Florida Times-Union-TNS fi le photo
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) tries to elude Jackson-
ville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (91) during a game on
Dec. 2, 2018.
ticing with the starters since April.
He went 4-11 as a starter in the 2017
season after taking over for opening
day starter Scott Tolzien.
But the Colts had already been
preparing for the possibility Luck
might not be ready for the Sept. 8
season opener against the Los Angeles
Chargers. Luck was diagnosed with a
strained left calf in March and team
offi cials kept him out of all of the team’s
offseason workouts.
He returned to limited action when
training camp opened in late July. After
three practices, though, the lingering
pain near his ankle forced him back
into rehab. He hadn’t practiced with
the team since, though he did throw
passes in pregame warmups before last
week’s preseason game.
“I had a thought that it might be
my last time throwing at Lucas Oil as
a current member of the Colts team,”
Luck said. “And I wanted to make sure
I could go out and enjoy it.”
It wasn’t just the leg, though.
He played with shoulder pain for
most of 2015 and 2016, and his 2015
season ended when he suffered a lacer-
ated kidney. He missed all of 2017 fol-
lowing shoulder surgery and then the
happy-go-lucky former Stanford star
dealt with more pain and more endless
months of rehab.
The Colts bet big on Luck in 2012.
They cut an injured Peyton Man-
ning to take Luck with the top overall
pick, fully believing he would be their
franchise quarterback for the next 10 to
15 years.
See Retire/Page 8A
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Two North Powde
r
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entries
in a statewide contes
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BRIEFING
Travel restricted
over Hells Cany
Dam Aug. 19-2 on
2
Travel
across Hells Can-
yon Dam will be
limited
Aug. 19-22 while
crews do
maintenance on
the dam.
This will limit access
the Forest Service to
’s visitor
center and boat
launch
below the dam.
Idaho Power Co.
crews
will be installing
large
beams, called stop
logs,
which control water
fl ow
through the dam
during
maintenance. A
large
(37,0*$-(3160
594,0&( :%$-
(3&,59+(3$.'&
1/
1&$. : ($.5+
& Fitness :
65'1134 :
Construction Affec
ts Emergency Depa
rtment
TV
Entrance At Sain
t Alphonsus
142,5$. +6)).,0
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$1.50
Fog-shrouded
Lakes Lookout
near Anthony
Lakes
Skeeter
scourge
leads to
fogging
■ Vector Control
sprayed parts of
west Baker City
Thursday night
By Jayson Jacob
y
jjacoby@bakercit
yherald.com
An infestation of
mosquitoes promp
ted
the Baker Valley
Vector
Control District
to bring in
what amounts to
its
artillery Thursday heavy
night in
the northwestern
part of
Baker City.
The District’s foggin
g