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Results for June 2011 Back to Golf Digest Woman Index

Rallying against cancer at Sebonack

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Comments
110627_18th-hole.jpgThe back tee box on Sebonack's 18th hole, a reachable par 5, offers a panoramic view of Long Island's bright blue Great Peconic Bay. Maria Hjorth grabs her driver as she walks to the tee markers, but quickly goes back to her golf cart in search of her iPhone. She can't resist snapping (and tweeting) some photos of the 18th fairway. And all she can say is, "incredible."

(Related: America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses)

That one word accurately summarizes Sebonack Golf Club, host of the 2013 U.S. Women's Open. Located in Southampton, between Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and National Golf Links of America, the Jack Nicklaus/Tom Doak design could not have been built in a better setting. Rolling terrain and views of the Bay and Cold Spring Pond make missing fairways and quadruple-breaking putts perfectly okay.

But the stunning golf course didn't steal the spotlight on June 27th. One hundred and eight amateurs joined 27 LPGA Tour players, including Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome and Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez and Karrie Webb, to rally against breast cancer at the 12th-annual LIFE (LPGA Pros in the Fight to Eradicate Breast Cancer) Event. Founded by Val Skinner, a Golf Channel analyst and 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour, the fundraiser has become one of the most prominent charity events in women's golf. It honors all young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but revolves around the inspiring story of Heather Farr, Skinner's friend and fellow LPGA player, who died of disease in 1993 at the premature age of 28.

110627_group.jpgSkinner poses with the 27 LPGA participants.

An emotional luncheon in Sebonack's two-story clubhouse included a video tribute to young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, along with speeches from three women who have recently survived the deadly condition: Jennifer Griffin, a national security correspondent for Fox News Channel, was diagnosed with stage 3 Triple Negative breast cancer while nursing her new baby; Jamie Ledezma underwent chemotherapy while 15 weeks pregnant (she eventually delivered a healthy boy, then endured four additional rounds and a bilateral mastectomy that left her cancer-free); and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz underwent seven surgeries related to breast cancer in 2008 while fulfilling her responsibilities as a member of the House.

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Tseng and McIlroy similar in more ways than just age

Thursday, June 23, 2011 Comments

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Yani Tseng first popped onto the radar screen of American golf fans in 2004 when she overpowered the par-5 finishing hole at Golden Horseshoe GC in Williamsburg, Va., for a birdie to defeat Michelle Wie and win the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at the age of 15. Onlookers were awed -- and surprised -- as she consistently drove the ball past the much more highly-hyped teen sensation from Hawaii. There are no surprises now. Tseng is the best in the women's game at the moment, sitting at No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings.

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At a time when the struggling LPGA could use a dominant player to help attract title sponsors, the likeable Tseng could emerge to fill that role. At the age of 22, she has seven career LPGA wins and a bunch more on other tours. A victory at this week's Wegmans LPGA Championship, where she started with a 66 in Thursday's first round at Locust Hill CC, would give her four of the last 13 majors, beginning with the LPGA Championship in 2008, and three of the last six.

(Related: Tseng's athletic power move broken down)

Tseng also won the 2010 Kraft Nabisco and Ricoh Women's British Open and has captured two titles this year on the LPGA, including the State Farm Classic two weeks ago, the last event played, and three more titles overseas. She is a power player who captivates fans with her aggressive style. And she is a player who appears to still be getting better. She is also a player who, this week, has a bit of a Rory McIlroy-like motivation going for her.

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LPGA Championship the start of a major stretch

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 Comments

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- The question stopped Yani Tseng dead in her tracks. The clear best player in women's golf -- fIve victories this year worldwide and three majors at the age of 22 -- was asked how it felt to come into the Wegmans LPGA Championship, the second major of the year, off a victory at the State Farm Classic, the last event played on tour.

"When I came here everybody said congratulations," Tseng said at Locust Hill CC in Pittsford, N.Y., where the LPGA Championship is being held for the second time at a stop that has been on the tour for 35 years. "I said it's been a long time because we had last week off."

And while there was only that one idle week since the State Farm, Tseng's words reflected the frustration of all LPGA players, as well as commissioner Mike Whan, to the stop-and-start nature to this season. Whan freely admitted earlier this year he was embarrassed that his tour had three off weeks in April just as attention on golf was heating up with the Masters.

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The LPGA is still waiting for Michelle Wie to break through in a major.

Since Tseng won the first tournament of the year at the Honda LPGA Thailand on Feb. 20, there have been eight weeks with no official tournaments. And after the LPGA Championship this week, the flagship event of the tour first played in 1955, there is another week off followed by the U.S. Women's Open and then yet another week off.

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LPGA players channel Rory for this week's Wegman's

Monday, June 20, 2011 Comments
Rory McIlroy's slaughter of Congressional CC at last week's U.S. Open seems to have served as great motivation for many of the LPGA Tour players gearing up for their second major of the season.

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Michelle Wie, Karen Stupples and Karin Sjodin were only a few of the LPGA Tour stars who took to Twitter Sunday to express their admiration for McIlroy.

The Wegman's LPGA Championship gets underway Thursday at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., and after only having played three official events since their last major (the Kraft-Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in late March), the world's top women golfers are more than ready to get back to business. Especially second-ranked American Cristie Kerr, who comes off three straight second-place finishes and doesn't need any Rory inspiration. Kerr, this week's defending champion, can just think back to last year's event, where she lapped the field and won by a record-breaking 12 strokes. (In case anyone's iffy at math, that's four more strokes than McIlroy just bested his second-place finishers by. Just sayin'.)

--Stina Sternberg  

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Woman tweets about Friday golf and gets fired

Thursday, June 9, 2011 Comments
It seems congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) isn't the only one in trouble for inappropriate tweeting this week. The AP reports that social-media specialist Vanessa Williams of Bethlehem, Pa., was fired from her position at economic development agency Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. after posting the following message to the company's official Twitter account last Friday:

"We start summer hours today. That means most of the staff leave at noon, many to hit the links. Do you observe summer hours? What do you do?"

I don't know about you, but I think there must be more to this story. If Williams truly was let go for shining a light on her colleagues' golf habits during their time off, it ranks up there among the most ridiculous things I've heard.

What do you think, is this a lesson in the dangers of social media or a case of severe overreaction?

--Stina Sternberg

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A.J. Eathorne: My Life as a looper (updated)

Sunday, June 5, 2011 Comments
Editor's note: Newly crowned ShopRite LPGA Classic champion Brittany Lincicome credited her new caddie, A.J. Eathorne, with her helping keep her nerves in check this week. "The more I talk and chattier that I am, the better I play," Lincicome said after her victory late Sunday. "So [A.J.] did a great job; if I was down a little bit she picked me back up and talked about something that I really enjoy, whether it be fishing or my dogs or my friends at home. She just did a great job. She used to play on tour, so she knows what the feeling is."

Eathorne did indeed play regularly on the LPGA Tour for 10 years before retiring in 2009 and becoming a caddie for PGA Tour player Kris Blanks. She was hired by Lincicome two weeks ago for the Sybase Match Play Championship and had only spent 15 holes on her bag before this week's event. In the April edition of Golf Digest Woman, Eathorne told the story of how she went from tour player to looper, and what life was like as one of only three female caddies on the PGA Tour:

By A.J. Eathorne with Kathryn Stafford

The sun is barely above the horizon, and already people are everywhere. It's the first day of competition at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs, and I'm dodging excited spectators as I walk toward the range--the strap of the 40-pound staff bag over my shoulder creaking with each step. It's the type of walk I've made countless times before, first as an LPGA Tour player and now as a PGA Tour caddie. Strolling next to me is my boss, Kris Blanks. He's a late bloomer, in his third season on the PGA Tour at 38, but he's finding his way out here. We always get comments from the crowd or volunteers: "Are you his wife? I can't believe he makes you carry that heavy bag. Are you his girlfriend? His sister?" I know it's a different job for a woman to have (there are only three regular female caddies on the PGA Tour), but I'm comfortable enough out here to joke about it. My usual reply is, "No, he'd have to pay me a lot more if I were his wife!"

GDWeathorne1.gifBlanks and Eathorne in 2010 (Getty Images)

Growing up in Penticton, British Columbia, I was your typical girl-jock. There weren't many other girls to hang out with, which left me constantly running around with my older brother, Steve, and family friends who were boys. I played any sport I could, and soon after my dad introduced me to golf at 13, I won the novice division at a junior event and earned a little trophy. I was hooked. I gained a lot of confidence while playing at New Mexico State University and made my debut on the LPGA Tour in 1999. Back then, I played with no fear, and as a result, enjoyed success early. My first three seasons on tour were the best of my career. I continued to play for 10 years, winning more than $1 million. As nice as that sounds, it didn't leave enough after expenses for a decent living. The pressure of making cuts to pay for entry fees and travel started to weigh on me. Making the cut became harder, and with the waning number of tournaments compared with 10 years earlier, I was playing fewer events. I had to start looking for other work.

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The battle of the sexes, rehashed

Friday, June 3, 2011 Comments
My esteemed colleague E. Michael Johnson took quite a beating in the comments posted to our inaugural He Said-She Said debate on the GDW blog this week. While some readers agreed with Mike that there's no depth on the LPGA Tour, most thought he was dreaming when he predicted that he (at a 5.7 Index) could occasionally beat a bottom-half LPGA player. To his credit, the strong comments didn't bother Mike. "They're not reading the whole thing," he said with a shrug. "I'm not claiming I'm better than these girls, just that I'd have a chance once in 10 times from 6,800 yards. And I'm talking about the bottom half. The top players would smoke me every time."

When you know Mike as well as I do, you know he's not back-pedaling. You also know that he's a bomber off the tee and a very good player whose current 6-handicap is either the biggest case of sandbagging in history, or simply a sign of spring rust. So I guess even I would have to admit that there might be a microscopic chance -- under the right circumstances and if the LPGA player has, say, pneumonia -- that he could indeed come out victorious once in 10 tries. But I maintain the stars would have to be aligned in a very special way for that to happen. And to even say it sends the wrong message, since we're talking about a fluke.

The bottom line in this discussion is that no matter how many times an LPGA player tees it up against PGA Tour players, there are still going to be a lot of conflicting views about the level of play on the LPGA Tour. The heated opinions on the topic expressed both in the comments here and on Twitter (where you can follow Mike @EMichaelGW and me @StinaSternberg) only support that. Perhaps the best way to find out how these girls stack up against the Mikes of the world would be to actually stage a match between some regular "good" male players (i.e., the best guys at your club) and a few LPGA Tour members. I'm not saying I could make it happen, but would you watch? And where would you put your money?

--Stina Sternberg  
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Nancy Lopez's friends share memories

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Comments
Nancy Lopez is being honored at the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament on Wednesday, which gives us an excuse to revisit some great stories from a Nancy retirement tribute written by Jim Moriarty and published in the October 2002 issue of Golf Digest: 

IDENTIFYING THE "IT" GIRL

Mickey Wright:

"I had the pleasure of playing with Nancy in 1977, just before she turned pro. We were paired in the first round of the Women's International at Moss Creek in Hilton Head. She shot 80, and to most people it was an uninspired performance. But I came in raving about her to anyone who would listen. Her calm demeanor, emotional control and tenacity screamed out to me that she would be something special. I told my friends that she definitely had "it," whatever "it" is. Sure enough, it didn't take her long to prove me right."

"SHE'S NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT"

Jan Stephenson:

After Nancy turned pro, the IMG people hired about 12 players to do a pro-am and clinic and said to me, "Oh, good. You're a real student of the game-we want to see what you think about this girl's swing, because everyone says she's going to be a superstar." Nancy got up there in the clinic and she was hitting these big duck hooks, and I told everyone, "Well, she's short and she's across the line, and she's never going to make it." They've never let me forget that.


GDWlopez.gif(Courtesy of Getty Images)

A COLLEGE RIVALRY

Beth Daniel:

In college a whole bunch of teams got together and toilet-papered and soaped Tulsa's van. Nancy came out in the middle of the night and started yelling, "Who did that? Beth Daniel, where are you? I know you did that." I said, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me." But she always blamed it on me, totally. She still does.


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