Pet Peeves About Golf Channel's Day 1 International Crown Coverage

In no particular order:

There's No "Q" in Sakura!  And No "Mini"!!  Sa-koo-ra Yo-ko-mee-nay.  Say it fast with equal emphasis on each syllable and you'll be fine.  Never mind that the romanized "r" in Japanese is somewhere between an English "r" and "l"--too tough to learn for just one week.  Although if you can learn how to lisp "Atha" and "Motho," why not go the extra mile for one of the JLPGA's best players ever?  [Update (7/26/14, 9:33 am):  Also, Sakura's no "meanie" (although Kirk and Wright might beg to differ after that shot on 17 Friday!).  Yo-ko-mee-nay, people!]

Speaking of Sakura...  She's got a John Daly-esque swing.  And I think we saw it once on the 18th hole.  C'mon, people!

First-Tee Footage?!  Everyone talked about how emotional (in so many ways) the 1st drive of the 1st tee was this week.  Yet did Golf Channel shoot it, save it, and replay it for us?  Noooo!!!!!  I know playing every national anthem would have taken too long.  But how about a quick montage with the last 2 seconds of each country's anthem and reaction shots by the players during it and right after they knew where their 1st shots went?  Or feature the best reactions at the top of Day 2's coverage?

Show More Tee Shots!  When something even remotely dramatic happens on the tee--shot in the woods, player hits fairway after partner puts it in woods, one bomber outdrives another, whatever--we oughtta see it.  Everything matters in match play and with so few groups on the course, we should be able to get a good sense of how every match is unfolding and not have to rely so much on Juli Inkster's summaries of what happened.

Know Your Matches.  I can't believe that Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall--the Vikings of the Solheim Cup--struggled so much in the 1st 12 holes yesterday against struggling young Okinawans Mika Miyazato and Mamiko Higa.  So much for Solheim Cup experience and heroics, eh?  You know what else I can't believe?  That we barely saw a shot of the latter's great play and not even much of the former's great comeback.  This was a made-for-tv David vs. Goliath deal, but we saw very little of it.  (True, most of the fireworks from Team Japan occurred in the 1st 5 holes.  But this is what they make highlights for.)

Speaking of Balance...  Man, the cameras loved Teams USA and Spain, and I wholeheartedly endorse that decision.  But if 2 seconds per shot of golfers walking, standing, and consulting with each other and their caddies on non-pivotal shots were cut, just think of how much more could have been shown of the Vikings vs. the Okinawans, Karrie Webb and Minjee Lee taking it to Na Yeon Choi and In-Kyung Kim (with attendant speculation on how the pressure is affecting the half of Team ROK that isn't coming into this week with a whole lot of confidence), and Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu lighting up the course?

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors.  Given how many commercials that GC gets to show at the end of each day, wouldn't it be nice if they cut back a little midway through the coverage?

[Update 1 (8:00 am):  Ruthless Mike wants more credit given where it's due to Team Taiwan.  HappyFan gives Judy Rankin credit for mentioning the Japan-Korea almost-annual team matches during an interview, but rightly criticizes the bulk of the coverage for pretending as if the Asian and other non-Solheim Cuppers have no professional team experience.  I wish I had thought of both (or, more accurately, remembered the latter).  I mean, nobody remembers the Lexus Cup?]

2014 U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifying Begins Today

It looks like the USGA is finally getting a little more serious about giving us timely updates on the progress of Sectional Qualifying for the 2014 U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst.  They've also provided us with an easier-to-find list of players who are already fully exempt into the biggest tournament in women's golf.

What they could still do a better job of is linking to the actual tournament sites.  For instance, today's qualifier at the Honors Golf Club in Carrollton, TX, has a fantastic field list that includes Maria McBride, Ariya Jutanugarn, Ashleigh Simon, Thidapa Suwannapura, Belen Mozo, Jaye Marie Green, Ryann O'Toole, Vicky Hurst, Giulia Molinaro, Lisa McCloskey, Maria Hernandez, Paola Moreno, and Casey Danielson.  Would it have been so hard to post the link on the USGA Sectional Qualifying page?  Along with one to the live leaderboard?

Every year thousands of people come to Mostly Harmless for a comprehensive list of U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifying sites with live links to relevant and timely information.  Unfortunately, I don't have time this week to do this work for the USGA.  I recommend following the thread at Seoul Sisters.com for faster information than you're likely to get from the USGA!  But you'd think by now they'd have figured out how to do it themselves!

Congratulations to Juli Inkster, the New Team USA Solheim Cup Captain

I want to join Ruthless Mike and Centurion in congratulating Juli Inkster for her selection as Team USA's captain for the 2015 Solheim Cup in Germany.  If anyone can lead the Americans to victory in an unaccustomed underdog role, it's the poster child for tenacity and heart and competitiveness that Inkster has been throughout her storied career!

Recommended Reading: Ruthless Mike on Tiger's Drop, the Masters' Rules Committee Call, and Our Overreactions

This is the best analysis I've seen of what happened at 15, in the scorer's tent, in the committee meeting, and on teh interwebs Friday and Saturday.  Way to go, Ruthless Mike!

Tiger's 4 shots back with 18 holes to go.  He could still win this thing!  I'll admit my opinion of Tiger the person has taken a huge hit, and it's affected my admiration of Tiger the golfer, but I would still love to see him take his next major title today!

OK, So Now How Long Before Augusta Hosts an LPGA Event?

Let me join in the chorus welcoming Augusta National to the 20th century and to the many voices hoping that they'll decide to enter the 21st before it ends by hosting an LPGA event!  I know, baby steps, but a guy can dream, right?

Editor's Note: A profile of Yani Tseng appears on pg. 74.

Man, those editors at Golf Magazine are quick with the comebacks!  After LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan politely but resolutely roasted their ridiculous decision to name Rory McIlroy their Player of the Year instead of everyone's obvious choice, Ya Ni Tseng, they responded with the bon mot that I took for my title.

I can come up with several ways of slicing the tone of that little note.  What do you got?

• Move-it-along-nothing-to-see-here just-the-facts blaseness:  "[Whistling casually] Thank you for your letter.  Can we interest you in our table of contents?" 
• Embarrassed defensiveness: "Hey, we screwed up, we know, but at least we mentioned her in this issue, right? Right? Come on, you guys, stop being so harsh on us!  ....Please?"
• Brazen arrogance: "Yeah, Ya Ni had a pretty good year.  Not a Player of the Year year.  A pg. 74 year.  Siddown and shaddup, Commish!"

I'm leaning toward the last reading, given that the one line from the letter they chose to blow up in a graphic--"Yani certainly doesn't need me--or anyone else--to validate her position"--seems to suggest that Whan didn't need to write the letter and they didn't need to award her the POY.

Nicely done, editors of Golf Magazine.  Well played!

[Update 1 (12/19/11, 4:30 pm):  Armchair Golf has picked up this story; instead of focusing on the editors' anemic response, Neil summarizes Whan's letter and adds in telling supporting evidence that Whan didn't cite (like the fact that 96% of those Golf Magazine polled on Facebook thought Ya Ni should be POY!).]

Tiger Filling Out His Fall Schedule--in Japan

Thanks to Larry the Looper for a link to the news that Tiger Woods will play a 9-hole exhibition on November 1 against JLPGA stars Miho Koga, Shinobu Moromizato, and Rui Kitada at the site of the Masters GC Ladies in Miki City, Hyogo, Japan.  (Although I shouldn't be thanking Mr. Life on Tour for the link because all I needed to do was visit Tiger's own website!)  The total donation for Japanese tsunami/earthquake relief will be 45 million yen, divided equally among the 3 hardest-hit prefectures. 

Imagine how much more they could have raised if they had landed Japanese women who are actually playing some good golf right now like Sakura Yokomine, Chie Arimura, and Miki Saiki--or even bigger global stars like Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, and Yuri Fudoh.  Sure, Koga won there more recently and more often than Ai Miyazato (2006 and 2007 vs. 2004), but Yokomine is the defending champion (and will have taken her shot at the title defense a couple of weeks before the start of the exhibition) and is currently #2 on the JLPGA money list, while Kitada at #13 is the highest-ranked of those actually playing (Moromizato's at #34 and Koga's at #46). 

Sounds to me like someone's worried about being upstaged at "Challenge!  Tiger Woods"--or maybe it's just that TW's advances were rejected by those who are already bigger stars than he is in Japan!

Paging Geoff Shackelford

Yo, Geoff! You love it when players mouth off about ridiculous (re)designs, right? Well, get a load of what Laura Davies said after her opening 70 at the LPGA Tour Championship left her 3 shots behind leaders Seon Hwa Lee and Amy Yang:

Q. Tell us about the course. It's pretty challenging. What do you think of it?

LAURA DAVIES: This one? It's my favorite course in Florida. We played here years ago in the late 90s and 2000. It's always been my favorite course in Florida. I like the grass here. It's better. It's not so--the weird grass that Florida has. I don't know the difference between them but it's much spongier and I like it. The layout is fantastic, but the grass is good, too. I don't know what they did with the greens. Someone went mental on the greens. I don't know what happened there. Someone said Jack Nicklaus did it, but I don't believe that. Someone said Jack changed it; well, he must have been having a very bad day. (Laughter).

Q. Someone said that he had to oversee it for it to remain a Nicklaus design.

LAURA DAVIES: Well, he might have been in a helicopter above (laughter) or flown over and said "that will do" or something. There's no way Jack Nicklaus designed these greens. They are mental.

So of course the golf gods punished her with a 2nd-round 84 that ended her disappointing LPGA campaign in 2010 on a sour note. But she can still get her 6th LET win of the season next week in Dubai and take their money title. Any of this interesting to you in the slightest?

[Update 1 (11:18 pm): Nice rapid response by the Shack!]

[Update 2 (11:45 pm): Hey, visitors from Shack-land, check out this Randall Mell piece for more on Davies's year!]

[Update 3 (11:50 pm): More Randall Mell, this time with quotes from Brittany Lincicome and Paula Creamer on the greens at Grand Cypress.]

[Update 4 (12/4/10, 12:36 am): Geoff's regulars might be amused to see that I was nice to him here compared to Steve Elling. It's all about the love here at Mostly Harmless.]

Check This Out! Ai Miyazato/Brittany Lincicome Swing Comparison

Turns out it's Brittany Lincicome's birthday. Check out where Ai Miyazato's swing is at when Brittany's hit the ball....



Wow! Who has 5 wins this season?



Ai-sama puts her style of play and swing tempo in context before the Canadian Women's Open:

Testing 1 2 3

Nina Paley is the creator of Mimi & Eunice and is releasing them using a copyleft license.

Recommended Reading: It's 2010 Already in South Africa and China

Check it out: the European Tour's 2010 season has already started in South Africa and the KLPGA's 1st event of 2010 kicks off this week in China. I'm ready to put 2009 behind me, too, but this is a little ridiculous! At the same time, I'm curious to see how Ya Ni Tseng does against the cream of the KLPGA....

[Update 1 (5:28 pm): Happy Fan reports: Hee Kyung Seo leads with a 68, Tseng stumbled to a 75.]

[Update 2 (12/18/09, 12:31 pm): It's a Seo-Ryu showdown heading into the final round, although some Chinese players not named Tseng may just play spoiler on Saturday.]

[Update 3 (12/19/09, 6:10 pm): Happy Fan reports that Ryu caught Seo in regulation and beat her on the 3rd playoff hole, while Tseng ended up in 6th place after shooting the low round of the day.]

[Update 4 (12/24/09, 10:36 am): Wow, check out how Ryu won the playoff!]

Ponyo's Out This Friday!!

Here's a little exercise in comparative trailer study. First, a Japanese trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo:



Now, an American one:



Observations? Conclusions? Daniel Thomas has the link to finding show times and places!

Orender to LPGA: Not Interested

Or rather, it's WNBA boss Donna Orender telling the media to tell the LPGA she has no interest in taking over from Carolyn Bivens and Marsha Evans. I'll have more to say about the commissioner search after the Women's British Open.

Dear Media: This Ain't Reality TV

In one of my last updates to my not-quite-live-blogging the final round of the U.S. Women's Open, I had occasion to ask,

When is the national media going to realize that sports are different than a reality tv show and that their job isn't to script an event but to report on it?

Whether it was Leonard Shapiro hoping for a Cristie Kerr win or Michael Arkush bemoaning a Paula Creamer moving day implosion, something fishy was in the air this week, and it wasn't just those doing the color commentary who were the source of it. Consider who among the following 3 pairs of golfers captured the imagination and attention of the national media in the Sunday game stories you read today.

• Cristie Kerr and Candie Kung: the last leader in the clubhouse--and her disappointing bogey on the 71st hole of the tournament--were almost completely eclipsed by the focus on Kerr's struggles with her game.
  
• Brittany Lincicome and In-Kyung Kim: the player who was actually tied for the lead late on the back 9--and who bogeyed the final hole to fall out of a tie with Kung--gets eclipsed by a player who made a charge early on the back but fizzled from 15 on.
  
• Paula Creamer and Ai Miyazato: both players made late birdies to become the 1st leaders in the clubhouse (at +4) to actually put a little pressure on those in the final pairings, but you'll only find out about 1 of them if you rely on the national media.
  

Yeah, yeah, beyond the fact that it's always the blonde American LPGAers who get the word count from the U.S. media, I get it that Kerr and Lincicome have each won a major recently and that Creamer may well be the best player on tour without one. Yes, Suzann Pettersen also made a late birdie to join Creamer and Miyazato as co-leaders in the clubhouse until Lincicome, Kim, and Kung surpassed them, so it's not just the Taiwan-born, Korean, or Japanese players who fall outside the media spotlight. And yes, I'll even confess to feeling the same things that lead to these kinds of oversights: I was disappointed 2 Sundays ago when Morgan Pressel's dramatic comeback on Eunjung Yi at the Farr came just short.

But a 1st LPGA win for my #11-ranked Super Soph is less of a story than my #2-ranked Junior Mint coming back from a mini-slump this season to get her 2nd career win and 1st major with a walkoff birdie on women's golf's biggest stage. And the fact that she beat Kung, Kim, Miyazato, and Pettersen is just as significant as the fact that she beat Kerr, Lincicome, and Creamer.

I'm off to take out my frustrations on the course--for the 1st time since last August, so I'm pretty excited. Maybe in the meantime someone in the national media will prove me wrong and find a compelling way to frame what really happened at Saucon Valley rather than focusing only on the news that's "fit to print" in their eyes. And maybe everyone will realize that the LPGA's future doesn't rest on one individual or nationality, that the point of sports is the thrilling competition itself.

Yeah, and maybe I'll break 75 on The Easiest Course in the World today.

[Update 1 (12:09 pm): Well, I couldn't even break 80 today (the rust on my 30-to-90 yard game was something fierce!), but I got to catch up with one of my golfing buddies from years ago and we had a fun 3 and a half hours. Nice to come back to find that Jay Busbee's got my back (and a link to a very good Brian Murphy piece)!]

[Update 2 (12:18 pm): Also a nice overview from Amy Ellis Nutt out of the Newark Star-Ledger. Have I misunderestimated the national media?]

[Update 3 (12:30 pm): But the basic question remains: will the national media be able to get the story right? My benchmark is whether they understand the tournament and final round as well as long-time LPGA bloggers Hound Dog and Bill Jempty.]

[Update 4 (1:15 pm): The smaller-market golf writers are doing a good job. Here's Mark Wogenrich out of PA's Lehigh Valley, Andrew Shay out of Bethlehem, and Gerry Dulac out of Pittsburgh. But Mike Kirn of the Philadelphia Daily News, Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Michael Whitmer of the Boston Globe did just fine. Still, the SI guys only focus on Creamer's and Kerr's collapses--the rest is on who will replace Bivens. (More on that in another post.)]

[Update 5 (7/14/09, 12:30 pm): John Strege gets it right, as usual.]

Recommended Reading: Wie in Korea, Frankenstats Revisited, Jill McGill Brings the Funk

Happy Fan has the lowdown on the first round of the KLPGA's Lotte Mart Women's Open featuring Michelle Wie. Hound Dog has the LPGA's driving and putting numbers for '09 nice and crunched for us. Armchair Golfer has Jill McGill guest blogging. Me, I got nothin'. For the time being, one hopes.

[Update 1 (5:10 pm): I still got zip, but Happy Fan has a Round 2 update.]

Lisa Strom Is the Bomb

Do yourself a favor and listen to Karen Palacios-Jensen and Ken Hartis (aka Hound Dog) interview LPGA veteran Lisa Strom on Inside the LPGA this week. Lisa has all kinds of interesting things to say about Lorena Ochoa, Michelle Wie, and Stacy Prammanasudh, not to mention her Q-School experience (where she tied Wie and played the final day with Mika Miyazato). And Hound Dog and Karen do as good a job as the Wegmans podcasters did with her last summer. But the most interesting thing to me in the entire interview was the glimpse Lisa gave into what those players who don't qualify for the limited-field events in the LPGA's early-season Asian swing do to stay sharp.

She and my old golfing buddy Moira Dunn are currently in the middle of the pack in this week's SunCoast Series event. Jeehae Lee (70) and M.J. Hur (69) are among the many LPGA players near the front of the pack after the 1st round. The series regulars are not playing for big money--as their 2009 money list shows--but instead to get ready for the opportunities that come their way to play on the LPGA and Futures Tour.

Anhone who thinks golf is a rich man's game should try following the ladies of the SunCoast Series around for a round or two.

The Day the Earth Stood in the Balance

Liked the title of my critique of the 2008 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still that I recently posted over at sf@SF so much I thought I'd link to it here. As you can see from the tags, it may be of interest to those who come to Mostly Harmless for something--anything!--besides women's golf.

On Professional Golf in China

There are plans afoot in China to create a CLPGA, starting with fewer than 10 events in 2009 and looking to reach 20 by 2013. Each event will have a purse of at least $50K.

I still don't think we'll see 10 Chinese golfers on the LPGA before 2020, but every great leap forward starts with those first baby steps, right?

Change

Finally!

Babelfish Poetry: For Momo-chan

Just want to make a small point about the beauty that can come from non-standard English--in this case, the babelfish translation of a Japanese news report of Momoko Ueda's painful fingernail accident. I've just removed some words and punctuation marks, inserted some line and stanza breaks, changed some capitalizations, and voila: a pretty damn good imagist poem.

The seeing eye dog surprised
the flash of the cameraman of the multitude produced
to run, suddenly.

Being flurried, tries probably to grasp the lanyard
“the painful [tsu]!” with voice was increased
being caught to the cord which was pulled

It peeled the nail of the left hand middle finger
the nail which peels off even cruelly fell to the land
the blood dripped from the finger

For a while holding down the finger
at that place
which it cannot move

It is painful
the face was twisted with pain
the tear floated in the eye