Points Race Mess?

Doug Ferguson writes about the debacle that the 2006 LPGA points race will be, at least in the context of the 2005 season.

Annika Sorenstam had the trophy at her side and spoke of her 10-win season. Had this been 2006, the $1 million payoff would have been decided between Michele Redman and Soo-Yun Kang in extra holes.

"I'm just glad it's 2005, that's all I can say," Sorenstam said.

Note from Tim Finchem to personal assistant #3: make sure Dick Ebersol does not see this story.

Sirak on Paula-Annika

Ron Sirak looks at the Paula Creamer-Annika Sorenstam antics and offers some interesting info. Scroll past the space filling stuff about rivalries and get to the juicy part.

Sure sounds like Creamer is a rules stickler. She even dared to say no to Annika on one of those "I-have-a-ball mark" when-it's-really-a-spike-mark situations.

Creamer-Sorenstam Implications

The Paula Creamer-Annika Sorrenstam spat at last week's Championship may tell us a lot about the state of the LPGA Tour under new Commissioner Carolyn Bivens.

Just a quick recap courtesy of AP:

The season-ending ADT Championship got off to a rocky start Thursday when the top two players on the LPGA Tour got into a tense dispute on the 18th fairway over where Sorenstam should have taken a drop from the hazard.

"Neither one of them was going to budge," rules official Janet Lindsay said.

After a debate that lasted so long it was almost too dark to finish at Trump International, the ruling ultimately went Sorenstam's way. She was allowed to go to a ball drop instead of returning to the tee, although she still made double bogey and fell out of a tie for the lead.

Hee-Won Han led with a 5-under-par 67 that essentially went unnoticed.

This round might be remembered as the start of a rivalry between the LPGA Tour's best players — one the undisputed star who already is in the Hall of Fame, the other a 19-year-old rookie with moxie.

"We were trying to determine where it went in," Sorenstam said. "We're standing 220 yards away, and we're talking about inches."

Creamer, who finished with a 68, stared hard at Sorenstam as the Swede spoke to reporters, and later had an animated discussion with LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens and Lindsay.

It would be interesting to hear what the animated discussion is about. It's hard to imagine that Creamer would be so insistent unless she believed Sorenstam was bending the rules.

Since the LPGA's firing of 18-year official Barb Trammell (who reportedly lost her job after she would not budge when a player wanted to belatedly enter an event after the standard entry deadline), the LPGA Tour has seen two high profile rules incidents since her departure. Neither of which was handled very well.

Golfweek's Jay Coffin reported that Trammell's "resignation" may have been motivatd by "a group of players who had made known to Bivens their increasing displeasure with Trammell's 'by the book' demeanor."

Just typing out loud here, but someone might want to tell Bivens that respect for the rules is vital to the integrity and image of a pro golf tour.

The Brand Promise

New LPGA Commish Caroline Bivens rolled out the 2006 LPGA schedule and served up an MBAism that only Tim Finchem could love.

We're launching the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT next year, which will add only more drama and excitement to our Tour on a weekly basis, and when you combine all of that with some new and challenging host venues, we are certainly fulfilling our brand promise of showcasing the very best of women's professional golf.

And there were other fine moments from the transcript.

We love the fact that when you look at those 10 first time winners, they come from a variety of different countries; with our first time ever winner from Colombia and from Chile.

Hey, don't forget Korea!

But what you are also going to see is an effort to improve what we're calling the stages that these women play on.

You will see us upgrading the quality of the golf courses at every opportunity that we have.

Why couldn't you just say courses the first time? Sorry, carry on.

So some of the things that you'll see, some of things that you won't see, but what has happened with the LPGA over the course of the last eight months, has put them on an incredible trajectory. I'll call it the old hockey stick, where they've gone along and a lot of people invest in a lot of years and a lot of effort, including Ty and the previous five commissioners before him.

The old hockey stick? Okay.

The Longs Drugs moves from Sacramento to Black Hawk. That's one of the courses that illustrates what I'm talking about when I talk about elevating the level of the courses that the women play.

Hey, what about the Office Depot played at Trump National LA, the course that's better than Pebble Beach?

Q. Did you lose any events from last year?

CAROLYN BIVENS: Office Depot.

Well you didn't have to be all succinct about it. But the gals had so much fun there!

Oh here's a new one that Commissioner Finchem may want to add to his list:

...what most affects our ratings, and we an absolutely go back and track, where is it prepromoted? Where are the programs that come before and after that, somewhat similar. And that people know where to tune in.

Nobody these days we don't have a viewer in the world that if they can't find their program, whatever their program is, nobody is going to sit there and flip through all of the channels and try to find you. So we've got to be able to prepromote and be easy to find.

I've always said, you're nothing if you don't prepromote. And cross promote too:

I have been quoted as saying that there is something for every one on the LPGA. I believe that.

You've got the Pat Hursts and the Carin Kochs who are balancing raising kids on the Tour, and who are very good inside the ropes, rank at the top of the Money List.

You've got Rosie Jones, who I don't believe for a second I'm not going to let her retire. Rosie Jones is a huge RV enthusiast.

Meet the Parents

Damon Hack in the NY Times looks at the parental entourages on the LPGA Tour.

Achenbach on Wie/Pressel

Jim Achenbach looks at the cat fig...rivalry building between Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel, and writes:

The same day that Martha Burk dines on the veranda at Augusta National Golf Club, that will be day that Wie plays in the Masters.

Trump National Victim?

Jay Coffin reports that longtime LPGA official Barb Trammell has resigned after 18 years, and he indicates that the slow play debacle at Trump National may have helped to push her out the door.

Trammell, 47, had been with the LPGA since 1987; the last major championship she did not attend was the 1991 U.S. Women's Open at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. She was at the Office Depot Championship last week at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, where the course got mixed reviews – good for its scenic views of the Pacific Ocean, bad because of logistics that hindered gallery movement and contributed to rounds that lasted at least six hours for most players. The first day, 60 rulings were requested and officials had difficulty arriving quickly because of the course's routing.

 

6 Hours In Perfect Weather!?

Hardly any breeze, temperature in the low 80s and a course barely over 6,000 yards. It was a tad smoky, but in game stories looking at first round play in the LPGA event at Trump National, no one says what caused it to take so long. 25 players did not finish the round.

They all said the views were great. No mention of the beautiful waterfalls helping to pass the time. 

Wie'$ Take

Golf World's John Hawkins is the first to report just how much Michelle Wie is going to make when she turns pro.

According to sources involved in the negotiations who requested anonymity, Wie will sign endorsement deals with three companies (one believed to be Nike) worth an estimated $8 million. Adding in tournament appearance fees and other endorsements, the Hawaiian teen's compensation for her first year as a pro is expected to reach $10 million -- not counting what she wins on the course. She also will enlist the services of the William Morris Agency to secure further commercial endorsements and guide her pro career, shunning traditional golf-management companies and suggesting her long-term aspirations may involve transcending the game as much as dominating it.  

This passage is interesting:

Wie's alignment with William Morris formalizes a relationship that began seven or eight years ago, according to an insider, although the agency has no prior experience in representing pro golfers and has struggled in previous partnerships with athletes. 

Seven or eight years ago?  Boy, IMG is really losing its touch! 

You Go U.S.A.

Too much you-go-girl high-pitched squeeling for this viewer, but if you watched the Solheim Cup, here's Derrick White in The Independent writing about the great day for the U.S.

Solheim Cup Previews

John Huggan: "There is something about selecting or captaining golf teams that brings out the absolute worst in men and women."

Lawrence Donegan is less interested in captain boondoggling. Instead,he anticipates plenty of lousy sportsmanship.

The biennial match between Europe's best women players and their American counterparts, begins today at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana, which is good news for both golfing purists and for those who prefer their sport liberally spiced with personal animosity and downright bad manners.

Solheim Cup Hype

Ron Sirak writes about all of the scenarios and potential glory for the European's at this week's Solheim Cup. Bet this is the first time you heard the Solheim Cup was being played this week.