A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022
SPORTS
DOWNTOWN DUEL
Racers compete in criterium during Baker City Cycling Classic
Local riders
qualify for
national
high school
finals rodeo
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Three Baker students who
compete for the Eastern Ore-
gon Rodeo Club have qualified
for the National Finals High
School Rodeo July 17-23 in
Gillette, Wyoming.
Dysan Robb, Clark Norton
and Brycen Martin qualified
for the national event by plac-
ing in the top four at the Ore-
gon High School Rodeo Asso-
ciation state finals rodeo earlier
this month in Prineville.
Robb and Norton both qual-
ified in boys cutting.
Robb finished second with
126 points, while Norton was
third with 103 points.
Cutting points are largely
based on the rider’s quality
and efficiency in handling —
for example, if the rider has to
shout to control a cow, a point
is deducted, while points are
added if they conduct the cut
in the center of the area.
In saddle bronc riding, Mar-
tin finished fourth with 103
points.
Baker competitors Colton
Clark and Macey Moore com-
peted in team roping but didn’t
place in the top ten.
Photos by
IAN CRAWFORD
Baker City Herald
ABOVE: A pack of riders roll
through downtown Baker
City during the Tour d’Town
Criterium stage of the
Baker City Cycling Classic on
Saturday, June 18, 2022.
LEFT: Cyclists speed through
Baker City’s downtown.
RIGHT: Young riders joined
the weekend competition
downtown.
Fitzpatrick’s victory a win
for golf at thrilling US Open
BY EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
BROOKLINE, Mass. — The
unsettled future of golf was in
the surest of hands over the fi-
nal four tantalizing hours of the
U.S. Open Sunday, June 19.
The sport, almost always at
its best when major titles are at
stake, went on a wild ride cour-
tesy of Matt Fitzpatrick and
Will Zalatoris, two 20-some-
things trying to win their first
major titles but playing like
they’d been doing this for years.
There were ties, lead changes
and enough momentum shifts
to make an NBA crowd edgy.
There was tension. In the end, it
was a career-defining shot from
a fairway bunker that left Fitz-
patrick holding the trophy —
and a putt missed by a whisker
that left Zalatoris holding his
head in his hands in agony after
yet another excruciating close
call at a major.
“When they show the high-
lights of future U.S. Opens,
that’s one that’s going to be
shown because that was just in-
credible,” Zalatoris said.
He was speaking of the shot
Fitzpatrick hit from the fairway
bunker on No. 18 while lead-
ing by one. It was a 9-iron from
156 yards. The shot elevated out
of the sand, and had enough
juice to clear the gaping bunker
guarding the green. It came to
rest 18 feet above the hole.
Fitzpatrick got down in two
putts to wrap up his round of
2-under 68 and a tournament
of 6-under 274.
But not until Zalatoris’ 14-
foot putt to tie stopped a milli-
meter to the left of the cup — a
miss that sent him buckling to
the ground and gave him his
third second-place finish in
only seven starts at the majors
— was the tournament over.
With tears welling in his eyes,
Fitzpatrick’s caddie, Billy Foster,
kissed the 18th flag; it was his
first major, too, after four de-
cades in the business.
Then, suddenly, golf’s biggest
debate wasn’t about the future
of the breakaway LIV Tour, or
the stability of the PGA Tour,
or how that tour will punish
Media News Group/Boston Herald-TNS
Matt Fitzpatrick, right, hugs his
caddy, Billy Foster, after win-
ning the US Open at The Country
Club on Sunday, June 19, 2022 in
Brookline, Massachusetts.
those who have dared to defect.
Instead, as Zalatoris suggested,
it’s about where Fitzpatrick’s
bunker shot might fit in the
pantheon of the greatest shots
executed under major-champi-
onship pressure.
“It’s one of the best shots I
ever hit, no doubt about it,”
Fitzpatrick said.
That the shot, and the day,
came at one of golf’s most hal-
lowed shrines only felt right. The
Country Club outside of Bos-
ton is where Frances Ouimet
knocked off one of the game’s
greats, Harry Vardon, in a 1913
upset that helped put golf on the
map in the United States.
Curtis Strange won the last
U.S. Open here in 1988. Justin
Leonard made a long putt to lift
the U.S. to its Ryder Cup victory
here in 1999.
Some thought the U.S.
Open had simply outgrown
the course, and the property,
but the USGA decided to take
a chance on the hilly, craggy,
windswept layout filled with
blind shots and crooked fair-
ways everywhere.
The Country Club delivered.
So did Fitzpatrick and Zalato-
ris, with supporting help from
Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked
Masters champion who tied for
second with Zalatoris. Most of
his best shots over the weekend
came on the front nine.
Scheffler was watching near
the 18th green when Zalatoris’
birdie putt missed by less than
an inch.
“When it was two feet out,
I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that one’s
in,’ and for some reason it went
off to the left,” Scheffler said.
“It’s one of those deals. You’ve
got to get the breaks.”
On this day, Fitzpatrick got
the biggest breaks. There was
none bigger than on the 15th tee
box when he and Zalatoris were
tied and facing a blind shot over
a hill on the 500-yard par-4.
Fitzpatrick hit a massive
block; Zalatoris’ miss wasn’t
as far off line. But Fitzpatrick’s
ball landed in an area trampled
down by the fans. Zalatoris was
in thick, lush grass. Fitzpat-
rick made birdie and Zalatoris
made bogey. It was a two-shot
swing that, ultimately, Zalatoris
couldn’t overcome.
“We’re walking down and he
goes, ‘I barely miss the fairway
and I’ve got a horrible lie and
he misses it by 30 yards and
he’s OK,’” said Zalatoris’ caddie,
Ryan Goble. “But Matt played
great. And yeah, it was a great
experience. So you just say,
‘Yeah, we’ll get him next time.’”
For Fitzpatrick, this win
bookends with his title at the
2013 U.S. Amateur, also at The
Country Club. He became the
second person to win both the
U.S. Open and Amateur at the
same place. The other: Jack
Nicklaus in 1961 and 1972 at
Pebble Beach.
After the victory, Nicklaus
called Fitzpatrick to congratu-
late him on his victory. Fitzpat-
rick, though, spoke of a different
phone call from The Bear — the
one he received after his victory
at the member-member tourna-
ment at Nicklaus’ place in Flor-
ida, The Bear’s Club.
“He said, ‘Finally, congrat-
ulations for winning in the
States,’ ” Fitzpatrick said.
Nicklaus was razzing him.
Before that, all of Fitzpatrick’s
seven professional wins had
come on the European Tour.
This time, the call from
Nicklaus was no joke. Finally,
Fitzpatrick has an official win
in the United States — and the
biggest one at that.
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