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SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Henrik Stenson was baking in the hot sun of Baltusrol, chipping out of the thick grass in the short-game area until the bag of golf balls was nearly empty. One chip dropped into the cup on its last turn.I would have thought thats the perfect way to end, caddie Gareth Lord said to him.Stenson looked over at him with those ice blue eyes, finally cracking the slightest smile, and then he reached over for a fresh bag of balls.Nine days later, nothing has changed.The only difference now from when he last competed at a major is that Stensons name is on the oldest trophy in golf, and he gets to keep that silver claret jug until he returns it at the British Open next July.He is a major champion, fulfilling a boyhood dream. Asked the first drink he poured from the jug, Stenson replied, It was champagne ... and it was champagne ... and it was champagne. He knows how to celebrate.On the golf course, he knows only hard work. That doesnt stop.I think golf is a game youre never going to be finished, Stenson said. Youre never going to get to the point where youre maxed out in your ability and how youre playing, so theres always that strive to become better. I got a little perfectionist in there thats always been pushing me forward, and that can both make me and break me at times, when youre striving to be your best.But no, he added, I dont think Im going to sit back and just say, `OK, that was it. Im finished. If I look at my career, to win a major championship, that was pretty much the only thing I had not managed to achieve, and now I have that. But then at the same time, you can look ahead and try and win another one.The trap facing the 40-year-old Swede is his age.Eight other players did not win their first major until 40 or older, and only two of them won another major. Mark OMeara won the 1998 Masters at 41, and he added the British Open that summer at Royal Birkdale. The other was Old Tom Morris, who won all four of his British Opens in his 40s back in the 1860s.Stenson is a different breed.This is the guy who won the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2013, and two weeks later was so frustrated during a rain-delayed finish at the BMW Championship that he snapped off the head of his driver and then smashed up a locker at Conway Farms.The following week at the Tour Championship, he was asked how he could be on top of the world in Boston and lose his mind in Chicago in the span of two weeks.You dont have much experience with Swedes, do you? he said.He has a wicked temper and a dry sense of humor, and both can show up without warning. Through it all, there is an endless search to get better.Stenson had to endure two significant slumps in his career, the first one that led him to swing coach Pete Cowen. He doesnt think this is anything special because other players over a course of two decades are certain to go through bad times.Ive shown more than once Im not a quitter, he said.Still to be determined is how the quick turnaround between the final two majors -- 11 days -- affects him. It might be good to tee it up so soon after such a majestic performance at Royal Troon, where he set the major championship record of 264 and needed it to hold off Phil Mickelson.Stenson was so locked in on every shot that only when he was signing his card did he realize he tied Johnny Miller as the only major champions to win with a 63 in the final round.Then again, an extra week to let it soak in might have helped.He was inundated with interviews when he got home to Sweden, though he managed to squeeze in a few days of quiet time with his family before he came over to the PGA Championship. It wont be long after the final major that he heads to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics.Ive just got to try and get back into my game and pay attention to all the little things thats important to play good golf for me, Stenson said.Exactly how to do it, I havent been in this situation before. But Ive still got to focus on my game. Because if I dont do that, then that little form and that little edge is sure to be disappearing. Its still important to play golf and get the practice done, so thats still my priority.He is not one to get the big head, and it helps that his next major is in New Jersey.On the fourth today, I had this long putt and I left it way short, Stenson said. And someone in the stands shouted, `Does your husband play golf? Shows youre not up there on that pedestal for very long. Wholesale Vans Australia . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Buy Cheap Vans Australia . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. http://www.wholesalevansaustralia.com/ . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Cheap Vans Shoes Australia . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Cheap Vans Australia . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. ATLANTA -- Six years and one month ago, Bubba Watson lost a playoff at the PGA Championship in his bid for a first major title. He shook the hand of the winner, Martin Kaymer, then walked off the final green and immediately asked the next person he saw a question that had been weighing on his mind throughout the conclusion of the tournament.Did I make the Ryder Cup team?Watson can be criticized for flaws in both performance and demeanor at times, but his desire has never wavered -- especially when it comes to representing his country.That was true then, when he did indeed qualify for the U.S. team, and it remains true today, as he hopes for the 12th and final spot on the roster going into next weeks competition at Hazeltine National.Its everything, he said of making the team after an opening-round 2-over 72 at the Tour Championship on Thursday. The only two things that were important this year were making the Olympics and making the Ryder Cup team.On this day, one which began with a bogey on the first hole and ended with bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes before a disappointing par on the par-5 finisher, Watson didnt ask any questions about making the team as he walked off the final green.Instead, he was the one being asked the questions -- and insisted he doesnt have any answers as to whether hell be captain Davis Love IIIs final wild-card pick on Sunday evening.I know the same as you know, he told the assembled media. The only thing I know that he told me -- and hes told everybody -- is that its about who matches up well. I dont know what that means. I dont know if its about partners. If a guy matches up better with two people or a guy matches up better with three people. I dont know that.He actually knows a little more than that.He knows that -- according to the captain, at least -- his result at East Lake Golf Club wont determine his fate for being on the team. As much of a head-scratcher as it sounds, considering the task force charged with overseeing the team pushed back the final pick specifically to allow room for a hot player to be chosen late, Love has told Watson and others that their performance this week wont impact the selection process.Theres nothing I can do now, Watson explained. Davis said its all about strategies and different things. Its not about my play. Its not about anybodys play. So I cant worry about that.He also cant -- and wont -- worry about being the focal point of discuussions surrounding that final pick.ddddddddddddThere are some who are adamant that itll be him, no matter what; there are others who maintain he definitely wont be it. There are some advocating that his booming drives will put pressure on the European counterparts; there are others who believe his tendency to sulk when struggling is a deficiency the U.S. team cant afford.Not that Watson has heard any of this chatter.He insists that he hasnt watched, read or listened to any media in two years -- especially media analyzing, writing or speaking about him.What he has heard about is what some potential teammates have said about having the worlds seventh-ranked player in the team room next week.People came up to me and said, Do you know what Jordan [Spieth] said about you? Do you know what Brandt [Snedeker] said about you? So I thank both of them, he said. That was the only clips of media I know about.Its true. If there is a contingent of U.S. players lobbying for Watson to be excluded, they might be part of a silent minority.I dont know where everybody gets this idea that Bubba Watson is a bad teammate, Snedeker said earlier this week. He is probably one of the best teammates you could possibly have. I want that out there for everybody to hear. Bubba Watson is a great teammate. So I dont know why everybody keeps making this diversion of the truth, making Bubba out to be this bad guy.He is a great teammate. He was unbelievable on Monday [in a practice round at Hazeltine]. Hes been unbelievable all year. And we would be lucky to have him on the team as a teammate, period, end of story.Snedeker and the other players might want him there no matter what.On Thursday, Watson revealed that he texted Love recently and asked if he could serve as an assistant captain if hes not picked for the team.Theres going to be one year, hopefully before I pass away, that we actually win, he said with a smile. I want to be a part of it.Hed prefer that role come as a player, but that wont be announced until Sunday evening.When Watson walks off the final green this time, instead of asking the next person he sees whether he made the Ryder Cup team, hell await a phone call from the captain, determining whether his inherent desire to represent the U.S. will culminate in an official tee time next week. ' ' '