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Heard on the Range
During a Wednesday practice round Darren Clarke had a hole in one on Whistling Straits' 223-yard 17th, prompting his caddie to yell, "Not today!" ... Pete Dye, who designed Whistling Straits, enjoyed his last round there. "I played two weeks ago with [course owner] Herb Kohler," Dye said, "I won some money off of him." ... Dye says the wind, which never blew more than 20 mph last week, can change the playing length of the 7,536-yard course by 1,000 yards.... During the second round Chris Riley asked Stephen Ames, one of his playing partners, if Ames had contributed to this year's purse at the annual caddie tournament on the 17th hole at Sawgrass during the Players Championship. The caddie tournament was won by Ames's brother, Robert. "No, I pay him enough," Ames replied. Feigning shock, Robert dropped Stephen's bag and said, "I quit." ... British Open champion Todd Hamilton and PGA Championship runner-up Justin Leonard are building houses at the Vaquero Club in Dallas. Touring pro Brian Watts and former Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw also live there.... The PGA of America is considering reducing the number of spots for club pros in the PGA field from 25 to 15.... When Margaret Shirley of Roswell, Ga., and Sun-Young Yoo of South Korea arrived at the 469-yard par-5 8th hole during the second round of the U.S. Women's Amateur, Yoo was just off the green with her second shot but holed her chip for eagle. In response Shirley drained a 40-footer to halve the hole. --J.G., Farrell Evans
COLOR PHOTO
DAVID BERGMAN (AMES)
OH, BROTHER Stephen Ames (right) didn't contribute to Robert's caddie winnings.
