Monday, February 4, 2008

Webb Wins in Australia

All you academic Super Bowl bloggers, please take note: Karrie Webb's playoff win over KLPGA superstar Ji-Yai Shin lends even more weight to my thesis that the LPGA will be more interesting than the PGA this year. Not because Shin will be competing regularly in the U.S.--we have to wait till 2009 for that. And not because the showdown in Dubai between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els lacked drama--heck, Tiger's chasing down Els made the top sports news everywhere, despite the biggest upset in Super Bowl history happening the same day. And not because J.B. Holmes did what Shin was unable to do and knocked off Phil Mickelson in a playoff on the PGA Tour itself.

No, it's the fact that Webb, who started the 2007 season as Lorena Ochoa's top contender but never got it going on the LPGA despite winning two early-season events in Australia, is finally showing signs of life again. Her win is more impressive than Annika Sorenstam's win in Dubai at the end of the 2007 season--stronger field, clutch play down the stretch, a come-from-behind win over one of the best players in the world playing near her best--and immediately makes my prediction that there are 20 other players on the LPGA with better chances than her of becoming the 2008 Player of the Year look mighty dumb. (I'd move her up to barely in the top 10 now if I could.)

Now, if Phil or Ernie had won this past weekend, I'd have a little more hope for serious competition among the men happening this year....

Nope, with the most recent wins coming from Lorena Ochoa, Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer, Momoko Ueda, Annika Sorenstam, Laura Davies, and now Karrie Webb, I have yet another reason to be excited about Valentine's Day!

3 comments:

Hound Dog said...

Don't second-guess your Webb prediction just yet (I picked her slightly worse). Karrie started last year great too, with two wins in Australia.

The notion that the Top 20 players could all be winners on Tour this year is not far-fetched.

The Constructivist said...

You're right, of course! That win puts her in pretty elite company lately, though. Have you noticed that since September only the people I've mentioned (outside of a few other LET winners) have won LPGA or heavily international-field events, though?

The Constructivist said...

Speaking of Webb's two wins last year down under, here's onechan's rather dry reaction....