MNSS PGA GOLFER JOHN COOK FINISHES SECOND IN A FINAL ROUND PLAYOFF AT THE SENIORS PLAYERS PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

On Sunday August 21st, John Cook finished 2nd place on the third hole of a 3-hole final round playoff at the Seniors Players PGA Championship in New York. Fred Couples closed out with an even-par 71 to match Cook (70) at 11-under on to force the playoff on Westchester Country Club's West Course. Cook held a share of the lead for nine holes but bogeyed No. 16 and missed birdie putts on the final two holes, forcing the second straight playoff and fourth overall in the event history. "I thought that putt was going in," Cook said. "My eyes got real big." Cook narrowly missed a chance for his first major victory after having won three PGA Champions Tour events this season. "It's disappointing," Cook said. "It really is. I'm disappointed that I didn't come out on top, but I'm not going to look back and say I should've or would've, could've done this. Just the conditions were such that it didn't allow that. But I battled all day. I really did." The PGA Champions Tour continues next week at the Boeing Classic on Friday Aug 26 – Sunday Aug 28, 2011.

MNSS MOTOCROSS RACER RYAN VILLOPOTO GOES 1-1 FOR FIRST OVERALL AT UNADILLA ON HIS 23RD BIRTHDAY

The Sports Syndicate's Ryan Villopoto extended his points lead with a dominant overall victory on his 23rd birthday at Unadilla Sports Valley Center in New Berlin, N.Y. during the ninth round of the AMA Motocross Championship series. The win was his second of the season, but the first aboard the 2012 Kawasaki KX450F. Villopoto started his birthday scoring the fastest qualifying time and those fast times carried over into the two grueling motos. Although the weather was beautiful, the track was tough, but Villopoto quickly made his way to the front to lead both motos before the halfway mark. “I knew that I would be bummed today with anything less than a win and I was able to put two good motos together,” said Villopoto. “It was great to get the opportunity to try out the new KX450F and it seems to fit me well already. This win came at a great time and helped me move six more points into the lead.” For more info about Ryan's win click the link to visit www.kawasaki.com Another big moment that took place was the announcement of Team USA for Motocross of Nations. Villopoto was asked to be a part of the three-man team in September at Le Circuit du Put de Poursay in Saint Jean D’Angely, France.

MNSS SNOWBOARDER MARK MCMORRIS WINS THE NEW ZEALAND OPEN SLOPESTYLE

The Sports Syndicate's Mark McMorris fired the opening shots in the 2011 Burton Global Open series on Friday and picked up $7,000 and 850 TTR World Tour event points for winning the slopestyle finals at the Burton New Zealand Open, a 5Star TTR event. "Today was awesome," McMorris said after the event. "I'm so stoked to be on the podium with some good friends. Everybody rode insane." McMorris' winning run included two a double-tap Cab bonk over the barrel feature, Cab 270 frontside boardslide to fakie on the down-flat-down, a half Cab to backside 360 on the cannon rail, and fireworks in the jumps: A mute backside 1080, frontside melon 900, and a huge Cab 1260 nosegrab on the final hit. McMorris' Cab 1260 managed to make the biggest booter on the course look too small. With Friday's win McMorris is now in fourth place in the 2011/2012 Men's TTR Slopestyle World Tour rankings. For more info and video of Mark's win click the link to visit www.espn.go.com

MNSS SURFER PAT GUDAUSKAS WINS THE MR. PRICE PRO BALLITO 6 STAR ASP PRIME IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Sports Syndicate's Patrick Gudauskas kept the Mr Price Pro Ballito crown in the family, earning the first ASP PRIME victory of his career in the final at Surfers Beach. Just two years after his brother Tanner won the event in 2009, Gudauskas stamped the ‘Gudang’ family name on the 2011 edition of the Mr Price Pro Ballito while rocketing from World No. 27 to World No.15 on the ASP World Rankings. “This is crazy! I’m so psyched right now,” Gudauskas said. “This is definitely the best event I've ever competed in and maybe the best one I've ever watched. It has been flawless for a whole week and we’re all psyched to be in Ballito.” Stringing together a powerful combination of lip bashes and critical floaters on the tapering Ballito walls, Gudauskas took the lead with a 7.17 (out of ten) before landing a massive air-drop floater to seal his victory off just a 4.67. Gudauskas’s achievement marks one for the record books, the Gudauskas brothers becoming the second pair of siblings to win Mr Price Pro after the Irons Brothers, late 3X ASP World Champion Andy and Bruce, did so in 2004 and 2005 respectively. “It’s crazy, people were asking me about that all week and I knew it would be a difficult task to defend Tanner’s title,” Gudauskas said. “Somehow I pulled it off and the fact that Andy and Bruce did it, makes it even more special.” The Mr Price Pro Ballito enjoyed flawless waves throughout the week and will go down in South African surfing history as some of the best waves ever surfed in competition. For more info and video of Pats win click the link to visit www.mrpricepro.com

MNSS PGA GOLFER JOHN COOK WINS THE MONTREAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT WHILE BREAKING THE COURSE RECORD TO EARN HIS THIRD WIN OF THE SEASON

The Sports Syndicate's John Cook won the Montreal Championship for his third Champions Tour title of the year, closing with a 6-under 66 on Sunday for a tournament-record 21-under 195 total. Cook, the runner-up last year at Fontainebleau Golf Club, beat Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon by three strokes. "I thought 20 would have a good chance," Cook said. "I got off to a great start and that kind of let me then relax a little bit and go ahead and free swing it because 20 was my number that I thought was going to be close, have a chance, maybe a playoff, so all day I was thinking that. Once I got to 20, I wanted to get to 21." Cook also won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January and topped Jay Don Blake in a playoff in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Florida in April. Cook now has eight victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 11 times on the PGA Tour. For more on John Cook's most recent win visit pgatour.com

MNSS SNOWBOARDER CHAS GULDEMOND COMMENTS ON IOC ANNOUNCEMENT OF SNOWBOARD SLOPESTYLE APPROVED FOR 2014 OLYMPICS IN SOCHI

The International Olympic Committee's Executive Board approved the addition of Snowboard Slopestyle to the Winter Olympics roster of events, effective in 2014. The decision was announced via press conference from the IOC's meeting in Durban, South Africa. "The reason why we waited for the inclusion of slopestyle, was the feasibility study that was underway in terms of logistics, in Sochi," said IOC President Jacques Rogge. "The feasibility was very good so there was no issue in this respect. Slopestyle is a very popular sport, and this is growing very fast. You have young, dedicated, spectacular athletes. Definitely, I believe it has the same future as the beginning of snowboarding in Nagano in 1998. You see what has happened in between." Slopestyle athletes welcomed the IOC announcement. "I am so stoked to hear that the IOC believes that slopestyle snowboarding is ready for the Olympics," says The Sports Syndicate's pro snowboarder Chas Guldemond. "This is so huge for our sport. I also feel lucky that I will now be able to work toward qualifying for the Olympic Games and the chance to represent my country." For more on the IOC announcement visit sports.espn.go.com

MNSS SNOWBOARDER TORSTEIN HORGMO NOMINATED FOR AN ESPY IN THE CATEGORY OF BEST PLAY

We are pleased to announce that The Sports Syndicate's Torstein Horgmo has been selected as a nominee for an ESPY in the category of Best Play. Fans will have the chance to select the finalists and winners by voting online at espn.com/espys. The top plays will be seeded and placed into a bracket for fans to vote for their favorites. Voting is open now and will end on July 9th at 11:59 PM/ET. The nominees will be narrowed down until the final four plays remain which will be revealed during the ESPYs Countdown show on July 13th on ESPN. Fans will continue to vote for the four finalists leading up to and during the live show and the winner will be announced on stage. To vote for Torstein click the link and visit espn.com/espys.