September was a month of “Cups” with first the 2011 Mayor’s Cup at the Ala Wai Golf Course in Hawaii followed by the Solheim Cup in Ireland and the Fed Ex Cup final event in Atlanta. The final “Cup” of 2011, the Presidents Cup, is played this November in Australia. But it will be Lexi Thompson being granted LPGA Tour status that September is remembered for.

I wasn’t in the least bit engaged in the race for the Fed Ex Cup or the PGA Tour playoffs, until the final 9 holes of the Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Although I certainly respect the work that went into the constant analysis, of the possible outcomes, based on points and player performance,it was exactly that constant analysis, the mathematical gymnastics, that turned me off.

On the other hand, the Solheim Cup with it's raw drama had me watching at all hours of the day even with the painfully slow pace of play. It’s not easy making a golf tournament exciting on television. It can’t be fabricated. No fabricated excitement was necessary as Solheim played out early Sunday morning, Hawaii time.

A golf tournament becomes compelling because of the performance of the players, not because someone is explaining a host of possible outcomes. We already know that the outcome of a sports contest has countless outcomes based on an impossible number of factors to calculate. It’s that “unknown” that makes the event compelling.

FROM THE BANK, FOR THE BANK

Bill Haas was the perfect person to come out as the Tour Championship champion and the winner of the Fed Ex Cup.

For all the mathematical over analysis of who can, and how they can, win the season ending 10 million dollar Fed Ex Cup bonus, Haas came with none of the hype and stole the show.

I love the statement I kept hearing leading up to the final Fed Ex Cup Championship day that the top five golfers going into the Tour Championship were in control of their destiny while the others in the field could only perform to the best of their ability and hope the top players didn’t.

There has been only one player, in my experience, in the game of golf that seemed to have the ability to control his destiny and Tiger Woods has lost it. The “odds” don’t mean much in this sport. 

EUROPEANS OWN THE CUP

The Americans were the favorites going into the Solheim Cup.
The American team had more higher ranked players.
The Europeans hadn’t won the Cup since 2003.
The Europeans had let the victory slip away in the singles matches in the past.

It was argued the Europeans needed a two-point margin, at least, going into the singles matches to have a chance at winning the Cup. The teams were tied 8-8 as the singles matches began on Sunday.

The only thing that’s true today is the ranking of the American players. There are more higher ranked U.S players who played in the 2011 Solheim Cup but they didn’t win the Cup. The Europeans did. 

The singles matches on Sunday erased all memory of the slow pace of play in the first 2 days of the Solheim Cup.  One highly respected journalist, Golf World executive editor Ron Sirak in Ireland covering the action, put it quite succinctly using his Twitter account:

“I'm sorry those of you who love to bash women's golf: This is freaking awesome!”

That’s exactly what it was on that final day for those of us watching on television, “freaking awesome”.

On that final day, the excitement and drama was coming through the screen for the casual golf fan.  The “fan” in my house didn’t care to watch the Fed Ex Cup but the Solheim Cup was replayed just to watch the conclusion a second time.

It wasn’t an easy conclusion for the U.S team fan to watch. The US team fan was prepped for a blowout victory in the singles matches. It was even suggested if we cared about the long-term health, viability, of women’s golf, we ought to root for the European team. That if the European team didn’t win this year, the Solheim Cup would become irrelevant.

I think the European team showed the world, whether you play on the LPGA Tour or LE Tour, these girls are good.

CONTROVERSY

The controversy was the surprise Cristie Kerr withdrawal on Sunday.

On the final day, after two hard days of non-stop play and US team captain Rosie Jones calling on her to “be the team” when the going got tough, Kerr couldn’t call upon her wrist to perform its function. No amount of medication or movement “unstiffened” it. The pain of holding the club brought tears to Kerr’s’ eyes.

Maybe it was more the knowing that she, her body, had failed her team that brought the tears. 

While most are loath to publicly heap criticism on Kerr, for possibly not telling her Captain exactly how bad she was hurting until it was too late, there are those who dearly want to complain about the point it cost the US side.

The bottom line it was the captain’s joint decision. Had it gone the other way, a European player exiting because of illness or injury, would the US team have been happy to take the advantage, no questions of “sportsmanship”, asked? 

Should there be an alternate in place, like it’s done in the Ryder Cup, if it happens again? The issue needs be addressed before 2013. The Solheim is a “young” event. No shame on drawing on Ryder Cup experience.

THE ROOKIES AND THE DYNAMO

Sunday just kept getting better as the final holes of the Solheim played out. The European team had been losing its momentum in the closing holes of each event on Friday and Saturday. The Euros seemed on Sunday, again, destined to put up a score that didn’t reflect the high level of golf the team was playing.

Why?

Matt Cooper of Golf365.com, who covers the Ladies European Tour for a U.K. based Internet based sports publication, was on my golf show on Saturday. We talked about the Euro team's failure to “close” in the past and why history seemed to be repeating itself. Cooper said it had been suggested the European team didn’t have the killer instinct the Americans possessed. If that was the case, it isn’t anymore.

In the final three matches, down to the final three holes, the momentum shifted.

Suzann Pettersen was 1 down to Michelle Wie with three holes to play.

Caroline Hedwall was two down to Ryann O’Toole through16.

Azahara Munoz was all-square with Angela Stanford through 16.

Pettersen was playing for her life, it seemed. There was a steely look of determination in her eyes that said, “no more loses” – “no mas”. Wie tried hard to duplicate that intensity but I think that comes with years that Wie doesn’t have under her belt yet.

On the 17th hole, when it came down to a long, relatively difficult putt for Wie, I stopped breathing.

I didn’t want her to be embarrassed, didn’t want Wie to be ridiculed or become the butt of jokes and endless commentary on whether or not she is, or ever was, worthy of the attention heaped upon her in the form of sponsor dollars and exemptions in her “younger” days.

I don’t like that belly putter she uses. She doesn’t wield it with any of the natural grace we once saw on the greens. I have no faith in the outcome of her strokes.

Then she struck the ball and I saw she read the putt perfectly. The exuberance was short lived.

Pettersen had an easier putt because she was playing out of her mind beautiful golf and giving herself perfect lies. It was like watching someone run a pool table; Pettersen went birdie-birdie-birdie over the last three holes. Wie was playing well but recovering from less than perfect lies until she didn’t on 18.

ROOKIES HEDWALL AND O’TOOLE

Suzann Pettersen has called Caroline Hedwall a younger version of herself.

Hedwall has the determination that makes you sit up and watch during tournament play. That’s how I first noticed her. She makes a statement playing golf.

She fought her way out of the deficit to halve the hole with O’Toole, who watched in horror as the match slipped out of her control.

O’Toole was the surprise pick by Captain Rosie Jones. It was a pick not understood by many, made more questionable as O’Toole failed to make the cut in three events leading up to Solheim Cup.  But she more than proved herself a worthy pick even though she didn’t win the singles match.

As I watched her over the three days, she wasn’t playing like a rookie on an intense international stage. I think she had an experience in her toolbox that uniquely prepared her for the challenges and daily tests of a “made for TV” event, with the television cameras and crews all about and an opponent openly hoping you collapse.   She competed on Golf Channel’s “Big Break”.

I hope her defeat doesn’t leave a lasting impression. She has the potential to be a great player.

The defeat was difficult to take after fighting so hard against an opponent you thought you had finally overcome but who snatches victory out of your hands.

PACE OF PLAY

It’s not easy making a golf tournament exciting on television. You really do need to learn the art of getting out of the way to let the action of the event control the broadcast.

There is plenty of action with a full field event. But it’s a producer’s nightmare when you take it down to two teams with only 8 players per team. There’s lot of “dead air” or down time as the players get into position to play.

The time it takes just getting from one hole to another slowed the pace enormously but add the seemingly endless conferring between player and caddie and you’ve got a deadly mix for the viewer.

Golf Digest’s John Huggan offered this on speeding up the pace of play: Ban the practice of lining up – if they can’t do that themselves yet, what are they doing playing in a Solheim Cup - quit the yakking, the practice putting and play the format properly.  That’s the short hand. Check out the full piece with the link.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-digest-woman/blogs/golf-digest-woman/2011/09/how-to-do-away-with-painfully.html

THE MAYOR’S CUP

The 2011 Mayor’s Cup is back in its original format for the first time in years the weekend of September 17 and 18 at the Ala Wai Golf Course. The City and County of Honolulu Department of Enterprise Services pulled together $13,500 in prizes, lunch and beverages for each day on the course and a celebration dinner Monday evening. The competitors got all of that for a $120 entry fee.

The field of 198 competitors were in five flights: Championship, A, B, C and Senior Flight. The winners:

Championship Flight - Seungjae Maeng (67-70 --137)
A Flight - John Mun (75-71-- 146)
B Flight - Jaron Tsukamoto (79-68 -- 147)
C Flight - Sucuma Elliot (73-84 -- 157)
Senior Gross - Phil Anamizu (71-70 -- 141)
Senior Net - Toyo Shimabukuro (80/64 - 80/64 --160/128)

If you’d like to check on how your friends really scored, here’s the link:

http://www.hawaiistategolf.org/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=309545&ssid=198034&vnf=1

The City and County of Honolulu Department of Enterprise Services pulled the event together in a matter of months will the help of the Hawaii State Golf Association.

The closest to the pin contest was for a grand prize of a two-night stay at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa. The $5 entry fee was a donation to the Honolulu Zoo Society.

The sponsors were incredible. Thank you Kyoya, Starwood, R.M. Towill Corporation, D&B, AECOM, Aloha Pacific FCU – just to name a few.

The Mayor’s Cup is reborn and will be held again next year.

I have encouraged our city planners to incorporate a Women’s flight so we can enjoy a weekend at the Ala Wai.

Did you know the Ala Wai Golf Course began as a single hole in 1923? Someone set a salmon can in the ground at the Territorial Fairgrounds. Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep”, wrote in his Star Advertiser column about it. He says longtime Honolulu Advertiser sports columnist Monte Ito recalled that it was Sam Yap and Babe Carter who buried the can.

THE PRESIDENTS CUP

Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Tiger Woods and Bill Haas are the final members of the Presidents Cup teams.  Captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples announced their picks during a conference call on Tuesday, September 27th.

Couples first choice of Tiger Woods was no surprise since he made it clear Woods was on the team weeks ago. Woods made his pick clear during the post announcement Q & A.  He wants to be paired with Steve Stricker on all three days of the competition if Stricker is healthy to play. If Stricker isn’t healthy to play, all the team members would be fine partners.

Couples 2nd pick was Bill Haas who just won the Fed Ex Cup and the Tour Championship. Couples said if Haas hadn’t won and Keegan Bradley had placed in the top 5 at the Tour Championship, it may have been a different story. Couples added that Bradley, the only American to hold a major championship trophy, will be Stricker’s replacement if Stricker can’t play.

Norman picked Allenby first because Allenby has the experience at the Royal Melbourne Golf Course where the Presidents Cup will be played in November. Norman says he added Aaron Baddeley after Baddeley’s excellent performance at the Tour Championship under pressure. Not just tournament pressure. Baddeley was one of several potential picks Norman called on Monday of the tournament to say he was considering them as team members.

LEXI THOMPSON – LPGA

Did she get her card? It’s only a matter of time, possibly very little time. Pushed my column deadline right up to the last minute hoping to have the official word on 16-year old Lexi Thompson becoming an LPGA member.

Thompson became the youngest person to win a professional event – on any of the professional Tours – when she won the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic.  Thompson defeated the field of LPGA members by five strokes.

MARILYNN SMITH – LPGA CO-FOUNDER

Talk to Marilynn Smith for a few minutes and you want to help her raise money. Her passion for the game is infectious. 

In 1999, the Marilynn Smith Scholarship fund was created. The scholarship is for young women going on from high school to play golf at the collegiate level. That is what Smith did but without the help of a scholarship because scholarships were only available for young men in her day.

Smith’s enthusiasm and sweet insistence put me on a plane bound for Phoenix, at my expense, to not just participate in her tournament but MC the festivities afterward and conduct a live auction. Didn't know my audience but I certainly wanted to do whatever I could to make her event a success.

Not surprising how many people felt exactly the same way. From Jack Nicklaus to Titleist to Ping, the donations for the live auction, the silent auction and for the prizes for the teams competing, were impressive.

Up for bidding in the live auction - a trip to the 2012 World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony with a two-night stay in a hotel. It was ultimately auctioned off for much less than I should have been able to cajole the audience into spending - had I known the depth of the pocketbooks beforehand. They were all good sports and I did my best to separate them from their cash, for charity. 

Next year, play in the Marilynn Smith LPGA Charity Golf Classic. There were 8 winners in the gross and net divisions including the team that got skunked.

http://www.lpgafoundation.org/Scholarships/msmith.aspx  

Smith is 83 years young and a force to be reckoned with. She ought to teach marketing and promotion.

TIGER’S GOT HIS MAN

Hey, Tiger Woods has a caddie. Butch Harmon made the announcement on Europe’s Sky TV. Yup. Right in the middle of the Fed Ex Cup festivities. Woods took a lot of heat for “stealing the show” by making the announcement before the end of the Fed Ex Cup. Imagine having that much power that just hiring a caddie is going to rock the entire PGA Tour boat. But Woods didn’t do it. He sent out a tweet about it after Harmon did the harm.  Harmon knew what he was doing. He’s upset with how Woods went about hiring LaCava. LaCava was Dustin Johnson’s caddie. Johnson is a Harmon student. Wasn’t it LaCava’s decision to take a new job? Next?

WINNING’S JUST BEGINNING

We have Nike PD Long golf balls for the lucky 18th caller on “The Golf Club”. Part of the Alaka’i Mechanical’s 37th anniversary celebration. So listen, be the 18th caller and win a dozen golf balls.

And this fall, you could a trip to San Francisco. We’re drawing the winners name in December and you can be in that drawing by qualifying in the coming weeks. All you’ve got to be is the 18th caller to qualify.

It’s “The Golf Club” show every Saturday morning at 7 AM on KGU FM 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.

You can hear the show Saturday morning from 7 AM on hear online at http://www.radiogolfclub.com/.

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

Danielle