Billy Hurley III won the Quicken Loans National on Sunday and earned a spot in the British Open. That left him in a tough spot because his sister, Megan, is to be married in Virginia on the Saturday of the Open.
It wasn't a tough decision.
Hurley called R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers to tell him he would not be coming to Royal Troon.
"I wouldn't miss my sister's wedding for the world," Hurley said. "And I think that at this point in time for me and my family and the trajectory of our family, it's very important for me to be there to support her and her husband."
The Hurley family has been through a lot in the past year. He sought public help a year ago at the Quicken Loans National finding his father, who had gone missing. His father was located, but then died of a self-inflicted gunshot a short time later. Weddings are emotional enough.
"It was a pretty easy decision at the end of the day," Hurley said.
He said the topic didn't come up Sunday night. Hurley was still trying to soak up his first PGA Tour victory. He played a practice round at Firestone on Tuesday and called her from the golf course.
"She started crying," he said. "So she was pretty thrilled that I'll be there."
Tiger II
Tiger Woods was asked during the telecast of his Quicken Loans National whether he was close to returning, but before Jim Nantz of CBS Sports could finish the question, Woods replied, "Close to what? Yeah, I'm close to beating Charlie."
That would be his son, Charlie. And there might be some truth to that.
The 7-year-old son of the 14-time major champion tied for second in the Boys 7 division of a U.S. Kids Golf event. It was his first tournament.
"It was pretty neat, very special to get to watch that," Woods said.
Charlie Woods shot a 55 in the nine-hole event at Mayacoo Lakes in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Fit of the week
Everyone watching the U.S. Open at Oakmont two weeks ago had an opinion regarding the way the USGA handled the situation with the penalty stroke called on Dustin Johnson.
Instead of telling Johnson his fate right away, officials told him on the 12th tee box that he might get a penalty, casting a shadow of doubt on the entire competition.
Jordan Spieth, the world's second-ranked player, said he wouldn't have hit another shot had that happened to him.
"I would have thrown a fit. I promise you, I would have thrown a fit," Spieth said Tuesday at Firestone Country Club via Golf Digest. "I wouldn't have hit another shot. I would have sat there like, 'This is not the way this goes. Let's figure this out right now.' You can't have a potential penalty or not. You've got to know in that case."
Feet of the week
Leah Smith, to Yahoo Sports, after losing by 2 feet to Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic swim trials: "I've never been able to see her feet before. That was exciting."
Headlines
From the satirical spoprts website sportspickle.com:
• "Mosquitoes pull out of Olympics due to poor conditions in Brazil"
• "USOC asks all Americans to get in shape in case Olympic spot falls to them"
Sports on 06/30/2016