Today's High Five: U.S. Open and other endings

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5. Martin Kaymer reminds me a lot of myself.

No, I'm not talking about his wire-to-wire victory in the U.S. Open, his incredible putting, his bunker play, his 310-yard drives, his good looks, his physique or his overflowing bank account.

I'm talking about his apparent disdain for using wedges around the greens. Like me (and many other high-handicappers), the man putts everything he possibly can.

On one hole, Kaymer could have tried a tricky chip from a tight lie over a bunker into a pin near the edge of the green. Instead, he actually putted backward through the fringe, leaving himself with a long par putt from off the green. He two-putted from there for a bogey, and seemed quite happy to get it.

With a huge lead over the field, he knew that the only way he could lose the tournament was by experiencing a few horrific holes. He knew that the best way to avoid that was to stick with the club he trusted most. I loved it because I do the exact same thing. (And not only when I am leading the U.S. Open.)

What I didn't love was Kaymer lapping the field. I dig fantastic finishes, and watching dramatic U.S. Open battles has become a Father's Day ritual. So Tiger being hurt, Phil stinking up Pinehurst, Rory failing to find any magic, Bubba missing the cut and everybody else being unwilling or unable to challenge Kaymer turned the tournament into the Who S. Open and ruined my Father's Day.

Ruined it, I say!

Actually, that's not close to being true. I had a lovely, relaxing day. Roberta, Simmie and I took a long walk and visited with some goats and a donkey at a nearby hobby farm. I saved nearly $40 on a $12 grocery store bill - I am not making this up! - and even received a $10 instant rebate for buying a $5 pie. That's right: They paid me 5 bucks for taking a key lime pie off their hands! Later, I thoroughly enjoyed the Copper River salmon I grilled on a cedar plank for dinner. (And pie for dessert!) Of course, I also took several moments to fondly recall my many happy times with my father, truly a great man.

Kaymer even saved an otherwise anticlimactic U.S. Open for me by putting from off the green - well off the green - on at least a dozen occasions.

The next time I'm playing with my buddies and they scoff at me for putting from 15 feet off the green, I'll just smile and say, "It worked for the Who S. Open champion!"

4. And speaking of anticlimactic, it sure would have been nice if the Heat had bothered showing up for the last three games of the NBA Finals.

You know what? Instead of totally ragging on the losing team, let's give a big thumbs-up to the winners.

The Spurs were the NBA's best all season and they underscored their dominance in the Finals. They are talented and savvy and well-coached and deeper than the Grand Canyon. They wore out LeBron & Co., outplayed them, outclassed them and outscored them by 20 points per game after the series was tied 1-1.

There was a lot of talk about players' legacies going into this series, specifically revolving around LeBron James and Tim Duncan.

Despite all the haters' blah-blah-blahing, LeBron's legacy is fine. He has won two titles, has carried two organizations to a total of five Finals appearances and already is one of the top 10 basketball players ever.

Duncan? You know, he's pretty good, too!

3. The U.S. Open and NBA Finals weren't the only things to end Sunday. I already miss Game of Thrones.

It might be time to put my HBO subscription on hiatus for a little while.

2. And while we're on the subject of endings, this weekend marked the end of my Little League umpiring season. 

Here in Charlotte, it is too hot and humid to make the kiddies play all summer, so they have spring and fall seasons.

I had a lot of fun in my first full season behind the plate and in the field. And hey, I only ejected one coach all year - and I let him hang around for at least three innings of whining longer than I should have.

My highlight: During a brief time-out while one of his teammates was tying a shoe, a 10-year-old catcher turned around and asked me: "Do you umpire MLB, too?"

I was so stunned, I didn't even have a clever retort. I probably even blushed. Umps don't get compliments very often, especially one quite like that!

1. The weekend's first ending, the L.A. Kings' clutch performance against the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final, served as a happy reminder of something that happened to me 20 years earlier.

That memory actually started 21 years ago, when Wayne Gretzky and the Kings lost in the 1993 Final to the Canadiens. I was the lead hockey writer for AP back then, and my coverage earned the Will Grimsley Award for best body of work.

Flash forward to '94. This time, the Rangers were in the Final, and prevailed over the Canucks in a thrilling seven-game series to break their 54-year championship drought.

About two weeks after covering that series, Roberta and I were flown to a resort in southern California, where I received my '93 award at the Associated Press Sports Editors conference. Because I happened to be the first AP writer called to the podium, I had the stage to myself for about a minute while my peers applauded.

Twenty years later, I still consider that minute to be the pinnacle of my AP career ... and one of the great things to happen to me in what I acknowledge has been a very lucky life.
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Today's High 5: Masters Edition

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1. ADAM SCOTT ... After his come-from-ahead loss at last year's British Open, I'm glad he won the Masters. I rarely feel sorry for professional athletes, and I didn't for Scott last year. Still, I don't think anybody should have to go through life mumbling forever about what might have been. So I guess what I'm saying is this: It's your turn next, Jean van de Velde!

2. ANGEL CABRERA ... He's kind of modern golf's Robert Horry, ordinary in regular tournaments but clutch in the majors, especially the Masters. He also looks like he must be a great drinking buddy. Hard not to root for Angel.

3. JASON DAY ... I didn't mention him in my previous post about Best Never to Have Won a Major, but I probably should have because this Aussie has been dancing near the top of the major leaderboards for a few years now. He's only 25, he's immensely talented and it's only a matter of time before he wins one of these things, right? Of course, I was saying the same about Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter in the not-too-distant past.

4 (tie). MARC LEISHMAN ... The third of the three Aussies in the tournament's top 4, and the biggest hitter of them all. I had never heard of him before the Masters started. The question now is if we'll ever hear from him again.

4 (tie). TIGER WOODS ... I spent much of Sunday afternoon talking to my TV, as the announcers kept speculating about what Tiger needed to do "on the back 9" or "on the last 7 holes" or "on 13, 14 and 15" or "over the last three holes" or "at 17 and 18" to have a chance to win. I kept saying, "Stop it! He's not winning!" But they didn't stop it. It was as if they were Eldrick addicts and couldn't help themselves.

Look, I get it. Tiger is golf's meal ticket. Any tournament, especially any major, is more interesting when he's legitimately in contention. This was more than that, though. The announcers practically were begging him to make birdies and eagles. "Pretty, pretty please!" Enough!!

Tiger was victimized over the weekend by one horrible break and then by his own breaking of the rules. Mostly, however, he was victimized by poor shotmaking on the Sunday of a major -- a familiar theme during what is now an almost five-year stretch of zero victories in golf's biggest events. Since July 2008, you've won as many majors as Tiger has.

While it's true that lots of other golfers also haven't won any of golf's last 19 majors, Tiger Woods isn't supposed to be "lots of other golfers." And lots of other golfers don't measure their success by major victories and only major victories.

I'll believe Tiger is back as soon as he does on the Sunday of a major what he used to do with regularity on the Sunday of a major.
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