Hilfestellungen » - and thats what well expect."

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jack Nicklaus has been designing and building golf courses around the world for the last four decades, and most of his work has been overseas during the last 10 years. But his latest project in Turkmenistan is as intriguing as any of them.Few people there even play golf. At least not yet.The president of the Central Asian nation, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, announced in October that he wants a golf course built ahead of the Asian Games next year. Nicklaus said the Ashgabat Golf Club should be finished in April (but not playable until July), and more courses are planned for a holiday area along the Caspian Sea.Turkmenistan is north of Iran and framed by the Caspian Sea to the west and Afghanistan to the east.I dont really know why the president wanted golf, Nicklaus said over the weekend. He has about 2,500 ex-pats who live in Ashgabat who wanted golf, and he knows that golf is an Olympic sport and hes got the Asian Games next year. He wanted the golf course done before that.Golf is not the first sport that interested Berdymukhamedov. He also had three ice hockey facilities built in the country that is largely covered by the Karakum Desert and reaches highs of 120 degrees in the summer.Every time he brought something in, its not just the capital. He said, `I want all my provinces to benefit. He brought horses in, he brought hockey in. And hes doing the same thing with golf, Nicklaus said. He takes it to all his people.He said the president wants a championship golf course and a learning golf course. Nicklaus already has made five trips to Turkmenistan, and he said the project will include golf courses in Awaza, a tourist zone along the Caspian Sea.Nicklaus said Awaza has 33 five-star hotels occupied only by the Turkmen from June to September, even though the weather is pleasant enough to go from April until early November. He said Turkmenistan issued fewer than 1,000 tourist visas last year, but the plan was to make Awaza more of a tourist destination.And now were going to put golf in -- seaside links, Nicklaus said.---STENSON AWARDS: The European awards are starting to pile up for British Open champion Henrik Stenson.The 40-year-old Swede was European Tour player of the year for a season in which he won his first major, the Race to Dubai for the second time and was the silver medalist in golfs return to the Olympics.Stenson also has been awarded the Golf Writers Trophy by the British-based Association of Golf Writers.Ill never grow tired of being weighed down with trophies, Stenson said.The Golf Writers Trophy is for those who were born or reside in Europe and have made the most outstanding contributions in golf for the year.Stenson set the major championship record for a 72-hole score at 264 in a duel with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, where the Swede joined Johnny Miller as the only players to close with a 63 to win a major. He also won the BMW International Open in Germany.Stenson also won the Golf Writers Trophy in 2013.We talk about receiving recognition from your colleagues and your peers but in this instance its great to be receiving that recognition from some of the most knowledgeable media in the sport, Stenson said.---NICKLAUS & TRUMP: Jack Nicklaus said his schedule kept him from going to two previous presidential inaugurations, but he plans to be in Washington next month when president-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.And he wont be alone.Donald called and said, `I want you to bring that kid that can really talk, Nicklaus said.That kid is 55-year-old Jack Nicklaus II. Trump still raves about his speech Jackie Nicklaus gave when his father was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.Every time he talks to Barbara and me he says, `That is the best speech I ever heard, Nicklaus said. He called personally to ask me to come.Nicklaus has known Trump for years and designed Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx.---THONGCHAIS LAST STAND: Just when you thought golf was done for the year, there is one final tournament that ends on Christmas Day and could decide whether Thongchai Jaidee returns to the Masters.Its called the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship, an Asian Development Tour event in Thailand from Dec. 22-25 at Rancho Charnvee Resorts and Country Club. Such events typically award only six points to the winner. However, Thongchai is No. 52 in the world, and that raises the strength of field enough to award nine points. And thats just what he needs to make the top 50.The top 50 in the final world ranking of the year on Dec. 26 are invited to the Masters.Ive one more week at the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship, and I hope to do well then, Thongchai said. Im going to take a rest at home, but also spend some time at the gym to build up my physical fitness.He also might want to work on his putting.---KUCHARS BRONZE: Matt Kuchar had no idea how much the Olympics would mean to him until that bronze medal was draped around his neck. Kuchar, the last of four Americans who made it to Rio when Dustin Johnson withdrew, closed with a 63 to finish behind Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.The emotions of winning a medal overwhelmed me, he said. I didnt know the gravity, how big of a moment that was and what that would mean to me until it happened.He has taken his bronze medal with him most everywhere, including a trip to Friars Head on Long Island. Kuchar went out to play and left the medal in the clubhouse for all to see, and it was hard to miss.The barkeep was in charge and he had it hanging on a light fixture, Kuchar said. It got a lot of hands and eyeballs on it. It was a cool place.There was one time he didnt have the medal with him.Hurricane Matthew barreled toward Sea Island, and the Kuchars had to evacuate. But he wasnt worried about it being blown away.It was on the third floor, he said. I knew it was safe. I knew there could be flooding, but the third floor? It wasnt going anywhere.---DIVOTS: The winner and runner-up of the Kolon Korea Open next year will be exempt into the British Open. The Korea Open, held in August this year, is moving up two months in 2017 and will be held June 1-4. ... The LPGA Tour will stage the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship next year. The 54-hole event will be July 10-12 at French Lick Resort in Indiana with a total purse of $600,000. ... John Karsten Solheim takes over as president of Ping on Jan. 1, succeeding Doug Hawken who retires after 45 years. Solheim is the son of Ping chairman and CEO John Solheim, and the grandson of founder Karsten Solheim.---STAT OF THE WEEK: Bill Haas is the only American whose sole qualification for the 2017 Masters is top 50 in the world ranking at the end of the year.---FINAL WORD: He not only has my record to contend with, hes got a lot of kids who are really good. And (Phil) Mickelson is not done yet either, I dont think. -- Jack Nicklaus on the return of Tiger Woods.George Hill Bucks Jersey . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Donte DiVincenzo Jersey . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. https://www.bucksrookiesshop.com/Customized/ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Ersan Ilyasova Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Donte DiVincenzo Bucks Jersey . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Footballs World Cup. A Super Bowl ring. The tiny Ashes urn in cricket. And, of course, the yellow jersey. No list of the most famous trophies in sports can be complete if it doesnt include that gaudy shirt from the Tour de France -- and British speedster Mark Cavendish aims to get his hands on the first one this year. Over the next three weeks, 21 of them will be distributed at the 100th Tour. None will be more important than the last one -- worn by the overall winner on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 21: Many pundits believe that will be either Britains Chris Froome or two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain. But it would be a mistake to reduce the Tour to a two-horse race. Multiple heartbreaks, crashes and other dramas await over the meandering 3,404-kilometre (2,110-mile) trek along wind-swept sea sides, through flat plains and Alpine and Pyrenean mountain punishment, and even to a medieval island citadel in the English Channel. The first story could be written by Cavendish: the "Manx Missile" is a favourite to win the mostly flat Stage 1 over 213 kilometres (132 miles) from Porto Vecchio to Bastia in the race debut on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Saturday. The Briton, whose muscle, timing and accelerations make him the finest sprinter of his generation, has already won other coveted prizes in his sport. In 2011, he won both the green jersey given to the best Tour sprinter and the rainbow-striped jersey awarded to cyclings road-race world champion. The yellow jersey, however, has eluded his grasp. "Its not just one of the most iconic symbols in cycling, its one of the most iconic symbols in the world of sport," Cavendish said. "To be able to wear that for at least a day in your life, its a thing to make any riders career. Its a thing you dream about when youre a child. It would be a beautiful thing." Cycling could use some beautiful things. This is the first Tour since Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record seven victories for doping, which he finally admitted to on U.S. cable TV after years of denials that were exposed as lies by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Despite millions spent on fighting drug use in the peloton, blasts from cyclings checkered past keep on coming: Ahead of this race, French media reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of doping controls pieced together evidence that a urine sample provided by long-beloved French rider Laurent Jalabert contained EPO, cyclings designer drug, at the Tour of 1998. Tour organizers will be hoping the racing drama of the next three weeks will push such miseries to the background. In the traditional pre-race presentation, the 22 teams took a stage one after the other Thursday in Porto Vecchio, with its idyllic mountain backdrop on Frances "isle of beauty." Hundreds of fans clapped politely, as white yachts stuck up like teeth from the shimmering blue Mediterranean. Contador predicts an action-packed race in this comeback year for him. The 30-year-old Spaniard was stripped of his 2010 Tour title and missed out last year ovver a doping ban.dddddddddddd He could be the biggest danger for Froome. Both riders excel in mountain climbs that feature heavily this year. But Contador said there would be more to this Tour than simply their rivalry. "This year wont just be the story of two riders; well have more actors in this film," he said. "This year will see more action than in past years," he added. Of Froome, he said: "I would have no motivation to be here if I thought I couldnt beat him." Among longer-shot contenders are 2011 Tour winner Cadel Evans of Australia -- though at 36, his legs arent the freshest -- and his young BMC teammate Tejay Van Garderen of the United States, plus Spaniards Alejandro Valverde of Movistar and Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha. Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour winner and a Sky teammate of Froome, is sitting out this year due to injury. Last year Froome was more impressive than Wiggins in the mountains, but that race was more heavily weighted to time trials -- Wiggins specialty -- than in this years edition. Like Wiggins last year, Froome has had a nearly flawless run-up to the Tour: the 28-year-old Kenyan-born Briton won four of five races he started. He said hes confident, but not fond of the "favourite" moniker. "Its an absolutely privilege for me to be in this position," he said, but "there is a certain amount of pressure that comes with it." "Coming in as the race favourite sets that precedent of people looking to beat you ... so it definitely opens doors that people may be ganging up," he said, acknowledging the possibility that Valverde, Contador and Rodriguez might form a Spanish alliance against him. Contador is high in Froomes mind. "I dont think we have seen Contador at his best yet," he said. "His goal was never to perform well at any of the races building up to the Tour, but then to come to the Tour at his absolute best. I believe hell be here at his best -- and thats what well expect." Andy Schleck, who inherited the 2010 title stripped from Contador for testing positive for the muscle-building drug clenbuterol, said this years mountainous course would have suited him under normal circumstances. But hes coming off a rough year -- including a crash injury to his lower back that kept him out last year. The Luxembourg rider considers himself an "outsider" -- not a favourite. The race spends three days on Corsicas winding, hilly roads. It then sets off on a clockwise run through mainland France along the Mediterranean, into the Pyrenees, then up to Brittany and the fabled Mont-Saint-Michel island citadel before a slashing jaunt southeastward toward the Alps before the Paris finish. "The Tours always full of surprises," said Garmin-Sharp team director Jonathan Vaughters, insisting his American squad could have contenders like Ryder Hesjedal of Canada and Andrew Talansky of the United States. "The easy answer is: Yes, its Chris Froome vs. Alberto Contador -- but I think were going to try and make the answer not as easy." ' ' '