UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
GOOD START FOR O'NEAL: Former Jackson State golfer Tim O'Neal bogeyed three of the final six
holes to finish in a five-way tie for 11th at the Movistar
Panama Championship in Panama City, Panama, the first event of this
year's Nationwide Tour. O'Neal collected $11,660 as he began his latest
attempt to make it to the PGA Tour. After opening with rounds of
73 and 68 to beat the three-over cut at the par-70 Panama Golf Club
course by two strokes, the 33-year old O'Neal shot himself into
contention Saturday with a course-record tying seven-under 63.
He entered Sunday's final round tied for fourth at six-under
204. He stayed in contention and amongst the top five for most
of the final round before bogeying Nos. 13, 15 and 18 on
the way in to finish with a final round two-over 72 and a
four-day total of two-under 276. Tripp Isenhour, who set the
course record in the opening round, won the event with an
11-under 269 and took home the $99,000 top prize. This is
O'Neal's second straight year competing on the Nationwide Tour
and this year's start is better than a year ago when he missed
the cut in the season's first two tournaments. He finished 44th
on the money list with a total of $120,772. The top 20
money winners on the Nationwide Tour are granted full
exemption to the PGA Tour. "I want to win and finish in the top 20
(on the money list)," said O'Neal, who had two top ten
finishes last season but went through an agonizing stretch of
12 tournaments where he missed seven cuts and banked
only $10,025. "I'll know the courses a little better this year
and have a better idea how to travel. I feel like I'm
better prepared."
SUPER BOWL DIARY: The only black college player in Sunday's Super Bowl XL is former
South 
Carolina State (1994-97) and MEAC
standout Chartric "Chuck"
Darby, a starting left defensive tackle for the
Seattle Seahawks. Darby, a standout linebacker and lineman and
two-time defensive all-MEAC player at SC State who holds
the school's all-time sack record with 45.5 and was runnerup
for MEAC defensive player of the year in 1997, is penning a
diary for the Seahawks at http://www.seahawks.com/ArDisplay.aspx?ID=6377) that began when the team
entered the playoffs. Darby, a 6-2, 275-pound tackle, was signed
by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent
in 2000 and spent the first four years of his NFL career as
a member of the Buc' vaunted defense. He worked his way
up from the practice squad in 2000 to become a sometime
starter at nose tackle for the defensive unit that carried the Bucs
to the Super Bowl XXXVII title. He was signed by Seattle as
a free agent in March 2005 and posted 30 tackles and 2.5
sacks this season.
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.