"In other words, outsourcing is great thing. In fact, it’s worked so well in our downtrodden economy over the past 10 years that the hunch here is it will have a similar effect for the LPGA."

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Love the passion in Bill Huffman's take on the LPGA leaving Phoenix. Seems Bill reads the USA Today and was not too taken with Commissioner Mike Whan dropping the "G" word in a story authored by Steve DiMeglio. No, not Tim Finchem's growth mantra, but the other "G" word due to become Finchem's new favorite after his Asian trip.
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"What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico."

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Michelle Wie chatted with some writers about her win in Mexico. From Steve Elling's excellent career account, this makes the win all that more impressive:

Wie started the fall semester in college, had barely practiced or played, and hadn't entered an LPGA event in five weeks. Wie said she was so distracted by the ankle that it probably helped her from getting caught up in the pressure of the moment.

"Walking a golf course is a long walk," she said. "The people at the LPGA have been working on my ankle a lot, icing it, and maybe it's another reason why I was able to keep calm because all I was focusing on was finishing the round. I was just focusing on my steps and not hurting."
Baby steps, if you will.

And her sense of humor came through in this Q&A with Jason Sobel:

Q: After clinching the win, you had beer poured on you by the other players on the 18th green.

A: Yeah, they did.

Q: You're not 21 yet. Are you going to get in trouble with the LPGA?

A: No, what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico. It was just really cool. You see it on TV; whenever somebody wins, players pour beer all over them. It was one of those things where I always wanted that to happen.

“What I’m most proud of in my career is that I’ve built brands; I’ve built them globally, and I’ve left them significantly larger than when I joined them"

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Beth Ann Baldry files this profile of new LPGA Commish Mike Whan (family man, Midwest values, looks you in the eye, yada, yada, yada). 

You know, I've read four or five stories on the hockey stick dude and I still couldn't tell you the name of this glorious brand he built.

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L.A. Loses LPGA Event It Never Hosted To San Diego

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Oh I know, it's all Southern California in some eyes, but the J Golf event was clearly announced by the Brand Lady as an LA tournament until event operators IMG apparently wised up and realized that their only option at Industry Hills would be a disaster. Obviously, they didn't take my advice about some other nice venue options.

Jon Show reports that the first J Golf Classic will be played at La Costa, and if you can't see behind the pay window like most of us, Tod Leonard shares some of the details.

"Until such time as the composition of the the LPGA Board changes, they'll keep hiring Marketing people ala the 'Brand Lady.'"

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Jim McCabe writes about the strong marketing background of new LPGA Commissioner Whan:

“These are difficult times, but he will bring a lot of skills to the job,” Rugge said. “He is a solid marketing guy,” adding that Whan is "full of energy” and "has plenty of ideas.”

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WHEW! New LPGA Commish Unleashes All Of The Essential Business Jargon In First Press Release!

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I was worried we might get some straight shooter but judging by his first press release quote, new LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan is going to pick up right where the Brand Lady left off, at least in the B-speak department. More on that momentarily.

Ron Sirak's story about the Oct. 28 announcement appeared first and he calls the naming a "bit of a surprise." Golfweek was first to post on Twitter, linking Beth Ann Baldry's story noting Whan's bio.

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Pete, Sure You Want The Job? "I don't know of any other year when so many LPGA members were seeking dual membership on the JLPGA."

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The Constructivist at the MostlyHarmless blog notes some oddball issues with the LPGA of Japan's qualifying procedures and concludes that a tour war is breaking out, and the LPGA of America might be on the losing end.

But a few patterns emerge: the JLPGA is heavily recruiting American and European players (or at least players from the LPGA and LET), while forcing Korean golfers to go through 3 or 4 stages of qualifying. It appears that winning on the JLPGA as a non-member doesn't give you immediate membership any more, as it did for Ji-Yai Shin last season. And the Full Metal Archivist confirmed that you need a certain level of fluency in either Japanese or English to become a JLPGA member in 2010. She also found a 9 October article from Golf Digest Online that publicized a JLPGA press release identifying LPGA players exempt into the 3rd stage (Meena Lee, Young Kim, Teresa Lu, and Shanshan Feng) and into the final qualifying tournament (Na Yeon Choi, Candie Kung, Eun-Hee Ji, Seon Hwa Lee, Inbee Park, and Amy Yang). Barring absolute meltdowns, then, these players, along with Na Ri Kim and Onnarin Sattayabanphot (who should sail through the next 3 stages of Q-School) and any other LPGAers who have signed up for the 2nd stage the 1st week of November, will be JLPGA members in 2010. I don't know of any other year when so many LPGA members were seeking dual membership on the JLPGA.

Maybe pay isn't the only reason the LPGA Commish search candidates keep dropping out?