16-Year-Old Lydia Ko Now An LPGA Member

Hardly a shocker that LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan green lit Lydia Ko's petition to join the LPGA. Kind of hard to turn down the world number five player.

Beth Ann Baldry praises a move that paves the way for Ko to debut as a member in late November at the CME Group Titleholders. She also spoke to veteran Karen Stuples.

LPGA veteran Karen Stupples believes “you only get a certain shelf-life in this game” and was happy to see Ko turn pro.

“Make hay while the sun is shining,” said Stupples, echoing a sentiment Laura Davies made last February while playing New Zealand.

Update on 2013-10-28 18:22 by Geoff

**Golf Channel's coverage today on the Ko decision.

 

Lydia Ko Goes Pro

Randall Mell with the news of 16-year-old Lydia Ko, currently 5th in the Rolex Rankings, deciding to turn pro.

She will make her debut as a professional in the LPGA’s CME Group Titleholders next month.

And we have this saga to look forward to:

As a non-member winner of a tour event, Ko is entitled to claim tour membership. She could seek to claim immediate membership for the rest of 2013 and through 2014. Or, she could defer membership to next year. However, Ko can’t do either without first obtaining a waiver of the tour’s age restriction. LPGA commissioner Mike Whan holds the power to grant or deny such petitions.

Update on 2013-10-10 15:59 by Geoff

**The LPGA really doesn't want to hear any questions about what the Commissioner is thinking on this. Their statement:

“The LPGA has received Lydia Ko’s petition and the Commissioner plans to review it upon his return from Asia. The decision on the petition will be solely up to the Commissioner’s discretion and upon his review, he will communicate directly with Lydia and her family. The LPGA does not comment publicly on petitions as they are a private matter between the player and the Commissioner.”

RIP: Stacy Lewis' Twitter Account

Twitter claims another victim as top LPGAer Stacy Lewis apparently Tweeted something not-entirely-cute-and-cuddly about the golf crowds in China, experienced some crazy backlash, and retired her account.

Stina Sternberg offered this:

Very sorry to see @Stacy_Lewis leaving Twitter over apparent backlash from comment she made Sun about her disappointment in the China crowds

— Stina Sternberg (@StinaSternberg) October 7, 2013

Update on 2013-10-07 17:42 by Geoff

**Alex Myers with the crazy shot that started Lewis's Twitter issues.

Randall Mell posts the Tweets and the backstory.

State Of The Game Podcast 28: Judy Rankin

Judy Rankin is a 26-time winner on the LPGA Tour, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame as a player, and if there was ever a golf broadcasting wing, she'd be inducted again for her eloquence, class and succinct appraisals that set the standard for on-course reporting.

Judy kindly spent more than hour with the State of the Game podcast to talk about her career, the LPGA Tour, golf broadcasting and of course, the state of the game.

You can listen via MP3 here. Or to past shows the same where via this page. And the iTunes option for all past shows, or this week's episode to listen/subscribe.

Update on 2013-10-01 18:05 by Geoff

**And while we're in podcast mode, here's my chat with Josh LaBell and Adam Fonseca on the Dimplehead golfer podcast about the Presidents Cup.

“We would not have finished today had we not covered the greens with tarps."

Granted, the Evian situation was unique because the greens were so new but it is cause for concern that the success of tarping the greens overnight could influence this practice more in the future.

Randall Mell on how tarping saved the 54-hole Evian Championship from further misery.

A half-inch of rain fell over Evian Resort Golf Club through late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Thursday’s first round was washed out by a third of an inch of rain. That came on top of all the rain that saturated the course earlier in the week.

“We weren’t sure, honestly, how it would turn out, and if it would help because we had never done it before,” Daly-Donofrio said. “And the grounds crew had never done it before.”

Tarps Come Out At The Evian

Some agronomists have always contemplated incorporating infield-style tarps to cover greens during a championship and as Randall Mell reports, it's finally happened.

Sort of.

More like selective tarping.