Sioux City West High School graduate and Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich will answers your questions today at 11 a.m. in a live Q&A session.

Hinrich is in town for his charity golf tournament today. He will talk about the work he still does here in Sioux City, his playing days at West and Kansas and his future in the NBA.

Got a question for Kirk? Log on early and post your question. We’ll get to as many as possible before Hinrich tees off at the Sioux City Country Club.

Click play below to join the discussion.

Associated Press photo

Tiger Woods didn’t win Sunday, but when a winner was crowned, it was truly his day.

Y.E. Yang, of South Korea walked away with the win in the 91st PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Sunday, stunning the crowd.

Not only did the 37-year-old South Korean become the first Asian player to win one of golf’s majors — the Championship — he took down none other than Tiger Woods, the sport’s No. 1 guy, to do it.

Here are photos from Sunday’s competition.

Friday was the hottest day of the year in the state of Minnesota. I know because I spent 10 hours, give or take an hour or two, sitting beside the 17th green at Hazeltine National Golf Club while Tiger Woods moved ever closer to his fifth PGA Championship victory.

The temperatures were in the mid-90s and the wind was howling, but it didn’t prevent Woods from mounting a four-shot lead midway through the 91st PGA Championship.

He shot 2-under-par 70 on Friday, following up on his 5-under 67 in the opening round on Thursday. The four-shot advantage he took into the third round was the largest since the 2005 British Open at St. Andrews.

Just for the record, Tiger is 8-0 when leading by 36 holes in a major championship. If he finishes the deal, and there’s a pretty good chance he will, it will be his 15th victory in a major, three behind the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

But you already knew that.

Tiger stands at 7-under and there are a host of players at 3-under, including Vijay Singh, who will play in the final group with Tiger on Saturday.

“Tomorrow is all about positioning yourself,” said Woods in his post-game interview. “I know Vijay won’t make many mistakes. He’s got the most win of anybody in his 40s and it should be fun tomorrow. I just have to keep grinding it out.”

Ross Fisher, one of the players who, like nearly every time he shows up, will be chasing Tiger over the weekend, offered this analogy:

“I mean, yes, Tiger is the greatest golfer I think we’ve ever seen, but at the end of the day, he’s just like you and me. He’s just a human being. He just happens to be damn good at golf. So we’ve got to work really, really hard to try and compete and catch him.”

Good luck. It’s going to be a difficult proposition.

Woods saved his best golf for the final hour, making three straight birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16. He must have been upset after lipping out a birdie putt on 13.

This was my third PGA Championship and, like the other two, I discovered that the best route is to find a hole and plop down. Watch all the players go through. I know it’s cool to say you followed Tiger, but I’ll bet you didn’t see much.

We’re fortunate that a major championship comes around once every seven years or so, close enough that we can drive there and see the world’s best players in action. It’s at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., next year. That’s not that far, either.

So, if you’re a golf fan, jump in the car and drive a few hours. It’s worth it.

And, by the way, this one’s over. Put it in the books.

You could tell it was a big day at the PGA Championship Thursday just by taking a look in the sky. The Goodyear blimp was flying over Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Yes, there are a lot of tremendous players in the field, 98 of the top 100 in the world to be exact, but a familiar character made his way to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round.

Tiger Woods, the world’s No. 1 player and four-time PGA champion, fashioned a 5-under-par 67 and leads Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the defending champion, by one stroke. Interestingly, these two staged a battle to the end in last week’s Bridgestone Invitational, eventually won by Woods when Harrington took a triple bogey 8 on the 16th hole.

It’s only the first round and there are plenty of other big names in contention, but normally when Tiger gets off to a fast start, he’s hard to beat.

“I played really well today,” said Woods in his post-round interview. “I just hit a bunch of good shots and this round could have been really low. I missed a bunch of putts out there.”

He didn’t, however, miss birdie putts on Nos. 12 (20 feet), 15 (2 feet), 2 (20-footer uphill), 3 (30 foot bomb) and 7 (a two putt after reaching the 572-yard par-5 in two shots).

Harrington matched Woods with five birdies, but also had a bogey on his card. It appears that Harrington enjoys playing with Tiger and, he said, why wouldn’t you?

“The great thing is if you’re playing with Tiger Woods you’re doing well,” said the cheerful Harrington, who seems to have recovered nicely from his problems late on Sunday. “That’s always going to be the case. If you’re playing with him, the first couple of rounds you’re a marquee draw. If you’re playing with him at the end of the week you’re always going to be in contention. If you don’t want to be in that spot, you shouldn’t be playing golf.”

Among a group of six at 3-under-par are former champions Vijay Singh (1998, ‘04) and David Toms (2001).

Australians Robert Allenby and Matthew Goggin, along with American Hunter Mahan and Alvaro Quiros of Spain also shot 3-under. Quiros, playing the group behind Woods, Harrington and Rich Beem, knocked his second shot on the massive 606-yard 11th hole, onto the green.

I spent most of my day greenside on the par-4 sixth hole, a 405-yard dogleg left. The shot of the day on that hole was by Rod Pampling, who holed out from 110 yards for an eagle.

Shingo Katayama, besides donning his traditional cowboy hat, wore the brightest shirt of the day, an orange jobbie you could see from 400 yards away. His countryman, 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa, who attracted a flock of Japanese media types, had on pants that were nearly as bright. You needed a pair of shades to watch these guys play.

The clouds rolled in and it looked like rain late in the afternoon, but nothing ever materialized. The forecast calls for much windier conditions for Friday, so anything can happen. Woods and Harrington, who played the morning shift on Thursday, will tee off in the afternoon.

By the end of the day Friday, we’ll know who will be around for the weekend. Stay tuned.

On the eve of the 91st PGA Championship, as I drove past Prince’s Paisley Park recording studios on the way to Hazeltine National, I wondered to myself how many takes it took before he finally got “Party Like It’s 1999″ perfect?

It doesn’t matter, because what in the heck does that have to do with golf, anyhow?

The players — both the contenders and the pretenders — made their way around the course for their final practice rounds today. At 7:15 a.m. sharp tomorrow, D.J. Trahan will hit the first official shot of the tournament, signalling the start of what should be four days of tremendous golf action in the last major of the 2009 season.

Tiger took the day off, choosing only to hit range balls and practice his chipping and putting, which, of course, drew the biggest crowds of all.

The big news on Wednesday was the arrival of Phil Mickelson, the world’s No. 2 player who returned to action last week. Mickelson has played a spotty schedule this season since both his wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer.

He looked in fine form during his only practice round and, with no Tiger strolling the fairways, Mickelson was the center of attention. Phil finished second in the U.S. Open in June and, despite being a little rusty, will no doubt be a factor before the end of the PGA Championship.

Mickelson said he feels good about his game, even better than he did the week before the U.S. Open. He said the long-term prognosis for both his wife and mother is good, which should give him more time to concentrate on golf.

John Daly probably won’t be, but the 1991 PGA champion has lost a ton of weight and sticks out like a sore thumb with those wild pants of his. Wednesday’s wardrobe consisted of red, orange, green, yellow and blue polka-dot pants and an aqua green shirt. And, man, the dude can still bash the golf ball.

Each of the 2010 Ryder Cup captains — Corey Pavin of the United States and Colin Montgomerie of Europe — spoke to the media. Their respective squads will tee it up a year from this fall at Celtic Manor across the pond. Pavin and Montie, by the way, are also part of the field this week.

So, when the dust clears late Sunday afternoon, will another surprise (remember Rich Beem in 2002) emerge as the winner, or will it be one of the frontrunners?

It’s hard not to pick Tiger because of the fact that he’s coming off back-to-back wins and seems to be at the top of his game. He finished one shot behind Beem in ‘02 after making birdie on the last four holes, but remember, Woods missed the cut in the British Open.

I don’t think it will be one of the young guns. Rory McElroy (20) and Ryo Ishikawa (17) will certainly have their days in the sun, but it’ll be a few years before they win a major. Anthony Kim could be considered a contender, but we haven’t heard much from him the last couple of months.

Angel Cabrera won the Masters, Lucas Glover the U.S. Opena and Stewart Cink the British Open. Of the three, I believe Cabrera has the best chance to win another major.

Everyone in Minnesota will be pulling for native son Tom Lehman, but at age 50 his best years are behind him. Sergio Garcia said his game is still not where he would like it to be, which means he’s pretty much throwing in the towel already.

Besides Tiger, two guys I think have a real good chance are Steve Stricker and Lee Westwood. Stricker is ranked No. 5 in the world and has won twice already this season. Westwood, the world No. 13, nearly joined Cink and Tom Watson in the British Open playoff and just missed the playoff with Tiger and Rocco Mediate in last year’s U.S. Open. Montgomerie, the Euro Ryder Cup captain, says Westwood is striking the ball as well as anyone.

Can’t wait for the tournament to begin.

Rich Beem signs autographs during a practice round for the 91st PGA Championship golf tournament at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The weather was simply gorgeous for the first practice rounds of the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., on Monday.

Padraig Harrington is the defending champion but the field includes 10 more former winners, including four-time champion Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, who’s won two Wanamaker Trophies. Woods, by the way, hasn’t won a major yet this season but has 14 for his career and is coming off back-to-back victories in  the last two weeks.

(more…)

It was another beautiful day at Hazeltine National Tuesday as the 91st PGA Championship grew near. For the second straight day, fans showed up by the thousands to watch Tiger Woods play his second practice round. They were lined up eight to 10 deep along the fairways, which to me wouldn’t be too much fun being a part of because you couldn’t see anything anyway.

Shortly after his practice rounds, Woods, looking to become only the second five-time PGA Champion (joining the immortal Walter Hagen), met the media. Once again, a substantial throng was on hand in the interview room, much bigger than it would be for some other players. Woods touched on a number of different subjects, including what distinguishes the PGA Championship from the game’s other three majors.

(more…)

Three days of golf at Augusta National are in the books, and we head to Sunday with two players tied at 11 under par. Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera are at that mark, which makes for the lowest 54-hole total in seven years. Tiger Woods came into today seven back, and he made up zero shots by the conclusion of his round.

Woods will be paired with Phil Mickelson, which has some wags chortling about how Mickelson will choke throughout Sunday’s proceedings. Who do you like to win? Seven shots is probably too much ground for Woods to make up, especially since there are seven golfers to launch over. If you’re a more seasoned golfer, you may root for Perry, who has a chance to become the oldest major winner ever at age 48 (he’ll be 49 in August).

Or maybe you like the symmetry of both his names — consonant, e, double consonants and y again — Kenny Perry. Probably not a reason to root for a golfer. I’m out.

Sometimes a short headline can sum it all up. There’s palpable pleasure among golf fans this week, as, yes, Tiger Woods will play in his first PGA event since June 2008. His knee surgery has mended and Woods today went through a practice round in Arizona. And since it was Tiger, he drew a huge gallery (is it called a gallery in a practice round?).

Some contend there were just no interesting storylines in the PGA in the rest of the 2008 season and the start of this one. Tiger certainly galvanizes the sport and it’s fans, and he’s back, saying he’s rested and ready. How soon might he now catch Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 Slam wins?

I haven’t played much golf this year and I’ll be milking that alibi for as long as I can before it’s time to confess that decades of practice haven’t seemed to overcome my inherent lack of talent.

Fortunately, I made an exception Monday and took part in the first Kirk Hinrich Golf Benefit at Sioux City Country Club. “Kirk for Kids” was an alternate name given to an event that I hope will become an annual affair. And, assuming it will, I’d encourage anyone who missed this first one to get involved next year.

Like most of these outings, the day wasn’t so much about winning a golf tournament as it was about celebrating a favorite son who has certainly been a very impressive ambassador for our town. Kirk had fun meeting and greeting all the golfers as they reached the first tee. And, as an added bonus, he was accompanied by his wife, the former Jill Fisher, who was an outstanding athlete in her own right (state long jump champion) at Bishop Heelan.

Yes, this was a bit of a spendy affair. However, the calendar here, there and everywhere is full of these things and very few of them are as well organized as this one, making sure golfers got a nice assortment of souvenirs while also finding various ways to generate revenue for the four very worthy charities that should all benefit considerably.

Bottom line: I certainly hope this becomes a major Sioux City tradition. And, I also hope organizers continue to offer the one prize that suited my game the best — a “shortest drive” event on the par-4 third hole. Certainly the highlight of my career!

Also, I should extend congratulations to Bill Hornbeck, a legitimately fine golfer who holed out a 200-yard approach on the par-5 fifth hole for a deuce — a rare double-eagle. Needless to say, it took a prodigious tee shot, something over 300 yards, to put him within range, but I’m not sure which member of Bill’s group made that contribution.

Something else I learned, by the way: Nate Funk, the former Heelan High and Creighton University basketball star who’ll be heading back overseas in the fall for a second season in Germany, can play a little golf, too. On two holes where prizes were offered for the longest drive, Nate was the winner. One of these massive blasts was measured at 326 yards.