Press Releases

03/11/2010

Ferguson, Newberry win story award; Terrill photo

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Golf writer Doug Ferguson shared two writing awards and won a third in the annual contest for AP staffers judged by Associated Press Sports Editors at their winter meeting.

Ferguson and national writer Paul Newberry won story of the year and enterprise honors for their look at the lack of diversity in golf 12 years after Tiger Woods won his first Masters tournament.

Ferguson also won for deadline writing with his file from the PGA Championship when Y.E. Yang rallied to beat Woods in the final round.

Other contest winners included sports columnist Tim Dahlberg, Grimsley Award for outstanding body of work; and national writer Nancy Armour, best feature, for a profile on boxer Devon Alexander.

Photo awards went to Mark J. Terrill, best portfolio; Daniel Ochoa de Olza, best action photo; and Al Behrman, best feature photo.

Ferguson and Newberry produced "The Color of Golf," a comprehensive look at why Woods' victory in the 1997 Masters failed to inspire other African-American golfers to take up a game that had been largely off limits to them for more than a century.

"This was the most complete look at race in golf I've read," said Garry Howard, assistant managing editor/sports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who helped judge the AP entries. "Every aspect was covered. Every angle was addressed, from the golfers on the tour, golfers not on the tour, sponsors, churches, blacks and whites."

David Squires, urban affairs columnist for the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., also judged AP's entries.

Ferguson's deadline story captured not only Yang's victory, but Woods' loss — his first at a major when he was leading going into the final round.

Dahlberg's portfolio included columns on the 35th anniversary of the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" fight, Tom Watson losing the British Open in a playoff after missing an 8-foot putt to win in regulation, and a tribute to sportsmanship on the high school level.

Armour's work was a compelling tale of how boxing didn't just alter Alexander's life when he took up the sport at age 7, but might well have saved it. He went on to become the WBC 140-pound world champion.

"It addressed every social aspect of Alexander's life," Howard said. "How eight of the boys he started boxing with are now dead and another 10 are in jail. But it also addressed his immense boxing skills. And after she contacted all the right sources, she let them tell the story."

Terrill, a photographer based in Los Angeles, won the AP's Thomas V. diLustro award for best portfolio for a package that included swimming, Major League Baseball, the NBA and college football.

Cincinnati-based Behrman won best feature for a picture of Bengals defensive tackle Tank Johnson having his contact lens checked during practice at training camp.

Ochoa de Olza, based in Madrid, won best action photo for his shot of Spanish matador Israel Lancho being gored during a bullfight in Madrid.

Winners will be honored at the organization's annual convention in June in Salt Lake City.