She won the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship in a 3-way playoff. On the second hole of sudden death, Shin rolled in a birdie putt to defeat Angela Stanford and Sun Young Yoo.
Going into today, Shin was 7 shots behind the leader Song Hee Kim. Kim had over 700,000 in earnings for the year but had yet to crack the winner’s circle. Kim was never able to gain momentum today and missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have enabled her to join the playoff. Instead Kim finished tied for 4th.
Korean-American golfer Jane Park made an early Sunday. She pulled into a tie for the lead at the 5th hole. After that, Park played the next 12 holes in 8 over par and finished tied for 21st.
Shi-Hyun ‘Cinderella’ Ahn had her best finish of the 2009. Unable to birdie 18, she finished tied for 4th with Song Hee Kim. South Koreans were all over the leaderboard. They accounted for 8 of the top 13 finishers in the tournament.
The golf was on at 1 p.m. Florida time but I didn’t begin watching till almost the end of regulation play. Instead I had the Miami Dolphin game on. The less said about Atlanta’s 19-7 win over the fins, the better.
Shin shot a final round 64 to post a score of nine under par. Then Shin had to wait over two hours to see if anyone caught or beat her.
Stanford eagled the 18th hole to catch Shin and Yoo made a birdie at the closing hole.
The playoff started at the par 5 18th. Shin and Stanford came up short in their efforts to drive the green in two. Yoo hit the green but her ball came in hot and ended up in a back bunker. All three golfers hit their 3rd shots to within 5 feet of the hole and each made their birdie putts.
Next came the 15th hole, a par-3 with water in front. Yoo, named course clown by the South Korean players on tour, came dangerously close to the water but ended up on dry land short of the green. Stanford and Shin hit the green and ended up 30 and 12 feet away respectively. Yoo was the first to play and put her 2nd shot about two feet from the hole. Stanford’s birdie putt narrowly missed. Shin rolled her putt in for the victory.
As Shin was being interviewed for Golf Channel, she received the customary dousing in champagne that LPGA tournament winners get these days. Except it was not done by any of the South Korean players but Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel instead.
With her 3rd win, Shin has the most of any golfer on the LPGA Tour in 2009, Shin has climbed to the top of the money list. She leads Cristie Kerr by a little over $100,000. Shin also has the most points for LPGA Player of the Year. No South Korean, not even Se Ri Pak, has ever won player of the year or been leading money winner for a year. The LPGA still has two months to go before finishing up for the year and both races have anywhere from 3-5 players competing for them. I predicted Shin to be both Rookie and Player of the Year before the season started, and I hope she pulls it off. Then I’ll have at least(but not many more if any at all) two golf precdictions right for this year. I picked Brittany Lincicome to be comeback player of the year. Lincicome has that award put away already with her Kraft Nabisco win.
Shin’s win has to lock her up the 2009 Rookie of the Year award. Yes she is eligible for it in spite of winning three LPGA events in 2008. She did that while not a tour member, so Shin is considered a rookie in 2009.
With today’s win she overtakes Cristie Kerr at the top of the LPGA money list for 2009. From AP-
South Korea’s Jiyai Shin picked up her fifth title in 11 months with a seven-stroke victory at the Wegmans LPGA on Sunday.
The 21-year-old star from Seoul shot a 1-under 71 to finish in a downpour at 17-under 271. Kristy McPherson and Yani Tseng each shot a 66, the day’s best score, to surge into a second-place tie at 10 under. One behind were Japan’s Mika Miyazato (71) and rookies Haeji Kang (71) of South Korea and Stacy Lewis (74), the former NCAA champion from Arkansas.
First-round leader Sandra Gal (74) of Germany bogeyed the last hole to drop into a four-way tie for seventh place at 8 under with Cristie Kerr (69), Meaghan Francella (70) and Sun Young Yoo (73).
“I have a lot of tournaments” left to play this year and “maybe I try more wins,” Shin said. “Still, my goal is rookie of the year.”
Shin dedicated her victory again to her mother, who was killed in an auto accident in 2004. “I have my mother’s picture in my course book,” she said.
The Wegmans was Shin’s 2nd victory in 2009. She won in Singapore last March. It will take a major miracle for her not to be LPGA rookie of the year.
Shin could well be 2009 LPGA player of the year also. Today’s win gives Shin over a million dollars in earnings this year and a little over $160,000 lead over Cristie Kerr for leading money winner. Defending LPGA player of the year Lorena Ochoa trails Shin by almost 300,000 even though Super Mex has two wins on the year. It is my opinion that Ochoa is either distracted or uninterested in golf at present. She has skipped playing three or four LPGA tournaments since the beginning of May. The LPGA has so many open weeks, why is she not playing. If Ochoa doesn’t get into gear so far as the Player of the Year race goes, Shin doesn’t lack for challengers. Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Angela Stanford, Yani Tseng, or even Brittany Lincicome could also come out on top.
Couple of notes about Shin
I never knew her father was a Presbyterian Minister.
Before she teed off on 18, Shin signed autographs for the tournament volunteers. The bubbly Shin is making her way into the hearts of golf fans.
It took all of three LPGA tournaments in 2009 before a South Korean took home the winner’s trophy.
South Korean star Jiyai Shin won the HSBC Women’s Champions on Sunday for her fourth LPGA Tour title in eight months, shooting her second straight 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Australia’s Katherine Hull.
The 20-year-old Shin, five strokes behind Hull at the start of the round and four back with nine holes to play, had an 11-under 277 total at Tanah Merah and earned $300,000 for her first victory as a member of the LPGA Tour.
“I’m very surprised and very happy,” said Shin, the Women’s British Open winner last August at Sunningdale. “I’m thinking, I had chance for top 10, not for win.”
Called the “Final-Round Queen” in South Korea, Shin birdied the first four holes — opening with 9- and 12-foot putts, chipping in from 45 feet on No. 3 and adding a 15-footer — to put herself in position to take advantage of Hull’s back-nine meltdown. -AP
Singapore was Shin’s 4th LPGA win since last August. She’s just a tour rookie, but one with over world-wide wins who could be player of the year this year. I actually predicted it.
2009 got off to a slow start for Shin, primarily due to two rounds of golf. She shot an 81 in Hawaii and missed the cut at the LPGA operner, and then followed it with a first round 75 in Thailand. She did bounce back to finish 13th there and now has posted another win. Any thoughts of last year being a fluke have to be gone.
Other notes-
Katherine Hull continues to be on a roll, which like Ji-Yai’s, began last summer. I picked Hull as one of the top 10 golfers for 2009. She should be in the winner’s circle again soon.
Brazilian born but Naturalized US citizen Angela Park finished 3rd for the second time this year.
Jane Park’s 6th place finish improves her chances of qualifying for the 2009 US Solheim Cup team. She was 12th in the points standings, and may be 11th now. The top 10 players automatically qualify for the team.
Angela Stanford has three top tens in three tournaments this year, including a win.
Also blogging on this news- The Constructivist
The US Women’s professional golf circuit tees it up for the first time at the SBS Open in Hawaii. The 2008 event was won by Annika Sorenstam who has since stepped away from the game. Also not in the field is World #1 ranked player Lorena Ochoa. The SBS field is strong however with Paula Creamer, Suzann Pettersen, and Ji-Yai Shin. Shin who won the final LPGA event of 2008, the ADT Championship, looks to begin where she left off.
So another LPGA season is about to underway. A slimmer one than the 2008 schedule, with the loss of quite a few tournaments. The 2010 schedule is looking rough already, with the SBS Open already down as history.
Some off the course news, the LPGA signed a 10-year deal with the Golf Channel. This is great news for the tour.
As much that news sounds interesting, I prefer talking about what goes on during tournaments than all off the course distractions. Here are my predictions for 2009
Player of the Year- Ji Yai Shin. Shin is ranked #5 in the world and has 26 professional wins at age 20. Last year she won 3 LPGA titles, including a major championship. She has a unflappable personality on course, and I personally think she’ll top Ochoa this year. Golf blogger Mulligan Stu is on board the Shin Express also.
Ochoa won’t lose the money title by much and will retain #1 ranking in the world.
Rookie of the Year- Shin. The 2009 LPGA rookie class is incredible with Shin, Vicki Hurst, Michelle Wie, Stacy Lewis, and a few more could have immediate impact. Shin however is going to win the ROY title in a runaway.
Comeback of the Year- Brittany Lincicome. If she is healthy, I see her returning to her 2007 form.
The come out of nowhere award- Amy Yang. She shouldn’t really be a contender for this, but even my LPGA golf buddies Hound Dog, The Contstructivist, and Ryan are not paying any attention to this golfer’s chances in 2009, so why would the golf media. Yang won twice on the LET last year and I’ll go out on a limb by putting her in the top 5 players for 2009. More on that later.
1st time winners for 2009- Wie, V Hurst, Yang, Angela Park
How many times will naturalized US citizen Angela Park be mislabeled as South Korean by the golf media in 2009- At least two times
The 2009 Solheim Cup matches- US wins 16-12
The 2009 US Solheim Cup qualifiers- Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford, Wie, Hurst, Christina Kim, Morgan Pressel, Nicole Castrale, Brittany Lang, and Stacy Prammanasudh
Beth Daniel’s Captain’s selections- Two potted plants Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis. Any Asian American golfer if they want to play in the matches, should only plan on making it via the points list. As I pointed out two years ago, the team’s Captains have done great gymnastic work in order to avoid selecting Asian golfers for the team, even if the criteria they used is in conflict with what they or past Captains have said or done.
So Wie, Hurst, Kim, Prammanasudh, Jane Park will have to make the team by performance. Daniel will pick potted plants for the US squad before choosing any of those talented ladies.
How many tournaments will the South Koreans win in 2009- Ten. Five by Shin. Plus at least two more from Wie, C Kim, and half Korean V Hurst.
How many members of the media will bemoan the Asian invasion- Three.
How many times will I say Carolyn Bivens should be fired before she gets fired the 2009 season ends- Three
How many LPGA writing related Knucklehead awards will I give out in 2009- Five, starting with this guy.
How many times I will be a credentialed member of the LPGA media in 2009- Zero
How many times will I apply- Zero because the LPGA has left the building so far as Florida goes.
2009 Major Champions- I hate picking way in advance, but I’ll go out on a limb. Shin(US), Ochoa(Kraft Nabisco), Creamer(LPGA), and someone else. Ok, that’s 3 out of 4. My crystal ball is not working too well at the moment. Put me down for Hee Won Han at the British Open.
Miscellaneous predictions-
Katherine Hull will take over as Australia’s #1 golfer from Karrie Webb
Se Ri Pak will win the Jamie Farr Classic for a record breaking sixth time
The Korean LPGA tour stop curse aka No winner of the tournament since 2003 has won a LPGA event afterwards, will finally be broken with Suzann Pettersen taking home a LPGA win in 2009
Now for my my top 30, I’ll put it beneath the fold
1 Shin JY
2 Ochoa
3 Yang
4 Creamer
5 SH Lee
6 Hull
7 Tseng
8 V Hurst
9 Pettersen
10 Wie
11 Han
12 Jang
13 Kerr
14 A Park
15 Stanford
16 Webb
17 JY Lee
18 EH Ji
19 Feng
20 Castrale
21 Lewis
22 IK Kim
23 Prammanasudh
24 Pak
25 Pressel
26 C Kim
27 MH Kim
28 Stupples
29 NY Choi
30 Lincicome
We’ll come back at the end of the year and see how I did.
« Hide it
The 20-year-old from South Korea won the ADT Championship today. It was Shin’s 3rd LPGA win this year without her being a LPGA member.
Shin won by one shot over Karrie Webb. It was basically a Shin-Webb battle except for a few brief moments when Seon Hwa Lee tied Shin with a birdie on 16. Lee promptly double bogied 17 and finished 3rd.
Along with that trophy she is holding, Ji Yai won a million dollars today. The ADT is the only LPGA tournament where the winner takes home that large a prize.
Suzann Pettersen shot a 79. The fiery Norwegian could be seen taking out her frustrations on her caddy. Paula Creamer was never a factor on Sunday.
Only two weeks ago I wrote this about Shin after her win at the Mizuno Classic-
She will be eligible for Rookie of Year, assuming Ji-Yai comes to play in the US. She has been tearing up the KLPGA, to a lesser extent the JLPGA for a few years now. You read it here first, the second South Korean LPGA golfer to qualify for the Golf Hall of Fame will be Ji-Yai Shin. Take that to the bank.
The complaints the Koreans are taking over the LPGA are about to get louder. Isn’t it about the best golfer is, not where in the world they are from?
Take this down also. If Shin plays the LPGA Tour in 2009, I predict Lorena Ochoa’s days as the #1 player in the world are numbered.
At 9:30 this morning the last 8 golfers begin teeing it up in West Palm Beach. They are-
Seon Hwa Lee, Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer, Jeong Jang, Karrie Webb Ji Yai Shin, Angela Stanford, and Eun Hee Ji.
Under the ADT’s unique format, all eight players begin today at even par. Some comments on Saturday’s play
*- Suzann Pettersen shot a 68 in spite of scoring a triple bogey on the 4th hole.
*- Helen Alfredsson came to 18 at even par, but splashed two balls before finishing with a seven. Alfredsson scooping up her 4th shot after it crossed the hazard line but before it reached the water, caused some minor controversy.
*- Paula Creamer feeling very unwell, perhaps because of appendicitis, shot a 2 under par 70.
*- Karrie Webb finally defeats a South Korean in a playoff. Sun Young Yoo, Webb, and Ji had to go back to 17 to play for 2 spots in Sunday’s field. Yoo 3-putted from 45 feet to drop out.
Prior to yesterday, Webb had lost 4 playoffs against South Korean players. Three of them to Se Ri Pak, most famously the 2006 LPGA Championship but also the LPGA’s biggest playoff ever a 6-player affair at the Jamie Farr. Webb’s 4th playoff loss was earlier this year to Seon Hwa Lee at the Ginn Tribute.
*- If Creamer is not well enough to play, she will not be placed in the final round field. That would leave only seven players competing for the one million dollar prize.
*- All eight golfers have won at least once on the LPGA Tour. We won’t have a Julieta Granada like story this year.
Some comments on today’s finalists should they be the winner.
Paula Creamer- Would surpass Lorena Ochoa on the 2008 LPGA money list
Ji Yai Shin- Would earn her 3rd LPGA tour win without being a member of the tour yet.
Suzann Pettersen- Would break the Korean LPGA curse. No winner of the Korean LPGA tour stop, now known as the Hana Bank Kolon Championship, since 2003 has since won again on tour.
Seon Hwa Lee- A win may finally get this very underrated player nicknamed ‘Stone Buddha’ some notice. Lee has won 4 times since joining the tour in 2006 and is pretty invisible with both golf fans and media alike.
Jeong Jang- The player affectionately called ‘JJ’ or ‘The Little Giant’ has won over a million dollars this year without a win and at the same time having a painful wrist injury. Jang, the 2005 British Open Champ, is paired with Paula Creamer. Jeong joked about liking to play before a big gallery. Her 2005 British Open final round had a large crowd following JJ. That because of JJ’s playing partner, Annika Sorenstam.
Eun Hee Ji- If she wins, will she give her acceptance speech in English? It was Ji’s use of an interpreter after winning the Wegman’s that supposedly sparked the controversial English policy on the LPGA tour.
Karrie Webb- A win would keep her from being considered a 2009 Comeback player of the Year candidate
Angela Stanford- Would she be considered defending champion when Stanford Intl. takes over as sponsor of the Tour championship in 2009? Stanford defends Stanford. I can see the headline now…..
NBC televise the ADT tape delayed beginning at 3 p.m. this afternoon. A showcase unique event for Women’s golf, but it isn’t shown live. The LPGA Tour gets little respect.
Hound Dog, The Constructivist, and Geoff Shackelford are all commenting.
In West Palm Beach Florida. The 32 player field will start competing at Trump International when Ji-Yai Shin and Shanshan Feng go off the tee at 9:30.
That’s a interesting first pairing for a tournament, even for a limited field event. Shin is the defending British Open champion, ranked #6 in the world, and just 11 days off winning the LPGA Tour stop in Japan. Shin has to be considered one of the favorites this week. The probable reason for this early pairing is Shin not being a LPGA Tour member yet.
The ADT has a interesting playoff format. 32 players begin the tournament, but 16 are eliminated after Friday’s play ends. If there are any ties, a playoff takes place to eliminate any excess players. Then scores reset for Saturday play. At the end of Saturday, the top 8 only qualify for Sunday’s final round where the winner takes home a million dollar check. Julieta Granada won the ADT in 2006 and Lorena Ochoa won in 2007. Their good luck charm final round playing partner, Natalie Gulbis, is not in this year’s field.
How do I handicap the field. First I’ll give the Palm Beach Post’s picks for the final 8. As you can imagine, I got a bone to pick with the newspaper.
The Post in order of finish- Ochoa, Yani Tseng, Christina Kim, Paula Creamer, Inbee Park, Cristie Kerr, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb
My picks- Shin, Ochoa, Kerr, Feng, Helen Alfredsson, Sun Young Yoo, Katherine Hull, Creamer
Post picks to make it 54 holes- Jeong Jang, In Kyung Kim, Candie Kung, Song-Hee Kim, Angela Park, Suzann Pettersen, Morgan Pressel, Yoo
My picks- Pressel, IK Kim, Kung, Webb, Pettersen, Tseng, C Kim, Ji Young Oh
My main gripes with the Post selections
1- Only South Korean player chosen.(Christina Kim) Two made it in 2006, two made it in 2007. The player who made it both years, Mi Hyun Kim, is not in this year’s field.
Inbee Park has played terrible since winning the US Open. Out of the 13 South Koreans in the field, she may well be my last choice this week. One surprise Korean player has made the final round both previous year. Last year it was Sarah Lee. I think we’ll have one this weekend too. Sun Young Yoo has been quietly been playing excellent golf for about two months.
Angela Park also was selected to make play on Saturday and she has been playing almost as poorly as In bee. The Post picked the wrong Korean major champion to be around Sunday, I’d bet Greg Stoda ten dollars its Shin over Inbee.
2- The selection of Karrie Webb. Webb made the final 8 both times, but she has been erratic at best in 2008 and isn’t playing the best golf of any Australian right now. That designation goes to Katherine Hull, who I picked to make the final 8.
We’ll have to wait till Sunday to see who is right.
Some other notes
*- Much has been made about Annika Sorenstam’s ‘retirement‘. While Annika won’t play the tour in 2009, I bet she comes back to compete 10-15 times in a year before 2013 comes and this won’t be her last ever Tour Championship. We’ll see who is right in 5 years.
*- Randall Mell of the Sun-Sentinel writes that ADT company didn’t want to end its sponsorship but the renewal price the LPGA was asking for was too high.
Also up with previews of the ADT Championship- Hound Dog and The Constructivist
Look out Lorena Ochoa. You have a challenger for #1 in the world. From AP-
SHIMA, Japan – Shin Ji-yai won the Mizuno Classic for her second LPGA Tour title and ninth international victory of the year, shooting a 5-under 67 on Sunday to easily hold off Mayu Hattori at Kinetsu Kashikojima.
The Women’s British Open winner and the first player to sweep the Korea LPGA Tour’s three majors in a season, Shin finished at 15-under 201 for her second victory of the year in Japan. The 20-year-old South Korean star earned $210,000.
“Yesterday and today I was really good with my iron shots,” Shin said. “Almost the best this year. It feels like I can make everything.”
Hattori, the Japanese player coming off a victory last week in the Japan LPGA’s IDC Otsuka Ladies, closed with a 67 to finish second, six strokes back in the event sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and JLPGA. Lim Eun-a (70) was third at 8 under, and Chung Il-mi (69), Wei Yun-jye (70) and Lee Jee-young (72) followed at 7 under.
Shin played the front nine in 4 under — birdieing Nos. 2 and 3 and holing an eagle chip on the par-5 seventh — to move four strokes ahead of Hattori and Lee. Lee birdied the 10th to cut Shin’s lead to three, but had a double bogey on the par-3 11th.
“I was very nervous on the first tee,” Shin said. “But I made birdies on the second and third holes and got more comfortable and confident.”
Shin birdied the par-5 13th and had a six-stroke lead with four to play. She three-putted for a bogey on the par-4 15th, only her second bogey on the week and first in 47 holes, then birdied the par-5 16th and closed with two pars.
Shin now has two LPGA wins and she isn’t yet a LPGA Rookie. She will be eligible for Rookie of Year, assuming Ji-Yai comes to play in the US. She has been tearing up the KLPGA, to a lesser extent the JLPGA for a few years now. You read it here first, the second South Korean LPGA golfer to qualify for the Golf Hall of Fame will be Ji-Yai Shin. Take that to the bank.
The complaints the Koreans are taking over the LPGA are about to get louder. Isn’t it about the best golfer is, not where in the world they are from?
Note- Shin is rated #8 in the world right now.
Update- Hound Dog, perhaps the best blogger who out there writing about the LPGA, agrees with my assessment of Shin.
The reigning British Open champ blew everyone away the last two days in a manner reminiscent of Lorena Ochoa. That’s how good Ji-Yai Shin might be. It’s too bad this tournament doesn’t get any U.S. exposure or a lot more Americans would know what Asia already does – Ji-Yai Shin is a contender to overtake Ochoa as World #1 as soon as 2009.
Here comes Ji-Yai Shin.
The South Korean sensation will be playing at the SBS Open Feb 14-16. Shin is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption. Ji-Yai has already finished second at the 2008 Australian Open.
Shin isn’t a LPGA player yet but reports say she will go to qualifying school late in 2008. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ji-Yai bypasses qualifying school by winning a LPGA event this year. If there is another Korean out there to make the HOF one day, I’d be putting bets on Shin.
She won 9 times on the KLPGA tour last year. Repeat she won NINE TIMES. The KLPGA aka Korean LPGA can be likened to the LPGA’s AAA minor league. The best players not playing the American circuit can often be found here. The competition is fierce and Shin won nine times in 2007.
Has she played the LPGA? Shin finished third at the Evian Masters last year, and 6th at the US Open. This year Ji-Yai is likely to get a half dozen or more shots at winning an LPGA event. The majors, The SBS, the year-end LPGA event in South Korea, and one or two others. If Ji-Yai wins one of these tournaments, it won’t come as any surprise to knowledgable golf fans.
I will be posting a 2008 LPGA preview tomorrow. Are you ready for some ladies professional golf?
The Ladies Professional Golf year is almost over. We’ll celebrate the best, oddest, or just plain out of nowhere things that happened in 2007.
Player of the Year- Lorena Ochoa. Seven wins and a British Open title make her the hands down selection.
Rookie of the Year- Angela Park. At the Fields Open in February, Angela finished third and never let up the rest of the year. A tie for second and two more third place finishes left Angela with almost double the points of her next closest pursuer for Rookie of the Year.
Shot of the Year- Momoko Ueda’s final round double eagle at the Mizuno Classic. It propelled Momoko to a two-shot triumph.
Comeback of the Year- This is one of the toughest choices I have when it comes to 2007 awards. The four top candidates as I see it are Suzann Pettersen, Maria Hjorth, Birdie Kim, and Beth Bader.
Suzann’s and Maria’s stake to Comeback player of the year too closely resembles Karrie Webb in 2006, and I didn’t think Karrie was right choice last year either. Going from 46th on the money list to 2nd isn’t a comeback to me.
Birdie, the surprise 2005 US Open Champ, has had a much better year than her dismal 2006. Still she misses lots of cuts and her strokes per round average(73.40 to 73.86) is barely different than last year.
Beth Bader went from 83rd to 46th on the money list. Easily Beth’s best year.
Based on her poor 2005, I’ll give comeback player of the year to Suzann Pettersen.
‘Where did they come from?’ Award- Meaghan Francella. Honorable mention to Na On Min.
Best finish of the year- We have a tie. Between The Sherri Steinhauer/Christina Kim State Farm Classic final round battle and the Laura Davies and Suzann Pettersen duel at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Collapse of the year- Another tie. Suzann Pettersen and Se Ri Pak. Both looked to have the Kraft Nabisco in the bag on Sunday, but failed to close.
2007 Mom of the Year- Juli Inkster edges Catorina Matthew.
‘The Tiger Woods had it easy’ award- To the new LPGA Moms of 2007, Hee Won Han, Karen Stupples, Hillary Lunke and Jackie Gallagher-Smith. Also Catorina Matthew who had her daughter in 2006, but returned to play in 2007. As a father, I know mothers have the hardest job around. That these women can combine motherhood and professional golf, should get a big round of applause. That goes for all 29 LPGA Moms.
The ‘What me worry?’ award- Se Ri Pak for her final round birdie of the sixth hole at the Jamie Farr after Morgan Pressel made a hole in one on the same hole. Se Ri went on to win her fifth Farr Classic.
The ‘I survived’ award- Brittany Lincicome for her win at the Ginn Open. Morgan Pressel gets honorable mention.
‘The Raindrops keep falling on my head’ award- To Mother nature for washing out the NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q Hammons. Only 18 holes were played. And I thought the south was suffering from a drought this year.
The ‘Pick who doesn’t belong’ award- Maria Hjorth. She was the only non-Asian among the four semifinalists at the HSBC World Match Play Championship.
The ‘Scotty and the search party’ award Part I- Michelle Wie. Can someone please locate her golf game?
The ‘Scotty and the search party’ award Part II- Morgan Pressel’s golf clubs. They were stolen the day after she won the Kraft Nabisco.
The ‘Thank God for electronic scoreboards’ award- Stacy Prammanasudh and Virada Nirapathpongporn for their duel in the early rounds of the Navistar. Imagine if Vicki Goetze-Ackerman and Jackie Gallagher-Smith had been in contention…….
The ‘Go away little monkey award’- Lorena Ochoa, Christie Kerr, and Natalie Gulbis. Lorena and Christie for winning their first major, Gulbis for winning.
The ‘Big hand for a little lady’ award- Mi Hyun ‘Peanut’ Kim for her donation to Kansas tornado victims
The ‘biggest splash’ award- Morgan Pressel at the Nabisco
The ‘thanks but no thanks’ award- Annika Sorenstam for turning down a last minute invite to the Samsung.
The ‘What the heck’? award- St Andrews 17th Road Hole plays as a par five for the British Open.
The ‘Sizzler’ award- In-Kyung Kim for shooting an LPGA record 27 for 9 holes.
The ‘Pitchforks and torches’ award- To the Korean golf fans who got upset when the Hana Bank-KOLON final round was canceled. Who says LPGA fans aren’t enthusiastic?
‘The Never forget but keep on living’ award- Durmaed Futures player Jenny Hansen whose husband Jeff was killed while serving in Iraq in 2006. Ji Yai Shin gets honorable mention.
The ‘Chokin Freakin Dogs’ award- To….cough…cough…Dottie Pepper. Dottie may well have destroyed any chance she had of being a Solheim Cup Captain in the future.
‘We need an optometrist STAT’ award- To the ESPN announcer who mixed up Laura Davies and Laura Diaz at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Biggest letdowns of 2007- Karrie Webb, Meena Lee, Pat Hurst, only 4 Korean winners this year
Million Dollar winner award- You’ll have to check back in on Sunday to see who wins that one.
|
