This Favor Carries an Excellent Reward

Mark Soldan has a ticket to The Masters, the most prestigious event in U.S. golf and an event that is sold out years in advance. And he didn’t even have to pay for it.

Soldan, a 31-year-old used car salesman from Macomb Township, Mich., was given his ticket by Ryan Moore, the reigning U.S. Amateur Public Links champion.

It was Moore’s way of repaying the stranger who emerged from the gallery to carry his golf bag when he won his amateur title at Orchards Golf Club in Michigan last July.

Unable to afford the $60-a-day caddie fee, Moore was the only player carrying his own bag when Soldan offered to help.

“I told him I couldn’t pay him, but he didn’t care,” Moore told Bloomberg News. “He was just doing it because he wanted to help somebody.”

Winning that tournament guaranteed Moore a place in The Masters’ field -- and Soldan one of Moore’s eight tickets.

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More Masters: Columnist Skip Bayless commenting on Masters membership in the San Jose Mercury News: “The biggest misconception is that they’re a bunch of good ol’ boys who stand for everything wrong with the Old South.

“Today, members represent 35 states and six countries. Only 16% live in Georgia. Six percent come from California, seven from New York.

“But today’s chairman has the unfortunate nickname Hootie, which makes him a laughably easy target ...”

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Trivia time: What city has played host to the most NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours?

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Discounted: From the Seattle Times: “Good news for ex-Sonic Lenny Wilkens: He didn’t break the NBA’s all-time record for coaching losses after all.

“ ‘Lenny has 125 (now 127) defeats over three seasons in Toronto.’ pointed out Randy Hill of FoxSports.com. ‘According to basketball experts, 125 Canadian setbacks are worth, roughly, 100 U.S. ones.’ ”

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All in a name: This from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “Seth Swirsky’s third baseball book, ‘Something to Write Home About: Great Baseball Memories in Letters to a Fan,’ includes a letter from a New York college student named Elizabeth Wrigley-Field.

“ ‘I assume I’m the only person in the world with my last name,’ she wrote. ‘I’m holding out for one day meeting an Alex Fenway-Park, or something similar.’ ”

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“Student” athletes: David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on allegations that a former student was paid to do schoolwork for Fresno State basketball players:

“This might never have been discovered if the players hadn’t all turned in papers written by ‘Your Name Here.’ ”

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Trivia answer: Kansas City, Mo., has been home to nine Final Fours.

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And finally: Lebron James is tired of media attention. At least that’s what 76-year-old Lebron James from Buffalo, N.Y. says.

“I was the first Lebron,” James told the Akron Beacon-Journal.

At 5-8 1/2, and with a lowercase ‘b’ in his first name and no basketball-playing experience, Buffalo’s Lebron has little in common with the 6-8 Akron high school star who is widely expected to be the first pick in this year’s NBA draft.