Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Dean Wilson may have had a slow start in 2008 but his bank account is beginning to show what a true grinder can accomplish when he takes advantage of the moment he gets his game back. As of the John Deere Classic, Wilson had $996,666 in official money won in the 22 events he entered so far this year. He hasn’t won any, but he’s keeping his eye on the prize. At the John Deere, Wilson knew he had his work cut out for him after Friday play.
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here for Wilson's summary of what he's got to get done in the final rounds of the John Deere |
A missed putt, and his game face on, as he heads into the stretch chasing the leaders.
This tie for third place money is enough to push him across the “Million”-dollar mark comfortably. $1,202,666 and inside the FedExCup point race up for 70th to 57th.
At the AT&T National, Wilson was chasing winner Anthony Kim.
Wilson, who shot a 67 and tied for third, played with Kim in the final round. He was impressed with what he saw in the 23 year old. "Awesome," Wilson said. "Very confident, very aggressive the way he plays. He's always shooting at the pins, and it's pretty good."
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Dean Wilson after the final round at the AT&T National |
At the Stanford St. Jude Championship in early June, Wilson started the tournament tied for 7th and ended with a tie for 13th. Again steady but not yet breaking through to the top.
Back to Anthony Kim. The party boy has “buckled” down to the work ethics of a Tiger Woods. Instead of arriving at the golf course with enough time to wolf down his breakfast, Kim is arriving earlier and warming up. A little trick he learned from his inspiration. Up to then, Kim spent most of his time out partying with the “boys” and playing with his mouth.
"That was quite a low point in my golf career, to feel like I wasn't doing myself justice to act that way and prepare that way," Kim said. "I just took a step back and said, 'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it the right way.' And I've been doing it ever since."
Since then he has become the first American under 25 to win two tournaments in the same season. First his victory at Quail Hallow in the Wachovia Championship and then at the AT&T hosted by Tiger Woods. Well not this year. This year Woods phoned it in with his leg still healing from the stress fractures and the rebuilt ACL.
"To win his golf tournament is amazing," Kim said. "I idolized him growing up. It's so surreal for me to be in this position."
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to hear Anthony Kim |
Kim is now No. 5 in the FedExCup standings and moving closer to cracking the top 10 in the world. He has also moved up to No.6 in the Ryder Cup standings.
"He's fearless," Fred Funk said. "And he's just got that arrogance, cocky attitude, that you need to have when he's in the position that' he's in. And he's got the game to back it up."
TIGER WOODS
At the AT&T during the telecast Woods said he has no idea how his body will heal from the rebuilt left knee or when he will return.
If you thought Woods would be in the prone position, icing his injured leg on Tuesday after his U.S. Open sudden death playoff win against Rocco Mediate, you’d be wrong. He was on the East Coast the next day doing a TV commercial, shot indoors, for Accenture. He’d obviously used up all of his golf swing accuracy though. One of the balls he hit, crashed into a camera and ricocheted into the face of the actor caddy. Struck him square in the nose. Yes, they had to get a new stand in.
And then there’s the guy in Australia who bet over 250 thousand dollars in March that Woods would win three majors in 2008. Ouch.
Also “touching” was the move the caddies made for Steve Williams at the Travelers Championship. They put up a sign in the caddies trailer that said “Steve Williams Benevolent Fund”, offering the caddies a chance to donate to the cause. For a money jar, they used a shot glass.
At least there won’t be endless speculation this year about will he or won’t he be playing in the Mercedes Benz Championship. It’s been rumored for a while that Woods doesn’t like the toll the rolling hills above Kapalua put on his knees. It’s a long walk. He won’t be.
But I’m convinced he is going just a little crazy with nothing to do but rehabilitate a leg. First he asked his swing coach, Hank Haney, just what he could do to improve his game while he is laid up. Second, he wrote two newsletters to his website in five days.
BUT SERIOUSLY, DON’T COME BACK SOON
While Ernie Els was preparing for the British Open at Royal Birkdale, he offered this advice to Tiger Woods. Don’t come back until at least March 2009. Els, who had to have surgery on his knee after an accident, surgery very similar to the type Woods had done to his knee, says he believes he came back to play much too soon and that led to his struggles.
Lee Westwood of England, left, and Ernie Els of South Africa, right, are seen on the 3rd green during practice for the British Open Golf championship, at the Royal Birkdale golf course, Southport, England, Tuesday, July 15, 2008.
(AP Photo/Jon Super)
Els said: “Tiger has a rough rehabilitation ahead and time is going to be the main battle for him. If he comes back too early it could have really serious consequences. I had the same operation and came back a little too early because I had a date in mind and was extremely stubborn. I was trying too hard to be back within five months.”
Els turned out to be a fan favorite in the Tiger-less British Open. He told reporters, with a grin, he wasn’t “overly disappointed that Woods is not here. For the tournament itself, it’s a big blow. And for the world of golf, not to have the No. 1 player playing…we’re definitely going to miss him. But as a player, like a lot of other players, it feels very different, to be honest.”
SORENSTAM TOPS OCHOA
Since I’m on the subject of the top golfer in the world, let’s take a look at the world of women’s golf. Lorena Ochoa, the female version at the top of the list, lost in an exhibition match to Annika Sorenstam, in Mexico. Ouch.
US WOMEN”S AMATEUR
When you get this, the U.S Women’s Amateur may have already been played. But you could have seen some of the best golf in the Islands played in the qualifier for this event.
All of the top female golfers in Hawaii, except Cyd Okino and Kimberly Kim, played for the chance to represent Hawaii.
Stephanie Kono came out on top, three strokes ahead of the two other women who qualified at the Waikoloa King’s course on the Big Island. Mari Chun of Pearl City and Cyna Rodriquez of the Philippines tied at 74. Below you can see the rest of the scores.
Kono had just returned from the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship where she was one of the semi-finalists. (You can see coverage of that event in the July issue.)
Stephanie Kono Honolulu, HI 71
Cyna Rodriguez Manila, Philippines 74
Mari Chun Pearl City, HI 74
Marissa Chow Honolulu, HI 75
Elyse Okada Kahului, HI 76
Kelly Nakashima Wailuku, HI 76
Ana Imelda Tanpinco Manila, Philippines 76
Kelcie Kawano Kahului, HI 77
Tamara Surtees Waikoloa, HI 77
Kristina Merkle Honolulu, HI 78
Britney Yada Hilo, HI 79
Chihiro Ikeda Laguna, Philippines 79
Miki Ueoka Lihue, HI 80
Ciera Min Hilo, HI 80
Sara Koizumi Pearl City, HI 81
Cassy Isagawa Wailuku, HI 81
Anna Jang Aiea, HI 81
Ashley Smith Calgary, Canada 81
Alina Ching Honolulu, HI 82
Marie Dhel Dela Paz Philippines 82
Reiko Fujii Hiroshima, Japan 83
Summer Galon-Mizusawa Hilo, HI 84
US WOMEN’S OPEN & WIE STATE FARM DQ
It was supposed to be her comeback. After all, this was the first time in her career she had to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. She’d always gotten a pass. But with last years play, she had to qualify. And she did so in excellent fashion. This was, hopefully, going to be the first of several big paychecks. Wie wants to earn the 100 thousand dollars needed to get her LPGA card without going through Q School. It’s not looking so good. Not impossible, just no goof. And it only took one hole to knock the multi-millionaire out of the running.
That hole was in the first round, on the 9th hole, where she took a 9.
Let’s back up a bit before we get to that Thursday buzz killer.
It was a different Michelle Wie in the media center. She didn’t sound rehearsed. She was matter of fact. Still a little fuzzy on exactly what happened to her wrist but that’s almost to be expected.
When I broke my thumb playing tennis years ago, it took a new device using an isotope running through my veins for a new fangled device to pick up where the fracture was because it couldn’t be seen on an X ray and no one thought anything was really wrong with me. Turned out the thumb was broken and I was in a cast. Can I tell you which bone in my hand exactly was broken? No. And Wie sounded just about as sketchy about those details and whether she was in a cast or not during the new conference.
But don’t take my word for it. Have a listen for yourself.
USGA media coordinator Rhonda Glenn was asking Wie the questions:
What was the best advice getting through last year?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to hear Michelle Wie "keep on smiling" |
Why did you play if you were injured?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Michelle Wie talk about why she played hurt. Her mind wasn't injured! |
Were you pressured to play?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Michelle Wie on the pressure to play last year |
What lesson or lessons did you learn from last year?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Michelle Wie, would you believe, about how lucky she is! |
So physically healed, what’s left to get her back on track?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Michelle Wie on how important confidence in your game is |
When was the last time you had fun on the course?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Michelle Wie talk about the good in the last year |
And finally, didn't anyone tell you not to play?
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here on how many people she didn't listen to |
Back to the quintuple-bogey 9 on No. 9 in Thursday’s opening round of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open. That round she also hit just 6 of 14 fairways, 10 greens in regulation and totaled 31 putts and played the five par-5 holes in two under. Friday, she came back stronger but not strong enough to make the cut. In fact, Wie tied with the other Hawaii girls playing in the Women’s Open, Cyd Okino and Kimberly Kim at 152.
Her final round was cut short on Friday, like it was for many players including Kimberly Kim who returned to the course only to play her final hole knowing she wasn’t going to make the cut. Thunder and lightning forced the players off the course for hours.
That weather delay on Friday stopped Wie in her tracks. She had birdied the 17th hole, her eighth of the day, to move to 1 under on her second round and then just missed a birdie at 18 when the horn sounded. She never recovered her momentum finishing her second round with a 77. Looking back on the experience, she said the Open “showed I’m not fully there yet.” But she was encouraged.
Shortly after the 9 on number #9, The Associated Press golf journalist Doug Ferguson wrote an terrific article about what Wie has in her immediate future. The following is an excerpt:
“Wie has only three sponsor's exemptions left this year, and she likely will need to finish in the top 10 at all of them to earn the equivalent of 80th on the LPGA Tour money list and get her card. Otherwise, Wie could be headed to the first of two stages of qualifying.
"I think the qualifying conflicts with school, so I probably won't go to that," Wie said earlier in the week, noting it was tough to take one week off at Stanford last fall to play in a tournament. "But hopefully, I'll make enough money this year to get exempt for next year. I'll see how it goes. I'm having a lot of fun playing good again, so that's all I'm focusing on now."
However, her father made it sound as though Q-school was a distinct possibility. "What other options do we have?" he said.
The only time Wie had to qualify for a regular LPGA Tour event was the Takefuji Classic in 2002 when she was 12.
Exemptions started pouring in after that, and Wie brought so much excitement to the LPGA Tour that rules were changed to allow her to play as often as possible. Instead of a minimum six exemptions, the LPGA stopped counting the U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open against her limit. The LPGA Championship made an exception in 2004 for a leading amateur -- Wie.
She remains one of the biggest attractions in women's golf. There is no shortage of tournaments that would love to have her. Why not spend another year taking exemptions?
"This is no longer the right time for that," B.J. Wie said. "That was for high school, not college. We extended that one year because of the injuries." Q-school would not be the worst option.” Thank you, Doug Ferguson.
WIE TO Q SCHOOL
And it looks like Q-School is in her future. To earn a LPGA Tour card, she needs to earn at least $100 thousand this year. She’s not even close.
Since the U.S. Women’s Open, Wie played in the LPGA Jamie Farr Corning Classic in Toledo Ohio and the State Farm Golf Classic. She made the cut but finished tied 46th and earned only $4,831. Disaster struck while playing State Farm Classic. Her next LPGA event is in August. She could make the money but she’s got to sign the card.
STATE FARM DISASTER
Michelle Wie finished the third round of the State Farm Classic in second place. At least that’s what we all thought, following her progress on the Internet. Then her name disappeared from the top of the leaderboard and dropped down to the space reserved for the worst possible scenario. Michelle Wie DQ = disqualified.
I was dumbfounded. We were following each hole that Saturday morning on “The Golf Club” radio show. She was coming on strong. She wasn’t faltering in the stretch. I was scrambling through Internet sites trying to find out WHY!
Finally, on ESPN.com or Yahoo! Sports, we found the reason. Wie was disqualified, the story told, because didn’t sign her scorecard on Friday. Well, not in a timely fashion on her first trip into the scorers tent.
Here is the story. After her round on Friday, she went into the scoring tent with her scorecard. She left the tent, walked outside the roped area around the tent, was caught by some scoring tent volunteers who ran after her, and returned to the tent where she signed her card. This apparently wasn’t brought to the attention of the tournament officials until Saturday.
Just minutes before she was told she was dissqualified, she finished her third round on Saturday with another 5-under 67.
The first round she had shot a first round 5-under 67, followed by rounds of 65 and 67, placing her squarely in second place. But the 65 and 66 don’t count.
While Wie is oblivious and playing another great round, officials were investigating and concluded she didn’t sign her scorecard correctly and therefore had to be disqualified. She didn’t sign her Friday card in a timely fashion.
When the volunteers realized she had left the tent and her scorecard without signing it, they ran after her. If they had caught up with her before she past the ropes, it would have been okay for her to sign. Once outside the ropes, it was over.
The 18-year-old Wie, obviously very upset, told reporters she made a mistake. “I don’t know how it happened,” she said.
I think I have an idea of what happened. When Wie got into that tent, a lot of people were there, talking to her, telling her what a great job she is doing, how great it is to see her playing up to her potential again and Wie was probably just bubbling with excitement.
And there probably weren’t as many people chaperoning and overseeing her every move. Her “posse” is considerably smaller these days. No Nike representative to make sure she doesn’t make this kind of mistake. If you’re used to having someone there for you, double-checking your work, you don’t develop your own habits. It’s just another example of why it would have been better for her to have to take the long way to the top rather than all the short cuts people created for her in the interest of the buzz she was created for their tournaments.
So what does Michelle Wie do after getting bashed by yet another nasty turn of events in her life? No she’s not off to Disneyland. She is doing one better. She accepts a sponsor invitation to play on the PGA Tour. Heck, why not. She took off a semester from Stanford. She’s not playing on the LPGA Tour until August. Why not get a little competitive practice in at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. So if you are reading this the first weekend in August, you know what I’ll be talking about on “The Golf Club”.
P.S. There are a number of young stars now on the LPGA Tour making names and breaking records. Wie is going to have to prove she belongs in their company and that may mean going through the same process which includes the grueling Q school.
CHANGING THE RULES
First, I think disqualifying a person because they didn’t sign their scorecard in a timely fashion is extreme. She made a mistake. She wasn’t trying to cheat her way up the leaderboard. Couldn’t players by penalized strokes instead of being sent home? You disagree? Wie is not the first golfer to be eliminated for not signing a card. But like all the others, she should still be playing.
How about this rule. The rule that assesses a penalty against a player when the wind moves a player’s ball on the green?
This British Open is a perfect example. Talk about stress. Waiting 30 minutes was bad enough on the tee but how about getting ready to putt and knowing that if you’ve grounded your putt and the wind moves your ball? Valium anyone? Oh, no, the drug will show up in the drug tests. So instead of playing, the players at the Royal Birkdale stood around, waiting for the a break in the wind while the R & A officials stood by and waited with them.
THE OPEN AT ROYAL BIRKDALE
While the world has had a ten-year fascination with the young players taking over the world of golf, along come Kenny Perry and Greg Norman. Perry opted out of the British Open because his game doesn’t suit links golf. But he has certainly been taking home the trophies and besting the young guns on the PGA Tour.
Greg Norman the other hand amazed the world leading the British Open under extreme conditions. With the wind howling and wrapping his trousers around his legs, Norman just kept closing with steady 70’s, a number that most of the players this year found impossible to accomplish.
I think most will agree that Norman didn’t lose the Open. He simply ran out of gas. And Padraig Harrington, several years his junior, managed to get through the “toughest 36 holes in the history of golf”, as Harrington put it. Norman told reporters he was amazed at what he saw golf balls do once airborne.
| Audio Clip (.mp3) |
| Click here to listen to Greg Norman after his third round |
You can tell what kind of person someone is by how they handle themselves when they get to the top of the world.
Harrington had every reason to be focused only on himself and his enormous achievement. He won back-to-back British Open championships. But there he was, on the 18th green, apologizing to Norman as t hey walked up to the 18th hole. He understood the amazing moments the world was watching and how badly millions of fans worldwide wanted to see the “Shark” win this time and not lose it in the stretch.
Unfortunately, we probably aren’t going to see a Greg Norman come back express. He says he doesn’t have the time or the inclination to devote to practicing. He will play in the U.S. Senior Open in August where David Ishii will also be playing.
Ishii won the only available spot from Hawaii in the qualifier.
JUNIOR WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008
Hawaii junior golfers have been out in force on the mainland. 48 from Hawaii were playing in the Junior World in San Diego.
Alina Ching came in first in the girl’s 13-14 division with a final 2-under par 214. Allisen Corpuz was runner up in the girl’s 9-10 group with a 5-over par 173. Bradley Shigezawa was the only Hawaii golfer to make the cut into round 4 in the 15-17 year old division. He finished tied for 19th with a 77 80 73 and 72 for 302. Eugene Wong of Canada won with a 284 total.
FUNDRAISING FOR THE UH MEN’S GOLF TEAM
THIRD ANNUAL MAKALEI AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Makalei Golf Club is hosting the Third Annual Makalei Amateur Championship November 1 and 2. Male and female amateur golfers of all ages are welcome to participate as long as they have a current USGA GHIN Handicap Index.
The entry fee for this year’s event includes the two tournament rounds, tee prizes, Saturday lunch, Saturday night Players’ Party, Sunday Continental breakfast, and the Awards Luncheon. Entry deadline is October 25th. The fee is $175.
ALOHA SECTION PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Four Hawaii golfers are headed to the mainland, all expenses paid by the Aloha Section PGA, to compete against PGA section winners from around the United States. The winners of the national event sometimes go on to play on the international stage like Stephanie Kono did.
The winners are Alika Bell of Kaneohe and Kristina Merkle of Honolulu.
And it gets better. Because these two golfers won other events already qualifying them to go to the mainland, both David Fink and Cassy Isagawa are on their way as well.
The Junior PGA Championship has traditionally been a stepping-stone for many of today’s PGA and LPGA Tour professionals as well as current collegiate stars. Past Junior PGA Championship competitors who have gone on to successful professional careers include: Billy Andrade, Brandie Burton, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk, Cristie Kerr, Justin Leonard, Michelle McGann, Phil Mickelson, Grace Park, Dottie Pepper, Scott Verplank, David Toms and Tiger Woods.
DR. RENEE POWELL, PGA, LPGA
PGA Professional Renee Powell of East Canton, Ohio, the 2003 First Lady of Golf, marked another historic chapter in her career. She became the first female golfer and the ninth overall professional in history to be given an honorary doctor of laws (LLD) degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Powell was honored before an audience at St. Andrews’ Younger Hall that included PGA of American President Brian Whitcomb and LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. Powell is both a member of the PGA of America and the LPGA and was the second of three African-American women to compete on the LPGA Tour.
Whitcomb called it “a historic day for golf,” adding “The R&A opened their doors to honor Renee, and it couldn’t have been any better. It was truly special in all respects and the game of golf hit on all the high notes today.” Before Powell was given her degree, a choir sang “Straight Down the Middle,” a song popularized by the late Bing Crosby, whose love of golf was legendary. Professor Alan Cairns, who paid homage to Powell’s life work of building diversity in the game and her personal struggle early in her playing career to achieve human rights, introduced Powell. Thank you to PGA of America’s Bob Denney for his writing and for the great picture!
Speaking of a great picture. This one comes from the Open this year, a moment we rarely see. Collin Montgomerie with a smile on his face!
With that smile, I thank you for checking out my column, and hopefully you’ll tune into “The Golf Club” radio show on Saturday morning or anytime you’d like at http://www.radiogolfclub.com/, where we are always on.
Thank you for your Mana, and may you hit the sweet spot every time.
Aloha,
Danielle
