The Loop

Missing Links: Phil Mickelson's U.S. Open dream deferred, and Fran Quinn's feel-good story

June 14, 2014

Stories of interest you might have missed…

Is his U.S. Open dream deferred again for another year? "I'm not overly optimistic," Phil Mickelson said after falling 13 strokes behind U.S. Open leader Martin Kaymer. Bob Harig of ESPN has the story.

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(Getty Images photo)

Fran Quinn, 49, a career journeyman without status on any tour, is tied for 27th in the U.S. Open and is among the feel-good stories of the championship. Andrew Carter of the News & Observer has the story.

When she was seven, Lucy Li memorized the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go." Where she's going, at only 11, is the U.S. Women's Open next week at Pinehurst No. 2. Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press has her story.

Willie McCrae started caddying at Pinehurst in 1943 and has carried the bags of some of the best players in history, from Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen to Arnold Palmer and Ben Crenshaw. "The only person I really didn't like was Sam Snead," McRae says in this story by the Associated Press' Paul Newberry. "He was one of the nastiest guys that ever played golf."

Kevin Stadler's caddie dubbed them "the heavyweights," the burly grouping of Stadler, Brendon de Jonge and Shane Lowry in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open. They weren't all amused. "I think it's very cheeky of the USGA to do what they've done," Lowry said in this story by Nick Solari at NESN.com. "I don't think it's fair to the three of us. It's a mockery, to be honest."