Öffentliche News » That should work to Marys advantage,

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The first Olympics in South America. The first time for golf in 112 years. So imagine the deep sense of honor for Adilson da Silva when the only Brazilian in the 60-man field was chosen to hit the first tee shot.One of the most special times in my life, he said.The honor is not his alone.Joining him on the first tee Thursday at Olympic Golf Course will be Andrew Edmondson, who has been part of da Silvas unlikely golf career for the better part of 30 years. Edmondson asked to be his caddie for the week, and both men could only smile at circumstances that led to this occasion.Long ago, on a nine-hole course in Santa Cruz do Sol about a two-hour flight south of Rio, it was the other way around.Da Silva was an 11-year-old who saw golf only as a way to make a little pocket money.If we found golf balls, we would sell them for pocket money, he said. My parents didnt have much, so we had to do a bit of work. It teaches a good lesson. It was great fun. I used to go with my brother and friends. It teaches you to work a bit, to get things by working for it.The more he worked and watched, the more the game began to appeal to him, even without the proper equipment. Finding golf balls to hit was the easy part. Getting golf clubs required a little imagination. Santa Cruz was the only course in town. Spare golf clubs were in short supply.We used to cut the branch of a tree in the shape of a golf club, da Silva said. It was a proper head, you just had to shape it up nicely. I guess you had to improvise. Your timing had to be right because the shaft would be wobbly.Edmondson, a tobacco buyer from Zimbabwe, used to spend half the year working his trade in Brazil. He loved golf, which was much more prominent in Zimbabwe, a country that produced Nick Price and Mark McNulty.Edmondson would play on the weekends at Santa Cruz, and da Silva was 11 when he first hired him as a caddie.They became close enough, and da Silva was getting good enough, that they would play together when Edmondson didnt have a regular game.I caddied for him for a couple of years when he came over for tobacco season, and weve become good friends, da Silva said. And then one day he said, `Look, do you want to give it a go? Because maybe he thought there was some potential there. I was very fortunate.Edmondson knew the teen would have a hard time developing his game in Brazil.It really was a `baby steps kind of thing, Edmondson said. He didnt go from an 11-year-old caddie to the professional level. Basically, I was living out there and was transferred back to Zimbabwe. They have a very good junior golf program, and I got him into that. He got coaching from Tim Price, Nicks brother.Da Silva was 17, and Edmondson figured he played off a 5 handicap. Within a few years, da Silva was winning amateur titles in Brazil and Zimbabwe, and he was good enough to turn pro at age 22.His family still lives in Brazil, though da Silva has moved to Durban, South Africa and plays primarily on the Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour in South Africa. He has four career victories, starting with a Sunshine Tour event in 1998, his best year coming in 2013 when he won the Zambia Open and Sun City Challenge.He has qualified for the British Open three times, making the cut (a tie for 69th) at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2012.The Olympics tops them all.As the host nation, Brazil was guaranteed at least one player for the Rio Games. Two Brazilians have made it to the PGA Tour -- Lucas Lee this year and Alexandre Roche in 2011 and 2012 -- and da Silva felt it was going to be close. He left nothing to chance, traveling across Asia to play seven times in eight weeks early in the year, staying away from his family in South Africa to chase world ranking points and secure his spot in Rio.Its a big deal to get here, he said. I maybe have another chance, but this one, I needed to make sure. I sacrificed a lot. There was a lot of traveling. Its hard to leave your wife and kid behind, but it was something I had to do. I couldnt wait for it to happen. I had to make sure I was traveling and playing and practicing.A tie for fourth in the Indian Open in March gave him breathing room, and a runner-up finish in the Swazi Open sealed it.To be at home in Brazil for the first golf in the Olympics in 1904 was special. He was on the course with Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson and the rest of the best. And then the greatest week in his life got even better.They came up to me and said, `Youll be the first one to tee off. I was like, `Woooo! What an honor. I feel like I dont deserve it, da Silva said. Im very lucky.Edmondson feels the same way.He has caddied for da Silva a couple of times, mostly at the Zimbabwe Open and once at the Swiss Open. He didnt want to miss this, not with their history together.When it looked like he was going to play in the Olympics, I asked him if he wouldnt mine, and fortunately, he agreed, Edmondson said. Its quite overwhelming. Just to be part of the Olympics, being involved with a close friend, its awesome. Anthony Miller Jersey . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Mike Ditka Womens Jersey . 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LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska led overmatched University of Mary by 10 points less than five minutes into the game Tuesday on its way to a 70-38 win in a game that gave the Huskers bench the opportunity to play more than half the minutes.That was key for a team that has only five experienced players on the roster, all of whom start.It was good for them to get a feel for what the game is like, said Michael Jacobsen, who led the Huskers with 10 points. Weve been practicing for about two months now. Its hard when you go against each other so much. ... In the game its a totally different feel. I think its good for them to get their minutes and just figure out their roles.All five of Nebraskas non-starters played at least 20 minutes and combined for 30 points with each making at least a field goal. That was a marked improvement from Sundays home opener against Sacramento State in which the Nebraska bench made just two field goals and contributed only nine points.It was really, really important, said Isaiah Roby, who came off the bench to score seven points in 24 minutes. Obviously, we have to execute stuff against other people and also just getting tired. All of us were dripping sweat. ... He (Nebraska coach Tim Miles) kind of challenged us to step our game up tonight. We still have a lot to work on obviously ... but I think we stepped up a little bit more.Nebraska (2-0) was never challenged by the NCAA Division II school from North Dakota that is Miles alma mater. Nebraska went up by 12-2 on Jack McVeighs 3-pointer at the 15:18 mark and stretched the lead to 30-8 on another of McVeighs 3s with 5:52 left in the first half.Mary (0-3) cut the Nebraska lead to 15 on Damonta Henrys 3-pointer that opened the second half. But the Huskers quickly pushed the lead over 20, going up 41-19 on McVeighs 3-pointerr with 17:37 left.dddddddddddd Nebraskas largest lead was 32.The Marauders struggled against the Nebraska defense, hitting just 7 of 28 shots in the first half and finished 29 percent from the field. The bigger, stronger Huskers also dominated on the boards, outrebounding Mary 45-21Nebraska hit 50 percent of its shots, but committed 17 turnoversMary played in front of the largest crowd it will likely see this season (8,459). Attendance at Marauder games, home and on the road, averages about 1,000. That should work to Marys advantage, said coach Joe Kittell.Theres not going to be any atmosphere thats going to be more hostile than this, Kittell said. Our guys understand that, played in it, and it shouldnt bother us anymore. Really excited about this group, I know were zero and three right now but there are a lot of good kids out there. They want to win, they want to get better.BIG PICTURENebraska: Miles said the relatively low score and margin of victory can be attributed to Marys strategy of running down the shot clock on offense and impatience on the part of the Huskers once they finally got the ball.University of Mary: The Marauders took full advantage of a game against a Division I foe, chartering a flight to bring fans from Bismarck to Lincoln. Those who paid $289 for the trip got lunch with Nebraska football coach Mike Riley, a tour of the athletic facilities and a dinner with Nebraska baseball coach and North Dakota native Darin Erstad.UP NEXTNebraska will host Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. Saturday, a starting time set to avoid conflict with the Nebraska-Maryland football game at 11 a.m.Mary will return to Bismarck where it will host Yellowstone Christian Monday. ' ' '