Women's British Open Sunday: Can Yani Tseng Win Her Third Major?

Call this the semi-live blogging post. I'm not going to comment on every shot, but give the highlights, do some commentary, and of course an occasional sarcastic comment or two. Would you expect anything less from a person who's given out over 1,000 knucklehead awards?

It is 11:07 as I write this and Katherine Hull has just birdied the 11th hole to pull within two of Tseng. Tseng began play today with a four-shot lead.

Tseng who played almost flawless golf yesterday, has shown a few cracks today. A bogey on 3 before the the ESPN television broadcast began. She followed this up with birdies on 4 and 6.

When Tseng teed off the 8th hole, she had a four-shot lead over Hull. Both players drove it in the fairway bunker on that hole and proceeded to make bogey, but Tseng missed a makable par putt that would have put her up by 5.

Tseng three-putted the 10th and her lead was down to three. Hull made a birdie putt of about twenty feet on 11 to pull within two.

Both players hit their tee shots long on 12, but are all right. As for the other players in field, no one has made a move. In-Kyung Kim began the round at -7 in solo third place. That is exactly where she stands through 12 holes.

11:20 update: Both Hull and Tseng hit terrible first putts on 12 but make par. Inky missed a makeable birdie putt on 13. If Tseng or Hull isn't the winner at the end of play today, I'll start watching pro wrestling. Hey Hey my first sarcastic comment of the day.

11:32 update: Yani Tseng's lead is down to one. Katherine Hull hit her approach shot on 13 to within four feet and made the birdie putt. Game's on.

This year's broadcast of the WBO is great compared to past years just because the play is on live. I rarely can get interested in tape delay broadcasts because I am prone to look at the results early on. There have been exceptions, like the 2008 WBO. I did watch the final round on tape delay but I was in the hospital at the time. Any channel that wasn't repeatedly showing Progressive Insurance or Lakeside Terrace commercials were appealing to me.

11:43 Update: Tseng and Hull both par 14. Now come three par 5s and a not very menacing par 4. The winning score has to be -13 at least.

What's the playoff format for the WBO? Is it 4 holes like the Men's Open Championship?

12:02 Update: Tseng and Hull both go for the par-5 15th in two, both come up short left, but Hull ends up in the bunker. In the end both players make par, after Tseng misses a 3-foot birdie putt.

For those unfamiliar with me, my name is Bill Jempty. The Florida Masochist was my alias when I began blogging. Most of my blogging today is done under my real name at ROK Drop and OTB Sports and in the past at blogs that are now defunct or I was kicked off of.

I will stop blogging for a short time when my wife returns home with lunch. It shouldn't be a long interruption.

12:16 Update: Hull and Tseng both make par at 16. If anyone is reading this live, please acknowledge it with a comment. Either that or bring me a cheeseburger because I'm hungry.

12:34 Update: Hold the food, I just had lunch.

The WBO has what is supposed to be live scoring but at the moment shows Tseng and Hull playing 15. Are they slow or am I in some kind of time warp?

12:36 Update: Tseng and Hull both make par at 17 though the later caused some excitement via a lip out.

The 18th hole: Hull drives it in the right rough, Tseng puts it in the fairway bunker left. Army golf, left, right....

In-Kyung Kim birdies 17 to finish tied for 3rd with Na Yeon Choi. Choi has finished 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd in her last four events. Is she the hottest golfer in women's professional golf right now?

At the 2003 WBO, Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak came to 18 tied. Pak drove it in a fairway bunker and lost by one shot. That was the last WBO that came down to the 18th hole, though the 2009 version had its share of Sunday drama.

12:44 Update: Hull's 2nd shot goes through the green, Tseng lays up. No clear advantage for either golfer.

12:48 Update: Tseng is just off the green with her third. It's all right, but she wanted better. Hull chips it but leaves herself with a birdie putt of over 15 feet.

12:56 Update: Tseng's putt comes up well short. Hull misses her birdie putt long. Tseng has a five footer for the championship. She makes it. Yani Tseng is the 2010 Women's British Open Champion.

1:15 Update: Hull made par at 18. Tseng got doused with champagne. I'm done blogging the 2010 Women's British Open. I'm sure TC will have his own comments to make.

3:21 Epilogue: Fixed typo in title of post. Also blogging on the WBO are Shane Bacon and Hound Dog.

Update: Brent Kelly also writes on Tseng's win and in process we learn Patty Berg was younger than Yani when they both won their third major championship. Berg wasn't quite 21 when she won the 1939 Titleholders Championship. Great find, Brent!

I'm not trying to show up the Golf record books, but help keep them correct. If golf history isn't preserved, it will be lost.

[Update x (11:41 pm): TC here. Spent half the day at the Futures Tour's final round of the week and a quarter of the day recovering (lunch with the Yuns, dinner with the folks, watching Appleby's 59 live, a few shots at the driving range to see if my back is ready for my return to golf--it is--then out for ice cream)...and, finally, the coverage of the Open! I faithfully avoided the internet and any hint of tv that would give the result away--and rudely cut off anyone who tried to talk about it with me before I watched it--so it was all fresh to me! And what a nerve-wracking finish. I like Katherine Hull, but I really wanted Ya Ni to win. For awhile there, it seemed she was cruising along as on the previous 3 days. Beating back Hull's early challenge and reestablishing her 4-shot lead seemed to give her loads of confidence. But then that 1st tiny putt missed seemed to change her entire mindset. Even with good approach shots, she'd stare them down nervously. She'd back away from putts and shots. She'd take forever to decide what club to use from right in front of 15 in 2. And even though Hull was missing many opportunities, she kept hanging around and started closing in. I never really believed Tseng was going to give this one away, but when she kept failing to take advantage of opportunities to put it away, I got really worried. I haven't been this tense watching a golf tournament in years. I have to give a lot of credit to ESPN's close-ups on the players' faces, Judy Rankin's commentary, and Tseng and Hull themselves. Great drama and compelling television. Glad to have a chance to actually see it this time around!]

U.S. Women's Open Thursday: And They're Off!

Since the USGA is live-blogging and the leaderboard seems bug-free, I'll just sit back and enjoy the action for awhile. Glad to see Momoko Ueda off to an early lead. Go, Momo-chan!

More later....

[Update 1 (3:49 pm): Definitely some surprises out there in the morning groups, both good and bad. Let's play "fortunately...unfortunately."

Fortunately, Ji Young Oh made 7 birdies, including her 5th par-4 birdie on the final hole, to post the low round of the day thus far, a 6-under-par 67. Unfortunately, Michelle Wie took a 9 on the same hole and accompanied it with 5 bogeys on her way to an 8-over-par 81, one of the worst rounds of the day.

Fortunately, Women's Amateur champion Maria Jose Uribe made 6 birdies on her way to a 69, tied with rookie MasterCard Classic champion Louise Friberg, who made 5. Unfortunately, Hall of Famers Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak couldn't find the fairway and ballooned to 75 and 76, respectively.

Fortunately, veterans Laura Davies and Helen Alfreddson built on their good rounds at the Wegmans LPGA, firing impressive 70s. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for fellow vets Liselotte Neumann and Jill McGill, who shot disappointing 78s.

Fortunately, Taiwan's finest, Ya Ni Tseng (71), Teresa Lu (71), and Candie Kung (72), got off to as fine starts as Japan's finest, Ai Miyazato (71) and Momoko Ueda (72). (We'll have to wait to see how Sakura Yokomine does this afternoon to see which country came out ahead today.) Unfortunately, both Tseng and Ueda made late double bogeys down the stretch and Lu did at the turn. [Update: It was a 71! Nice job.]

Fortunately, Mi Hyun Kim (72), Jee Young Lee (71), and In-Kyung Kim (71) played good golf this morning, despite the elder Kim's slow post-surgery knee recovery, Lee's missed cut last week, and the younger Kim's missed season so far this year. (Lee eagled the 2nd, by the way.) Unfortunately, troubles continued for the slumping Sarah Lee (78), the erratic Hee Young Park (76), and the hot but lately struggling Sun Young Yoo (76).

OK, that's enough for now. Time to watch me some Annika, Paula, and Suzann!]

[Update 2 (4:47 pm): More from the morning! Fortunately, new mom Catriona Matthew shot a bogey-free 70. Unfortunately, new mom Hee-Won Han bogeyed her last 3 holes to post a 74.

Fortunately, the big names at 73 (Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim, Natalie Gulbis, Si Hyun Ahn, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Amy Yang, Stacy Lewis, and Allison Walshe) offset any bogeys they made with an equal number of birdies. Unfortunately, Maria Hjorth's bogeyless round included a triple-double stretch at the turn, but she managed to shoot a 76 nonetheless.]

[Update 3 (4:55 pm): Hound Dog's pumped up--he's posted a mid-round update! And Mulligan Stu has the low amateur watch going early. But how about that Song-Hee Kim? 5 birdies in her 1st 10 holes! Two Super Sophs who have done their share of contending this season at the top of the leaderboard today after Eun-Hee Ji showed her classmates how to win last week. Not half bad!]

[Update 4 (6/27/08, 5:50 am): Hound Dog's got the 1st round covered. For more must-click links, go to my tournament preview. And LPGA.com has loads of interviews.]

[Update 5 (7:08 am): Great turnaround by Pat Hurst today--she went -7 over final 14 holes and didn't make a bogey in that stretch on the way to her 67. Song-Hee Kim made 6 birdies in her 1st 13 holes and only her bogey on the tough 17th kept her from matching Hurst and Oh. Ji-Yai Shin birdied 3 in a row to start the back to help her to her 69; overall, she did a great job taking advantage of the par 5s. And speaking of great jobs, Louise Friberg had a bogey-free round going until the 9th, her final hole, which makes her 69 even more impressive. Paula Creamer (70), too, played fantastic golf and actually caught a bit of a bad break on her approach shot that got caught up in the fringe and failed to feed back down to the pin on the 9th; she also bogeyed the 18th, but my streaming video was jammed for that hole, so I have no idea how she and both Sorenstam and Pettersen butchered that hole so badly. Otherwise, it seemed she was making everything she looked at.

It wasn't all fun and games out there, though. Inbee Park bogeyed 2 of her last 3 holes and only an improbable birdie on the long par-3 8th kept her at 71 (T21). Jeong Jang, who had been -2 for most of her round, doubled the 17th to fall back to E (T33). Angela Park, who got hot in the middle of her round with 4 birdies between the 9th and 13th, promptly gave 2 of them back on the next 2 holes to fall back to E, as well. Moira Dunn birdied 2 of her last 3 holes but it wasn't enough to offset a bogey on the 17th and a double on the 10th, so she had to settle for 74 (T48), as did Morgan Pressel (who made 17 pars and a bogey) and Karen Stupples (who could only manage 1 birdie). Seon Hwa Lee couldn't make a birdie after the 2nd hole and ballooned to a 75 (T66), but she did as well as Annika Sorenstam, who made 2 in her 1st 7 holes but made back-to-back bogeys on both the back and the front.

And it gets worse: Wegmans champion Eun-Hee Ji could only manage 1 birdie on her way to a 76 (T77), where she was joined by Angela Stanford, Na Yeon Choi, and Sun Ju Ahn; Suzann Pettersen's bad play over the final 6 holes at the Wegmans continued, as she not only bogeyed 3 of her last 4 holes but also made back-to-back bogeys as she closed out her 1st 9, the back, on the way to her 77 (T95); Jane Park made 6 bogeys and a double in her 78 (T110), while Lindsey Wright came back from a 9 on the par-5 3rd (which she followed up with 2 straight bogeys) to join her. I didn't expect anything good from Bettina Hauert, and she delivered with a 79 (T124), but I did expect better from the LET's leading money winner this season, Gwladys Nocera, who shot 81 (T146).

So with perfect conditions only 6 players broke 70, 32 went under par, and 47 were at par or better, but only 1, as far as I know, achieved a bogey-free round. 90 players, by contrast, shot 75 or worse. With only the top 60 and ties playing on the weekend, along with anyone else within 10 shots of the leader, I'm sure a lot of players are hoping the top 6 come back to the field in a big way later today. We'll see!]

[Update 6 (9:15 am): Hound Dog comes through with some great highlights.]

[Update 7 (2:02 pm): Give Brian Hewitt credit for nice transitions in his round 1 commentary!]

Wegmans LPGA Saturday Pairings

They're going off the first tee in twosomes for the 3rd round of the Wegmans LPGA today.

There are some nice pairings because of the contrasting styles of player involved, like Maria Hjorth and Annika Sorenstam (7:36 am), Na On Min and Laura Davies (8:16 am), Sophie Gustafson and Jane Park (8:24 am), and Ya Ni Tseng and Natalie Gulbis (11:12 am). There are some neat cross-generational pairings, like Jennifer Rosales and Song-Hee Kim (6:56 am), Sherri Steinhauer and Mi Hyun Kim (8:40 am), Hee-Won Han and Shanshan Feng (8:56 am), and Seon Hwa Lee and Janice Moodie (9:28 am). And then there are some just plain compelling ones, like Michelle Wie and Sandra Gal (10:24 am), Catriona Matthew and Lorena Ochoa (10:40 am), Jeong Jang and Candie Kung (11:28 am), Christina Kim and Cristie Kerr (11:44 am), and of course Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel (12:00 pm). But there's only 1 I'd even consider following were I to attend the tournament today: Inbee Park and Ai Miyazato at 11:52 am.

That subjunctive is not as hypothetical as it usually is for me. Pittsford is an hour east of Buffalo off the NYS Thruway (exit 46, to be precise) and we'll already be in north Buffalo at the UB campus for the last session of onechan's Saturday nihongo yochien. We could eat lunch at the Wegmans as we usually do around noonish, pick up some tickets at the store, drive the hour or so it would take to get to south Rochester, park at Monroe Community College or Xerox (it's closer to the course), take the shuttle bus right to Locust Hill, and get to the 18th green area by 3ish. If my friends at U of R are willing to bring their 2-year-old daughter to hang out with imoto in the fan areas, then onechan, Alter Ego, and I could backtrack to Ai-chan's group and get a good hour or more of her and Inbee Park's rounds in. If not, I could take onechan myself out there. At the very least, I have to call Alter Ego 1st thing in the morning to see if this is possible--and if we could crash at their place that night. And I'd better check with my uncle in Syracuse, as well, to see if he wants to join in on the fun.

I wouldn't be considering this if Ai-chan weren't in contention. But onechan just turned 4 and a half and imoto is 2.

This is do-able, right? Please tell the Full Metal Archivist what you think, because she has veto power.

The other option is to have the ladies stay with the FMA's grad school friend in north Buffalo while I'm off to south Buffalo and then back after the tournament ends. But that ruins 2 fantasies: (a) letting onechan see her favorite golfers (well, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis, at least) in person, and (b) getting the FMA to meet Ai-chan. Given my track record with realizing Japanese fantasies, though, perhaps these are better left, uh, fantastic.

I'll be checking comments till noon. Advise away!

[Update 1 (9:25 am): Looks like we're going. My uncle and niece in Syracuse are huge Morgan Pressel fans, so they'll be going there earlier and following her around. Still waiting to see if the Alter Ego family can make it....]

[Update 2 (11:08 am): Looks like we'll be doing dinner with the Alter Ego family.]

Coming Attractions

Kong, Jumper, and the Green Pavilion:



Have they heard about the rescue of Gojochan and Sparkychan? Do they know about the League of Pretty Good Amazons, aka the LPGA? Do Coco and Yaya have the Right Stuff to join the LPGA? What's the Green Pavilion?

So many mysteries.

Well, That's a New Way for the Mostly Harmless Jinx to Work

LPGA.com reports that play has been suspended since 9:15 am at the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship due to high winds that have made conditions unplayable on several holes. Not trusting the accuracy or currency of their news, I checked out the official tournament site, and lo and behold, their leaderboard is as blank as the LPGA's. Oh, and do not attempt to locate the golf course on Google maps (South Korea is blank) or Yahoo maps (you can't get to the resolution you need) or get a current weather report from weather.com. Been there, didn't do that. My usual webcast feed was showing a tv drama instead of the tournament. So I headed over to the Seoul Sisters Golf Forum to see if anyone there had any better luck than me. Nada. So here's a Mostly Harmless contest for ya: be the first to figure out what is going on and comment here and I'll write a post on the topic of your choice.

Worst-case scenario for me is the organizers cancel the final round of the event and call the whole thing after 36 holes. So I figure that has a 90% chance of actually happening right now. It would be the Mostly Harmless jinx sending me a little message: do not attempt to confuse the Mostly Harmless jinx. Kind of like the Super Wacky Fun Ball of old-by-now Saturday Night Live fame.

[Update 1 (2:12 am): The truly golf- (and sleep-) deprived can follow the action at the JLPGA event this week by clicking on the "real-time scoring" link in the top right corner of the page. Former champion Paula Creamer is looking smarter than ever for skipping the LPGA event in Korea--right now she's in second, two shots behind Miho Koga, who's looking to join the ranks of JLPGAers who have prevented Creamer from winning this year in Japan thus far.]

[Update 2 (1:14 pm): Hound Dog comments on the cancellation of the third round. From what I can gather, it was a combination of gusting winds and dying greens (thanks to an earlier monsoon and then especially cold weather during the week), which was leading to balls being blown all over them for the few people who actually did get out on the course Sunday. Makes me feel especially bad for Na-Yeon Choi, who, during her implosion on the back Saturday, incurred a penalty when her ball got blown around after she had addressed it and grounded her putter. I believe she was -2 at the time, so this was a big deal. If stuff like that was going to be happening a lot on Sunday and Monday, I can see why they cancelled the tournament--it would come down to who was lucky enough to avoid multiple such penalties. But I always wonder why tournament organizers don't at least wait till the next morning to see what the actual conditions turn out to be like. If the winds are down in the morning, I'll bet the fans who were angry on Sunday will be even angrier on Monday.]

Programming Note: Hana Bank-KOLON Championship Webcast

I'm watching the Hana-KOLON leaderboard at LPGA.com and the webcast at Ulsan MBC on the "Korea, South" page at wwiTV.com. Perhaps this is actually an ironic situation, given that I can't watch any LPGA on American tv, given our lack of cable....

[Update: It's fun hearing such golfy jargon as "double cross" (when you're trying to fade the ball and actually pull or pull-hook it), "flyer" (when you hit it pure out of the rough and the ball goes farther than usual), and "lift, clean, and place" in English from the Korean announcers. What's not fun is how slow and error-ridden the LPGA.com leaderboard is this week. Can't they hire someone to watch the webcast and factcheck the scores they're getting from whatever other source they use?]