SRN News

1. Ko, Henderson look to carry rivalry into US Women’s Open

   SAN MARTIN, Calif. (AP) — There is very little separating the top two women’s golfers in the world in Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson.

   The two teenage sensations have won the past three majors heading into this week’s U.S. Women’s Open with the 19-year-old Ko taking two and the 18-year-old Henderson following last month with a thrilling playoff victory over Ko in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Washington that could set the stage for a heated rivalry for years to come.

   Fittingly, the two will be together when this year’s third major starts at the U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle on Thursday, less than 100 miles south of San Francisco. Ko and Henderson will play the first two rounds with 21-year-old Lexi Thompson, who is ranked fourth in the world, in the marquee group of the tournament.

   “It’s great to watch them both on the golf course and their attitudes and just their demeanors on the golf course,” Thompson said. “They’re aggressive players, and just consistent overall. You can’t really even find a weakness in their game, and that’s why they’re so good.”

   The top three ranked players in the tournament — third-ranked Inbee Park will miss the Open because of a thumb injury — will face stiff competition in the 156-player field that includes nine previous champions, including last year’s winner, In Gee Chun.

   Other winners include Michelle Wie (2014), Na Yeon Choi (2012), Paula Creamer (2010), Eun-Hee Ji (2009), Cristie Kerr (2007), So Yeon Ryu (2011), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001) and Se Ri Pak (1998).

   This will be the final U.S. tournament for Pak before she plans to retire. Her win at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin 18 years ago helped spark the recent South Korean dominance of the LPGA Tour. Seven of the last 11 winners of the U.S. Open have come from South Korea.

   “After I came and after I start winning, I have this great success, everybody was thinking, I can do that,” Pak said. “Giving a lot of confidence, built confidence for them. So they’re here, they make it a dream, they make it possible. So I think I was part of it.”

   But when the tournament starts, much of the focus will be on Ko and Henderson, who hope to build off the drama they staged last month when Henderson tracked down Ko in the final round with a long eagle putt and a tough par before winning in a playoff by coolly stuffing her approach into 3 feet.

   That gave Henderson her first career major as she tries to match Ko, who had won the previous two with her victory at the ANA Inspiration earlier this year after winning the Evian Championship in 2015.

   “Lydia Ko is amazing,” Henderson said. “She’s an inspiration to all of us girls out here, and I think everyone in the world, basically. She’s done amazing things in her career and she’s only a couple months older than I am.”

   Henderson followed that up with her third career tour win when she repeated as champion at the Cambia Portland Classic for her third career win and can surpass Ko as the youngest player with two majors with a win this week.

   This marks just the third time the U.S. Women’s Open has been played in California and this is the highest-profile event to be played at the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course that opened in 1999. The course, located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, plays as a par 72 over 6,784 yards, although it could be a bit shorter this week depending on tee locations.

   The course finishes with a par-5, 528-yard hole that features a water hazard near the green and the possibility of trying to reach the green in two shots for players looking to close a gap on the final day.

   The tournament is also the final one to determine who will qualify for the Olympics next month. The top 15 players in the world rankings will all be eligible with a limit of four for any country. South Korea is the only country with more than two players currently in the top 15. The rest of the 60-player field will be determined by world rankings with a limit of two players per country.

   Among the players looking to qualify for Rio de Janeiro this week are Webb, who has extended her Hall of Fame career in hopes of making the Olympics. With Minjee Lee having secured one of Australia’s spots, Webb likely must finish at least in the top 10 to have any chance to pass Su Oh for the other.

   
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2. Tupelo mayor gives city’s version of fatal police shooting

   TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — Tupelo’s mayor is laying out the city’s version of events in a June 18 fatal police shooting that has roiled northeast Mississippi’s largest city.

   Mayor Jason Shelton said Wednesday that Officer Tyler Cook shot 37-year-old Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert because he feared for his life as Shumpert assaulted him and said the shooting came after Shumpert disobeyed police orders.

   Shelton says a police dog did not bite Shumpert in the groin and police didn’t knock out his teeth, as a lawyer for Shumpert’s family has contended.

   The mayor says he wants to let the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation finish its inquiry, but says the city needed to tell its version of events because the family lawyer is spreading untruths.

   The shooting followed a traffic stop and foot chase. Cook is white. Shumpert was black.

   
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3. Girl allegedly groped on flight seeks $10M from airline

   PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The lawyer for a 13-year-old girl who told police she was groped on a flight to Portland, Oregon, seeks $10 million in a federal lawsuit against American Airlines and the passenger accused of the crime.

   Attorney Brent Goodfellow filed the suit Tuesday in Portland, alleging the June incident caused his client extreme fear and psychological trauma.

   American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller says the company is reviewing the lawsuit while continuing to cooperate with an FBI investigation.

   The suspect, 26-year-old Chad Camp, remains in a Portland jail after pleading not guilty to abusive sexual contact.

   Authorities have said an attendant on the Dallas-to-Portland flight was delivering snacks when she noticed Camp’s hand in the victim’s crotch area. She saw the girl shed a single tear and quickly separated the two.

   A witness said Camp consumed at least four mixed drinks shortly before the flight.

   
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4. VP Biden to travel to Latvia over the summer

   WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Latvia over the summer in what is likely one of his last foreign trips as vice president.

   Biden spoke on Wednesday to Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis. The White House says Biden accepted an invitation from Vejonis to visit the country during the conversation.

   Biden has traveled frequently to the Baltic states to reassure them of U.S. support in light of Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine, another country on Russia’s border. The White House says Biden told Vejonis that the U.S. has an “unshakeable” commitment to the Baltic nations’ security.

   
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5. Georgia prosecutor drops crash case against trucking firm

   SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia prosecutor says he’s dropped the criminal case against a trucking company charged in a deadly interstate crash last year that killed five nursing students.

   Tom Durden is district attorney for southeast Georgia’s Atlantic Judicial Circuit. He said Wednesday that he agreed to waive an indictment charging Total Transportation of Mississippi with vehicular homicide and other crimes. Durden says the company in turn is spending $200,000 to establish a nonprofit organization that provides financial aid for nursing students. Durden called the outcome “a lot better than a fine” against the company.

   Total Transportation was the employer of John Wayne Johnson, the driver of a tractor-trailer that slammed into stop-and-go traffic on Interstate 16 in April 2015. Five Georgia Southern University nursing students died.

   Johnson still faces charges.

   
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