12 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 9, 2002 Michigan golfers hoping to find more consistent stroke Tigers clean house, fire Garner, Smith 6 By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer When the Michigan men's golf team travels to Columbus this weekend, it will be searching for the one thing that has eluded it since the start of the spring season: Consistency. "It's happened almost every tour- nament," senior Andy Matthews said. "We have a couple of guys playing COLUJ well, but we don't have the four who: Michigan scores that we need. pier Invitationa "I was in a position last week When: Friday,, where I hardly helped out at all, and I Sunday think it's just a matter of those last Latest: The Wh few (spots in the lineup)."deuty of the The team has consistently had two golf course will or three top finishers, but has rarely an advantage been able to put it all together at once to compete for a top finish. The Wolverines have finished sixth, seventh and 10th in their three spring matches. Last weekend, at the Marshall Invitational in West Virginia, Michigan placed seventh out of 20 teams. While this finish was in the top half of the field, the Wolverines feel that they could have per- formed better. "We had people playing well, but we're just playing well at different times," Michigan senior Andrew Chapman said. "A little more cohesion throughout our lineup would've probably moved us up quite a bit in the final results." Chapman, Michigan's top individual finisher, shot 220 (69-75-76) to tie for ninth place. One obstacle that has hindered the team's suc- cess early this spring has been the poor Michigan weather, which has forced the team to practice indoors on many occasions. "It's not the ball-striking that's hard to keep from week to week. It's the putting, the short game and when you're on the greens," Matthews said. "We'll play on the weekend, and then we won't be JMBUS at the Ken- al Saturday and lverines length and Ohio State give them over the field. on grass for another four of five days. And it's really hard to get into a rhythm and maintain what you had toward the end of the tournament." Said Chapman: "Hopefully, if we can get some nice weather in the next few days, we can get out on the golf course and work on our short games. We can try and get the shots ready that we'll need at Ohio State." The Wolverines will definitely have their hands full this weekend in Columbus, facing perhaps the tough- est competition that they have seen this season. In addition, the course at Ohio State is one of the most challenging that the team will play this season. Errors that players may have gotten away with on other courses could prove costly this weekend. But the distance and difficulty of the course may favor one of Michigan's strengths. "We're one of the longer hitting teams, and the way coach Brown at Ohio State sets (the course) up, it's extremely difficult and extremely long, and that will help play into our advantage," Matthews said. With improved consistency, the Wolverines think that they can turn in their best finish of the season this weekend. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Andy Matthews and his Michigan teammates haven't been on the greens much this year due to bad weather. "I think we've showed flashes of what we're capable of," Chapman said. "We just need to all play the way that we're capable of playing at one time and get a little more consistency." DETROIT (AP) - Somebody had to go following the Tigers' 0-6 start. Detroit decided two was better, so the team fired manager Phil Garner and general manager Randy Smith yester- day. The dismissal of Garner tied the quickest firing of a manager who start- ed the season since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Baltimore fired Cal Ripken Sr. in 1988 after the Orioles lost six games en route to an 0-21 start. "You could 0 bring in MacArthur, with what they gaveW him to work with, and he's probably not going to come Garner out with more wins," Tigers outfielder Bobby Higgin- son said. Baseball's lone winless team hasn't had a winning record or a winning April since 1993. "It's not only a short-term deci- sion, it's a long- term decision," said Tigers presi- dent Dave Dom- browski, who will add the general manager's duties to his slate. "We dn't have a championship-cal- Smith iber club, but we haven't played well either." Luis Pujols, the Tigers' bench coach, will take over as manager on an interim basis. His debut was postponed when Bases empty Phil Garner has had just one winning season as a major league manager, and ittcame in his first season. Since then, Garner has suffered through nine straight losing seasons _ yesterday's firing almost guar- antees that this year will be his 10th consecutive subpar sea- son. Blue rallies in Indiana, sets record for wins By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer Following four straight near-miss- es - with no finish worse than fourth place - the Michigan Iow women's golf team was in danger of heading Hawkeye in into the Big Ten Cham- When: Satu pionships on April 26-28 Latest: Com without a win in the dramatic co spring season. win at the Ii It appeared that the tional,theV victory drought would try and stay continue this past week- regular seas end at the three-round A ian vita rday ning me- ndia Wolv hot son would not be denied their school- record fifth title and their first of the spring. They posted a tourna- ment-best team score of 301 (five- over par) on Sunday to P give them a three-round CITY total of 919, good at the enough to overtake the tional homestanding Hoosiers and Sunday by two strokes for the off of their stunning come-from- from-behind behind victory. na Invita- It was the Wolverines erineswill first win since they intheirlast won all four of the meet. competitions they entered during the fall portion of their schedule. "We're back," an exuberant Kim Benedict exclaimed after her sec- ond-place finish spurred the Michi- gan rally. "We were never really gone, but it feels like the fall again. We beat some impressive teams on an outstanding course - that says a lot." Benedict fired a 225 (76-75-74) on the par-74 course to capture her second runner-up finish so far this season. But the comeback required a total team effort, something the Wolverines definitely received in Sunday's charge to the top of the leaderboard. "We've never really played well (on the Indiana golf course) in the past," Michigan coach Kathy Teichert said. "It is so, so gratifying to play this well here and really come through in the end." Jumping on the back of the strong round turned in by Benedict, seniors LeAnna Wicks and Court- ney Reno fired 1-over par 75s to finish with two-day totals of 231 and 237, respectively. Michigan's Bess Bowers, a Bloomington native playing near home, chalked up a 77 for a 233 on the weekend. "Personally, I grew up on this course," Bowers said. "This is where I learned to play golf as a kid. I had my parents in the crowd, and we were really determined, and it paid off." The Wolverines will try to ride the success of this past weekend into Iowa City on Saturday and Sunday, when they take part in the Hawkeye Invitational, the last meet Michigan will compete in before the Big Ten Championships in Urbana, Ill. But for now, the Wolverines can continue to celebrate their remark- able come-from-behind, record-set- ting victory in Bloomington. "It's just too hard to even fathom right now," Teichert said. "That is just outstanding for this program." "It is just so huge that people stepped up and really came through," Benedict said. "That says a lot. We had to concentrate on every hole and every shot." last night's game against Chicago was rained out. "It's a sad day for me and also a happy day," Pujols said. Felipe Alou, fired last year as Montreal's manager, was considered a top candidate to wind up with the Tigers'job. "I'm interested in managing," Alou said yesterday from his home. Alou would not say whether he had been contacted by Detroit officials. Dombrowski said he has not contacted Alou, who was Montreal's manager while Dombrowski was the Expos' general manager from 1986-91. "We will look to interview managers as soon as possible," Dombrowski said. "I have some names on a list." If Dombrowski decides to hire Alou, Pujols said he would have no problem working with Alou again after serving on his Expos staff from 1993-2000. Although among the earliest firings in major league history, the dismissals of Garner and Smith were not the first this season. The Boston Red Sox replaced manager Joe Kerrigan and general manager Dan Duquette during spring training. The Tigers hired Garner in October 1999, when he was also a candidate for an opening with the Chicago Cubs. He was considered a well-respected man- ager despite having a losing record with Milwaukee in seven of his final eight seasons. In two-plus seasons with Detroit, Garner had a 145-185 record and now has a 708-802 career record with nine straight losing seasons. "When you become a manager, you realize you're going to be judged by what you do on the field," Garner said. Many had questioned Smith's future when Dombrowski, one of baseball's most respected executives, was hired away from the Marlins in November to be team president. Smith was in his seventh year as GM of the Tigers, after serving as San Diego's GM from 1993-95. His father, Tal Smith, is the Houston Astros team president. "I think we've done some good things," Randy Smith said, pointing to improvements in the drafting, scouting and development facets of the organi- zation. Before Smith and Garner spoke with reporters, Dombrowski addressed the notion that help was on the way from young prospects. "I don't think people want to hear about the minor league system," he said. "People want results." Both Garner's and Smith's contracts were set to expire after the 2003 season. "This is obviously, in my opinion, something they had planned for a while," Higginson said. "Wins and losses are how you're evaluated, and Phil's win-loss record wasn't the great- est. But did they give Phil what he needed to win? I don't think so." Dombrowski said with the Tigers' payroll of about $54 million, Detroit should be at the level of San Francisco, Oakland, St. Louis and Houston. "Our payroll is sufficient to be com- petitive," Dombrowski said. Smith was often criticized in Detroit for moves that didn't work. He has seen players such as Juan Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez and Hideo Nomo go on to success with other teams. In Garner's first season in Detroit, the team reflected the competitive spirit that Tigers executives hoped would be instilled by the man who as a player was nicknamed "Scrap Iron." Food for Thought Was it Peaceful? In On Killing, psychologist/ author Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, wrote: "Never in American history, perhaps never in all history of Western civilization, has an army suffered such an agony of many blows from its own people." Gary Lillie & Assoc., Realtors www.garylillie.com a Indiana Invitational in Bloomington. After Saturday's opening pair of rounds, the Wolverines sat in a disap- pointing third place, 10 shots behind host Indiana. Nonetheless, the Wolverines Year 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total Team Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Detroit Detroit Detroit Record Finish 92-70 2nd 69-93 7th 52-63 5th 65-79 4th 80-82 3rd 78-83 3rd 74-88 5th 74-87 5th 79--83 3rd 66-96 4th 0-6 5th 730-829 IIr J LITTLE BLACK BOOKS WITH NAMES AND NUMBERS, THOSE ARE THE BOOKS YOU KEEP. * SELL BACK YOUR BOOKS * Apple AirPort and iBook. 0 1 up to 67 PERCENT cash NOW PAYING TOP DOLLAR back GREAT PRIZES ON GOTUSED.COM EXPERIENCED CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOP OFF CAMPUS AND SAVE SELL YOUR BOOKS AND SPIN THE WHEEL FOR: free hot dogs free t-shirts extra cash free underwear BOOKSTORE - Dan Fanton, Class of 2002 Special Pricing for U-M Students Apple iooks starting at $1,149 AirPort Base Station $281. r-, 11 ii -'* W M I r 1