Daily Bullets (May 7): Wyndham Clark Leading Wells Fargo, Softball Falls in Bedlam

Good morning and happy Sunday to you. I hope your weekend is going better than OSU softball’s just finished.

Let’s dive in to today’s Bullets.

Three thoughts

1. OSU softball losing to OU is not totally surprising. In fact, OSU softball probably, at least factoring in the dominance of this OU program, should lose to OU more often than not. But the way in which the Cowgirls lost Saturday is, well, just pain. Pain everywhere. So, so much pain. Here’s Marshall on how it went down:

Oklahoma State fell to Oklahoma 4-2 on Saturday at Cowgirl Stadium in a game the Cowgirls led 2-0 entering the seventh inning. The inning started with Jocelyn Erickson doubling down the right-field line. OSU first baseman Micaela Wark was in position to make the play before it skipped off the bag and into the right-field corner. Maybe it was squinky. Maybe it was what the OU section of fans started cheering: “Sooner Magic.”

2. OSU golf alum Wyndham Clark went beast mode Saturday at the Wells Fargo with an 8-under 63, the best score of anyone in the field at Quail Hollow, as he grabbed a two-stroke leading entering the final round. Clark is 16 under and the betting favorite to win Sunday. He has not yet won on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2017, but a win this weekend would definitely be validating for him in what has been a tremendous season for the 29-year-old.

3. This from earlier in the week from Cody Nagel at 247Sports was good and worth highlighting. OSU chasing a 2024 RB from Las Vegas in Micah Kaapana, who apparently liked his visit to Stillwater because it was “a great change of scenery” going from there in Vegas to “the open country.” He added that it reminded me “a little of Hawaii.”

Hawaii!!!

Hand up, I’ll admit it: I’ve never been to Hawaii. But I have been to Stillwater. And never in my head has the thought popped up that it reminded me of any past tropical locales I’ve visited. The power of the NIL era is incredible, baby! If Stillwater’s mayor didn’t pay him a milli to make that comparison, then he wasn’t compensated enough.

Two quotes

1. Kenny Gajewski being just brutally honest in his postgame evaluation Saturday after pulling Kyra Aycock, only to blow a late lead, was refreshing (and hilarious if it wasn’t so painful): “… I look like a dumbass now. I should have just left her in to see what happened. But we’re gonna do what we think is best. We know our team well. It backfired on us here. I thought Kyra was really good. For a freshman being in this spot — national TV, huge crowd, playing the No. 1 team — I thought she handled that stuff well.”

2. It’s not a quote, but this from Carson made me LOL so hard. Real ones know.

One question

1. What’s one thing/opinion that you’ll totally admit makes you feel/look like a grumpy old man or woman? Earlier this week after playing some pick-up hoops, I think mine is: wearing airpods while hooping should be a straight-to-jail level offense. Can’t do it. Shouldn’t do it. Under no circumstances should it be allowed. Nope. If you’re my teammate I need to communicate; if I’m playing against you I want to make chit-chat and encourage you. Where are we at in society, folks?

Other thoughts

• We are one step closer to LeBron James playing in the NBA — and maybe on the same team — as his son, Bronny. Bronny committed to USC on Sunday and could be a one-and-done prospect. Not a flashy, overwhelming athlete like his pops, but one of the most savvy two-way guards in the 2023 recruiting class. I’m very much here for all the Bronny takes. (My conspiracy is actually that Bronny isn’t seen as a surefire one-and-done, but the Warriors wink-wink that they’ll take him late in the first round as a way of coaxing LeBron to join Steph Curry in Golden State. That’d be some 5D level chess, right?)

• This from Jason Gay at the Wall Street Journal on participation trophies and it being a fake crisis was insightful and funny, as per usual.

• This tuna melt sandwich looks amazing and is on my list this week. I don’t like sandwiches much. And I pretty much never eat tuna. But this tuna melt looks bomb.

• Long read, but in the aftermath of another mass shooting Saturday — this time in Allen, Texas — this is a worthwhile one on Sandy Hook and the crime scene investigators who had to document the tragedy. Heartbreaking.