I would never have predicted it, and I’m not one of the Swede’s biggest fans. 2007 is the first year since 1994 that Annika ended a LPGA campaign without at least one triumph.
After being knocked out of the playoff for the 16th spot, Annika was asked if it was frustrating that she played well but didn’t qualify. She replied-
I’ll get over it. I’ll be back.
She’ll be back, but I think Annika may never climb to the world’s #1 again. There is just too much competition on the LPGA Tour.
At the moment 15 players are +2 or better. Annika Sorensatam and Ai Miyazato are at +3. If there are no changes, Sorenstam and Miyazato will play a sudden death playoff to determine who is the 16th qualifier for Saturday play.
A playoff will start on 17. If more holes are needed, the playoff goes to 18, then back to 17 etc etc. Unless someone has a full blown disaster, some kind of playoff will be needed today.
Update- After going double bogey-bogey on holes 16 and 17, Natalie Gulbis finished +3 also. There most likely will be a three way playoff for two spots.
2nd Update- Natalie Gulbis and Ai Miyazato advance to tomorrow’s third round. They both went par-par in the playoff. Annika Sorenstam is out after going par-bogey in the playoff.
I followed today’s co-leaders on the front nine.
Mi Hyun(or Peanut’s) round- Could be best described as a short game highlight reel. On holes 1-5, with the exception of hole 3 where she two-putted for par, Mi Hyun got up and from off the green. On the par four sixth, Peanut made a putt from about 10 feet for birdie to go -6. She gave back this stroke on the next hole by hitting it over the 7th green. A good pitch and run to 10 feet, and Mi Hyun couldn’t make the putt. Two ordinary pars resulted in a front nine 36 for Mi Hyun.
Christina’s round- She birdied the par five 3rd hole by two putting from 20-25 feet. Then on the Par three fifth, Christina looked ready to make another birdie. Her ten footer barely missing the hole, but the putt didn’t stop. A three putt bogey four was the final result.
A bogey five after an errant drive on hole #8, sent Christina to minus four for the tournament. Christina shot 37 for the first nine holes.
Overall Christina and Mi Hyun should make the cut comfortably. They remain -4 and -5 respectively through 11 holes. The cut at present would fall at +3.
I’m now on site. Play is under way. Christina and Mi Hyun Kim will tee off at 11:35.
At present the cut line(Low 16 and no ties) will fall at +2. There are 19 players at present with this score or better. If the leaderboard stayed as it is, there would be a four way playoff for exactly one spot.
I talked to Craig Dolch of the Palm Beach Post this morning. He’s of the opinion the cut will come at a score higher that +2. I’m inclined to agree. The weather is sunny but cool. At present there’s no mentionable wind but that could change rapidly.
As for predictions this week, I am not doing particularly well. Take for instance one of my two longshot picks, Angela Stanford. Through eight holes Angela stands +9 for the tournament.
My golf prognosticating needs work. I didn’t think Lorena Ochoa would win the British Open either.
Christina Kim who I reported on, and Mi Hyun Kim are tied for the lead at 67. Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster are one shot back at 68, and Cristie Kerr and Catorina Matthew another shot back at 69.
Having the first round lead doesn’t matter as much under the ADT’s unique format, because scores will be reset at the end of today’s play. It does however take some pressure off the golfers who are at or near the top. They know their first round scores give them a considerable edge when it comes to making the cut.
Some assorted notes
*- Paula Creamer said she had the worst warmup in her life on the practice tee yesterday morning. If I was superstitious, I’d be hoping for a repetition all weekend.
*- Juli Inkster at age 47 is the oldest player in the field. When asked if she practices thinking this shot is for a million dollars, Juli replied.
“No, but my husband does. He practices for me (laughter).” I wonder if Juli’s daughters are practicing too.
*- Mi Hyun Kim has gone back to her old irons. That and her swing have her feeling confident at present.
*- Christina’s close call on the 6th hole(flirting with the water on the right) was a fade that got away from her.
I’ll be in attendance again today but not till the afternoon.
*- Reilley Rankin was three under par for the day when she teed off the 12th hole. While very few if any players will get home in two at the 12th, it is still a birdie hole.
Listen to what happened to Reilley.
Her drive misses the fairway right
2nd shot lands in the woods on the left.
3rd shot is a punch 4-rion
From 132 holes, Reilley hits it into bunker
Then Reilley hits out of bunker into out of bounds area.
Drop back in bunker, then shot goes over green
A chip and two-putt follow. Reilley makes a ten on hole 12.
When interviewed Reilley hopes to play tomorrow like she did today without going into the twilight zone.
*- Lorena hits two tee shots in the water at 17. Final result is a quadruple bogey 7. Lorena goes from six under to two under in one hole.
Shortly after I finished last post, I went and walked part of round one. The group I followed consisted of Christina Kim and Sherri Steinhauer. I stayed with this group till they finished the 14th hole.
Sherri’s Round- It started badly with a bad drive leading to a double bogey on the 1st hole. After bogeys on 4 and 5, Sherri was four over through five holes. She then had a bit of a rally due to three birdies between holes 6 and 11. That got her to plus two. Right now she stands plus 3 through 17 holes.
Christina’s round- She ran in a thirty foot putt for birdie on the first hole. After that Christina didn’t make a putt 10 feet or longer through 14 holes. In addition to her birdie on 1, Christina birdied holes 4 and 12. Errant driving was a problem for Christina. She missed the fairway on 2, 6, 9, and 10. Her misses on 6, 9, and 10 either came seriously close to the water or the out of bounds markers. She recovered on all of these holes to make par.
I didn’t see Christina’s eagle on 15. She did however miss makable birdie putts from 15 feet or less on 3, 5, 8, and 11. If Christina was a little luckier with the short stick she could easily be -8 or -9.
Christina may make me eat my words so far as my pre-tournament prediction goes for her. At the moment she is the leader in the clubhouse at minus 5. Mi Hyun Kim is -4 through 11 holes. Juli Inkster and Lorena Ochoa are -4 and still out on the course.
Christina’s 1st hole- Birdie 3 after one putting from twenty five feet.
2nd hole- 2 putt par. Missed fairway left.
3rd hole- Par 5. Missed the green to the right in two. Played a flop shot to 3 feet but missed the putt.
4th hole- Birdie 3. One putted from five feet.
Holes 5-11- All pars. Only things of note.
Missed very makable birdie putts on 5 and 11.
Missed fairway right on 6 but avoided the water.
Missed fairway left on 9 but again avoided the water.
Missed fairway left on 10. Coming close to OTB area.
12th hole- Birdie 4. One putted from 12 feet.
Update- Christina’s eagle at fifteen came after she hit the green in two and ran in a twenty-five footer from above the hole.
When asked about playing Trump international, Christina said you had to be gutsy or ballsy. Need cajones. Interesting observation from a LADIES professional golfer. Christina is a hoot.
2nd Update-
Q- Back to the Trump-esque nature of the golf course, when you said you have to have balls, you were not referring to a lot of golf balls I take it?
Christina- Hopefully—no, you’ve got to have enough golf balls just to make sure you can make it through your round, but no, you have to have guts and cojones or whatever you want to call it. You have to be an aggressive person. It was just a term–you don’t actually have to have balls.
When asked about the ballsiest thing she did today, Christina replied
“I didn’t do anything ballsy today. I did a couple things by accident that ended up really close.
All right, he put me on the pot. I don’t have balls.(laughter)
The bubbly Christina Kim. Call me nuts, but the LPGA could use more like her.
Play has begun at the ADt this morning with Inbee Park and Reilley Rankin teeing off at 9:25 a.m. Its a bright sunny day, and there was no mentionable breeze when I came in this morning. Of course this is Florida where the weather can change in five minutes.
I’m going to follow play for at least 9 holes this morning. Starting aroun 10 p.m. The first major pairing of the day goes off at 9:52. That is when Annika Sorenstam and Laura Diaz tee off. Annika has won the ADT(The LPGA’s end of the year tour championship) four times, three of those at Trump International.
Morgan Pressel, Christie Kerr, and Natalie Gulbis arrived at Trump late yesterday afternoon. When asked how the delay arriving here will affect her this week, Morgan said.
Oh, it’s been a bit hectic. I don’t really know how it’s going to impact my week. I guess I kind of look at it as the reason we went, to represent the Tour, and we come here and hopefully get through the first two days and then of course we’re rested enough for the weekend.
Since scores reset for the weekend, I think that’s going to be a common strategy. Get through the first two days to leave yourself in contention for the weekend.
The ADT tees it up this morning. Here is how I break down the 32 player field.
Top tier favorites- Suzann Pettersen, Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Cristie Kerr, Karrie Webb
On past performance here and who is playing well this year, these are the five most likely
The Koreans or why they just don’t seem to play well at Trump International- Over the last five ADTs, Soo Yun Kang came the closest to winning the event in 2005 finishing second. Il Mi Chung did have a piece of the lead on the back nine last year but wilted.
There are 8 South Koreans in the field, plus two other players of Korean heritage(Angela Park and Christina Kim). I have a hard time seeing one of them winning, though based on their records this year, I can’t avoid making some of them second tier choices.
Second tier favorites- Se Ri Pak, Paula Creamer, Jeong Jang, Morgan Pressel, Laura Davies
Dark horses- These are the people I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they won Sunday even though they’ll hardly get a mention from others
Brittany Lincicome
Seon Hwa Lee
Angela Stanford
Jee Young Lee
Angela since the Jamie Farr has had only two non top 15 finishes. A missed cut and a T39th.
Jee Young is coming off a T6, T18 and a T9 in her last three outings. She has played well all year.
The in betweeners- Catorina Matthew, Natalie Gulbis, Mi Hyun Kim, Juli Inkster, Angela Stanford, Jee Young Lee, Stacy Prammanasudh, Angela Park, Maria Hjorth, Seon Hwa Lee
The Julieta Granada pick for 2007- Inbee Park. A rookie who didn’t win Rookie of Year, or win a tournament before the ADT. The only 2007 ADT entrant fitting Granada’s description before last year’s tournament is Inbee.
Then the rest- Reilley Rankin, Meaghan Francella, Sophie Gustafson, Shi Hyun Ahn, Laura Diaz, Sarah Lee, Nicole Castrale, Sherri Steinhauer,
People I’d be most surprised if they won this week- Christina Kim and Ai Miyazato. I like both these players but right now they don’t look to be on form.
My picks for the final eight- Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Jee Young Lee, Seon Hwa Lee, Angela Stanford, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome, and Christie Kerr.
I’ll be departing for home shortly. Tomorrow I will be back in attendance for the first round of play.
*- Morgan Pressel, Christie Kerr, and Natalie Gulbis all missed this morning’s pro-am. They were in Las Vegas to shoot the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge. The charter plane that was to fly these players back to Florida had mechanical problems.
Pressel, Kerr, and Gulbis are all expected to arrive late today. All three players have extensive experience at this course. I don’t think it will affect how they play this week.
*- LPGA Drug tesing will begin in 2008. For the most part, the LPGA has been ahead of the curve compared to other tours on this issue.
Drug testing of pro golfers has never particularly struck a nerve with me. I’ve never felt its been in an issue in golf. Maybe I’m naive in that opinion, but it is one I’ve held for some time. I hope testing proves me right.
*- Dolores Hope has donated a gift of one million dollars to the LPGA Foundation.
*- For those eight players who qualify for play Sunday, a special lottery drawing will be done. Players will then have the choice of which group they want to play in Sunday.
Karrie Webb at her press conference yesterday said she wouldn’t pick either the first or last group on Sunday if given the choice. I suspect many LPGA pros will take a similar philosophy.
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