Golf Talk

Michelle says only LPGA in 2008.

After all the flak that has she has been getting over the past year, it appears that Michelle Wie has actually learned from her mistakes and is turning the corner to perhaps living up to the potential that pegged her as the next best thing in women’s golf. Michelle Wie, or her parents, or agent, or swing coach, or whomever is speaking for her these days has acknowledged that Michelle will not be playing with the men in 2008.

I actually think that Michelle and her parents got a lot of pressure from her corporate sponsors to not enter men’s tournaments for 2008 and try to win some tournaments on the Ladies Tour instead. 2007 was a disaster from a public relations standpoint. Lets recap the carnage, Michelle withdrew from the Ginn Classic hosted by Annika, citing her ailing wrist, then was seen practicing early just a day after at the US Open. This caused Annika, lady duke of golf of all people, to publicly call out Michelle for the lack of respect. Not to mention the fact that Michelle was trying to avoid posting a double snowman and thus being kicked off the Tour for one year. Then there were the various disasterous finishes and missed cuts. Just a couple of months ago in October, Michelle finished dead last in a field of 25.

I’m certain that if it was up to Michelle and her overbearing parents, she would be playing with the men in 2008. But when Nike and Sony are paying her upwards of $20 million dollars, it’s clear who holds the upper hand in that relationship. 2007 was so bad, that Michelle’s corporate sponsors cannot afford another disastrous year like that, especially considering the money they are paying her.

Will it make any difference? I’m not certain it will. Michelle’s confidence in golf is so shot at this moment, I’m not sure it will ever recover fully. She’s never been fully in control of her life, it almost seems like losing is her way of defying her parents. It’s a defense mechanism. If she wins, the harder they will push, the more pressure she has to deal with. If she loses, she can always blame an injury, or something else.

Michelle Wie, LPGA

2007 was quite a year for Lorena.

While it was expected that Lorena Ochoa was the obvious choice as the LPGA’s player of the year, but she was once again named the AP’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2007. Lorena achieved all kinds of personal goals in 2007 and overtook Annika Sorenstam as the most dominant player in women’s golf, an unofficial title that Annika held for almost an entire decade.

Recapping the year, Lorena won her first major championship, the Women’s British Open. She topped nearly $4 million in total earnings for 2007 and won a total of 12 times on the LPGA in 2007. But at 26, Lorena hadn’t always looked to be golf’s next Queen of the links. Losing tournaments after leading heading into the final round continued to plague Lorena even through to this year, but Lorena battled all of her demons and has established herself as the best women’s golfer in the world.

As for the other candidates in consideration, there was Justine Henin, New York Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe, Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker and Allyson Felix, the second woman in history to win three gold medals at the World Track and Field Championships.

I guess when you think about it, there really was no competition, Lorena was odds on favorite to take this honor as well. Justine Henin won the French Open but that’s really about it.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was named the AP’s Male Athlete of the Year. Tom is on track to break Peyton Manning’s single season record for touchdowns and en route to an undefeated regular season. Tom edged out Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Lorena Ochoa, LPGA Tour

Ernie unable to close the deal, a sign of things to come?

It may be December, but some of the world’s best golfers are still working it late in the year, trying to earn some cash and gear up for next year, both the men and the ladies.

Lets start in South Africa, where Ernie Els was trying to win in his native South Africa at the Dunhill Championship (where tobacco companies can still sponsor events) but ended up looking like Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot. Els had a 2-shot lead heading into the final round and a 2-shot lead with just the 18th hole left to play. A triple bogey later, Ernie was shaking the hand of some guy named John Bickerton. Two of Ernie’s balls got wet en route to that fateful triple bogey.

Peter Lonard made it a lucky three by winning the Australian PGA title on Sunday. Lonard won the Australian PGA title in 2002 and 2004. It hasn’t been a very positive year for Lonard overall, with almost no top tens and several missed cuts all year, the win here is a positive bit of reinforcement heading into next season. Rory Sabbatini looked like had this one in the bag after co-leading the third round with American Jason Gore, but Sabbatini couldn’t close it out in the final round. Fellow Australian, Adam Scott was never really in contention.

In a competition that looks like the Solheim Cup, except this time it’s Asia vs. everyone else, Team Asia closed out the last day of competition 15-9 to claim back-to-back Lexus Cup titles over Team International. Korean Se Ri Pak captained team Asia to the win, but was sidelined herself due to shoulder pain. Annika Sorenstam captained the international team that featured young stars in Morgan Pressel, Maria Hjorth, and Brittany Lincicome. South Koreans Jee Young Lee, Seon Hwa Lee and In-Kyung Kim keyed early wins to build an insurmountable lead heading into the afternoon matches.

Ernie Els, Peter Lonard.

Michelle Wie is once again the richest woman in golf.

What would a month be without the obligatory Michelle Wie news insert. A report from Forbes Magazine states that Michelle Wie made the top 20 richest people in the world under 25. Michelle comes in at number four, with a cool $19 million. Michelle was barely beaten by tennis superstar Maria Sharapova.

Obviously, all $19 million dollars came from her endorsements as Michelle not only did not win a single tournament this season, struggled to finish most tournaments or make the cut. Chief among Michelle’s sponsors include NIKE and Sony. If I am any of her sponsors, I can’t be happy right now with the way Michelle has played. After shelling out millions of dollars, they have barely anything to show for. What does the Michelle Wie brand have to offer that is worth any value at all? She quits, she lies, and she generally is a crybaby. Those are great values to promote, that is a brand I want my product on. The face of Michelle Wie is NIKE and Sony, companies that quit when things go bad, lie to their customers, and complain to anyone who would listen.

You can easily see why all the other ladies on tour resent Michelle. She is by far the richest person playing on the LPGA and she has earned exactly none of it. There are ladies out there that are going gangbusters trying to secure enough money so they can eat and sleep in a bed and probably have just as much ability as Michelle. The money is out there, but it’s being spent in all the wrong places. Then you have the veterans, like Annika Sorenstam who have paved the way for players like Michelle. It probably took Annika 10 or 15 years to make as much money as Michelle has made in one year, and yet Michelle walks around as if she can do whatever the hell she wants to.

Michelle may have all the money, but she’ll never have the respect until she starts to prove it on the course.

Michelle Wie

Ochoa, richest woman in golf.

I guess it is fitting that as the best womens’ golfer in the world fades into the background, a new leader emerges. Annika Sorenstam ended her worst year since her rookie year in 1994 by missing the cut at the ADT Championship. Now Lorena Ochoa caps off a record year in earnings and wins with the victory at the same ADT Championship. The torch has been officially handed off, we have a new leading lady in the world of golf.

Things didn’t always come so easily to Lorena. After all, it was just four months ago when Lorena was still facing her demons after another second place finish blowing a lead to Nicole Castrale at the Ginn Classic. And she saw her younger competitors capture the major championships, first there was Paula Creamer last year, then Morgan Pressel at the Nabisco, Suzann Pettersen at the LPGA Championship, Christie Kerr at the US Open (OK, so Christie isn’t younger, but still, you get my point). But winning the British Open, the final major championship of the year and her first, seems to have eased all the tensions.

I see Lorena playing now, and she doesn’t feel the pressure like she once did. I liken it to when Phil Mickelson won the Masters to claim his first major. There was always so much pressure on Phil and every loss came with the inevitable questions about how he lost another championship. Lorena had the same pressures. But I see her much more relaxed now and I think her game has responded positively.

So it seems fitting that she would hit a 6-iron from the rough on her approach shot on 18 that would roll inches for the cup and seal the win this week over Natalie Gulbis. Also fitting that the biggest prize in women’s golf history goes to Lorena to cap off her amazing season filled with ups and downs.

Congrats to Lorena, and I’m sure there will be plenty more to come…

Lorena Ochoa, ADT Championship

Annika tries to save her round.

In the quirky format that was the ADT Championship this week, history was made as Annika Sorenstam finished the year without a win, the first since her rookie year way back in 1994. Once the most dominant female golfer in the world, Sorenstam suffered a neck and back injury earlier in the year and just never recovered. In fact, she never even really came close to winning all year, and was well back in all four of the LPGA’s major tournaments.

It certainly has been a strange year for Sorenstam, much can be attributed to her injury which forced her to miss most of the season and competing in just nine tournaments all year. But there are a couple of other factors which have distracted her from golf. One of them was the engagement to her boyfriend Mike McGee just a few months ago.

But even months after the injury, Sorenstam has just been off on her game. Her usual steady iron play has been widely inconsistent all year and her putting has been way off. If there is one thing that you always expect from Sorenstam has been her ability to make fairways, hit greens, and two-putt. Prior to this year, she led or was in the top five in most of the categories of fairways, greens in regulation and total putts.

So the big question comes, whether Sorenstam has lost it for good, or is 2007 just a blimp on the radar screen. It’s tough to tell, but it certainly appears that that her best golf is behind her. With her wedding coming up next year, and following marriage usually comes motherhood. With only a few years left on her biological clock, Annika will probably have kids earlier rather than later.

And if you factor in the upcoming young talent that has seized the LPGA over the past year, it would appear that Annika’s best days are behind her. Players like Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Suzann Pettersen look a lot hungrier at this time and their talent and athleticism will be tough for a 35-plus mother-to-be to compete against. Then again, the ageless Julie Inkster would prove otherwise.

Perhaps the greatest sign that time is passing her by was Sorenstam’s loss at the Solheim Cup. Pressel beat Sorenstam on her home soil.

Annika Sorenstam

Morgan Pressel admits an addiction to her crackberry.

In a candid interview with reporters, Morgan Pressel, the Kraft Nabisco Championship winner this year admitted she had time management issues following her win in April. At the tender age of nineteen, Pressel beat Suzann Pettersen to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship and become the youngest ever winner of that major in its history. Between all the mandatory sponsor engagements, media requests, and Tour promotions, Pressel said her game suffered as a result of the many new demands on her time.

All the extra-curriculars she admitted had an impact on her training hours during the season and she said she was often exhausted after a long day’s work, “Although it’s been a lot of fun, you still have to work on your game otherwise it’s gone really fast. You’ve got to look at what got you there in the first place, and that’s your game. Next year, I need to schedule my events a bit better to maintain a high level of performance throughout the season, and not just in the beginning.”

Having not played golf in college, it’s easy to see how Pressel found the Solheim Cup team win to be such an enjoyable experience. “It was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had. That, winning the (2005 U.S.) Amateur, winning the Kraft and finishing second at the (2005 U.S.) Open were all awesome experiences but the Solheim Cup is almost above all of those. It was really special because these are players and team mates who you play golf with but, when you spend a week together, you really get to know people and make some great friends. It was really cool.”

In another candid admission, Pressel talked about her addiction to shopping and her ‘crackberry’ and how it it literally attached to her. “I enjoy going shopping every now and then and spending way too much money, I am good at that. We should surgically attach it [blackberry] to my hip, or to my hands actually, but then it would be kind of difficult to grip the club.” said Pressel.

Somehow Pressel has garned the reputation of being a prima donna and her nickname is ‘Little miss Piggy’, I think what people don’t realize that she’s only nineteen and that she lost her mother to cancer four years ago. So she’s had to learn a lot of things in life and womanhood by herself. I like her game, and how she wears her emotions on her sleeve, she’s not afraid to be herself. I think there will be plenty of majors to come for Pressel.

Morgan Pressel

Pepper popping off again, this time about Michelle Wie’s parents.

Seems to be the popular thing to do these days as a golf commentator. Both Nick Faldo and Dottie Pepper decided to take their shots at Colin Montgomerie and Michelle Wie respectively this past week. None provided any real revelation, but still, it was amusing to watch these has-beens run their mouths. Both Nick and Dottie have been known to be brutally honest, Dottie most recently with her Chocking Freakin’ Dogs statement at the Solheim Cup.

Lets start with good old Nick. Jolly old Nick in answering questions with the media as the 2008 Ryder Cup captain said that Colin Montgomerie was too emotional and that he’s looking for great putters, of which Monty apparently isn’t. We all know that Monty wears his emotions on his sleeve, but for Nick to openly call him out on it and single his emotion as the single reason why he won’t be picking Monty is a little far-reaching. Monty has been a great Ryder Cup player in the past, and why you wouldn’t choose him should he stay in the top 50 players is beyond me (I’m fully aware of the fact that Monty has slipped to the low 70’s in the world right now). Anyways, I don’t think you discard someone just because they play with emotion, I actually think it’s the opposite, in that kind of pressure-charged environment, you definitely want someone who plays with emotion.

As for Dottie Pepper?? Her proclamation that Michelle Wie’s parents are evil and destroying her life are hardly new developments, talk about stating the obvious. Just how this story plays out is still to be determined, but it’s not looking good so far. Let’s just hope Michelle doesn’t end up like Britney Spears.

Dottie Pepper, Nick Faldo, Michelle Wie, Colin Montgomerie

Nobody hotter in golf than Suzann Pettersen.

In a who is hot and who is not segment, Suzann Pettersen of Norway is red hot with a dominating seven shot lead heading into the final round at the LPGA Honda Thailand Open played at both the Siam Country Club and the Pattaya Old Course. Pettersen is at 20-under and seven shots ahead of England’s Laura Davies and two shots ahead of Paula Creamer. Pettersen is coming off back to back wins at the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge then the LPGA Korean Open last week. Pettersen has erased all doubts of her early season struggles and has firmly established herself as the second best female golfer in the world behind Lorena Ochoa.

Meanwhile, John Daly, big JD is as far from hot as you could get. After an up but mostly down year, Daly got news that he has been denied a sponsor’s exempt for the final leg of the fall series taking place next week, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at the Disney courses near Orlando. Instead the exemptions went to Lee Janzen, Duffy Waldorf, Jay Williamson and Tadd Fujikawa. This is a bit of a shock given that Daly remains one of the golf’s biggest draws with his incredible ball-striking ability and likable character. Daly was especially surprised given that Wal-Mart is a big sponsor of the event and both Daly and Wal-Mart call Arkansas their native home.

Daly is currently competing at the Ginn sur Mer Classic and made a birdie on the final hole of the second round to make the cut, something that hasn’t happened with regularity for Daly this season.

PGA Tour, Suzann Pettersen, John Daly

The PGA Tour sure has its perks.

It was actually a pretty busy weekend in golf in case you missed it. Lorena Ochoa wraps up another win besting the small field of twenty to take the Samsung. Ernie Els won his seventh World Match Play Championship. Finally, a rookie, George McNeill wins the Frys.com or better known as Las Vegas Open on Sunday.

First up, the Samsung. Lorena Ochoa continued her dominance on the LPGA Tour by winning with a 6-under 66 in her final round, 4-shots clear of second place, Mi Hyun Kim. With the win, Lorena clinches back to back Player of the Year honors. Is there any doubt now that Lorena has springboarded herself to the top of the totem pole? Does anyone really think Annika can come back to her pre-injury form to challenge Lorena? At 25, Lorena has at least 10 years of peak performance to look foward to. There are some good challengers from the US and Korea, but I think week in and week out, Lorena is far ahead of any of her competitors right now.

Ernie Els wins the World Match Play Championship beating Angel Cabrera 6 to 4. The best part of the story was Ernie rushing back to his private jet to catch the Rugby World Cup match between South Africa and Argentina. How much of a coincidence is that, both players from both countries happen to face each other while their mates from the same countries duke it out in Rugby.

Rookie, George McNeill, won his first PGA Tour event on Sunday winning the Frys.com Las Vegas Open. The story is always the same, rookie wins, glad to not go through Q school. Not to mention the nice $720,000 cheque. George, don’t blow it all on one hand of roulette.

Finally, what would a post be without a mandatory Michelle Wie bashing. Apparently, her agent, Greg Nared has left his job. I guess attempting to run interference for the worst parents in sports history was too much despite the fat commission cheques. Oh well, Michelle and Co. will find some other lacky to abuse. Good night now…

LPGA Tour, Samsung, Ernie Els, George McNeill

Rough tournament, rough year for Michelle.

The controversy surrounding Michelle Wie continues to stir after another dreadful round on the course on Thursday. The same day as her eighteenth birthday, Michelle shot a 7-over 79, 3 shots worse than Bettina Hauert and good for last place. Granted there are only twenty competitors in the field, but Michelle is taking her game to the next level, the wrong way.

Earlier in the week, Michelle made the comment that, “The only thing that I would do differently (is) I wouldn’t have played this year. It’s as simple as that. The only thing that I did wrong this year is that I did not take my injuries as seriously as I should have.” Yet, after Annika Sorenstam turned down the exemption this week to play, Wie jumped at the opportunity to play here saying, “I just feel like a cleaner, healthier person.” Well after her first round debacle, and her second round isn’t looking too pretty right now either, Michelle can’t even take her own advice. She says she regrets playing at all this year, but she takes the sponsor exempt and continues to play. How can you sympathize with her situation? She has done this too herself. Some may say I’m being harsh, but it’s the truth.

It’s a good thing Michelle is going to college, because it doesn’t appear the golf gig is turning out so good. She seems to be taking in the classes pretty well, we’ll see how well she gets through exam week, or maybe she’ll weasel her way out of it and cry home back to daddy.

LPGA Tour, Longs Drugs Challenge, Suzann Pettersen, Lorena Ochoa

Natalie excited about new balls.

For the past six years, she was known as the Anna Kournikova of golf. A pretty face with a funky swing and no LPGA wins. It’s not like Natalie avoided her dashing good looks and hour-glass figure, after all her swimsuit calendar is a popular bestseller. But still, the lack of wins stuck with her like a 300-pound gorilla hanging on her shoulder.

When she started working with famed swing-muse Butch Harmon many years ago, Natalie noticed that fellow clients Adam Scott and Tiger Woods all got nice new shiny Titlelist balls to practice with. Natalie wondered why they got to hit new Titlelist balls while she was stuck with the distance-challenged range balls? Butch told her that only winners hit new Titlelist balls, you’re not a winner, so you hit the range balls.

Several years later, Butch relented gave Natalie the option of hitting new balls (maybe the dashing good looks of Natalie finally got to Butch), but Natalie refused. She said they made an agreement, and that was that. She continued to hit range balls in practice all the way until this year. At the Evian Masters in France this summer, Natalie finally triumphed and won her first LPGA event. Upon winning Natalie called Butch to let him know to get those shiny new golf balls ready. About Butch, Natalie said, “He always puts the winning flags of the players that have won up in his room in his office. The Evian Masters flag is like a bright, hot pink flag. It couldn’t be any brighter. I finally got to sign that one for him.”

Good for Natalie, and congratulations on your new balls…

LPGA Tour, Longs Drugs Challenge, Suzann Pettersen, Lorena Ochoa

Pettersen tops Ochoa in a playoff.

After Suzann Pettersen chased down and took out world number one Lorena Ochoa in a playoff last week at the Longs Drugs Challenge, one has to wonder whether Suzann Pettersen’s meltdown at the Kraft Nabisco Championship was the best thing ever to happen for her. Since that fateful day six months ago, Pettersen has won the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, then the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and now the Longs Drugs Challenge. Add two second-place finishes to her three wins this year and you can see why she is ranked second in the world behind Lorena Ochoa.

Sometimes, you have to go through adversity before you achieve greatness. You have to suffer agonizing defeat, get beat in the worst way possible, then fight your way back. The way that Suzann Pettersen lost the Kraft Nabisco to Morgan Pressel in May was as bad a way to lose as one could possibly imagine. With a three-shot lead and four holes to play, Pettersen closed with two bogeys and two double-bogeys. Yes, she cried after, who wouldn’t after blowing what seemed to be an almost sure win. But she stormed back, determined to climb the mountain and overcome her fears. At the McDonald’s, she had to hold off a hard charging Karrie Webb, hitting some key putts to maintain the lead. Here at the Longs, after a bad stretch of bogeys from holes 9 to 12 that saw her lose her 2-shot lead, she came back in the final few holes to force a playoff and beat Lorena Ochoa.

Not that it means anything really, but since Morgan Pressel won the Kraft Nabisco in May (her first LPGA Tour win) she has not won a single tournament since…

LPGA Tour, Longs Drugs Challenge, Suzann Pettersen, Lorena Ochoa

With all the bashing she gets on this side of the world, it seems Michelle is a huge hit in her native Korea. About 20 giddy (and what appear to be very horny) Korean dudes gawk as Michelle owns it in some weird Iron Chef style mini-golf competition. I love how all the guys are staring at her ass with their mouths open and drool coming out. Gotta good look there buddy?? I mean, Michelle is a hottie and all, but that is too damn obvious. Anyways, enjoy the clip, I know I did…

Michelle Wie, Korean show, funnies

I read this from Ed Lee’s The Golf Blog and just thought i couldn’t resist to comment. Natalie Gulbis blogs on her website about their private party in Monte Carlo following Team USA’s win at the Solheim Cup last week. And they spared no expense. I mean, for most people, this would be like their wildest fantasy, I know it is for me. This ain’t your regular groupies you’d be partying with, can you imagine partying up with Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome, Stacey Prammansudh, Christie Kerr Laura Diaz and Nicole Castrale (OK, the last three are married, but when did that ever matter. Fellas, don’t tell me you haven’t thought of tappin’ that ass, which ones?? All of them).

Well, you can go ahead and read Nat’s account on the link above, but I prefer to narrate with pictures.

First they win the Solheim Cup, in stunning comeback fashion no less,

Then, they take a private jet from Sweden to Monte Carlo,

They get put up in one of the finest hotels in the world, much less in Monte Carlo,

Get dressed and dolled up to go out on a night on the town, party time baby,

They take a 100-foot yacht for a private party on the water under the city lights,

Then spend the night in their 5-star hotel and the next day they shop to their hearts content and after all that hard work, they spend the afternoon at the spa,

At night, they enjoy a tour of the largest wine gallery in the world drinking to their hearts content back on the yacht,

At last, the party is over and they get flown back on the lear jet back to America,

Chokin’ Freakin’ Dogs?? I think not. These ladies know how to party. Dottie Pepper, you ain’t invited and Michelle Wie, you ain’t no Ms. Thang.

Solheim Cup, Team USA, party in monte carlo