Ron Green Jr. writes about golf, football and other sports for The Charlotte Observer. To reach him, call (704) 358-5118 or email rgreenjr@charlotteobserver.com.
Sergio Garcia may never admit how many times he's seen the putt that would have won him the 2007 British Open Championship flash through his mind, burning the cup's edge rather than tumbling in, the cruelest tease at the last possible moment.
It's the way the first tee feels, alive with possibility.
Rocco Mediate didn't win the U.S. Open Monday at Torrey Pines, but he won the hearts. 
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The seemingly forever-young Davis Love III is 44 now, with a surgically repaired ankle that requires nightly ice bags and a career that is one more major moment away from being complete. Comment?
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If you've ever wondered what you'd get if you put the three best golfers in the world together in the first round of the U.S. Open on a blue-gray Thursday morning along the clifftops at Torrey Pines, here's your answer:
No one keeps official records on this, but it's a fair assumption that this is the first U.S. Open played beside a nude beach.
Ron Green Jr. | It doesn't seem like it's been 12 years since we saw Annika Sorenstam standing on the 18th green at Pine Needles hoisting the U.S. Women's Open trophy for the second straight year, her sandy blond bangs spilling over the front of her visor, framing a smile made for Sunday afternoons.
Conceived by local businessman Fred Laxton then given the full artist's touch by classic course designer Donald Ross nearly a century ago, Charlotte Country Club sits tucked into an oak-filled pocket of the Plaza Midwood neighborhood where a sizeable portion of the city's golf history came to life.
Ron Green Jr. | Last Sunday, when the CBS Sports telecast of the Wachovia Championship came to life, the television was on in Room 201 of the assisted living center in Houston where Jim Nantz Jr. lay. Comment?
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The last piece of luggage to be hauled out of the Quail Hollow locker room Sunday evening was a travel bag stuffed with Anthony Kim's golf clubs.
It only looked as if David Toms had all the answers Thursday at the Wachovia Championship. Comment?
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There is nothing so American as the Super Bowl. It's our country's great unofficial holiday, a time when we decorate ourselves in team jerseys, cheese dip and $20 squares from the office pool.
