Before Bryson, the DeChambeau golf story ran through Tucson

– When Bryson DeChambeau’s off-course antics became one of the leading stories of last week's British Open — he objected to a two-stroke penalty for tramping down some straw — it reminded me of his Tucson roots. His father, Jon DeChambeau, was a golfer on Arizona teams of 1979-81, and later an assistant pro at the Skyline Country Club. Jon and his former wife, Sharon McDaniel, were married in Tucson. Before he moved back to his roots in the Fresno area of California Jon DeChambeau's top golf event in Tucson was finishing second to ex-Wildcat Don Pooley, a two-time PGA Tour champion, in the Arthur Pack Pro-Am in 1982. DeChambeau tied for second with Tucson's Bob Gaona, who went on to play on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. Jon died of kidney disease in 2022.

– Cedric Henderson couldn't break into Arizona's starting lineup when he played basketball for the Wildcats in 2022-23; the transfer from Campbell University — same alma mater as last year's UA 3-point threat Anthony Dell'Orso — averaged 8.3 points in 23 minutes per game. This year, Henderson averaged 18 points per game in the EuroLeague for Siauliai in Lithuania. Meanwhile, Dell'Orso has signed with his home country Perth Wildcats of Australia's National Basketball League. It's the same team that former Palo Verde High School star Bryce Cotton played for from 2017-25 when he was six times named the MVP of the Australian pro league. Dell'Orso played in two NBA Summer League games for the Sacramento Kings before being released.

– Sad news: John Pfersdorf, one of the top track and field athletes in Tucson history, died here last week. He was 72. Under UA Sports Hall of Fame coach Dale Frederick at Catalina High School in the early 1970s, Pfersdorf was named the Arizona Track and Field Athlete of the Year when he won 43 straight events, and 46 of 47, including three state championships. Pfersdorf was a hurdler, sprinter and long jumper who then spent four years at the UA, finishing as high as third in the WAC high hurdle championships in 1977. Part of his career was interrupted by injuries. He ran 100 yards in 9.8 seconds as a Catalina senior.

– A week ago I speculated that former Salpointe/Arizona home run hitter Mason White was due for a promotion from the Boston Red Sox Class A team in South Carolina to its Double A team, the Portland Sea Dogs. After hitting 14 home runs in Single-A Greenville, White was indeed promoted to Double-A last week; he had played three games for the Portland Sea Dogs through Thursday, with one hit. According to the Athletic, four of the Red Sox's top 23 minor leaguers play shortstop, White's position. If he keeps hitting homers, it won't matter; the Red Sox will find a place for him.

– I watched a couple of WNBA games featuring Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark recently, and was surprised I was unfamiliar with almost every other player on the teams involved. Here's why: The Big 12 has just 14 (of the 180 players in the WNBA). None are from Arizona and ASU, and just one from familiar UA opponents Utah and Colorado. That's so different from the old Pac-12. Stanford alone has nine players in the WNBA this year and UCLA six. The only former Big 12 players in the WNBA who have a national profile are Brittney Griner (Baylor) and rookie sensation Olivia Miles of TCU.