It’s been another interesting month in the world of golf.

Dustin Johnson just about missed his tee time at one event because he got the wrong information from his caddie. Exactly why he doesn’t find out his own start time is beyond me.

Tiger Woods spit on a green in Dubai. He was fined by the European Tour for his conduct. He apologized for his behavior.

Woods certainly isn’t the only person to spit on a golf course. I’ve seen far too many professional players on the PGA Tour hock up one and spit right in front of fans. But Woods did it on the green, in front of the cameras and it wasn’t a pretty sight. It never is. And then there are the cultural aspects. It’s not polite to spit in Muslim countries. Don’t they shoot you in Singapore if you spit on the street?

Hawaii’s very own part time LPGA player Michelle Wie came in second at the first LPGA event of the 2011 season. Some might say all of the LPGA players are part-time with the number of tournaments cut to the bare bones.

Super woman, for now, Yani Tseng isn’t finding it difficult to find tournaments to play in. Since the year began, she has played in 4 events and won all of them. Albeit one of those tournaments was a small event in her home of Taiwan, the rest were full field combat zones.

LPGA

The LPGA season is officially under way. Our U.S. based Ladies Professional Golf Association began the 2011 season many time zones away.

The final pairing was all-star power – Yani Tseng and Michelle Wie.  Paula Creamer was close behind. Good ratings material but the show on television was tape delayed.

Most of the really keen LPGA fans knew the outcome before it aired on Golf Channel. But that’s the way it is this 2011 season. Many events are being played outside the U.S. with few sponsors to keep the women playing on U.S soil. 

So far this year has been all about Yani.

As Michelle Wie put it, “Yani Tseng is playing like a rock star.”

22-year-old Yani has already won four times in 2011, 3 events in three weeks, and she’s probably about to win her fourth title when this is published.

Tseng started the official LPGA season with the win at the Honda LPGA Thailand in Thailand by 5 strokes over Wie. She started her own schedule with a win on the Ladies European Tour at the Australian Open and the next week the Australian Ladies Masters and a win at a small professional event earlier in the year in her native Taiwan.

The win for Tseng, and the second place finish for Wie, had an added bonus. They will be playing in the Titleholders tournament in Orlando, Florida in November.

From the LPGA website:
“By virtue of their top-three finishes, Tseng, Wie and Webb each earned a spot in the season-ending Titleholders event, to be held Nov. 17-20, 2011 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The inaugural Titleholders, a season finale with a field made up of three qualifiers from every official LPGA Tour tournament, is a format never previously used in professional golf. Despite tying with I.K. Kim for third place, Webb qualifies with a lower final round score.”

Another young player to keep your eyes on is 15-year-old Thai amateur Ariya Juntanugarn who tied for eighth at 3-under-par 285.

COMMENTS FROM TSENG AND WIE

LPGA Public Relations Manager Mike Scanlan handled the post-tournament interview with Tseng and Wie.

MIKE SCANLAN: We’d like to welcome the 2011 Honda LPGA Thailand champion, Yani Tseng. Yani, you came into this week having won each of the last two weeks on the LET. Did you really think you would make it three-in-a-row this week?

YANI TSENG: I don’t know. I just tried my best and I know I had lots of confidence, but with all the great golfers out here, you never know until the last putt drops in. I really enjoyed the tournament this week.

Q. Talk about your round today. You played really well, 6-under-par 66, but I.K. and Michelle were on your heels all day. Did you feel some pressure from them? 


YANI TSENG: Yes, for sure, especially the first hole when Michelle chipped in with the big crowd. It was crazy. I know I needed to stay patient. All day, I was patient and focused and I just tried to control what I could control.

Q. On the 18 tee, you had a five shot lead. How good did it feel knowing the tournament was yours? 

YANI TSENG: It feels really good. I wanted to make a birdie. Michelle and I and I.K., we pushed each other really hard all day.

Q. Do you start to believe that you are the best player in the world now? 


YANI TSENG: It’s getting much better. It feels really good. I have lots of confidence and I’m looking forward to next week to see if I can win.

Q. This is your third week playing in a row. How are you feeling physically?

YANI TSENG: Not really tired. I feel very excited every week. I just focused on this week. I think to myself, last week has passed. Don’t put pressure on this week. Next week is a new week and I’ll enjoy it.

MICHELLE WIE

Q. 10-under-par, the runner-up, how’d you play? 


MICHELLE WIE: I feel like I played good out there today, but on the back-nine I just didn’t make anything. Yani played fantastic. She played like a rock star out there. She made every single putt and zero mistakes. Congrats to her. I think she played awesome. Hopefully next week more putts will go in for me.

Q. How’s it feel to get a runner-up finish under your belt in the first week of the season? 


MICHELLE WIE: I think it’s pretty good. A lot better than last year. Obviously, a little disappointing, but like I said, I feel like I played well today and hopefully next week I’ll keep the momentum going.

MICHELLE WIE – REPORTER

I was surprised to find this piece through a friend on Twitter. He sent out a tweet that Michelle was now a reporter, with the link attached. Check it out.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/stanford-researchers-offer-tips-curbing/

TWITTER

Twitter has introduced me to a whole new world of wonderful people I would never have met otherwise.

And I’ve learned things that I’d not have discovered on my own, just like that wonderful piece that Michelle Wie wrote about the project at Stanford.

It was very funny listening to Fred Couples talk to the media about why he doesn’t use Twitter when so many other people do. Stewart Cink and John Daly have hundreds of thousands of people who follow him. Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and most of the members of the golf media covering these guys use Twitter to exchange thoughts and barbs.

But one of the games’ favorite personalities doesn’t use that form of communication.

Fred Couples, who came so close to winning the PGA Tour event at Riviera last month, explains why he doesn’t use social media.

But Couples does use his phone to communicate. He texts and had this exchange with Tiger Woods.

ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY

Tiger Woods was eliminated in the first round at WGC Accenture Match Play.

Thomas Bjorn beat Woods, even though Woods put himself back into the match with a great putt on 18, forcing the match into a 19th hole. His putter may have worked on the 18th but his full swing gave out, as it has been historically want to do, on the 19th tee.

While Bjorn was very happy to win, to beat Tiger, he says he is convinced the game needs Tiger Woods

I wasn’t surprised Woods was eliminated. If you ask me, the man hasn’t even finished the grieving process and until he gets that done, he won’t be the same man on the golf course we knew. You may ask why he would be grieving since he brought it all on himself. His world crashed in November of 2009. It may have been his fault, but it resulted in a huge loss. There are five stages of grief. I figure he is stuck between Denial and Anger and nowhere near Acceptance.

How about the young bucks coming on strong? The Matteo Manaserro, Ricky Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa’s? Ishikawa may not have gone to the 2nd round, he is still very much in the mix. And McIlroy says, with all due respect, it’s their time to shine

So who is the youngest still in the mix as of this writing? How about Matteo Manassero, the 17-year old who looked like he was moving into Saturday play on Friday afternoon.

And Manassero said he had no expectations when he started on Wednesday.

HAWAII PEARL OPEN

The sun was not shining on the Pearl Country Club for the Hawaii Pearl Open this year. Nor was it shining on Nick Mason. Last year’s runner up, Mason was on a mission to win this year. And he was on track after the first round. He was one of about 60 players who had finished their first round on Friday. He was in the lead. Shot a great round. But then the skies opened up and absolutely drenched Oahu.

Hawaii Pearl Open officials decided the course had to be declared unplayable and they decided to wipe out the scores and shorten the event to 36 holes.

Saturday opened with the sun shining over the course and the Pearl Harbor basin.

John Ellis, in from the West Coast, made the most of the day shooting a 64. Mason couldn't repeat day one, but still shot a nice 69 and found himself trailing the leaders including the defending champion Akinori Tani.

Sunday, more sun, and Mason found his game early. He birdied four out of his first five holes, came within a stroke of Ellis before losing his momentum. . Ellis’ even-par 72, combined with his first round 64, gave him a two-stroke margin of victory over his two closest rivals. Mason’s six-under 69-69–138 performance was matched by defending Hawaii Pearl Open champion, Akinori Tani (68-70–138).

Thank you to Arnold Hiura for the wrap up:
 
“Canadian pro Nick Taylor (67-76–143) and Turtle Bay Resorts star Tony Finau (67-74–141), who shared second place after day one, both fell off the pace. Taylor was ranked as the number one amateur in the world in 2009 before turning pro last year; Finau and his brother, Gipper, starred in The Golf Channel’s “Big Break” reality series.

The low round of the day was turned in by Japanese touring pro Tomokatsu Usuki, who fired a six-under 66, charging to sole possession of fourth place.

The fourth time was the charm for Ellis, who had led at one point in all three previous Hawaii Pearl Opens that he had entered, but never won. It turned out to be an all-University of Oregon kind of day, as Hawaii’s Matthew Ma with a 70-71–141,captured low amateur honors at 3-under par and T7 overall. Ellis was the senior captain of the Ducks’ golf team when Ma joined them as a freshman.

HAWAII PEARL OPEN QUALIFYING

Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii dubbed them “The Three Mouseketeers (not Musketeers).” The three youngsters made their presence known at the 2011 Hawaii Pearl Open qualifying round, held Tuesday, February 8, at the Pearl Country Club on Oahu. John Oda, a 14-year-old freshman at Moanalua High School, earned medalist honors by turning in a 4-under-par 68. Not far behind were his pals Richard Hattori, 15, a sophomore at Kalani High School (70); and Kevin Hara, 12, a seventh grader at Kaimuki Intermediate School. The three were amongst only six players out of 96 golfers vying for 19 spots in the weekend’s 54-hole Hawaii Pearl Open. Moanalua High School’s Eimi Koga, 15, was the lone female to qualify right on the cut line of 74. The strong field included both pros and amateurs, with a large contingent of players traveling from Japan to try to qualify.”

SUCCESS

The reason I say “Super woman, for now” about Yani Tseng at the beginning of this, comes from a thought in an interview I heard with Hyundai Tournament of Champions winner Jonathan Bryd recently.

He said he is enjoying his “fleeting success”. He said he is playing golf well now, that the game is “kind of easy” and he has lots of confidence.

And he repeated that he is enjoying this “period” of success.

I believe if most of us who realize that’s how the game is, that’s how life if, we’d be a whole lot happier.

Byrd is a practicing Christian. He gives all credit to God for his success. And what ever your higher power may be, this certainly is an transformational thought:

He said he believed that during his period of  “failing”, God was trying to teach him a lesson about control. The harder he worked, trying to be in control of his game, the less control he had. Once he released control to God, the game came easy.  He added that he expects there is a lesson to be learned in this period of success as well.

See you on the radio.

Thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time,

Danielle

PS You can hear “The Golf Club” radio show online at http://www.radiogolfclub.com/ or on one of these fine radio stations:
It’s “The Golf Club” show every Saturday morning at 7 AM on KHUI 99.5 FM and KGU AM 760 AM on Oahu, KONI FM 104.7 on Maui , KTOH 99.9 FM on Kauai and on KPUA AM 670 in Hilo.