Golf Talk

Tomorrow is the start of the biggest tournament annually for the women, the US Open. Now this is a USGA sanctioned event and so it’s not LPGA. In any case, lets see who could take the trophy on Sunday.

While Pine Needles will be nothing like Oakmont that tested the men a couple of weeks ago, it will provide quite the challenge this week.

Lorena Ochoa
All the talk this week has been about when Lorena will win her first major. She certainly is riding some great momentum having won last week at the Wegmans.

One of the problems I see with Lorena is that she gets really emotional, I think it affects her concentration sometimes. She hasn’t had a good record at majors and there are always the seeds of doubt especially when things are close and she’s in the lead feeling the pressure.

I’m not sure if she can pull it off, but I think it would be great for Women’s golf and the LPGA if she does. Annika will probably retire in a few years and the sport needs a new dominant player to carry it through the next decade.

Karrie Webb
Not only has she been very good so far this year, including finishing second at the LPGA last month, she is the last women to win here at Pine Needles many years ago.

Clutch putts, that’s what it’ll come down to for Webb again. I don’t think she can rely on her short game to win this thing.

Suzann Pettersen
Tutta has been off-and-on since she won the LPGA. Still, she certainly has the game and talent to win here. If she plays steady and doesn’t let a bogey or two get to her, she will contend here. She could overtake Lorena as number one player if she wins this week.

Paula Creamer
Not so sure about Paula, the Pink Panther this week. She hasn’t seen the top of the leaderboard for quite some time and I don’t think her game is built to come from behind. She’s not the longest player on tour and so she’ll slow a little as they get to Sunday.

She’s a solid putter and is fiercely competitive which makes her a real threat when she’s in contention.

The Best of the Rest

Watch for Mi Hyun Kim, I think she can make a major move this week. Brittany Lincicome always seems to play one or two rounds really well, if she can stick four good rounds, watch out. Morgan Pressel can certainly win if she’s striking it well. Finally, I rate Annika a medium longshot, I think it’s still too early for her to be back to top form.

At 12, Alexis Thompson is the youngest player ever to qualify for the US Open. Not really sure I’m for teenagers that young playing with pros, but it’s not my kid so it doesn’t really matter I guess.

Michelle Wie is playing, but I doubt she’ll contend. If she can make the cut, that would be a major accomplishment for her.

Coverage for the US Open will be on both the Golf Channel and NBC all week.

LPGA Tour, LPGA Championship, Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie