LPGA's Finest Still Trying To See Upside In Playing For Monopoly Money
/Randall Mell talks to some noteworthy LPGAers about playing one week a year for free and as you can imagine, some are reporting digestive issues.
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
"The dilemma for the LPGA is that with so few full-field, U.S.-based events, having one in which there is no prize money is extremely inconvenient, to say the least."
/Reading Ron Sirak's lukewarm assessment of the LPGA's "mock purse" event and a schedule featuring three majors in a five week span got me thinking: Mike Whan is a genius!
Read MoreLPGA To Test Freemium Model...On Themselves!
/Beth Ann Baldry reveals that when the LPGA Tour announces its 2011 schedule Jan. 6, there will be a Phoenix event March 18-20 featuring no purse but all of the other stuff that goes with playing in an event.
Read More"Golf doesn't need one consistent face. No one questions the NFL. I don't know if they have one consistent face."
/Jill Painter catches up with LPGA Commish Mike Whan--a.k.a. the blog post killer--who not only didn't drop one brand reference and continues to come off as grounded and the total opposite of his predecessor. And that just doesn't work in the blogosphere!
Read MoreLPGA And Golf Channel Just Fine And Dandy?
/Ron Sirak reported in this week's Golf World Monday that the LPGA is looking for a way out of their 10-year Golf Channel deal. But Ryan Ballengee checked in with LPGA spokesman Dave Higdon, who denied that was the case.
Read More"I have not given interviews because I've tried to respect the family and their loss."
/An unbylined golf.com story reveals many of the more provocative details forthcoming in Alan Shipnuck's story on the untimely passing of Erica Blasberg and the role Dr. Thomas Hess played in her death.
An aside: it appears the story will not posted online based on the newsstand and iTunes plugs trailing the summary.
**Here is the online link.
Wild Sunday Open Thread
/Geoff Ogilvy has already won the Australian Open but we can't see it here in the states because of a full line-up that includes a meaningful finale at the Chevron World Challenge for Tiger, the Nedbank in South Africa, the LPGA Tour Championship and the second-to-last round of PGA Tour Q-school. Let me know what you see.
"There's no way Jack Nicklaus designed these greens. They are mental."
/Thanks to The Constructivist over at Mostly Harmless for catching these comments from Laura Davies on Grand Cypress, home to this week's LPGA Tour Championship. I would have caught these were it not the fourth most interesting event this week!
Q. Tell us about the course. It's pretty challenging. What do you think of it?
LAURA DAVIES: This one? It's my favorite course in Florida. We played here years ago in the late 90s and 2000. It's always been my favorite course in Florida. I like the grass here. It's better. It's not so--the weird grass that Florida has. I don't know the difference between them but it's much spongier and I like it. The layout is fantastic, but the grass is good, too. I don't know what they did with the greens. Someone went mental on the greens. I don't know what happened there. Someone said Jack Nicklaus did it, but I don't believe that. Someone said Jack changed it; well, he must have been having a very bad day. (Laughter).
Q. Someone said that he had to oversee it for it to remain a Nicklaus design.
LAURA DAVIES: Well, he might have been in a helicopter above (laughter) or flown over and said "that will do" or something. There's no way Jack Nicklaus designed these greens. They are mental.
Clearly Laura needs to get out to Sherwood to see some of Jack's finest greens. She'd retract those comments in a heartbeat!
LPGA To Abandon "Female At Birth" Bylaw
/This really isn't very much fun with the LPGA and Mike Whan having to make the announcement. Now, getting to see Tim Finchem address this would have been fun. Then again, if he can't even get designated tournaments to happen, a policy change involving the world transgender would never stand a chance in Ponte Vedra.
Read More"In-Kyung Kim Donates Winnings To Ochoa’s Foundation"
/
Tom Edrington reports that In-Kyung Kim gave an incredible gift after winning the Ochoa Invitational. Thanks to reader Kevin for the link.
Kim announced that she’s donating half of her winner’s check to the Lorena Ochoa Foundation and she’ll give the rest to a charity in the United States, perhaps in her hometown of San Diego.
“I went to Lorena’s party and I saw the kids and how she is helping kids with her foundation. I decided if I win, I will be giving all the money to people who need help,” Kim said of her generous decision.
"Why isn't she in the hall of fame?"
/That's the question John Strege asks as the amazing 47-year-old Laura Davies won again over the weekend, yet sits outside the hall of fame walls while George Bush is going in.
Read More"The South Korean players became more shy after a profile of Kyeong Bae in a Canadian newspaper this summer in which she referred to the cartoon character SpongeBob Square Pants as 'Spongie Bob.'"
/Karen Crouse introduces us to the LPGA "language labs" and the issues arising in trying to Americanize teach English to non-Americans.
Read More"The LPGA’s desire to return to La Costa likely hinges on how successful the L.A. tournament is next year."
/Tod Leonard reports on La Costa's Steve Pate-Daminan Pascuzzo renovation causing the move of the KIA event to Industry Hills and says a return to San Diego depends on the success of the LPGA stop in Industry.
Not to worry San Diego, they'll be begging their way back!
Quite Possibly The World's Worst 36-Hole Complex Lands LPGA Event**
/They played here once, the women hated it, so they return again and this time add the vile Babe Zaharias course to the tournament's first two rounds, with the conclusion once again on the wretched Eisenhower 18. And that was when the resort had the wonderful Ralph Miller Golf Library, which has since been closed, so we are talking about a place with zero golf karma.
Read More
