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Kraft Nabisco: Has Yani gotten her wake-up call?

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:03:00 GMT

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Two weeks ago, Yani Tseng overslept, an embarrassment that has the potential to do what an alarm was supposed to have done. Could this have been her wake-up call?

Tseng will attempt to restore equilibrium to her career in the Kraft Nabisco Championship that begins here on Thursday. It is a tournament she won in 2010 to begin a reign of dominance, the first of 13 LPGA victories in a two-year span.

Related: A closer look at Yani's swing

The last of them came more than a year ago, at the Kia Classic, and it has been a trying 12 months since, indomitable giving way to inexplicable. "Yani is so good that it's just hard to believe she doesn't by accident fall into a win again," Judy Rankin, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and a Golf Channel analyst, said last week.

Last month, Tseng, 24, surrendered her hold on No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings to Stacy Lewis. On the eve of her first opportunity to work toward returning to the top she overslept, causing her to miss her Kia Classic pro-am tee time, resulting in an automatic disqualification from the tournament itself.

Could it get any worse? Well, actually, yes. "In the wake of the missed tee time, a local weekly speculated in its latest issue that the 24-year-old Taiwanese golfer took to late night partying after gaining fame, which has hurt her game and disrupted her regular routine," Focus Taiwan News Channel wrote last week.

Tseng responded in Chinese on her Facebook page. "Saw a news today, very disappointed and very sad!" she wrote according to a Google translation. "I work very hard every day to practice, to make myself better!"

Rankin's theory is that Tseng was so dominant that it failed to occur to her that it wasn't permanent. "As we all know, particularly with younger people, sometimes when you're rocking and rolling, you're not really thinking about it, and you certainly haven't thought about the fact that it could go the other way," Rankin said.

"She was at a point in time where it almost seemed like it wasn't a contest. And I think even if Yani's game gets to where it should be and where it can be, it is a new day and it's going to be a contest no matter what, and I think she knows that."

The Week In Golf: What has us talking

Ushering in the new day is Lewis, a gritty competitor who isn't likely to wilt in the heat that accompanies a No. 1 ranking. Two years ago, Lewis, trailing by two and playing with Tseng in the final round of the Kraft Nabisco, thoroughly outplayed her and won by three.

So that's the challenge for Tseng, who cleared the first hurdle on Monday night. "My phone is working, my alarm clock is all set for 10 times from 7-8am. Ready to go to bed for 10:55 proam time," she wrote on Twitter. She made her pro-am tee time.

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(Photo by Getty Images)

The Grind: World rankings for everything, Tiger's great timing, and Houston picks

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:57:00 GMT

By Alex Myers

"Remember when people thought I was washed up?" (Photo: Getty Images)

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we wish world rankings existed in every day life. You know, so we could get some credit for some of the stuff we're good at. Wielding a remote control from the couch during a busy weekend of sports? Nobody better. Finding free food around the office? Second only to our boss. Writing a weekly golf column that includes fantasy advice and the latest Paulina Gretzky news? We have to be in the top 10. In any matter, we're happy for Tiger Woods being back on top at what he does best. Now where's that delicious scent I smell coming from. . .

WE'RE BUYING

Tiger Woods. With his latest triumph at Bay Hill, Woods has now won a remarkable 77 times on the PGA Tour. To put that in perspective, that's 62(!) more wins than his friend Fred Couples has won during his HALL OF FAME career. Tiger now has as many wins at Bay Hill as big-name guys like Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Lee Janzen have on tour in their lifetimes. We could go on and on, but you get the point. It's Woods' world and we should all just be thankful we're allowed to wear red shirts on the course.

Arnold Palmer. Usually, we have to be creative to include a picture of a pretty lady, but not this week. Yep, thanks to the King's meeting with Kate Upton, showing a photo of the supermodel is completely justified. And when he's not hosting tournaments and kissing beautiful women who are a quarter his age, the 83-year-old is filming awesome commercials in which he is beating up bad guys. What a legend. Speaking of said awesome commercial, how about that timing?

Florida. The Florida Swing gave us two Tiger Woods wins and the state has also created the most buzz during March Madness. Florida and Miami were expected to make the Sweet 16, but Florida Gulf Coast University -- a school 99 percent of the country had never heard of until it upset Georgetown in its first-ever NCAA tournament game -- has unexpectedly joined the party. Speaking of unexpected, FGCU's coach has a supermodel wife. True story.

Beatriz Recari. Speaking of lovely ladies, Recari topped I.K. Kim at the LPGA Kia Classic in a playoff prompting an emotional celebration. We were celebrating, too, since it gave us a reason to link to GolfDigest.com's "Hottest Golfer" competition from 2011. And that's never a bad thing.

WE'RE SELLING

Phil Mickelson. A Friday 79 that included a four-putt from five feet was bad enough, but Lefty sounded whiney with his post-round comments concerning the PGA Tour's schedule leading up to the first major of the year. "I've got to make some adjustments, just because the tournaments before the majors are not helping us at all get ready," he said. While we respect that different players have different routines, keep in mind that Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods never even play the week before a major. They've done pretty well.

Related: Golf's #FirstWorldProblems

Rib injuries. Remember Brandt Snedeker? The PGA Tour's early Player of the Year candidate before Tiger reverted to old Tiger? Well, he returned this week after sitting out for more than a month with sore ribs and it wasn't pretty. A pair of 76s left him watching the tournament from home over the weekend. Bottom line: Rib injuries are no joke.

Lee Westwood. The man who knocked Woods from his top spot in the world ranking in October 2010 continued his lackluster play with a final-round 75 at Bay Hill to finish T-63. So far, his best performance of 2013 came when he appeared on "Feherty."

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Shell Houston Open, aka that tournament that a bunch of golfers play in because they think it's a good tuneup for the Masters.

Random tournament fact: Anthony Kim won this event just three years ago. Has anyone even seen him lately? Ummm, that's actually a serious question. Is there an official "missing golfer report" we need to fill out? Let us know you're OK, AK. . .

WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP

Last week we told you to take Tiger Woods. You're welcome. OK, so that advice was about as obvious as instructing someone to look both ways before crossing the street, but we'll still give ourselves a pat on the back. Here's who we like this week:

Starters -- (A-List): Phil Mickelson. Lefty is coming off a rough week, but that should motivate him even more to put up a good performance before he heads to Augusta. That shouldn't be too much of a problem at an event he's won and finished T-4 in the past two years.

(B-List): Keegan Bradley. That other guy who wears red on Sundays is close to getting back in the winner's circle. His last three events? A T-4, solo 7th, and T-3.

(B-List): Louis Oosthuizen. The South African started his climb back up the world rankings here last year when he finished third and then runner-up at the Masters the following week.

(C-List): Jordan Spieth. The 19-year-old has played so well he's earned a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. The native Texan would love to show off in front of a home crowd this week.

Bench -- Rory McIlroy, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and Lee Westwood.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK (NOT INVOLVING ARNIE AND KATE UPTON)

So much for those rumors of Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki having relationship problems. The two were back in full "Wozilroy" mode this past week, (Is that Ian Poulter at the prime rib station in the background?) with Wozniacki putting on a curly-haired wig to look like her boyfriend. We also noticed in other pictures that the taller Wozniacki seems to be staying away from wearing high heels when the two are in public together. Aw, how cute.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

-- Anthony Kim will win a PGA Tour event this year: 1,000-to-1 odds

-- Coach K will spend most of Duke's next game complaining to the refs: LOCK

-- Phil Mickelson will also find something to complain about: LOCK

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OTHER THAN ARNIE AND TIGER'S AWESOME NEW AD)

Did you see the video of Sergio Garcia climbing a tree to hit a shot? Treat yourself!

This is just the latest example of the modern golfer being more athletic. Of course, that was a lot of effort to go through just for him to withdraw a couple holes later.

THIS AND THAT

Days after Yani Tseng lost her No. 1 ranking, she was forced to withdraw at the Kia Classic as the defending champ after oversleeping and missing her pro-am tee time. And you thought you and your busted bracket had a bad week. . . . Rory McIlroy took a little heat for skipping Arnold Palmer's event again (he's never played in it). Of course, it's a little tougher to criticize the 23-year-old's schedule when he'll make a trip to Haiti for a humanitarian mission next week. . . . These new "triple chocolate" Chips Deluxe cookies (above) from Keebler are a GAME CHANGER.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Does anyone really care about the Tavistock Cup?

Did Tiger Woods wear the same awesome red shirt on Monday that he wore on Sunday?

Does he have an extra one he can spare?

-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to email him and please follow him on Twitter since he has self-esteem issues.

Yani Tseng: Steal My Feel

Yani Tseng — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Yani Tseng, who's ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings, shares her strategy for pitching close to any hole.

LPGA announces new international team competition

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:07:00 GMT

By John Strege

ORLANDO -- The popularity of the Solheim Cup and the interest it spawned in expanding the number of countries involved was the impetus behind the newest LPGA event, the International Crown, that LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan announced Thursday at the PGA Merchandise Show.

The International Crown will be a biennial event, to debut in July of 2014, featuring teams from eight countries, comprised of their top four highest-ranked players from the Rolex Rankings. The first International Crown will be played at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.

The eight countries will be chosen based on the Rolex Rankings of each country's top four players at the conclusion of the 2013 CME Group Titleholders. The four players from each qualifying country, meanwhile, will come from their four highest-ranked players on the Rolex Rankings as of the Monday of the Kraft Nabisco Championship the spring of 2014.

As for the format, the eight teams will be seeded into two brackets, with each team playing the other teams in its bracket in the first three rounds. Two points will be awarded a victory, one for a halve and none for a loss. They will cut to five teams for Sunday singles.

Whan said that he kept hearing how the Solheim Cup ought to be expanded, given the international flavor of the LPGA, but ultimately decided "you don't mess with the event." Thus an idea previously floated as the Continental Crown began to take shape, culminating with the announcement on Thursday.

It should prove a popular idea among players from countries that are not part of the Solheim Cup, including Taiwan, home of the No. 1-ranked player in the world, Yani Tseng.

"Every time I watched the Solheim Cup I always wished I was there," she said.

The international Cup will have a purse of $1.6 million, with $100,000 going to each of the four members of the winning team.

The second International Crown, in 2016, will be plyed at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., site of the 2009 Solheim Cup.

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Golf World's 2012 Newsmakers of The Year

GolfDigest.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Taking stock of 2012 by counting down the year's 25 biggest headliners.

Jiyai Shin smiles ahead of Women's British Open field

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:20:00 GMT

By John Strege

Only a sunny disposition could counter the horizontal rain that at times on Sunday turned the Ricoh Women's British Open into a survival test. That would explain why Jiyai Shin was smiles ahead of the rest of the field.

Her countenance reflects her restored health that has her playing like the best player in the world she once was not so long ago. Shin, 24, won by nine strokes, shattering the record for margin of victory in a Women's British Open, and did so with a triple-bogey on the opening hole of a final round played on a cold, wet and windy day at England's Royal Liverpool Golf Club, hard by the Irish Sea.

"This is just what you expect, isn't it, from a British Open?" ESPN's Jane Crafter said of the weather. "This is what it's supposed to be like."

This is just what you expect from Shin, as well, this South Korean star who was No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings for 16 weeks just two years ago, occupying the interim between Lorena Ochoa's retirement and Yani Tseng's emergence.

This was her second straight victory following nearly two years among the also-rans and delivers a stern message to the nine players that had been ahead of her in the rankings at the outset of the week: She's not only back, but she might be better than ever.

The final round resembled a victory lap, if only one were crazy enough to take a victory lap while holding an umbrella parallel to the ground to counter the horizontal rain. Shin's own umbrella was turned inside out by the wind at one point, which only evoked another smile.

Thirty-six holes were played on Sunday, doubling the length of the slog (though the weather was better in the morning). And the nastiness in which the final round was played suggested universal misery. "My best guess was two, three under might win," Judy Rankin told the ESPN television audience. "Never saw double digits. Never thought of it."

Shin began the final round at 10-under par, then opened with a triple-bogey 7 that seemed to have confirmed Rankin's suspicions. Instead, Shin proceeded unfazed, a product no doubt of the confidence with which she is playing in a year interrupted by hand surgery in May. A week earlier, Shin had a round of 62 and four rounds in the 60s in winning the Kingsmill Championship, and she had an eight-under par 64 in the second round here.

She is known in Korea as the Queen of the Final Round and played up to her reputation at Royal Liverpool, methodically widening her lead, getting to the double digits (10-under) to which Rankin alluded, before settling on a round of one-over par 73 and a 72-hole score of nine-under 279.

The victory was her 10th on the LPGA and second major championship (she won the Women's British Open at Sunningdale Golf Club in 2008), and was an artful demonstration of what is meant by weathering the storm.

"If there's nae wind, it's nae golf," the Scots like to say of the game as they perceive it is supposed to be played in the United Kingdom. There was wind and it was golf, the latter played at a remarkably high level considering the elements, by one who has reclaimed her place among the best players in the world.

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(Photo by Getty Images)

What's Wrong With Yani Tseng?

Ron Sirak — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Whether it be injury, a lack of motivation, or simply life getting in the way, Yani Tseng is suddenly mired in a slump.

Yani Tseng fires caddie after back-to-back major disappointments

Stina Sternberg — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:48:00 GMT

Hamilton and Tseng in happier times, at the Kia Classic in March. (Photo by Getty Images)World No. 1 Yani Tseng has parted ways with her caddie, Australian Jason Hamilton, after 16 wins together, Beth Ann...

U.S. Women's Open: Top 10 Story Lines

Stina Sternberg — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

As the best women golfers in the world gather in Kohler, Wis., for the 67th playing of the U.S. Women's Open, we take a look at the most talked-about topics in the game. Will Yani Tseng complete her career Grand Slam at Blackwolf Run? What's wrong with Michelle Wie? And who are all these teenagers?

Unheralded No. 2 Na Yeon Choi positions herself for major No. 1

Alex Myers — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:13:00 GMT

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Unlike the PGA Tour, the LPGA is in the enviable position of having a clear No. 1 player in Yani Tseng, who has a vintage Tiger Woods-like lead over the second-best...