Mother Nature Raining on Inbee’s Potential Parade

It’s not been a great year weather-wise for the ladies. There was the need for marathon 36-hole Sunday finishes at both the LPGA Championship back in June and the Women’s British Open back in August. And once again – Mother Nature has put the LPGA tournament officials in the unenviable position to consider yet another 36-hole Sunday finish in the final major championship of the season.

“We’ve had nearly four inches of rain since Saturday and the golf course is extremely saturated at this point,” said Heather Daly-Donofrio, the LPGA’s senior vice president of tour operations. “It was clear when competitors were out this morning that conditions weren’t conducive to a fair and equitable competition. So the plan is to scratch those scores from today and have all players restart the first round tomorrow.”

The weather aside, the big story this week obviously is Inbee Park’s quest to become the first professional golfer to ever win four majors in a single season, an accomplishment that the 25-yr-old South Korean admits carries some enormous significance. “Four out of five majors is an amazing thing to achieve,” said Park, in her media interview earlier Wednesday evening. “When I go outside the house and go anywhere in Korea, a lot of people come up to me. It’s like I’m a celebrity.”

                                                   Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

 

That significance wasn’t lost on Park last month in the Women’s British Open, where she struggled with her game and conceded that maybe the expectations of becoming the first professional player ever to achieve such an historic accomplishment was an unavoidable distraction. But heading into the final major of the season, Park maintains that she’s feeling good about her game and has learned how to better manage the situation she finds herself in this week at the Evian. “I’m sure the experience I had at the British Open will help me through this week,” she said. “This is going to be a much better week. I feel like pressure is my friend now. I’m trying to learn from everything.”

Inbee Park has won six events this season and is comfortably leading the LPGA season money list and Player of the Year race. But standing in her way this week is Stacy Lewis, the 2nd ranked player in the world who prevailed at St. Andrews last month to win her 2nd LPGA major title. “It’s still kind of sinking in that I won there,” the 28-yr-old American said nearly a month later. “I’m just trying to hang in with her. I watch her scores, I watch what she’s doing.”

Rest assured, if Inbee Park can put together three solid rounds this week – Stacy Lewis won’t be the only one watching.

Weather permitting, the opening round of the Evian Championship is scheduled to get underway Friday morning.

As with the Ryder, so goeth the Solheim

The last two days of the Solheim Cup were perfect examples of why American viewers have very little interest following the LPGA Tour these days.

Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford, easily considered the strongest American players on Tour, were a combined 4-14-2. They were so bad that they made Michelle Wie look like she belongs again. The European ladies, if I may steal a quote from the weekend hackslap vernaculars I’m familiar with, “played a game with which the American gals weren’t familiar.” It never once looked like Europe was going to lose, despite the enthusiastic fans trying to pump every ounce of life they could muster into what appeared to be a defeated team from the get-go on Friday.

I’ve heard several references to Dottie Pepper’s “choking freakin dogs” comment made a few Solheim’s back, but this team didn’t choke. To choke, in true choke-artist fashion, one has to be in a position to win to be considered a choke artist. This team was never in danger of winning, at any point, so I’m not getting the references being made on the internet discussions I’ve read. Anyway… the future doesn’t look too promising for the American Solheim fans anytime soon. With exception of maybe Salas, Korda and Thompson – we’re relying on veteran players who have shown little capacity to step up in these pressurized team events and deliver. But a few of them sure do look perty, despite the makeup running because of all the alligator tears Sunday afternoon.

Not that I really care, mind you. Losing by 8 points is more than enough to convince me that we simply don’t have a team that can compete whatsoever in the near future. It was depressing enough to make me consider not even posting an article about it, but I did, more so because I felt it worth congratulating the European ladies for some exceptional golf on display each of the three days.

But let’s be real… they could’ve won with their C games. The American team was that weak.

 

 

Sun Young Yoo Wins Kraft Nabisco

Before providing GolfWeek’s official recap link, here’s my very own “5 Things” from the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

1. I.K. Kim’s Choke Job on the 18th

Hey, it was a choke. What more can you say? A foot from the hole, a foot away from winning her first major championship. That doesn’t stop me from having some sympathy for her, however. Those of us who’ve played competitively for any length of time – we know how easily it can happen. She didn’t get a major, but I’ll give her major props for maintaining her composure afterward in her interview. She will not sleep well Sunday night, but hopefully she can put this behind her.

2. Yani’s Human Afterall…

As if Kim’s missed 1-footer doesn’t reinforce just how crazy this game can be much of the time. I tell ya – I’d already given Tseng her 6th major championship Saturday evening in my own mind. But she came out very tight on Sunday with the 3-over 39 totally negating her usual confidence, and she just couldn’t recover. A lot of people were shocked with her 1-over 73 in the final round, myself included. She won’t feel as bad as I.K. Kim, but she’s gotta be very disappointed with how she no-showed on Sunday. Very un-Yani like.

3. “This Wasn’t How the LPGA Wanted This to Finish.”

That was Tim Rosaforte’s take on the unseemly finish on Sunday, and I agree. There’s a huge difference between a player birdieing the final hole (or holes) to get into a playoff and come away the winner and what we witnessed on Sunday. It won’t matter to Sun Young Yoo, who did make a 15-footer for birdie to win in the ensuing playoff, but her accomplishment will forever be overshadowed by Kim’s botched 1-footer. That’s most unfortunate, but it’s the way these type wins always pan out in the end. Ask Paul Lawrie.

4. Good Hair Day for Gulbis?

That couldn’t have been the real Natalie Gulbis on Sunday, could it? Her 7-under 65 in the final round was only her 2nd round in the 60’s this season, and only her 8th since the State Farm Classic back in June. It was also her first top-10 since the Michelob Ultra back in May of 2009.

5. It’s Good to Have Judy Rankin back in the Booth.

For those who aren’t aware, Judy’s husband passed away last month after a lengthy illness and there were some doubts that she’d be coming back to work. THIS STORY will offer you a little background. I readily admit that I’m quite finicky when it comes to on-air golf personalities, but Judy certainly enjoys residence on my personal short list of those who I enjoy listening to. She just has a way of providing quality insight that seems lost in that vocation these days, and she delivered on Friday per usual. As Michelle Wie struggled terribly with her putting both Thursday and Friday, most particularly on Friday as she missed a couple of short ones that never scared the hole, Rankin made the following keen observation. “I don’t know why she doesn’t try taking off those sunglasses,” she said. “I’ve never cared for that. It’s a distraction. It can distort what you see and that impacts your feel with the putter.” Wie has struggled with her putting for quite some time now, but Rankin’s the only analyst who’s brought up that point. It’s good to have her back in the booth. She made the final round of today’s massacre at the Kraft Nabisco a little more tolerable.

And with that, the GolfWeek official recap of Sunday’s action at the Kraft Nabisco can be found HERE.

Congrats to Sun Young Yoo, the winner of the LPGA’s first major in 2012.

 

Tseng, Sjodin Tied for Lead at Kraft Nabisco

I find it rather commonplace anymore to ask this question heading into the final round of an LPGA event: Where are the Americans?

Well, we’ve got 2 inside of the top-15 heading into Sunday – Vicky Hurst and Lexi Thompson, with Hurst T9 at 5-under par and Thompson T12 at 4-under. As for the rest, or the next closest anyway, we’ve got Angela Stanford, Paula Creamer, and Cristie Kerr all primed to shoot career-low rounds on Sunday. Or maybe not. Yeah, I’m guessing that’s not going to happen.

Let’s face it: most of the Americans are so over matched and underwhelming that they should consider giving them strokes to make it more competitive. But I digress….

Yani Tseng had a bit of a struggle on Saturday, firing a 3rd round of 1-under 71 and allowing Karin Sjodin to pull even with her heading into Sunday after shooting 4-under 68 in her 3rd round. At least someone’s there trying to apply some pressure to Yani and make her earn her 6th LPGA Major.

Beth Ann Baldry over at GolfWeek talks about her 5 things to consider heading into Sunday’s final round at the Kraft Nabisco.

“Yani Tseng is likely to win her sixth major championship tomorrow. On Monday, will anyone care? In a perfect world, the headlines and storylines the day after would center around Tseng’s complete dominance. The reality is that the Kraft will be a distant memory as the golf world turns its attention to Magnolia Lane. That being said, pay attention to Tseng on Sunday. Appreciate the kind of talent and mental toughness it takes to dominate at this level. At age 23.”

For a full look at 2012 Kraft Nabisco leaderboard, click HERE.

Nicole Hage

Courtesy of Golf Babes Blog

I just wanted to take a moment to divert the attention of my good friend Kenny, who is an Auburn alum, to one Nicole Hage who is currently playing on the LPGA Symetra Tour. The pic below is courtesy of the Golf Babes blog, which is also located on the right of my blog page under my “Other Favorite Websites” section. Be sure to check out that blog periodically as well to get the latest news on women’s pro golf.

You can find Nicole’s new blog HERE, and learn a little more about her. She looks to have a promising career ahead of her, and we wish her the best.

Tseng Continues Dominance with Win at Kia Classic

Getty Images

While the golf world was consumed with Tiger Woods getting his first official Tour win in over 2 seasons on Sunday at Bay Hill, Yani Tseng fired a 2-under 70 at the Kia Classic to win her 3rd tournament this season in just 5 starts, her 15th career LPGA Tour win. She’s obviously the favorite heading into the Kraft Nabisco Championship this week, the first major of the season for the ladies. If she can continue her current form and prevail come Sunday, it will be her 6th major championship win in just the past 2 years.

Tseng finished runner-up in the Kraft Nabisco last year, as American Stacy Lewis earned her first LPGA Tour victory by virtue of a closing round of 3-under 69. Tseng struggled that Sunday in route to a 2-over 74, but is looking forward to teeing it up on Thursday in the first major championship of the 2012 LPGA Tour season. “Last year was a huge experience for me, and I’m just heading into next week and I’m look forward to it. I know what I’m going to do and still play one shot at a time, be patient, and I love that golf course. The golf course suits me pretty well and suits my game. I can’t wait to start on Thursday.”

Beth Ann Baldry over at GolfWeek provided an interesting take that put Yani’s dominance in perspective. “Tseng has won four of the last eight majors she has played. She needs 10 more majors to tie Patty Berg atop the all-time majors list at 15. At this point, that seems doable. And while it’s extremely hard to compare eras, there’s no question that Tseng is dominating at a time when fields are exponentially deeper than they were in Berg’s time.”

While Baldry’s comment about the obvious disparity in the strength of fields between the Berg and Tseng eras rings true, unfortunately for Tseng, as well as the LPGA Tour in general, there’s hardly any notable difference in the disparity of interest from Berg’s era and today. That is most unfortunate for Tseng, who continues to be little more than a side note in most morning sports sections in newspapers  across the country, despite being the most dominate player in any sport in current times. That lack of interest in women’s professional golf is visible not only with the continuing challenges of securing title sponsors to maintain a relatively active season schedule of tournaments, but also with the allotment of time devoted to televised coverage. In fact – those who are interested in watching the Kraft Nabisco this week will need an upgraded cable television package, as no major basic-cable network (like CBS or NBC) is carrying it, but only the Golf Channel.

While this interest disparity obviously weighs most heavily on LPGA Tour Commissioner Michael Whan, it also dulls the sheen coming from the most dominant player in professional sports, who does speak fluent English by the way. But women’s professional golf finds itself in the most undesirable of situations, domestically speaking… Whan needs an American player to rival Tseng in hopes of generating renewed interest in women’s pro golf here in the states, a player who can generate some home-based excitement. But that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, and not just because of the current generation of American female players, but because Yani Tseng is just that great of a player.

The only problem is that many people still don’t know who Yani Tseng is, or what she’s on the verge of accomplishing. She truly is a once-in-a-lifetime player that is in the process of rewriting golf history, a history, sadly, that very few seem to care much about.

 

Not Even Hail, High Winds and Lightning Can Stop Yani Tseng

Associated Press

(courtesy of the NY Times)

“The 24-year-old Tseng won her 14th LPGA Tour title and second in four events this year. She led the tour last season with seven victories — including major wins in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open — and finished with 12 worldwide titles. On Sunday, Tseng overcame a three-stroke deficit for a one-stroke victory, fighting through rain, hail, cold, wind and lightning delays.”

I caught part of the action Sunday, and I couldn’t believe just how awful the weather was. I’m not surprised, however, that Yani Tseng was the one standing in the end. For those keeping tabs, it was her 14th career LPGA Tour victory, 5 of which have been majors championships. And to put the depth of her talent into a clearer perspective, consider this:

• By the end of Annika Sorenstam’s 4th season on the LPGA, she had amassed 12 LPGA Tour victories, which included 2 majors.
• By the end of Lorena Ochoa’s 4th season on the LPGA, she had amassed 9 wins, none of which were majors.

Yani obviously still has a ways to go before nearing Annika’s 72 career LPGA wins, but in just 4 seasons, she’s halfway there in equaling her (Annika’s) major tournament wins (10).

What she has done and continues to do is incredible.

 

For a glimpse of the Sunday leaderboard at the 2012 Founders Cup, click HERE.

Tseng Goes Into Weekend with 1-Shot Lead at Founders Cup

Getty Images

(Courtesy of GolfWeek)

“Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 2-under 70 on Friday to take a one-stroke over five players after the second round of the LPGA Founders Cup.

A day after playing a seven-hole stretch on the back nine in 7 under, the Taiwanese star opened with nine pars on the same nine. She had three birdies and a bogey on her final nine to reach 9-under 135 on another perfect 80-degree day at Wildfire Golf Club. Second-ranked Na Yeon Choi was second along with fellow South Korean players I.K. Kim and Meena Lee and Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato. Kim had a 66, Lee and Mika Miyazato shot 67, Ai Miyazato had a 68, and Choi shot a 69. Tseng successfully defended her LPGA Thailand title in February for her 13th LPGA Tour victory. She led the tour last season with seven victories — including major victories in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open — and finished the year with 12 worldwide titles.”

For the full leaderboard of this week’s Founders Cup, click HERE.

Tseng, Park Share Lead at Founders Cup

Associated Press

“Top-ranked Yani Tseng played a seven-hole stretch on the back nine in 7 under and finished with a 7-under 65 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with Hee Young Park in the LPGA Founders Cup.

Tseng birdied the 11th, 13th and 14th holes, eagled the par-5 15th, and birdied the 16th and 17th. She had a 4-foot try for another birdie on 18, but pulled her putt just left.”

To continue reading article, click HERE.

For the full 2012 Founders Cup leaderboard, click HERE.

My Take: The Week in Review

Lots of stuff happening with the week that was, so let’s get things rolling….

Presidents’ Cup Half Empty?

David Cannon/Getty Images

So riddle me this: How does a guy who has won twice on tour, one of which was a major championship, who is sure to be honored with both the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and PGA Tour Player of the Year honors, NOT get picked to represent his country in the upcoming Presidents Cup? While the drama and excitement of the Tour Championship finish was indeed edge-of-our-seats good, we can’t forget three very important facts: (1) The Tour Championship was not a major tournament. (2) The Tour Championship didn’t include the top players in the world. (3) Billy Haas blew a 2-shot lead by bogeying 2 of his final 3 holes in regulation before finally prevailing in the playoff. Now let’s compare that to Keegan Bradley’s situation with 3 holes remaining in the tournament on Sunday at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club: (1) This was a major championship with the world’s top players in the field. (2) Keegan Bradley trailed the leader by 3 shots with 3 holes remaining. (3) Keegan Bradley birdied 2 of the final 3 holes to force a playoff and went on to win his first major championship.

It’s not that Billy Haas doesn’t belong on the team. Haas has had a great season by anyone’s standards, with 7 top-10 finishes that include a win and two runner-up finishes. But when Captain Fred Couples made the early call with picking Tiger Woods as one of his choices – he set himself up to have no other choice but to leave a deserving player off the team. In the grand scheme of things – who really had the more impressive season? A rookie who showed the grit and determination to battle back from a dastardly triple bogey on the 69th hole of a major championship to win his 2nd tournament of the year? Or the offspring of one of the assistant captains who squandered a 2-shot lead in a non-major tournament and eked out a lone win this season in the playoff? If the Presidents Cup came down to a player needing to come up clutch by birdieing the last two holes against his opponent to win the Cup, would it be Haas or Bradley? My money is on Bradley. But I would also take Haas over Woods, for whatever that’s worth….

Not So Rosie: Solheim Cup Bickering

Lots of finger pointing took place on Sunday after the European ladies battled back late in the day to overtake the American ladies for the Solheim Cup, and it all seemed to revolve around Cristie Kerr’s injury that led to a concession in her final singles match. It took very little time for the critics to pounce on American Captain Rosie Jones Sunday evening by questioning her decision to play Kerr in the Saturday matches instead of giving her some time to rest her injured wrist. To put this issue to rest – Kerr was adamant about playing every single match and informed Jones prior to each match that her wrist was fine. As is the case most commonly with tendonitis – it’s very difficult to know when the inflammation is going to flare up and the only thing that Jones had to go by was her player’s word. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned on Sunday and Kerr’s injury ended up being a major setback to the American team. But despite that – there were 11 other players who were given the opportunity to step up to the plate and respond. Only 6 of those 11 players did.

The conditions on Sunday were brutal, with several stoppages of play because of puddled water on the greens. The wind was overbearing at times, with rain pelting the players as it was coming down sideways. It was a difficult day that was made even more difficult with the team’s strongest player essentially reduced to playing cheerleader on the sidelines. But the bottom line is that the European ladies played some phenomenal golf Sunday despite those conditions, and any attempt to make excuses for the American team’s loss does a great disservice to the quality of golf that the European players exhibited Sunday afternoon. I think it’s time to lay off of Rosie Jones. Captains in team events like these always get the blame when their team loses and get little of the credit when their team wins, and Rosie Jones knew that going in. But sometimes bad things happen and no one is to blame, and this just happened to be one of those times.

So what is the protocol for wanting to hire someone else’s caddie?

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

A couple of months ago he fired his former caddie and best friend via his website. Prior to that he and his instructor parted ways via text messaging. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Dustin Johnson on Sunday that his caddie, Joe LaCava, was the guy himself who broke the news to him that he’d accepted an offer to go loop for Tiger Woods. While there is no particular handbook or policy that defines certain protocols for tour players to solicit employment from currently-employed caddies for other players, there is an unwritten-yet-respected code for how such a process unfolds. And it usually starts with either a phone call or face-to-face meeting with the other player to get approval to approach his caddie and present him with the opportunity. In most circles it’s called common courtesy.

Now in all fairness – maybe LaCava arranged this situation with Woods ahead of time that he would be the one breaking the news to DJ himself, but it’s still outside the parameters of the code. If Woods and LaCava had been discussing things earlier, Woods should’ve informed LaCava that he (Woods) still needed to be the one to inquire with Johnson about offering LaCava the job, if for no other reason than to respect the common courtesy. The word going around is that Woods didn’t talk with Johnson until the news had already been broken earlier by none other than Butch Harmon, Johnson’s swing coach. And if this is indeed the case – that makes Harmon no different than Woods in that regard. But most of us already knew that.

Whan’s Whammy

Photo by Associated Press

Lexi Thompson’s win 2 weeks ago at the Navistar LPGA Classic should be seen as a godsend for a tour that is severely lacking domestic interest. But her win has also put tour commissioner Michael Whan in a compromising situation, as 2 years ago he declined her petition for exemption to the age requirement (18) to become an LPGA Tour member. Coming into the Navistar LPGA Classic 2 weeks ago, 17-yr-old Thompson had already advanced to the 2nd stage of the LPGA Tour’s qualifying school. After winning the event, however, Thompson wasted little time withdrawing from Q-school and petitioning the LPGA Tour for full exemption status, essentially forcing Whan to reconsider his stance on the issue.

Of course – Whan could once again decline Thompson’s petition for tour membership, but in doing so he would be turning away a great opportunity to inject some much-needed excitement into a product that has grown miserably stale. Commissioner Whan – swallow your pride and do the right thing. Thompson will meet the age requirement next season and there’s no point in making a statement for the sake of making a statement. The statement you should consider making is that your tour welcomes an exciting young player who has more than proven both her level of maturity and competitiveness on the golf course, and that you’re looking forward to improving the image of your brand to sponsors who need to be associated with your product.