Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 13, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Years of struggle paying off for fanning Ashk walked Down the Lith Fairway yesterday afternoon there was a gleam in Todd fanning a Eye. I iced spent almost eight hours at Elmhurst Golf and country club trying to Complete the third round of the Xerox Manitoba open. Rain delays had kept him on the course from 9 26 a m. Until almost 5 15 . And yet the smile on his face just kept getting wider and wider. Of course a 6h will do that for a Guy. A i guess when you re three under Par you done to care about the wait a fanning said after he turned in a card that read 34-34. A it was such a Long Day but it does no to feel that Long when you re playing its taken a Long time for fanning to get his game together As a Canadian tour professional but in the last two weeks four years of struggle and disappointment might have finally paid off. Although yesterdays 6h did no to get fanning on to the Leader Board it did get him to two Over for 54 holes and with a decent round today he could easily bust into the top 20. Considering he finished second at the telus Edmonton open last week its been a pretty Good month for the 29-year-old Winnipeg Ger. Granted he missed a three foot putt on the final Hole in Edmonton to end up in a three Way tie for first and then lost in a playoff. But second is still better than a missed Cut. That a what happened to another Winnipeg Ger in Edmonton last week. Highly touted Cpgar tour Rookie Rob Mcmillan did miss the Cut. Of course fanning knows All about High expectations and missed cuts. He a been through it. And until he finished second at last september Scoga tour championship head never finished better than 35th on the order of Merit. Now As he watches Mcmillan take a run at his second straight Manitoba open championship he knows what the kid is going through. A i said before Rob got on the tour that in his first year hell probably make half the cuts a fanning said. A i done to think people realize How Good this tour is. There Are Guys out Here Guys like new Sealander Steve Alker who have walked Down the stretch with Ernie Els and Nick Price. Alkern a won twice in Australia. He a beaten people like Greg Norman and Steve Elkington. The Guys on this tour who have played other Tours have played against the Best players in i the world. A Guys out Here Arentt going to be intimidated by Todd fanning and i Rob fanning Wasny to being critical just honest. When he came out on the tour in 1993, almost As highly touted As Mcmillan he missed his first three cuts by a shot each time. It was quite a Shock for a Guy who had won four Manitoba Amateur titles two Canadian Junior championships had played on Canadas National Amateur team and competed for four years at Ohio state University. His Amateur record Wasny tas Good As Mcmillan a but it Wasny to shabby. A the Challenge he faces is that if he just plays average he wont make Many cuts. Out Here you have to play great every week. There Are Guys out Here who can beat you at every facet of the game. A i remember a couple of years i ago at a tournament in Nova Scotia i Jim Rutledge was playing with a pro named Guy Hill who had won a i tournament on the tour that year. I i \ t the end of the round a Hill had shot seven under a a and he walked off 18 and said a that Guy Rutledge just beat me in every aspect of the game. He hit it farther hit it closer and putted Rutledge shot 12-under. A there Are Guys who la do that to you out Here that a Why you can to play average. You have to be great every so far this week Rob Mcmillan has been pretty Good. Yesterday with his Putter working again fanning was Good too. But As fanning knows to win on the Canadian tour these Days you have to be great. Anything less and you re just another Guy with a lot of potential trying your Best to Cash a Cheque. Bombers pay Price for crucial Victory by Randy Turner sports reporter when they lost their first two games of the season the Winnipeg Blue bombers weren to looking for crutches to lean on As excuses. But when they finally won a a 33-18 Victory at Hamiltons Ivor Wynne stadium Friday night a a they needed to haul out the crutches anyway. The bombers lost two thirds of their defensive line Tommy Fagan and Tyrone Rodgers to injury in Hamilton. As a result the club May have to overhaul the defence before another crucial Battle with the . Lions saturday night in Vancouver. Fagan suffered ligament damage in his right knee late in the first Quarter while Rodgers was lost after spraining an ankle Early in the fourth. Winnipeg athletic Trainer Jeff Fisher said both linemen will undergo tests in the next 24 hours to deter mine the extent of the injuries but it appears Fagan could be gone for six to eight weeks. Rodgers meanwhile who has become a Force on the bombers front line with five sacks in three games May be Able to return to the lineup As Early As saturday. A a in a very disappointed. Hopefully it wont be so Long for to and not that Long for me either a Fagan said yesterday. A we can go out there and continue to if Rodgers can to play in ., the bombers will probably activate nose tackle Junior Tagoai from the practice roster. There a also Cal Veteran Glen Scrivener who was scheduled to be injected into the Winnipeg lineup july 25, when the bombers Host the tic ats. Scrivener however is still rehabilitating a knee that suffered ligament damage Early in the 1996 season when he was with the Edmonton eskimos. Fisher said Scrivener a knee will be examined this week to determine if he a ready. A riders rally past Argos Canadian press Regina a a three Yard touchdown run by Robert Mimbs capped a wild 27-23 Saskatchewan roughriders Victory Over the Toronto argonauts. The Cal teams combined for 28 Points in the final Quarter including Mimbs Rushing touchdown at 14 22 of the fourth Quarter. The roughriders improved to 2-1 with the Victory before 22,956 spectators at Taylor Field. Toronto fell to 2-1. The scoring bursts started after a tame three quarters in which the roughriders led 13-9. Toronto quarterback Doug Flutie engineered two touchdown drives. The first was capped by a 30-Yard pass to Darrell Mitchell. Running Robert Drummond scored his second Rushing touchdown of the contest on a one Yard run to give the argonauts a 23-13 Lead. Saskatchewan quarterback Reggie Slack brought the roughriders with a 69-Yard touchdown bomb to Curtis Mayfield. Toronto was forced to punt on its next series of Downs setting the stage for a game winning drive by the roughriders. Slack hit Slomback Dan Farthing with a 53-Yard pass that set up the roughriders on Toronto a three. Mimbs rushed in from there for the winning touchdown. Monkey off bombers Blue heave sigh of Relief by Randy Turner sports reporter Ken Gigliotti Winnipeg free press file photo Cameron the bombers punter since 1980, says win was crucial. After 18 years in the Cal Bob Cameron has never had a must win game in just the third week of a season. Until Friday night. When the Winnipeg Blue bombers escaped Ivor Wynne stadium with a 33-18 Victory Over the equally desperate Hamilton Tiger cats the bombers did the Only thing they could to Stem scepticism and fan ambivalence Home. They won. A with the Complete change in regime with All the changes in players it s so important to get a win Early in the season a a said Cameron the bombers punter since 1980. A a let a face it if we lose that game we re going out to . A and they be got a hell of a team a we needed a positive going into that game. A the Way we did it when they came and we still Hung in there and made the big plays when we had to. That was an emotional win for indeed there were Bear hugs aplenty in Hamilton. Somebody doused head coach Jeff Reinebold with gatorade a twice. A few tears were shed. And when the clock finally ran out on the Tiger cats it seemed As though the bombers after Only their first win of the 1997 Cal season were waiting for the Grey cup presentation to begin. After All if you want to understand the consequences of losing Friday night look no further than the 0-3 Tiger cats who will spend the next few Days wondering who a going to play quarterback next week whether head coach Don Sutherin be around to make that decision and whether anybody a other than the 12,000 or so fans at Friday nights game a even care. A similar Fate awaited the bombers had they lost. A people were starting to question what we were doing out there a Cameron said. A but when you get a win Early on in the season in Tough games like that it can do a hell of a lot for the Confidence. And a lot of the game is Confidence. You Only get Confidence through Suc Cess you done to get Confidence by saying you re and you done to get wins by saying you should. A it feels really Good in the sense that its taken some of the weight off our a Centre Dave Vankoughnett said. A we put pressure on ourselves As a team because we believe we can be a Good team. A we got the first win. Now we just have to do it every week. That a the hard part being that a life in professional sports. So you got your first win he big Deal. What have you done for us lately the bombers now 1-2, will face the Lions saturday in Vancouver before hosting the tic ats in Winnipeg july 25. A we can win both those games a Vankoughnett said. A a there a no reason Why we ;