Notes: Rankin Recovering; No Age Limit for Monty?

Judy Rankin sounded as upbeat as ever Tuesday, hopeful the hard part of cancer surgery was behind her. She cooked dinner for the first time, and even had the strength to take her dogs for walk at home in Midland, Texas.
 
But the ABC Sports golf analyst doesn't quite have the strength to go to the British Open next week.
 
"It's the hardest week I have and the one I love the most," said Rankin, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two months ago. "But I'm not quite up to that. I'm trying hard to get to the Women's British Open. Nothing is a definite yet, but it looks very possible."
 
Rankin had planned to go to Toledo, Ohio, this weekend for the LPGA Tour event. Her family is talking her out of it, however, not wanting her to return too early and have a setback.
 
"I think I would be quite capable of sitting and talking for two hours," she said with a laugh. "It's the trip that's hard, and that's not an easy place to get to. What I need is my own airplane."
 
Then came more laughter.
 
"Maybe I'll go to the British if Tiger will take me," she said.
 
The Women's British Open is Aug. 3-6 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, and Rankin remained optimistic she could make it.
 
"This has been hard, I must say," she said. "But I think I'm well through the worst of it now."
 
AGE LIMIT
Colin Montgomerie says he feels 10 years younger than 43 because of his practice routine. Monty has one of the most beautifully repeating swings in golf, a swing that hasn't changed since he was a lad. That means he doesn't spend countless hours on the range finding a fix, which he believes has added longevity to his career.
 
"I haven't worn out my body bashing balls," Montgomerie said last week in Ireland. "Actually, I can prolong my career longer than others because I haven't bashed myself up."
 
Monty said he hits about 150 balls during a typical round -- assuming he shoots around 70. He said Sky Sports sent a reporter to count how many balls Vijay Singh hit in a typical day at the U.S. Open.
 
"Just short of 1,000 in the day," Montgomerie said. "That included 400 putts after he finished. He's older than me by four months. But he's unique. He is one end of the scale, and I am the other. That's a 700- or 800-ball difference in a day. You multiply that by six days' play in a week. He does very well."
 
Using that math, Carlos Franco is 41 and probably feels 12.
 
CHERRY PICKING
USGA executive director David Fay made it no secret that he would like to see the U.S. Women's Open return to Cherry Hills, and that he expects the Denver club to ask for it again.
 
If that's the case, expect to see one minor change.