Bramlett working on historic Q-School showing

Photo by Tracy Wilcox

Joseph Bramlett during the final stage of 2010 PGA Tour Q-School.

Joseph Bramlett brushed the face of his putter with his left hand before he settled into his putting stance. When he slipped into his pre-shot routine it’s as if he’s entered a trance. I haven’t seen a player with his intense concentration since – dare I say it – Tiger Woods.

“That’s been my routine my whole life,” Bramlett said. “Every shot means a lot to me. I’m not going to hit a shot if I’m not 100 percent into it. I love this game so I’m going to put everything into it.”

At the halfway point of the 2010 PGA Tour Qualifying School finals, Bramlett, 22, is 5-under after a 69 in the third round. A three-putt from 25 feet at the last hole dropped him to T-27.

Photo Gallery

PGA Qualifying School (Rd. 3)

Images from Friday's round of PGA Qualifying School at Orange County National. Ben Martin is the leader after Round 3.

The top 25 finishers Monday, plus ties, earn full status on the PGA Tour for 2011.

Comparisons to Woods have followed Bramlett for as long as he can remember because of the color of his skin. Bramlett’s parents are of mixed race like Woods. But the comparisons are more than skin deep. Bramlett was recognized for his prodigious talent even before he became the youngest at the time to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at age 14. Like Woods, he attended Stanford, and he plays the same Nike clubs as his idol (though Bramlett is not a paid endorser). Growing up Bramlett received a Tiger Woods poster for Christmas that he pinned to his wall.

“Tiger has inspired me,” Bramlett said

Like Woods, Bramlett began playing the game as soon as he could stand on two feet. He said his father handed him a plastic club that he dragged around “chasing the cat.” Before long, he was hitting balls on a soccer field at the local community college near his home in Saratoga, Calif. Bramlett’s road to golf success took a detour in college after he helped Stanford win the NCAA men’s team championship in 2007. Hobbled by a pair of wrist injuries, he was sidelined for the better part of two years. With a clean bill of health, he resumed playing again in February.?Bramlett graduated from Stanford on a Sunday and then drove down to Pebble Beach that night in preparation for his first U.S. Open. There, he played practice rounds with Woods.

Bramlett turned professional after an impressive amateur swansong, winning the Northeast Amateur and advancing to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur. In his first crack at Q-School, Bramlett cruised through the early stages, tying for fourth at second stage at Bayonet and guaranteeing him at least conditional status on the Nationwide Tour next season.

Bramlett didn’t tiptoe around the topic of becoming the first black to make it through Q-School in 25 years. He’s acutely aware of the long drought and knows something deeper is at stake.

“I’d love to do it,” he said, a half-smile on his face.

Bramlett said he read the Golfweek article on Adrian Stills, who survived the 6-round slugfest to earn his Tour card for the 1986 season, and that it helped Bramlett put a name and face to his quest.

“I knew it had been a while since an African-American made it, frankly too long,” he said.

He stopped, and with modesty verging on grace, shifted the focus from his own pursuit.

“There’s a lot of us up-and-coming right now,” Bramlett said, ticking off the names of his fellow black contemporaries he thinks will make it. “If not this week, then (it’ll) certainly (happen) down the road.”

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here

Historic win puts Nikki Haley in South Carolina's top seat

In a state where "you're not from around here" can be both an inquiry and an accusation, Republican Nikki Haley connected with S.C. voters through biography and policies to overcome history and become the state's first woman and first minority governor.

Haley took Horry County by a large margin, winning about 64 percent of the vote over state Sen. Vincent Sheheen's 34 percent. The margin was tighter in Georgetown County, where Haley held 53 percent to Sheheen's 45 percent with all votes being counted except provisional and other special ballots. Statewide, Haley won by about 52 percent to Sheheen's 46 percent in a contest that flipped between the candidates by the minute Tuesday night.

Haley is a three-term House member who campaigned as a political outsider and earned the backing of Sarah Palin.

The 38-year-old married mother becomes the nation's second Indian American governor.

Haley, whose national profile rose quickly after the primary victory, becomes a significant figure on the national political scene. South Carolina is the first southern state in the presidential primary circuit and potential Republican candidates for the 2012 White House already are beating paths across the landscape as they donated to her campaign.

Voters found a lot to like in Haley, which proved insurmountable for Democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen when coupled with a national political climate favoring Republicans. Haley's pledges to rein in state spending, reject federal assistance and fight to the U.S. Supreme Court a recently enacted health-care law appealed to many.

Several Grand Strand voters framed their vote for Haley as a vote against the Obama administration, despite it being a state election.

"Her political views are good. She's republican, and we need to get rid of the administration. We need to do anything to defeat them," said Vicky Hing, after casting her vote at the Cavalry Bible School near Socastee.

Haley's gender also appeals to Hing, who said that running the state is like running a household.

"I don't think the egos get in the way as much as with men," she said.

Tina Blue, who also cast her vote at Cavalry Bible School, said she liked Sheheen's views and experience, but that life would go on if Sheheen lost.

"It's an election and the majority will speak and if I'm not part of that majority then so be it," said Blue who also cast her vote at Cavalry Bible School.

Haley was a disciplined, natural candidate who could connect in person and in advertising.

Pam Shumway, 68 of McCormick, said she first saw Haley at April's Tea Party rally, footage of which ended up in her campaign commercials. More than six months later, Shumway, welling with pride, was clasping Haley's hands, astonished the Lexington state representative was about to win the governorship.

"She was well-spoken," Shumway said. "She had a message that made me say out loud, 'Yes!'"

Haley's push to require more roll-call legislative votes was a symbol of the way that she would lead government, said Shumway.

"It was so courageous, this little woman up there."

Jennifer Edwards, 28, was clutching one of the pink Haley campaign T-shirts with the Margaret Thatcher quote on the back at an Aiken rally last week. Edwards studied candidate websites during the primary, eventually choosing Haley. She said she found inspiration in her vote and rejected an unproven accusation by two Columbia men that they had an extramarital affair with Haley.

"She's a strong woman," Edwards said . "Those are just attacks. ... I don't think it's credible."

Staff writer Jake Spring, McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here