Sue Devils
THE STRANGE case of Andrew Giuliani's dismissal from the Duke golf team and his subsequent lawsuit against the university and coach O.D. Vincent comes down to one question: Did a new coach, looking to reduce an unwieldy 14-man roster, take inappropriate action, or did the kid who made a mockery of his father's first inauguration wear out his welcome? The answers are murky. As of this week there were only seven players listed on the Duke roster, and junior Brian Kim tells SI, "There was an effort to reduce the size of the team, but you have to talk to Coach if you want to know more about that. It's his team." Vincent was unavailable for comment, but Kim characterizes the coach as "probably the fairest guy ever. He's been open to all of us." Meanwhile, Kim says Giuliani was "rude, impolite and a disturbance to our team." Kim would know, since he is the teammate at whom Giuliani now famously threw an apple, which, according to the lawsuit, was one of the incidents used to justify Giuliani's dismissal. "That happened after a series of events, of him being rude to me and talking to me a certain way," Kim says, "and when I finally told him I didn't appreciate it, he took it as a joke. It was two college kids getting heated, and we both did things wrong." Giuliani says that Kim initially expressed support by calling him a "great guy" in an e-mail to the coach. Giuliani also says he apologized for any misbehavior, none of which was severe enough to warrant his dismissal. A nonscholarship player, Giuliani claims he has lost his access to Duke's practice range and that his pro prospects have been damaged. But the Duke facilities are open to the public (although there is an area reserved for the teams and their alumni). Giuliani, who missed Monday qualifying for the '05 Barclays by one shot, was 12th of the 14 Duke players in stroke average (74.5) last year. "It you want to be a pro, playing in college doesn't really matter," says Kim. "You either shoot the scores or you don't."
• DID SOMEONE forget to give Chez Reavie the script? The 26-year-old rookie, who came in ranked 362nd in the world, was supposed to wilt on Sunday at the Canadian Open, thus clearing the way for the coronation of Anthony Kim. But Reavie shot a cool 70 for a 17-under 270 and a two-shot win worth $900,000. Reavie became the 15th player in 33 events this year to win without breaking 70 in the final round.... The highest-ranked player in the European tour's Russian Open was Marcus Brier of Austria, who stood 115th, and 48 of the players in the field were ranked below 1,000 or unranked altogether. Still, John Daly, coming off an 89 in the second round of the British Open and struggling with shoulder and rib injuries, shot 70--73 and missed the cut. Mikael Lundberg of Sweden won (21-under 267), but at least Big John beat the event's two other headliners: Yevgeni Kafelnikov, a two-time major winner—in tennis (1996 French Open and '99 Australian Open)—who put up an 89--80, and Montreal Canadiens right wing Alexei Kovalev, who shot 99--85.
Get news, scores and photos from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at GOLF.com.
"The golf is O.K., the experience is one not to miss."
—PEPPER MILL, PAGE G24
KEY STAT 83
Chez Reavie's scrambling percentage at the Canadian Open, tops in the field.
HE SAID | HE SAID
Do the Tour's top two Canadians consider themselves rivals?
"At this stage, no. We're always wanting for either one of us to play well and supporting one another."
—STEPHEN AMES
"I think with every player out here there's a rivalry. Yeah, so I think there's probably some. I'll leave it at that."
—MIKE WEIR
PHOTO
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/KEYSTONE/AP (ALFREDSSON)
GUN SHOW Helen Alfredsson, 43, threw a flex after coming from behind to beat Na Yeon Choi on the third playoff hole at the Evian Masters. She became the first Solheim Cup captain to win after helming a team.
PHOTO
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (AMES)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (WEIR)