Weekend winners
Si Woo Kim. He became the youngest winner of The Players Championship and adds another name to the global youth movement in the game. He’s 21 and he just made roughly $2 million for a weekend of golf. That’s pretty sweet. (Seriously, at 21, we were lucky to be out of bed and to the Waffle House by noon. Ah, college.) More importunely for S.W. Kim, his demeanor and poise down the stretch Sunday was impressive. His short game – he hit only seven of 18 greens and managed to get up and down from seemingly everywhere – was other worldly.
John Wall. The growing and emerging Washington Wizards star delivered a true moment with a game-winner in a lose-or-go-home Game 6 Friday night. Washington at Boston in Game 7 tonight. (Side note: The home team is 10-0 between those two in the regular and postseason.)
Bryce Harper. It’s good to be the king. Harper gets more than $20 million – the largest one-year payday for an arbitration-eligible player – and maybe the Nationals get a little good faith before he hits the open market after the 2018 season. Or maybe not. Considering the following factors: a) his agent is Scott Boras; b) because he entered the league so you, Harper will be 26 when he hits free agency, meaning he’s just hitting his prime rather than just passing it; and c) the New York Yankees will be in full “win-now-mode” after 2018, here’s betting Harper’s starting point is around that 10-year, $450 million neighborhood. And friends, that’s a very nice neighborhood.
Mitchell Trubisky. Hey, we all hated the trade the Bears made to move one spot for a guy who they almost assuredly would have had if they stayed put. That’s bad drafting because of the loss of value. But if Trubisky becomes a legit NFL starting QB, that’s still relative value. And, while this has nothing to do with his pocket presence, his ability to go to his third or fourth read or whether he can throw a 35-yard out before his receiver breaks into the wind in November in Chicago, we thought this was a cool story. And a great way to get off on the right foot inside the organization and with a reluctant fan base. Trubisky, when interviewed by the Bears, promised the brass he’d show up in grandmother’s used Camry, which has more than 170,000 miles when he reported for mini-camp. And he did.