MORNING BRIEFING

Golf fans watching Sergio’s wait

Sergio Garcia already was widely regarded as the best golfer not to have won a major tournament when he finished second, again, at last weekend’s PGA Championship.

Garcia came up short against winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland, his third runner-up finish at a major. Harrington also beat the Spaniard in a playoff at the British Open last year.

But Garcia, 28, might take solace knowing that he’s still ahead of the pace set by other stellar players.

Garcia has gone 38 majors without a victory but, as the Associated Press noted, Tom Kite was 0 for 63 in majors before he won the 1992 U.S. Open.

And Phil Mickelson was 33 when he ended an 0-for-42 streak in the majors by winning the 2004 Masters.

Trivia time

Harrington’s victory was his third major title. Which European golfer has won the most Grand Slam events?

Run it out

The Chicago Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano hit a ball deep in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday and decided he’d join the fans watching it leave the park.

But as he stood at the plate, the ball hit the left-field wall and Soriano wound up with a long single. The Cubs still won, 10-2, and swept the doubleheader.

Even so, Cubs Manager Lou Piniella was not pleased. “I told him that he’s one of our leaders here and there’s no need for that,” Piniella told the Chicago Tribune. “He agrees, and said it won’t happen again.”

Chin music

Soriano’s lack of hustle was apparently the reason why, in the next inning, Braves rookie Francisley Bueno threw an 0-1 pitch behind Soriano’s head, the newspaper said. Bueno was promptly ejected from his major league debut by plate umpire Ed Rapuano.

“It’s part of the game, but you can’t throw up at someone’s head,” said the Cubs’ Jim Edmonds. “If you want to throw at somebody, you have to keep the ball down.”

One wonders if Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Sal Maglie would have agreed.

Trivia answer

Englishman Harry Vardon, with seven. Vardon won six British Opens between 1896 and 1914, and he won the U.S. Open in 1900.

And finally

Houston’s 6-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday included the Astros scoring six times in the sixth inning with the runs driven in by walks, hit batters, and sacrifice flies -- but no hits.

“It was a crazy inning, but that happens,” Astros catcher Humberto Quintero said. “Baseball’s just crazy.”

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