The BulleTin • Sunday, May 23, 2021 B3
GOLF | PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Mariners
Wild ride for Mickelson and 18 holes away from history
Continued from B1
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.
— Phil Mickelson survived a
wild ride Saturday at Kiawah
Island with a 2-under 70 in
the PGA Championship that
left him 18 holes away from
becoming golf’s oldest major
champion.
The 50-year-old Mickel-
son walked off the 10th green
with a five-shot lead and
such amazing control of his
game that it was shaping up
to be another runaway on the
Ocean Course.
Far from it.
Mickelson hit one tee shot
into the water and another
under the tire of a cart. Brooks
Koepka rattled off three bird-
ies to tie him for the lead.
The difference was the
closing hole at Kiawah, eas-
ier as the wind shifted from
being in the players’ faces to
coming from right-to-left off
the Atlantic Ocean. Koepka,
in the group ahead, went just
long and took three putts for
a bogey and a 70.
Mickelson went well long
and played a flop shot, a risky
shot to most everyone but
him, and nearly jarred it. He
curled in the 4-foot par putt
to become the oldest player
with a 54-hole lead in a major
since 59-year-old Tom Wat-
son at Turnberry in 2009.
That didn’t end well for
Watson, who lost that British
Open in a playoff to Stewart
Cink. For Mickelson, it’s an
opportunity to become the
oldest player to win a major.
Julius Boros was 48 when he
won the 1968 PGA Champi-
onship.
Mickelson was at 7-under
209. For all his success in the
majors — five victories, run-
David J. Phillip/AP
Phil Mickelson hits his second shot on the 16th hole from the rough
during the third round at the PGA Championship on Saturday in
Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
ner-up finishes in all four of
them — this is only the third
time he has held the 54-hole
lead.
He will play in the fi-
nal group with Koepka, a
twosome with nine majors
among them. Koepka will
be going for his third Wana-
maker Trophy in the last four
years.
Koepka, shaking off effects
from ligament surgery on his
right knee that has limited
him to two tournaments in
three months before arriving
at Kiawah, called the third
round his worst performance
of his career. Still, he wasn’t
surprised to have another
shot at a major.
“It just feels good, feels nor-
mal. It’s what you’re supposed
to do, what you practice for,”
he said. “I’m right where I
want to be, and we’ll see how
tomorrow goes.”
Louis Oostuizen knows the
feeling. He started the third
round tied with Mickelson
and had a long three-putt bo-
gey. The South African never
caught up, though he had his
chances until missing a 4-foot
birdie putt on the par-5 16th
and a 5-foot par putt on the
par-3 17th. He wound up
with a 72 and was two shots
behind.
At least they have a chance.
Mickelson broke away
quickly with four birdies
in seven holes, and he even
managed to avoid losing his
focus. One distraction came
from the fourth fairway, when
Mickelson saw a drone in the
air left of the green and said
to a CBS spotter, “Can you ra-
dio to the TV guys to get the
drone out of the flight of my
shot?” He saved par from a
back bunker.
He went out in 32 — Mick-
elson played the front nine on
Friday in 31 — and was five
shots clear until he showed
signs of sputtering. He badly
missed a 7-foot birdie attempt
on No. 11. He pulled his tee
shot into a bunker on No. 12
and had to play back to the
fairway, leading to his first
bogey of the round.
And then he drove into the
water on the 13th with his
2-wood, had to hit his third
shot from the tee because of
where he thought it crossed
the hazard line, and missed a
Ravens
Continued from B1
Whether because of the
unusual overlap of sports sea-
sons this year or COVID-19
complications sending high
school athletes into quaran-
tine, high school basketball
teams are taking longer to
find their competitive form
— or even field full rosters —
after a 14-month hiatus.
“We are just grateful to be
playing, grateful to have our
people in the stands,” said
Summit girls basketball coach
Lynette Landis. “I think Mon-
day we will have our full team
available. We haven’t had
that.”
Ridgeview won its sec-
ond game over Summit in as
many days Friday evening,
beating the Storm 49-43 to
start the season after its state
tournament campaign more
than a year ago with two
wins.
Faye Davis led the Ravens
with 21 points while fellow
senior Paige Pentzer jump-
started the ravens with eight
of her 10 total points com-
ing in the opening quarter.
Sophomore Rose Koehler led
the way for Summit with 17
points while Mimi Dioguadri
added 11.
“For not playing for over
a year, I am super impressed
Ducks
Continued from B1
However, there is room for
improvement for the group.
The Ducks didn’t face three of
the top five teams in the Pac-
12 in sacks last season and
their run protection is an area
of emphasis this offseason.
“We always say five men,
one mind,” Forsyth said.
“You got to be on the same
page. Whether I’m making
the call the tackle has got to
know why is he making that
call versus what front. Every-
body’s got to know the ho-
listic picture of everything if
we want to be five minds as
one. I think that’s a big thing
we’re trying to emphasize this
spring, five guys got to play as
one. That’s when we’re most
powerful.”
Forsyth is a critical piece for
Oregon to improve in those
areas in 2021 and also in aid-
ing Jonathan Denis and Jack-
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Ridgeview High School’s Faye Davis (44) attempts a shot against
Summit High School at Ridgeview on Friday night.
and I am happy with how it is
starting off,” said Ridgeview
coach Alicia Love follow-
ing the win. “We are miss-
ing some kids so it is a good
feeling to know that there are
12-footer for bogey. Oosthui-
zen also found the water with
a big fade, dropped further up
the fairway and made bogey.
“Mine was on the edge,”
Mickelson said on why he
hit again from the tee. “I just
didn’t feel good about it.”
It was tight the rest of the
way. Mickelson is going after
his first major since the 2013
British Open, and the final
hour made it clear that this
might not be easy.
But it will be loud. The gal-
lery is the largest at a major
since the pandemic — the
PGA of America has said
there would be 10,000 people,
a number that felt far greater
— and Mickelson was the ob-
ject of their raucous shouting.
Kevin Streelman bogeyed
the 18th for a 70 and was
alone in fourth at 4-under
212, followed by Branden
Grace and Christiaan Bezuid-
enhout of South Africa, each
with a 72.
Matt York/AP
Brooks Koepka works on the 16th green during the third round at
the PGA Championship on Saturday in Kiawah Island, South Caro-
lina. Koepka’s 2-under 70 kept him one shot back of overall leader
Phil Mickelson heading into Sunday’s final round.
more coming in and we are
still playing at a high level.”
Friday’s game showed how
the high school sports world
is beginning to sway back to
normal for players, coaches,
officials and fans who are vac-
cinated. Vaccinated players
did not need to wear masks
while playing. All three offi-
cials were maskless as well.
As were a large portion of the
fans in attendance.
Per the guidelines of the
Oregon Health Authority and
the Oregon School Activi-
ties Association, people who
are fully vaccinated do not
need to wear masks at ath-
letic competitions. To be fully
vaccinated it takes two weeks
after the final dose of the vac-
cine. High school students
have only recently been able
to receive the vaccine.
Until then, anyone playing,
officiating or attending a high
game who has not been vacci-
nated must still wear a mask.
“It is crazy to see people in
the stands not wearing masks,
then you look on the court
and all the players that are
working are wearing them,”
said Love. “As a coach you
have to think of what the kids
are doing, their playing time.
You don’t want the kids pass-
ing out because of the mask.”
While most of the region’s
teams have started the final
“We always say five men, one mind. You got to be on the same page. Whether I’m making
the call the tackle has got to know why is he making that call versus what front. Everybody’s
got to know the holistic picture of everything if we want to be five minds as one.”
— Alex Forsyth, Oregon Ducks starting center
son Powers-Johnson while
they serve with the second
and third-teams.
Post-spring depth chart
Alex Forsyth: 6-foot-4, 305
pounds, redshirt junior
Jonathan Denis: 6-foot-3,
305 pounds, freshman
Dawson Jaramillo: 6-foot-
5, 303 pounds, redshirt soph-
omore OR
Jackson Powers-Johnson:
6-foot-3, 284 pounds, fresh-
man
Mario Cristobal’s take
“Alex Forsyth, of course as a
leader because he’s a guy that’s
started for us. Dawson Jara-
millo has done a really good
job. … The young guys still
continuing to shine; Jonathan
Denis, I got to single him out
because he’s jumped in there,
him and Marcus Harper, at
multiple positions and they
are playing hard for playing
time.”
Starter
Forsyth is a steady hand on
the field and off. Teammates
and coaches speak of him
with high regard and most
importantly, respect.
He’s earned that by the way
he carries himself. Forsyth
puts in the time with film
study and preparation.
Offensive line coach Alex
Mirabal likes to say his group
speaks the language of “Ore-
gon offensive line.” Forsyth is
Jordan Spieth matched the
low round of the day with a
68, still seven shots behind
and most likely too far back
to contend with a dozen play-
ers ahead of him.
Spieth was headed back to
his rental home to flip on the
TV, a rarity for him.
But it’s Phil.
It’s theater.
“I don’t watch golf but I
promise you I’m going to turn
it on to watch him today,”
Spieth said.
“It’s pretty incredible. I have
no way to relate to it, right?
But I also don’t think it’s nec-
essarily that special because
didn’t he win a World Golf
Championships in the last
couple years?
“The guy’s got four good
rounds on any golf course in
him, and no one would bet
against that.”
Mickelson has had three
good ones at Kiawah Island.
One more for history.
not only fluent, he’s a trans-
lator for the younger centers
in particular and helps them
learn the pre-snap identifica-
tion and calls.
Backup
It didn’t count as such, but
Jonathan Denis essentially
redshirted last season. This
wasn’t unexpected and if the
season wasn’t shortened he
likely would’ve gotten some
game action.
An early enrollee in 2020,
Denis is the backup on paper
entering the offseason. Oregon
has depth, particularly on the
interior, but if another center
had to take over for Forsyth,
Denis would be at or near the
top of the list of options.
leg of the high school sports
year, two suffered serious set-
backs less than a week after
starting.
The Bend High girls bas-
ketball team has yet to play
a game this spring because
COVID-19 outbreak sent
all but a handful of players
into quarantine. The Lava
Bears are set to play their first
game since March of 2020 on
Thursday against Summit.
Thirty miles south in La
Pine, Friday brought devas-
tating news to the high school
and athletic programs. An
outbreak of COVID-19 is
forcing the school to shut-
down with students returning
to distance learning for two
weeks. During that time, no
activities or athletics can take
place until early June.
The Hawks girls’ basket-
ball team had already played
a game while the wrestling
team was coming off a victory
in a dual meet over Bend ear-
lier in the week.
“They have had so much
taken away,” said La Pine ath-
letic director and wrestling
coach Aaron Flack. “They are
starting to get in the swing of
winter sports. It is tough. Had
some good things rolling and
now we are having to take a
step back.”
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
Next wave
Dawson Jaramillo saw most
of his work at right tackle
during the spring but he still
worked on snaps as well. He’s
moved around throughout his
career and will vie for game
action as a fourth-year soph-
omore.
Jackson Powers-Johnson
was among UO’s early enroll-
ees and served as the No. 3
center during the spring. He’ll
likely remain in that role in
the fall. Ryan Walk is the start-
ing right guard but is capable
of playing center. However,
he’s done less work with snaps
lately.
Quotable
“I can tell you right now
that if we played tomor-
row against Fresno (State)
and something happened
to Forsyth (Denis) could go
play center and start against
Fresno.” — Offensive line
coach Alex Mirabal
The Mariners are sure making
it hard for people to get behind
them — even the ones predis-
posed to give them every benefit
of the doubt. Between the Kevin
Mather incident early in spring
training, to the season-long hitting
drought that has reached embar-
rassing proportions, to now this
maddening team-wide aversion to
vaccination.
For a franchise already riding
a 19-year playoff drought, it’s not
the best way to win friends and in-
fluence people.
The Mariners are believed to be
hovering around 50% of players
vaccinated. GM Jerry Dipoto all
but predicted last week that the
Mariners would eventually have a
COVID-19 disruption.
But I’ll make the same point as
I did two days ago in a column
about Seattle’s hitting woes in the
wake of being no-hit for the sec-
ond time in 13 days and dropping
under .200 as a team: This is not
just a Mariners’ issue; it’s an MLB
issue.
On Friday, MLB and the
MLBPA in a joint news release
gave out some vaccination num-
bers. Just 14 of the 30 MLB ball-
clubs have reached the threshold
of 85% or more of their Tier 1 in-
dividuals being fully vaccinated,
which allows for the relaxation
of a variety of health and safety
protocols. Two more clubs will
get there within the next week
because enough Tier 1 people re-
ceived their final vaccine dose.
But that still leaves 14 teams un-
der the threshold, which means
that an awful lot of Tier 1 folks
have an awful lot of doubts about
the vaccine. For the record, Tier
1 consists of not just players, but
also managers, coaches, bullpen
catchers, team physicians, ath-
letic trainers, physical therapists,
and strength and conditioning
coaches.
Overall, according to the news
release, 84.4% of all Tier 1 indi-
viduals are considered partially or
fully vaccinated. It’s reasonable to
think that out of that group, the
players are the ones most resistant.
As Gabe Lacques of USA Today
wrote, “Virtually every manager
has said they will get vaccinated
or confirmed they received it. Ad-
ditionally, non-playing staff have
no union and far less leverage
than players. If you’re a relatively
fungible coach, assistant athletic
trainer or media relations rep, do
you want to be the person who in-
fected a team and disrupted a $10
billion industry?”
The Mariners have done all
they can to persuade players to get
vaccinated. At the major league
level, they brought in two leading
physicians from the University of
Washington school of medicine,
Dr. Vin Gupta and Dr. Santiago
Neme, to provide information to
Tier 1 groups and answer ques-
tions. At the minor league level,
they made it known that vacci-
nated players would have an ad-
vantage for call-ups because they
wouldn’t have to go through as
much protocol.
The minor leaguers bought
in. Dipoto said recently that they
have a 90-plus-percent vaccina-
tion rate in their farm system and
nearly 100% at Tacoma.
But the message has not res-
onated within the major league
clubhouse. I’m not going to begin
to speculate why this is the case,
because that’s treading on danger-
ous ground. But you’ve no doubt
heard all the common sources of
vaccination hesitation — most of
them debunked by medical ex-
perts. Team officials are adamant
about not disclosing who is or isn’t
vaccinated, citing medical privacy
guidelines.
Perhaps this latest COVID-19
incident will finally influence
more Mariners’ players to get vac-
cinated. As Servais pointed out,
the fallout could have been even
worse, because some players who
interacted with the positive-test-
ing person had been vaccinated
and thus avoided the 10-day quar-
antine at a hotel in San Diego that
the others are now subjected to.
When the Washington Nation-
als had 11 players sidelined by ei-
ther positive tests or COVID-19
protocols at the outset of the sea-
son, causing the start of their sea-
son to be delayed for five days,
most (but not all) of the players
at that point opted to receive vac-
cines. We’ll see if the Mariners are
similarly motivated.
I’m not holding my breath.
“I would hope that a few more
might jump on board and get the
vaccine,” Servais said Friday. “But
we can only hope. We can’t force
anybody to do it.”
No, they can’t. But they also
can’t force anybody to be happy
about it.