November 2009: Golf Digest Woman: Golf Digest

Time For The LPGA To Give Thanks

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Many called last week's rain-soaked, over-populated, weather-shortened LPGA Tour Championship emblematic of the toughest year in the organization's recent history, but in my opinion, Monday's third round offered some of the most exciting golf we've seen in ages. The Player of the Year race (between Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin) came down to the final hole of the final tournament of the season (Ochoa ultimately bested Shin by one measly point), and the fearless rookie from Sweden (Anna Nordquist) fired off seven birdies in eight holes to come from behind and win her second trophy of the year. It was almost popcorn-worthy TV.

If there should be any symbolism gleaned from the Tour Championship, let's not make it the monsoon that hit Houston earlier in the week, but the riveting drama that played out on Monday. It reminded us just how much fun these girls can be to watch.

In fact, as the book closes on the 2009 LPGA season, there are still plenty of things for which the tour can be grateful. For example:

The fans are still there. Despite muddy grounds and rain delays, the crowds still lined the fairways at the Houstonian G&CC on Monday. That's right, on a Monday in November -- during Thanksgiving week, no less.

The rookies are sensational. Let's put it this way: Anna Nordquist never missed a cut and won twice this year -- one major (the LPGA Championship) and the Tour Championship -- and she still finished third in the Rookie of the Year race (behind Jiyai Shin and Michelle Wie). That bodes well for the future.

The world no. 1 is still on top and on track to break records. Lorena Ochoa may have gone nearly five months without a top-5 last spring and summer, but she pulled it out in the end and has regained her focus.

The new commissioner seems like a cool dude. Granted, most people look like rock stars next to ousted ex-commissioner Carolyn Bivens, but Michael Whan is 44 and has a resume of a successful marketing veteran twice his age. And Helen Alfredsson likes to hang with him, which means he must have some personality.

24 official tournaments are scheduled for 2010. That's about eight more than many of us had hoped for. Sure, purses are down, but the fans don't care about that. As long as the title sponsors are signing on, the tour stays alive.

The LPGA now has an exclusive television partner. Some of the broadcasts will still be on tape delay, but with an exclusive Golf Channel contract going into effect in '10, at least fans won't have to sift through the cable line-up to find the women's golf in the future. And rumor has it Judy Rankin will be in the booth for a lot of the broadcasts. Enthusiastic golf claps all around.

Westerners are beginning to embrace Jiyai Shin. The soft-spoken South Korean is undoubtedly going to be the player to beat in years to come (at age 21, she has 30 wins worldwide, including six on the LPGA Tour), and while some have lamented her decidedly un-glamorous image and broken English, American fans are starting to really care about this little girl with the sweet smile. She may have buckled under the pressure of knowing that her entire nation was watching with bated breath to see if she'd become the first player since 1978 to win both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year (she'd apparently been told that if she sealed the POY deal on Monday, the South Korean prime minister would be there to greet her plane when she returned home Tuesday -- no wonder she choked), but she won thousands of hearts with her gracious demeanor after her defeat. And there wasn't a dry eye in the house when she accepted her Rolex Rookie of the Year award at a banquet last Thursday night, saying "Some of us play for quiet, shy girls with little glasses who have a song in their hearts. To those girls I say, Don't be afraid. Dream big."
Words to live by for the LPGA.

Rolex Rookie of the Year (and 2009 money winner) Jiyai Shin missed taking the women's golf triple crown by coming up a point short of Lorena Ochoa in the Player of the Year race after bogeying the 17th hole in the final round of the Tour Championship on Monday. Still, she made plenty of new fans in her record-setting first official season on the LPGA Tour.

(Photo by Scott Halleran, Getty Images)

--Stina Sternberg

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Annika's Latest Cause

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Annika Sorenstam didn't play golf like the rest of us, so it's fitting that she hasn't retired like the rest of us. Annika and her foundation have partnered with SPARK, a non-profit organization that helps children realize the benefits of physical activity and proper nutrition.

"As with golf, the best way to achieve a healthy lifestyle is to develop good habits and routines at a young age," said Sorenstam. "My passion for health and fitness started when I was a kid."

Childhood obesity has increased for more than two decades, and SPARK wants that to stop. Instead of going straight to kids, SPARK trains teachers to relay important live-healthy and eat-well information. SPARK trained more than 23,000 teachers last year, which impacted more than one million students. Sorenstam's endorsement will strengthen SPARK's already-solid reputation as a leader in creating fitness and nutrition programs for kids, and SPARK's curriculum will soon be incorporated into several golf development programs, such as the First Tee.

"There are 517 middle schools in the state of Florida, with about 150,000 kids," said Paul Rosengard, SPARK's executive director. "The Annika Foundation and SPARK will work together to figure out how to get the SPARK curriculum in all 517 middle schools."

Beyond the obvious short-term benefits, curbing the childhood obesity epidemic is a bullet-proof component to reviving the nation's health care system.

"By reaching directly into the schools we can instill good health and nutrition habits in our youth," said Sorenstam. "Those habits will lead to a lifetime of benefits."

(Photo by Blake Avant, ANNIKA Foundation)

--Ashley Mayo

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Code's Inspirational Life

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Judging from her extensive list of accomplishments, you'd never know that Mallory Code suffered a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis. She won four American Junior Golf Association tournaments between 2000 and 2002, competed on the 2002 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup teams, helped Chamberlain High School win the Florida state titles in 1999 and 2000, and earned a golf scholarship to the University of Florida.

Despite signs that her health was improving, Code, who turned 25 in August, died on Monday night after being admitted to the hospital over the weekend with a pneumonia and a blood infection. When she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a newborn, her life expectancy was 16 to 18 years. The deadly disease causes a thickening of mucus in the body, and it primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system, according to the Merck Manual. Consequently, Code took dozens of pills every day, had several sinus surgeries and wore a mechanical vest that compressed her back and sides to thin out and loosen the mucus from her lungs.

There was an outpouring of emotion after Code's death on Twitter (read John Strege's blog here) and Facebook. As junior golfers who competed in Florida, my twin sister and I often played against Mallory and her older sister, Whitney, in the same tournaments. One of the few things I remember is watching Whitney and Mallory pound balls after their rounds. They never ran out of gas. Mallory and Whitney were the people to beat on the field, but off the course Mallory was extraordinarily approachable. A refreshing reprieve in the junior golf circuit.

To add even more accomplishments to her list, Code most recently launched The Deal Bloodhound, a Web site that aggregates coupons to help families save money on clothes and groceries.

Code is survived by her parents, Brian and Karen, her sister, Whitney, and her older brother, Jordan. A visitation is set for tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m. at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, and her funeral will be held on Friday morning at Idlewild.

(Photo by The Tampa Tribune)

--Ashley Mayo

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Watch Out, Shin -- Here Comes Ochoa

Monday, November 9, 2009

Just as Jiyai Shin, the sweet rookie with the killer instinct, was beginning to open a gap on the rest of the field on her way to the finish line in the Rolex Player of the Year race, the current title holder, Lorena Ochoa, decided to start paying attention and ruin Shin's fun.

Shin, who has already locked up the Rolex Rookie of the Year crown, could become the first player in 31 years to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in the same season, a feat only Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez has pulled off before. Last week, with three tournaments left in the season, Shin held the no. 1 spot on the P.O.Y. list with 141 points and Ochoa was second with 131. Cristie Kerr, whose hopes of becoming the first American Player of the Year since Beth Daniel in 1994 looked a lot more realistic a couple of months ago, was in third with 118.

Ochoa has been busy planning her December wedding to AeroMexico exec Andres Conesa, but judging from her performance at the Mizuno Classic in Japan over the weekend, any distractions caused by seating charts and dress fittings are now a thing of the past. Ochoa has won Player of the Year the last three years in a row, and she's apparently not about to give up her throne without a fight, wedding details be damned.

Lorena Ochoa shot a 64 to finish second at the Mizuno Classic Sunday.

(Photo: Koichi Kamoshida, Getty Images)

A solid 64 Sunday to round out a T-2 finish behind winner Bo Bae Song in Japan had Ochoa beaming: "Now I can go home happily," she said after her round. By "home," Ochoa means her own tournament in Guadalajara, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational by Banamex and Corona Light, an event close to her heart that benefits the Lorena Ochoa Foundation. She heads to that tourney only four points behind Shin, who finished T-5 in Japan.

The home crowd will surely add to the Mexican's drive to win this week, and if she manages to best Shin by more than three or four positions, she will go on to next week's Tour Championship in Houston, the final event of the season, back in the P.O.Y. lead.

How this will all end is anyone's guess, but one thing's for sure: we haven't seen a tighter Player of the Year race in many, many years.

Here are the current standings, and what the players behind Shin need to accomplish to beat her (as long as Shin doesn't finish in the top 10 in either of the two remaining events):

Pos. Player Points

1 Jiyai Shin 147

2 Lorena Ochoa 143 (needs one 6th-place finish)

3 Cristie Kerr 118 (needs a win)

4 Ai Miyazato 111 (needs a win and a 4th-place finish)

T5 Yani Tseng 110 (needs a win and a 3rd-place finish)

T5 Suzann Pettersen 110 (needs a win and a 3rd-place finish)

7 Na Yeon Choi 106 (needs a win and a 2nd-place finish)

8 Angela Stanford 103 (needs to win twice)

-Stina Sternberg

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Scented Grips?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Golf manufacturers are always vying to grab the attention of forlorn golfers, so unusual products are fully expected. But Hireko Golf's latest announcement will elicit some furrowed eyebrows, even among the most eccentric golfers.

Hireko's new Karma grips for women are available in three pastel colors and scents: jasmine, lavender and rose. Apparently, the fragrances are a holistic way to shoot lower scores, and they'll "cleanse your mind, body and spirit out on the golf course."

Americans spent $34 billion dollars on alternative medicine in a single year, according to data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics in 2007. And aromatherapy, which is a popular form of alternative medicine, has been linked to inducing calmness and relaxation.

But will a lavendar-scented grip really evoke a state of calmness as you stand over a nerve-racking shot from the rough to an island green? There's only one way to find out. And at 89 cents a pop, you can't go wrong.

--Ashley Mayo

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The Only Way Is Up

Monday, November 2, 2009

Now that the LPGA has appointed its new leader and the 2009 season is coming to a close, it's time for the world's oldest professional women's sports organization to start looking on the bright side. Because no matter what the new commish, Michael Whan, has in store for the LPGA, next year can't possibly be as much of a downer as this one was.

There's been plenty of talk about "the 2009 season that could've been" on the PGA Tour, what with Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods narrowly losing major championships to guys with last names such as Glover, Cabrera and Yang. Still, the men's tour doesn't hold a candle to the LPGA when it comes to opportunities lost in the Year of the Ox. Imagine if Cristie Kerr had been the one to eagle the 72nd hole at Mission Hills Country Club to take home the Kraft Nabisco back in April, or if she hadn't imploded during the final round of the U.S. Women's Open. And just think, if only Christina Kim or Paula Creamer had been able to pull it out in the final round of the Ricoh Women's British Open. Celebrations could have gone on for weeks. Instead, we were left with lackluster headlines and a general sense of doom as the players ganged up on the strict headmistress (then-commissioner Carolyn Bivens), the tour's biggest star (Lorena Ochoa) fell into a five-month slump, tournament sponsors bailed and a few rogue members (blasphemy!) went so far as to strip for a national magazine. Michelle Wie's success at the Solheim Cup was a rare bright spot amid all the drama, but a couple of tournament wins from the famous Hawaiian would've been even better. As much as Rolex Rookie of the Year (and likely Player of the Year) Jiyai Shin deserves all the respect in the world for her stellar play this season, she doesn't move the needle enough from a PR perspective.

But if the last three months are any indication, perhaps the LPGA Tour isn't doomed to fail after all. Thanks to some stellar work on the part of acting commissioner Marty Evans, embattled tournaments such as the Jamie Farr Owen's Corning Classic and the Wegman's LPGA, who had previously all but thrown in the flag, have signed back up for 2010 -- albeit with smaller purses. (As most of us have become accustomed saying in these tough economic times, "it's better than nothing.") And if the little-known Whan lives up to his resumé (he went from brand assistant to director of marketing in six years at Procter & Gamble right out of college, and in his four-year stint at TaylorMade-adidas Golf in the late '90s, he quickly rose from VP of marketing to general manager, North America), the tour should be in very good hands over the next few years. I've never met the man, but he's obviously a smart guy and a great marketer. Looking at his CV, Whan has achieved a lot more in his 44 years on this planet than most people are lucky to do in twice that time. He even found a few moments last year to pen a mystery novel called 39 Days: Based on a True Story of Brutal Murder, Calculated Revenge, and Questionable Justice.

Michael Whan's novel (photo courtesy of Authorhouse.com).

Alright, so a mystery novel doesn't exactly say much about how Whan is going to save the LPGA, but it shows that he has some personality. Mix that with a keen business sense and a love for golf (he's played since childhood: "I was that crazy high school kid cutting greens at 5:30 in the morning so he could play free golf in the afternoon and caddie on Sundays," he said in his press conference last week), and the LPGA might have something here. One thing is for sure: after 2009, the only way for Whan -- and the LPGA -- to go is up.

--Stina Sternberg

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