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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Colin Montgomerie on nearly becoming an agent, escaping his first American college and more
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The 153rd British Open attracted some 280,000 fans to Royal Portrush Golf Club, where the breezes off the Atlantic Ocean were cooling and calming for most of the Championship. You never know who you will see at the majors. World Golf Hall of Fame member Colin Montgomerie, who played in the Open 22 times and finished second in 2005, was waving the flag for whiskey maker Loch Lomond, the official spirit of the Open Championship. "We produce a special Open edition," Montgomerie explained. "I think the tagline, 'the Spirit of the Open,' is great, and the relationship has grown and grown. Whiskey and golf are Scotland's two great exports, really. We got the home of golf, and with the home of whiskey and they were very proud of both of those exports to the world and nice for me to be associated with both of them, really, golf and whisky." The now 62-year-old Scot, an eight-time Order of Merit champion on the DP World Tour, was kind enough to take some time to answer a wide array of questions from Golfweek. GWK: What is your favorite links course? CM: The best links course in Britain is Turnberry. By, I think, a wide margin and it's such a shame that the Open isn't there, you know, it's difficult. But it's been redone and redone, and now it's seventh and eighth holes have changed again, and it's fantastic. GWK: Do you have a favorite Open championship venue? CM: Has to be St. Andrews. I'm not talking at all about the golf course. I'm talking about the town, the university, the whole field, the whole sense of occasion, the romance of it, the romance of St Andrews is very special. It's knowing that everyone's done it and everyone will do it after you. It's a very special occasion. It's amazing how these guys back in 1800 and something designed something that still is being played to this day, when the game is so different than what it was. GWK: I was telling a friend back in the States that I was going to be chatting with you, and he wanted me to ask you what prompted you to leave New Mexico Military Institute and go to Houston Baptist University? CM: It was less than 10 days. It was a good 48 hours. Unfortunately, it was more military than I was expecting. My roommate managed to get me out to the local Greyhound station in Roswell, New Mexico. The Greyhound bus took me up to Albuquerque about 200 miles through the night and my father said get the first flight to a major American city. There were four flights that morning. There was San Francisco, L.A., Houston or Dallas, and the first flight was Houston. So, I picked it. I land in Houston, and a long story short, it was through a member of my golf club in West Yorkshire, the vicar, actually. He worked with Alan Shepard, the astronaut, and all the people who used to come over from NASA in Houston to train with our Royal Air Force. A friend of a friend of a friend made a call and suddenly Houston Baptist University sprung up because Alan Shepard knew the athletic director, a guy called Ed Billings, lovely fella, and of course, he knew the golf coach there, and the golf coach came to the hotel I was staying at, the Doubletree Inn in Houston. I was a walk-on for the first year, so I didn't get a scholarship as such; I had to earn my right, which I did, and then the next three years I was on the team, you know, with the scholarship. So it was a bizarre story but it wasn't as easy then as it is now for foreign students to be recruited. In my day, back in the very early 80s, you were on your own, so it was difficult. So that's how that worked. GWK: Tell me about the time period where you considered attempting to be an agent rather than a professional golfer? CM: I was finishing my degree at Houston Baptist University. It's now Houston Christian University. I graduated in May '87. So it was a year before I graduated, and I wanted to explore what I wanted to do for a career. And the Open was at Turnberry in '86. I'd asked IMG for an interview to try and be an agent to use my degree, which was a marketing degree, and market the likes of Nick Price, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Corey Pavin, Ray Floyd. I think the big three was still in operation, and all IMG clients. And so I thought this was great, and I would work in the Texas area and try and get deals and to try and become an agent. So, two executives, one, Ian Todd, who was the president of IMG, and Peter German, who's still working for IMG, I believe he's in his 80s now, asked me to join them for the back nine at Turnberry. This is the Monday after the Open finished, so the pins are in the same positions, you know how it goes. I drove my mom's car, I'll never forget, out to the lighthouse at Turnberry and played the back nine in with them. I treated it like a job interview so I watched my Ps and Q's. You say yes or no, sir. You know, a job interview, right? And I wasn't interested in the golf. We were just playing nine holes. Anyway, started at the 10th and made birdie and I think I chipped in at 11, and then I sort of hole a bunker shot at 13 and long story short, I hole a good putt at the last for a three and came back in 29. 6-under par! And they looked at each other on the green, and we all shook hands and I was expecting to be told, 'Well, we'll be in touch' sort of thing, you know? And they said, "Well, Colin, you're not going to work for us. We're going to work for you." And that was it. And this is why that nine holes is the reason I'm speaking to you now. I come from a very sort of conservative background, which amateur golf was the key. The Walker Cup was more important than the Ryder Cup. I gave pro golf two years and let's see how it goes. I got my card and then I joined IMG immediately afterwards, and they've looked after me and here we are ever since, I'm still with them. So, we all have that two hours in our life or right time, right place, in your life, or whatever — you might meet your partner — this was my time for life to change. GWK: What made you such a great Ryder Cup player? CM: I was born with great ambition, right? As we all are, I suppose, you know, we're ambitious to succeed in everything. The truth is I hated to lose much more than I liked to win. Winning was winning, it was OK, but like Scottie Scheffler has been saying recently about winning, it's OK, but what's next, you know? And that was me. I won the odd event, but what was next? So I didn't really celebrate the wins, but I hated the losses. So, I suppose that drove me at the Ryder Cup. I also putted very well in the Ryder Cup. A good match player is a good putter, right? And I always was at the Ryder Cup, I always hit the ball a foot harder on the greens. Now I'm going to give a tip to anyone that might be reading this: If you hit the ball a foot harder on the greens, it's amazing how many go in. And I had that freedom in the Ryder Cup because it was match play. If it didn't work, I lost the hole. But in stroke playing, if I had three putted, it was a bogey and it was, oh God, the next hole got to get this back, it was more of an issue. GWK: Why do you think the Europeans do better in the Ryder Cup? CM: That's a question that everybody would love to answer, and I suppose the Americans would love to answer, too, because they would do it, you know, more. I mean, our success is beyond our world rankings. We shouldn't have had the success we had. We go into the Ryder Cup always as underdogs on the basis of world ranking points. And yet we've won more than we've lost over the last 15-20 Ryder Cups. And why? I think we've got this good mentality where we're playing for each other. We sort of played as a team, you know? When I was captain in 2010, I always felt it was great that everyone on my team contributed at least half a point to the victory, and that was good for them. They contributed, so they felt that they had helped their teammates, and their teammates had helped them. And I think that's the main thing, I think we really had this this family feel. Financially, it was very important for us to win. The might of the American tour could cope with the odd Ryder Cup loss but the European Tour was struggling financially. So it was important that we could do as well as we did. I think it was that team ethos, whereby we played for each other. We came together, we left our egos at the door, hit them up on the way out, that type of feel. GWK: What's your theory on why Phil and Tiger had pedestrian records in the Ryder Cup? CM: Well, Tiger's single record was very good because he's on his own. But it was always difficult to partner him. Back in 1993, when Nick Faldo was No. 1 in the world, we were partners and his ball was stamped Faldo on the side and it was his ball, of course. I think the same happened with America. I think Tiger wasn't changing his golf ball. You played Tiger's ball. And it said, Tiger on it. And you start thinking, hang on, I better not lose this, better not put this in a bush. I think a lot of the people playing with Tiger, I think they probably froze or didn't play to their ability or didn't play to their potential. I found that difficult with Nick, where it was his ball. And I felt like an understudy. Oh, I was an understudy. I was almost a rookie. So it's difficult for that. And I think that was a reason. And playing with Phil must have had that feeling as well, and it was difficult to find a partner for them both that would cope with the pressure because you go out with Tiger, you're expected to win. He's the best. And it's sometimes difficult if you're expected to win, it's the hardest thing to do. Expectation is the hardest thing to do in sport to win. GWK: What's the hero shot that you think back on where you pulled it off to win a tournament and had that incredible feeling of, yes, I did it? CM: I've got one plaque in the world. It's in the Middle East, it's in Dubai at the Emirates Club. In 1996, I was leading by one on the last hole against Miguel Angel Jimenez, and at the time I had a 6-iron in my hand to lay up short of the lake guarding the green. It was into the wind, and of course, 1996, the balls and the clubs weren't going quite as far as they do now. My caddie, Alistair McLean, wanted me to lay up, and then I'd still have a chance to make birdie. I asked him, 'So, how far is it?' He told me 223 and that I'm not going to make it with a 3-wood, I'd have to use a driver. I said, 'Christ, hang on.' I put my driver behind the ball and had a look at it, it looked OK. I could do it, you know? And, so he said, "Right, we'll go for it." And it was a terrible risk because it could have gone horribly wrong. It just happened to come out of the middle of the bat. Luckily, it was high and it stopped within 8 feet of the hole hitting driver off the deck. They put a plaque there for me. Canon, the camera-maker, used to sponsor our shot of the year and it won for 1996. So I was proud of that. GWK: Opposite end of the spectrum, what were you thinking at the last hole at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open when you made double bogey to lose? CM: It was just it was just one of those things. I'm convinced that that shot, if I played it in real time I'd have won the U.S. Open. I had to wait for my playing partner, Vijay Singh, who had hit it left of left into two hospitality tents and needed a drop. Anyway, long story short, it took nine minutes, I was told, it felt an hour, but it took nine minutes to play his second shot. Meanwhile, yours truly is on the fairway wanting to play. It was a 7-iron, then it was a 6-iron, then it was a 7-iron. It was almost impossible for nine minutes to be positive all that time. And I just unfortunately caught it slightly heavy and put it in position Z, right bunker in front of the green, and it was an awful place. And yes, if there was one shot I'd love back, it was that one, but at the same time you've got to play 72 holes and not just 71 of them, I'm afraid. Nowadays, I think I would have just gone up and actually hit it. There's no penalty for hitting when you feel it's appropriate to do so, there's no penalty for it. You're just trying to play by the etiquette of the game that it's his shot first. But actually, I wish I could go back and just walk up to my ball and hit 7-iron below the hole. It was almost too easy. The pin was on the right-hand side, I faded the ball, so, it was almost easier to birdie the hole than it was to make a six, you know? But there you go. GWK: Why were you considered by the media to be one of the best interviews in golf on Tuesday and Wednesday but tough to deal with after the bell rang? CM: I was just in my job, I suppose. If I have a regret, I would love to go back and be less impatient. I wanted it too much, I wanted success for me, for my family, and I wanted to progress in life and give them a lifestyle and myself as well. If I went back, I'd loved to be more patient and that would have made me a little less heated on the golf course, if you like, or, you know, that pressurized way that I used to play, you know? I wish I was slightly more relaxed. GWK: I know you won that the Accenture Match Play when it was an 'unofficial' tournament in the U.S, but did it bother you that you didn't get an official PGA Tour win? CM: I suppose. You know, they always say, oh, he never won in America and all this sort of stuff. I did OK in Europe. I beat a few of them, and I mean, I did win that match play. You know, I beat Davis Love in the final and Ernie Els in the semifinal. I count that as a victory because they were better than I was. It was nice, to put it this way, to finally achieve it in my 50s at the Senior PGA Championship. I was 51 at the time, 2014, when I won at Benton Harbor. It meant a lot to me to actually get that monkey off of my back, if you know what I mean, but, yeah, hey, you've got to be fortunate as well to win. It's not easy. GWK: If you had one last round, where would you want it to be? CM: My home club, Sunningdale (in England). That's where we live and it's the most beautiful walk. Forget the golf — almost. It makes you want to borrow a couple of Labrador dogs and carry a bag around and just love the walk more than the game of golf. Sunningdale is a beautiful spot. It's our Pine Valley, really, and that's the highest compliment I can give it.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Blue Origin successfully launches latest human flight from West Texas
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — After a week's delay, space technology company Blue Origin successfully launched its latest human crewed New Shepard flight on Sunday, June 29 from its launch facility outside of Van Horn, Texas. Last week, the crewed flight was scrubbed twice because of windy weather. Sunday's New Shepard flight — named after legendary astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to travel into space — was the company's 13th human space flight and 33rd overall for the program. Including Sunday's flight, New Shepard has flown 70 people to space, including four who have flown twice. New Shepard is Blue Origin's fully resusable, suborbital rocket system built for human flight. During the 11-minute flight, astronauts travel past the Karman line — 62 miles up and the internationally recognized boundary of space. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Western convocation moves to Canada Life Place
Western University has begun a week of convocation ceremonies in a new location. For the first time, graduates are walking across the stage at Canada Life Place (CLP). Officials say the move will better accommodate graduates and their families. 'You couldn't tell the difference from Alumni Hall, to be honest. It's actually, I would say, better. Even the AV system, the speaker system, is fantastic,' said Alan Shepard, the president of Western University. School logos surround the venue, and a portion of Dundas Place has been transformed into a hub for all things purple and white. WESTERN GRADUATION 2025 Canada Life Place hosted a Western University convocation ceremony on June 9, 2025. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London) Downtown restaurants and hotels are thrilled that 6,700 grads and their families are spending in the core. Western confirms ceremonies will continue downtown until a new or revitalized venue opens on campus. No timeline has been set. 'It requires some kind of either change to Alumni Hall or a different facility and we are trying to work through all those options now,' said Shepard. Shepard added that his team is 'gearing up for a campaign' this year. He also did not rule out remaining at CLP long-term.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Classic Steak Breakfast NASA Astronauts Eat Before Going To Space
Astronauts are like athletes; they have to train for their NASA mission at hand, and that starts with what they put in their bodies. Before blasting off in a rocket headed for space, astronauts need a breakfast fit for explorers. Enter steak and eggs. This protein-rich duo became the last meal ritual for cosmo travelers when, in 1961, American astronaut Alan Shepard became the first human to leave the Earth's atmosphere aboard the Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, to experience those zero Gs. Low in fiber but filling and satiating, this meal doesn't disrupt the body's constitution, meaning an astronaut like Shepard can skip the bathroom for the 15 minutes it takes to reach space. This isn't necessarily the case with a tropical kale smoothie or your favorite espresso drink, thanks to the diuretic properties of this morning brew. In fact, Shepard couldn't have coffee starting 24 hours prior to liftoff. But steak and eggs wasn't Shepard's idea. It was chosen by Beatrice Finkelstein of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory and set the standard for over six decades. Today, steak eggs is still the go-to breakfast for astronauts before launching up into the heavens. Read more: 9 Meats You Should And 5 You Shouldn't Buy From Costco And Why As beloved as steak and eggs is, this culinary power couple is not uniquely American; it hails from Australia, and it is considered this country's national dish. However, it is a combo that America quickly embraced. In the 1940s, as World War II was in full swing, this decadent meal fueled the military and was adopted by the United States Marines. It was a special meal troops would wolf down before an invasion. While steak and eggs is the pregaming meal astronauts eat before leaving the ground, the food that they initially ate in space was not as lovely. Their space pantry items had to have an extended shelf life, which meant eating foods like those that have been freeze-dried or irradiated. Since those early decades, NASA's food approach has shifted, and space explorers have taken everything from pizza to a bacon sandwich; Apollo 11 astronauts ate Stouffer's meals during 'moon quarantine.' However, there is one food that generally doesn't make it into an astronaut's food supply: bread. It leaves crumbs that can wreak havoc if it gets on equipment. Instead, they opt for tortillas if they need a carb fix. Hungry for more? Sign up for the free Daily Meal newsletter for delicious recipes, cooking tips, kitchen hacks, and more, delivered straight to your inbox. Read the original article on The Daily Meal.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CNX Releases Updated 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report, Announces Shift to Industry-Leading ESG Reporting
PITTSBURGH, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) today announced the release of its updated Corporate Sustainability Report featuring data for 2024. Additionally, continuing the Company's unprecedented brand of transparency and in a move further differentiating CNX's environmental performance and disclosures, the Company also announced that it will no longer issue a static annual report. Instead, CNX will update its website continuously and its ESG Performance Scorecard data on a quarterly basis. Upcoming quarterly updates will provide stakeholders with fresh data in a more real-time manner on critical environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics. "While most companies issue sustainability reports just once a year and move on, having checked the annual box, CNX believes that this information should be provided on a more real-time and transparent basis in keeping with our Radical Transparency philosophy. We also believe that ESG metrics should be treated with the same rigor and frequency as financial data," CNX Chief Financial Officer Alan Shepard said. "By making these changes, CNX is empowering shareholders and the communities where it operates with the ability to better track progress and hold the company accountable in real time. Providing access to a dynamic ESG disclosure process underscores CNX's dedication to continuous improvement and Radical Transparency across our business." CNX's reporting is prepared following the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and integrates ESG priorities into its unique Appalachia First strategic vision. Highlights for 2024 include: Environmental Stewardship: CNX's efforts to protect and improve the environment are revolutionary and unmatched: Radical Transparency – Creating Mutual Trust through Facts and Data: As CNX's novel Radical Transparency program advances across operating areas, results from continuous monitoring by Clean Air Engineering demonstrate CNX site-level emissions are far below nationally-designated air quality standards. Importantly, no sustained levels of asthma-inducing PM2.5 or cancer-causing BTEX have been observed during any phase of development. Within the first year of the Radical Transparency program, hundreds of thousands of datapoints were collected, simultaneously reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and transparently posted on the CNX website. The number of sites equipped with monitoring equipment continues to grow, with active and archived sites contributing to the real-time feed of air data, in addition to water and chemical data. Bold Greenhouse Gas Reductions: Appalachian natural gas boasts the nation's lowest methane intensity of all producing regions, and CNX takes these qualities to the next level through its Emission Reduction Task Force that is continuously innovating to further reduce emissions. CNX reduced methane intensity by nearly 30 percent in its production segment compared to 2023. With a parallel mission to reduce methane in its midstream segment, CNX invested $5 million into new technologies, including switching to electric-driven pumps at the Mamont Compressor Station in Westmoreland County, PA. Pioneering Waste Methane Capture: CNX captured approximately 9.1 million metric tons of waste methane CO₂e. Importantly, the U.S. Treasury recognized the value that captured waste coal mine methane presents as a feedstock for clean hydrogen production in their final tax credit rules (45V). CNX is encouraged by this milestone and remains committed to advocating for opportunities to fully realize the benefits this ultra-low-carbon-intensity fuel source can unlock in the Appalachian region and beyond. Innovation and Partnerships: Last year was another year of differentiation at CNX, advancing oilfield services solutions that provide cost, safety, and environmental efficiencies for the industry. CNX launched the AutoSepSM Technologies (AutoSep) joint venture with Deep Well Services (DWS), which introduced an automated flowback system for the completions process that leverages CNX's technical development capabilities with the service quality standard DWS also reached compressed natural gas (CNG) milestones during 2024, notably completing the first full year of deploying CNG-fueled water-hauling trucks in southwestern Pennsylvania with FORCE Environmental Solutions. By utilizing CNG, these trucks reduce emissions by 30 percent and related operating costs by 50 percent. Water Stewardship: CNX recycled and reused more produced water than it generated by consuming produced water from its peers, minimizing freshwater consumption. In 2024, CNX continued to upgrade and expand its water infrastructure—further reducing the need to transport water via truck in local communities and diversifying freshwater sources to lessen CNX's impact on local water resources. Community and Workforce: Tangible and Local Investments – CNX has a unique commitment to local communities. CNX employees roll up their sleeves and tackle the toughest of issues: Community Engagement – Transparency, Dialogue, and Active Listening: At its core, Radical Transparency is about open-sourcing environmental data. But Radical Transparency also encompasses CNX's openness with stakeholders and local communities, always welcoming questions and seeking feedback. Through a combination of data-driven efforts and community open houses for local residents to directly interact with CNX employees, CNX is learning more about its communities' needs and adapting operations to best fit each operating area's unique characteristics. Community Investments: In 2024, work in Westmoreland County and the Alle-Kiski Valley came into focus as activity shifted to that area. Importantly, the $20 million Kiski Water Line project was completed in June and is better serving CNX's local operations while delivering water resource options for area residents. The water line significantly reduces water trucking and subsequently community impact. The 20" line is expected to serve as the primary alternative to water purchased from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) during voluntary or mandatory water conservation this growing operational footprint, CNX opened an office in North Apollo, southern Armstrong County, providing access for residents, local businesses, and landowners to the CNX team. With the acquisition of Apex Energy's upstream and midstream assets, this office serves as a central location for new landowners, community members, and other stakeholders in what CNX refers to as its CPA operating to CNX's southern operating area, a new regional headquarters was established in Richlands, Virginia. Serving as the epicenter of CNX mine methane capture operations, the expanded presence enhances CNX's unique opportunities to help meet rapidly expanding energy demand, advance energy security, and create significant new investment and jobs in local communities. Words in Action: Since 2022, CNX's Board has approved an aggregate amount of $5.5 million reduction in CEO pay, including a $1.5 million reduction approved in 2025 to support the expansion of the efforts of the CNX Foundation and its flagship initiative, the CNX Mentorship Academy. Mentorship Academy: Student participation in the CNX Mentorship Academy—now entering its fifth year—increased 44 percent, with 122 students enrolled. The Mentorship Academy includes underserved students representing 28 schools/school districts. More than half of 2024 Mentorship Academy graduates secured full-time employment in a target industry, or a coveted paid internship exclusive to Mentorship Academy graduates in healthcare, building trades, corporate support, or the Short Service Employee Internship in Energy. CNX Foundation: In 2024, CNX Foundation contributed $3.7 million through 144 initiatives aligned with its Tangible, Impactful, Local focus on community support. These efforts are part of CNX's pledge to invest in local initiatives supporting underserved communities within its operational footprint. CNX Foundation principles are also embodied by employees, who volunteered over 3,500 hours in 2024. The Headquarters at CNX: In 2024, three new tenants joined the Headquarters at CNX, bringing capacity to 92 percent and providing workspace to 29 total tenants. The Headquarters at CNX provides world-class workspace at its corporate office to small businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations, emphasizing support for the same Tangible, Impactful, Local causes in which the CNX Foundation invests. "CNX is defined by a commitment to transparency and a Tangible, Impactful, Local approach to our sustainable business model," CNX Senior Vice President of Compliance and Reporting Hayley Scott said. "By now providing real-time updates to our comprehensive website and quarterly ESG Performance Scorecard, we are delivering insights to our communities, employees, owners, and all stakeholders about the way that we responsibly operate our business and invest in our communities on a day-to-day basis." CNX's ESG Performance Scorecard has limited assurance procedures performed by Keramida, Inc., a WBE-certified global sustainability and EHS services firm, for 2024 and 2023 Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, air emissions, water, and waste data, while CNX's Internal Audit team has reviewed additional ESG performance metrics, ensuring data integrity. The next quarterly ESG Performance Scorecard update is anticipated for release in August, which will follow the company's release of its financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2025. CNX remains committed to leading the industry with Tangible, Impactful, and Locally focused initiatives, and this new reporting cadence reinforces that commitment through unmatched transparency and accountability. About CNX Resources Corporation CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) is unique. We are a premier, ultra-low carbon intensive natural gas development, production, midstream, and technology company centered in Appalachia, one of the most energy abundant regions in the world. With the benefit of a 161-year regional legacy, substantial asset base, leading core operational competencies, technology development and innovation, and astute capital allocation methodologies, we responsibly develop our resources and deploy free cash flow to create long-term per share value for our shareholders, employees, and the communities where we operate. As of December 31, 2024, CNX had 8.54 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor's Midcap 400 Index. Additional information is available at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CNX Resources Corporation Sign in to access your portfolio
