Posts by Sam Weinman
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LPGA Player of the Year scenarios take shape
RICHMOND, Texas -- For the first time since 1994, the LPGA Player of the Year race is coming down to the last tournament. Lorena Ochoa got off to a great start Thursday with a 66, at Houstonian Golf & Country Club, four strokes better than Jiyai Shin, whom Ochoa trails by eight in the POY points race. For Ochoa to become a four-time Rolex Player of the Year, she would need to win this week at the LPGA Tour Championship or register at least a third-place finish and have Shin earn zero points.
Cristie Kerr, who was playing late, still has a better-than-outside chance to become the first American to win the award since 1994 when Beth Daniel took the honor. The only scenario under which Kerr could win POY would be to win the season-ending event, have Shin earn no points -- which means finishing outside the top 10 -- and have Ochoa finish no better than fourth. Going into the Tour Championship, Shin had 156 points, Ochoa 148 and Kerr 127. Points are award thusly:
1 - 30
2 - 12
3 - 9
4 - 7
5 - 6
6 - 5
7 - 4
8 - 3
9 - 2
10 - 1
No Korean has been LPGA Player of the Year, nor has a Korean won the money title - not even the godmother of Korean golf Se Ri Pak. Shin has already wrapped up the Rookie of the Year race and the money title. She would become only the second player - joining Nancy Lopez -- to win Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Six players born in Korea have been LPGA Rookie of the Year: Pak (1998); Mi Hyun Kim (1999); Hee-Won Han (2001); Shi Hyun Ahn (2004); Seon Hwa Lee (2006) and now Shin. Angela Park, a Korean born in Brazil, was Rookie of the Year in 2007.
-- Ron Sirak
Nickent Golf out of business
Nickent Golf, which at one time enjoyed considerable popularity on the Nationwide Tour in particular for its hybrids, appears to be out of business.
The company, which was put into receivership in May, terminated its employees last Friday and will begin the process of liquidating its assets immediately, according to an e-mail from a Nickent employee that was obtained by Golf World.
According to the e-mail, a number of groups -- including the Nickent management team -- tried to craft a bankruptcy/buyout agreement with the bank but were not successful, leading the bank to pull the plug on the company.
Although Nickent enjoyed success with its hybrids (including making their way into the bags of players such as Jim Furyk), the company could not parlay that success into other categories such as drivers, irons and putters. Additionally, recent success by other companies in the hybrid
category, such as Adams Golf, additionally hampered the company's business.
- E. Michael Johnson
The company, which was put into receivership in May, terminated its employees last Friday and will begin the process of liquidating its assets immediately, according to an e-mail from a Nickent employee that was obtained by Golf World.
According to the e-mail, a number of groups -- including the Nickent management team -- tried to craft a bankruptcy/buyout agreement with the bank but were not successful, leading the bank to pull the plug on the company.
Although Nickent enjoyed success with its hybrids (including making their way into the bags of players such as Jim Furyk), the company could not parlay that success into other categories such as drivers, irons and putters. Additionally, recent success by other companies in the hybrid
category, such as Adams Golf, additionally hampered the company's business.
- E. Michael Johnson
Disaster Tour: From floods to bugs
The PGA Tour has had some difficult weather situations this year, topped off by the cancellation of the Viking Classic two weeks ago in Madison, Miss., due to unplayable conditions from near-Biblical amounts of precipitation.
Now come the locusts. OK, well, not exactly. But the Palm and Magnolia Courses at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, site of this week's season finale, the Children's Miracle Network Classic, did endure a series of nasty little visitors this year. The root zones of TifEagle bermudagrass greens were infested with parasitic nematodes, while mole crickets inflicted significant damage to bunker faces and green surrounds. Portions of these areas were so ravaged that they had to be resodded.
Fortunately, these issues were aggressively rectified and shouldn't mar the competition. Scott Welder, director of golf course maintenance, deserves the credit for addressing those problems, plus early troubles with the transition from rye overseed to bermuda.
Now if the Tour can only get a break on the weather. Oops. Rain and high winds are in the forecast through Thursday.
-- Dave Shedloski
Now come the locusts. OK, well, not exactly. But the Palm and Magnolia Courses at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, site of this week's season finale, the Children's Miracle Network Classic, did endure a series of nasty little visitors this year. The root zones of TifEagle bermudagrass greens were infested with parasitic nematodes, while mole crickets inflicted significant damage to bunker faces and green surrounds. Portions of these areas were so ravaged that they had to be resodded.
Fortunately, these issues were aggressively rectified and shouldn't mar the competition. Scott Welder, director of golf course maintenance, deserves the credit for addressing those problems, plus early troubles with the transition from rye overseed to bermuda.
Now if the Tour can only get a break on the weather. Oops. Rain and high winds are in the forecast through Thursday.
-- Dave Shedloski
Roberts comes through in the clutch
In a season of personal grief -- losing his father and mother-in-law in the span of two months -- Loren Roberts was still able to summon some of his best at the most opportune moments. In 2009, he won the Senior British Open, the Boeing Classic, and last Sunday, made off for the second time with the Charles Schwab Cup points title and the $1 million annuity that goes with it. Quietly, Roberts will enjoy another high point when he uses some of his recent earnings to help salvage the golf programs in the Elk Grove School District near Sacramento, Calif.
The 54-year-old Roberts told Golf World on Friday that he'll be making a $70,000 donation to the district to keep the program, which serves 180 kids at nine different schools, afloat through 2011. In the throes of a statewide budget crunch, representatives from the district were on hand during the Champions Tour finale last week in Sonoma, Calif. Their message got through to Roberts, who said he was fortunate to be in a position to help out.
"That's what the Schwab Cup allows us to do," he told Tim Rosaforte last week. "It allows us to do some things we normally wouldn't get to do because of the way things are spread out over 10 years."
-- Golf Digest Digital Staff
The 54-year-old Roberts told Golf World on Friday that he'll be making a $70,000 donation to the district to keep the program, which serves 180 kids at nine different schools, afloat through 2011. In the throes of a statewide budget crunch, representatives from the district were on hand during the Champions Tour finale last week in Sonoma, Calif. Their message got through to Roberts, who said he was fortunate to be in a position to help out.
"That's what the Schwab Cup allows us to do," he told Tim Rosaforte last week. "It allows us to do some things we normally wouldn't get to do because of the way things are spread out over 10 years."
-- Golf Digest Digital Staff
Grooves dilemma
SONOMA, Calif. -- How much of a transition will it be for tour players to make the switch to the new conforming grooves regulation in 2010? If what Nick Price has gone through this week at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship is indicative, it might be a shock for players who have been playing U-grooves in all their irons.
Price, long regarded as a premier ball-striker, is not one of those players - he has always played V-grooves, except in his two most-lofted wedges. But he is trying out a model this week he plans to use in 2010. Those, obviously, will have the new conforming grooves. This set has U-grooves, and it has been eye-opening for Price as far as how the ball behaves out of the rough.
"A 7-iron out of the rough, where before I'd hit a flyer that would go 180 yards, it goes 130 yards with these," Price said. "I've never used U-grooves before, and thought it couldn't make that much difference. But man, I drive it in the rough and I can't get it anywhere near the green. I don't know how guys play with these grooves if you don't get a little bit of help out of the rough."
Going through the reverse process from what Price is experiencing this week could prove interesting indeed for golfers not used to getting that little bit of help out of the rough.
-- Bill Fields
Price, long regarded as a premier ball-striker, is not one of those players - he has always played V-grooves, except in his two most-lofted wedges. But he is trying out a model this week he plans to use in 2010. Those, obviously, will have the new conforming grooves. This set has U-grooves, and it has been eye-opening for Price as far as how the ball behaves out of the rough.
"A 7-iron out of the rough, where before I'd hit a flyer that would go 180 yards, it goes 130 yards with these," Price said. "I've never used U-grooves before, and thought it couldn't make that much difference. But man, I drive it in the rough and I can't get it anywhere near the green. I don't know how guys play with these grooves if you don't get a little bit of help out of the rough."
Going through the reverse process from what Price is experiencing this week could prove interesting indeed for golfers not used to getting that little bit of help out of the rough.
-- Bill Fields
Champions Tour rallies around an ailing Sindelar
SONOMA, Ca. -- The visitors filed into Joey Sindelar's room at Sonoma Valley Hospital on Saturday night, guys he'd known for thirty years: Andy Bean. Jeff Sluman. Brad Bryant. Mike Stevens, president of the Champions Tour, was there along with Lonnie Nielsen, one of the guys who played through his group on the front nine that day in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. "We're getting to that age when guys will start to go down," said a stunned John Cook, the third-round leader in the press room at Sonoma GC.
Sindelar, 51, was that man on Saturday, being taken from the course to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot to his lung, that was potentially fatal. In the intensive care unit, and on blood thinners, he didn't expect to fly home to Horseheads, N.Y. for upwards of a week. His wife, Sue, was flying out to be with him. "He could have dropped dead, but he was smart enough to quit," said John Buchna, his caddie for the past 26 years. "The doctor said you quit at the right time."
Short of breath, Sindelar asked Buchna on the back nine during Friday's second round if they were playing above sea level. But Saturday, the shortness of breath, the dizziness, was pronounced from the second hole. That was when Sindelar, his second shot in the greenside bunker on the par-5, said to playing partner Gil Morgan, "I'm not feeling good. Do you mind playing first?"
A paramedic and doctor arrived by the third hole, which is where Nielsen and playing partner Tom Jenkins played through. Sindelar hit a good shot into the par-3 fourth, but needed a cart ride up to the fifth tee. That's when he said to Buchna, "Johnny, I can't do it."
In a cart halfway up the fifth fairway, Sindelar pulled off his oxygen mask to say, "How is it that when I get my swing in a groove, does this happen?" One under for the day with three pars and a birdie at the second, where he asked Morgan to play first, Sindelar WDed and was taken to the locker room and eventually Sonoma Valley.
"They said if he had stayed out there much longer it could have been bad," said Bean later that night from his hotel room. "They think they have it under control, but he won be able to fly for 4-5 days and obviously this is something he's going to have to watch. All of us obviously want him to have a speedy recovery and get better."
-- Tim Rosaforte
(Photo credit: Michael Cohen/Getty Images)
Sindelar, 51, was that man on Saturday, being taken from the course to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot to his lung, that was potentially fatal. In the intensive care unit, and on blood thinners, he didn't expect to fly home to Horseheads, N.Y. for upwards of a week. His wife, Sue, was flying out to be with him. "He could have dropped dead, but he was smart enough to quit," said John Buchna, his caddie for the past 26 years. "The doctor said you quit at the right time." Short of breath, Sindelar asked Buchna on the back nine during Friday's second round if they were playing above sea level. But Saturday, the shortness of breath, the dizziness, was pronounced from the second hole. That was when Sindelar, his second shot in the greenside bunker on the par-5, said to playing partner Gil Morgan, "I'm not feeling good. Do you mind playing first?"
A paramedic and doctor arrived by the third hole, which is where Nielsen and playing partner Tom Jenkins played through. Sindelar hit a good shot into the par-3 fourth, but needed a cart ride up to the fifth tee. That's when he said to Buchna, "Johnny, I can't do it."
In a cart halfway up the fifth fairway, Sindelar pulled off his oxygen mask to say, "How is it that when I get my swing in a groove, does this happen?" One under for the day with three pars and a birdie at the second, where he asked Morgan to play first, Sindelar WDed and was taken to the locker room and eventually Sonoma Valley.
"They said if he had stayed out there much longer it could have been bad," said Bean later that night from his hotel room. "They think they have it under control, but he won be able to fly for 4-5 days and obviously this is something he's going to have to watch. All of us obviously want him to have a speedy recovery and get better."
-- Tim Rosaforte
(Photo credit: Michael Cohen/Getty Images)
Nick Price breezes around
SONOMA, Calif. -- Nick Price got his work done in a hurry Saturday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Eschewing a non-competing marker and playing by himself, Price breezed around Sonoma GC in two hours, 28 minutes and shot a four-under 68, his best round of the tournament.
"I just played at my normal pace," said Price, who had climbed from 29th place to T-19 when he was done. "There was one hole when I felt I was on the march and took a couple of deep breaths and slowed down a bit. I had the option of a marker, but I'd rather just go at my own pace. If you and your caddie can get in a groove, there is nothing else taking your focus away."
The Schwab field went from 30 to 29 players before the first round when Tom Lehman withdrew to be with his ill father, who passed away this week. (It was shortened to 28 players Saturday when Joey Sindelar withdrew because of illness.)
Despite the attractive pace of play, Price did have to deal with his right shoulder, which has been sore for about two weeks. "It tightens up on me - I think I've strained something," Price said. "When I wake up in the morning it feels like I've thrown 100 pitches."
-- Bill Fields
Eschewing a non-competing marker and playing by himself, Price breezed around Sonoma GC in two hours, 28 minutes and shot a four-under 68, his best round of the tournament.
"I just played at my normal pace," said Price, who had climbed from 29th place to T-19 when he was done. "There was one hole when I felt I was on the march and took a couple of deep breaths and slowed down a bit. I had the option of a marker, but I'd rather just go at my own pace. If you and your caddie can get in a groove, there is nothing else taking your focus away."
The Schwab field went from 30 to 29 players before the first round when Tom Lehman withdrew to be with his ill father, who passed away this week. (It was shortened to 28 players Saturday when Joey Sindelar withdrew because of illness.)
Despite the attractive pace of play, Price did have to deal with his right shoulder, which has been sore for about two weeks. "It tightens up on me - I think I've strained something," Price said. "When I wake up in the morning it feels like I've thrown 100 pitches."
-- Bill Fields
Blackmar and Sluman go head to head. Or more precisely, head to neck...
SONOMA, Calif. - Great pairing in the final group of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship Friday: Phil Blackmar and Jeff Sluman, a foot of difference in their height, none on their scorecards Thursday as both shot six-under 66 to share the first-round lead at Sonoma GC.
Early in the second round the 6-foot-7 Blackmar and the 5-7 Sluman are playing to a draw, both even par for the day through seven holes and trailing John Cook, who is at nine under for the tournament through eight holes.
As the 52-year-old Blackmar noted after the first round, he used to be even taller. "I've shrunk lately," he said. "I was 6-7 and 5/8ths at my tallest. I'm about 6-7 now. I can hit it really straight off my knees, so I'm just waiting until I can get about that height so I can hit it straight."
In the points race for the Charles Schwab Cup, leader Loren Roberts isn't helping his cause. He is three-over for the day and T-28 at one-over through 11 holes. Pursuers Bernhard Langer (currently T-8), Fred Funk and Jay Haas (both T-17) are in position to put some pressure on Roberts, who entered the week with a 165-point advantage over Funk in the quest for the $1 million annuity.
-- Bill Fields
Early in the second round the 6-foot-7 Blackmar and the 5-7 Sluman are playing to a draw, both even par for the day through seven holes and trailing John Cook, who is at nine under for the tournament through eight holes.
As the 52-year-old Blackmar noted after the first round, he used to be even taller. "I've shrunk lately," he said. "I was 6-7 and 5/8ths at my tallest. I'm about 6-7 now. I can hit it really straight off my knees, so I'm just waiting until I can get about that height so I can hit it straight."
In the points race for the Charles Schwab Cup, leader Loren Roberts isn't helping his cause. He is three-over for the day and T-28 at one-over through 11 holes. Pursuers Bernhard Langer (currently T-8), Fred Funk and Jay Haas (both T-17) are in position to put some pressure on Roberts, who entered the week with a 165-point advantage over Funk in the quest for the $1 million annuity.
-- Bill Fields
Mississippi mud doesn't dampen Tour hopes for Fowler, Lovemark
MADISON, Miss. -- The potential cancelation of the rain-plagued Viking Classic is dampening the spirits of those Tour players fighting for the top 125 on the money list and full exempt status next year, but Jamie Lovemark might start rooting for a Mudville strikeout.
Lovemark tied for second last week at the Frys.com Open after he and Rickie Fowler lost in a playoff to Troy Matteson, but instead of entering the Viking Classic (for which he was exempt by finishing in the top 10), Lovemark opted for the first stage of the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament in Pinehurst, N.C. Lovemark is currently in third place through three rounds of the 72-hole First Stage event at Pinewild CC.
But it looks like Lovemark, the Southern Cal All-American, might get to use that top-10 after all. According to tournament director Slugger White, the top-10 exemption carries over to the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic Nov. 9-15 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando if the Viking Classic is canceled. Fowler, who entered the Viking, also would be eligible to play at Disney if there is no golf this week at Annandale GC.
Fowler's $553,700 in earnings in two events would put him 135th on the PGA Tour money list if the season ended today while Lovemark would finish 147th with $453,872 after making two of four cuts this year.
-- Dave Shedloski
Lovemark tied for second last week at the Frys.com Open after he and Rickie Fowler lost in a playoff to Troy Matteson, but instead of entering the Viking Classic (for which he was exempt by finishing in the top 10), Lovemark opted for the first stage of the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament in Pinehurst, N.C. Lovemark is currently in third place through three rounds of the 72-hole First Stage event at Pinewild CC.
But it looks like Lovemark, the Southern Cal All-American, might get to use that top-10 after all. According to tournament director Slugger White, the top-10 exemption carries over to the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic Nov. 9-15 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando if the Viking Classic is canceled. Fowler, who entered the Viking, also would be eligible to play at Disney if there is no golf this week at Annandale GC.
Fowler's $553,700 in earnings in two events would put him 135th on the PGA Tour money list if the season ended today while Lovemark would finish 147th with $453,872 after making two of four cuts this year.
-- Dave Shedloski
Prospects are bleak for playing Viking Classic
It looks like those players who came to Mississippi this week hoping to improve their standing on the PGA Tour money list are going to go home empty-handed. The first round of the Viking Classic at Annandale GC in Madison has been twice postponed, pushing the start of the tournament to Sunday, weather permitting.
But weather isn't cooperating. A rainstorm struck just around noon CDT Friday, just minutes after tournament director Slugger White said that any appreciable amount of precipitation would make conducting the tournament at all a longshot.
White said an announcement on the fate of the competition would not be made until assessing course conditions Saturday morning. He added that the tournament could be moved to next weekend or rescheduled, but that decision would have to come from commissioner Tim Finchem.
Central Mississippi has been hit with more than 20 inches of rain the last 30 days, and the poor drainage at Annandale is hampering the tournament. (Reunion G&CC across the street, with more drainage and a sand base, was open Thursday.)
White said that several areas of the golf course haven't improved much in the 30 hours since an overnight storm Wednesday -- and in some places they are worse. Rules official Gary Young, who informed the players at 10:15 a.m. that play had been canceled for the day, said that some tees and fairways can't handle any foot traffic. "We're sinking one or two inches. Imagine the damage to the course with 132 players and caddies," he said.
-- Dave Shedloski
But weather isn't cooperating. A rainstorm struck just around noon CDT Friday, just minutes after tournament director Slugger White said that any appreciable amount of precipitation would make conducting the tournament at all a longshot.
White said an announcement on the fate of the competition would not be made until assessing course conditions Saturday morning. He added that the tournament could be moved to next weekend or rescheduled, but that decision would have to come from commissioner Tim Finchem.
Central Mississippi has been hit with more than 20 inches of rain the last 30 days, and the poor drainage at Annandale is hampering the tournament. (Reunion G&CC across the street, with more drainage and a sand base, was open Thursday.)
White said that several areas of the golf course haven't improved much in the 30 hours since an overnight storm Wednesday -- and in some places they are worse. Rules official Gary Young, who informed the players at 10:15 a.m. that play had been canceled for the day, said that some tees and fairways can't handle any foot traffic. "We're sinking one or two inches. Imagine the damage to the course with 132 players and caddies," he said.
-- Dave Shedloski
Local Knowledge Continues
