Check out the story at Asian Golf Daily!
[Update 1 (2/13/10, 8:44 pm): Brent Kelley finds more evidence the Malaysia event is for real, in a Paula Creamer tweet and a Malaysian newspaper article. But I'm not sure why John Strege chose not to mention the article in Asian Golf Daily that was my 1st source to discover this probable news.]
Friday, February 12, 2010
SunCoast Series Update: M.J. Hur Wins by 5
M.J. Hur went 67-72-69 to beat Lorie Kane, Na On Min, and Haeji Kang by 5 shots at Stoneybrook East on the SunCoast Series this week. She moves up to T2 on their 2010 money list with fellow winner, displacing Hannah Yun, who took the week off, to 4th. Maria Hjorth, who finished 5th, leads the list with $3400. Next week at Sugarloaf Mountain is probably Yun's best chance for a win thus far this season. Let's see how she stacks up against the likes of Min, Kang, Allison Fouch, and Nannette Hill.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Cactus Tour Update: Mackenzie Holds Off Friberg and Choe
Looking at the recent results from The Cactus Tour, 2 main questions come to mind.
1) Is Hound Dog right that Paige Mackenzie has made a quantum leap?
In both HD's and tatkins's player performance stats from last season, the 1 name who stood out for unexpectedly strong ball-striking was Paige Mackenzie. So HD went out and put her in his entry into the LPGA Prognostication Derby (whereas I put her within my top 70). HD has a history of identifying relatively early when a player has made a quantum leap and is not just riding a hot streak: he believed in the staying power of Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, and Katherine Hull much sooner and more emphatically than I did, for instance. For Mackenzie to go out and win the 2nd Cactus Tour event is some evidence in HD's favor, not so much because of who she beat, but because she went 70-69-69.
2) Has Louise Friberg put her sophomore jinx behind her?
As good as Mackenzie played, Friberg stayed right with her, going 70-71-69 for a T2 finish with Esther Choe. The week before, Friberg had gone 72-68-71 to finish alone in 3rd, 4 shots behind Kendall Dye. Again, I'm not so much swayed by her high finishes as by the fact that she's shot 6-straight rounds of par or better. That kind of performance is reminiscent of how Ai Miyazato began her 2009 season. There's a lot to be said for playing steady golf generally (just ask Hannah Jun, who went 69-69-77 that week as she tunes up for the LET), but it's particularly important when you're trying to build your confidence back up after a long bad stretch. And Friberg's sophomore season was as jarringly bad as the second half of Miyazato's sophomore season and 1st half of her junior season were, if not worse, because there didn't seem to be any injury triggering it. Let's see if Friberg can keep on keeping on in 2010!
1) Is Hound Dog right that Paige Mackenzie has made a quantum leap?
In both HD's and tatkins's player performance stats from last season, the 1 name who stood out for unexpectedly strong ball-striking was Paige Mackenzie. So HD went out and put her in his entry into the LPGA Prognostication Derby (whereas I put her within my top 70). HD has a history of identifying relatively early when a player has made a quantum leap and is not just riding a hot streak: he believed in the staying power of Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, and Katherine Hull much sooner and more emphatically than I did, for instance. For Mackenzie to go out and win the 2nd Cactus Tour event is some evidence in HD's favor, not so much because of who she beat, but because she went 70-69-69.
2) Has Louise Friberg put her sophomore jinx behind her?
As good as Mackenzie played, Friberg stayed right with her, going 70-71-69 for a T2 finish with Esther Choe. The week before, Friberg had gone 72-68-71 to finish alone in 3rd, 4 shots behind Kendall Dye. Again, I'm not so much swayed by her high finishes as by the fact that she's shot 6-straight rounds of par or better. That kind of performance is reminiscent of how Ai Miyazato began her 2009 season. There's a lot to be said for playing steady golf generally (just ask Hannah Jun, who went 69-69-77 that week as she tunes up for the LET), but it's particularly important when you're trying to build your confidence back up after a long bad stretch. And Friberg's sophomore season was as jarringly bad as the second half of Miyazato's sophomore season and 1st half of her junior season were, if not worse, because there didn't seem to be any injury triggering it. Let's see if Friberg can keep on keeping on in 2010!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Credit Where Credit Is Due II: Hell Freezes Over Edition
Kidding, kidding. Kind of. How many times have I praised Steve Elling here at Mostly Harmless? Well, check out his piece on the LPGA's silly-season-come-April event, the Mojo 6:
I'll even forgive Elling his lobbying for Anna Rawson to get in on the action. Once I find out who #12 through #15 are (I'm hoping for Michelle Wie, In-Kyung Kim, Na Yeon Choi, and Ya Ni Tseng), I'll let you know who I'll be voting for today. A lot depends on who makes the Mojo 6's list of 12 potential final picks besides Rawson. I'm hoping to see Song-Hee Kim, Morgan Pressel, Vicky Hurst, Amy Yang, Katherine Hull, Jee Young Lee, Natalie Gulbis, Eun-Hee Ji, Stacy Lewis, Hee Young Park, and Jane Park make it.
Why no Japanese players on my list? For the same reason that I didn't put the best active match-play specialist, Seon Hwa Lee, on it. I expect them to be in Japan playing in a 4-week stretch on the JLPGA leading up to the Salonpas Cup, the tour's 1st major, in the 1st week of May. The LPGA's mini-silly-mid-season is just fine for those without any other options in April....
[Update 1 (4:29 pm): Here are the players you can vote into the 16th spot. Now if only I knew who #12 through #15 are.]
[Update 2 (4:31 pm): Ah, by simply scrolling down further on that page, looks like it's Choi, Tseng, Pressel, and Blumenherst.]
[Update 3 (2/11/10, 6:24 am): My bad! Pressel had been in from the start--the newbie to the regular 14 was Brittany Lincicome. Along with Georgia teen Mariah Stackhouse, the 16th player to be voted in by the fans will round out the field. But that voting link above now takes you to the site's main page. Try this one!]
In what almost certainly represents a first at the professional level, a new event on the LPGA schedule this spring is allowing fans to select the final player in an elite, 16-woman field that will battle for a $1 million purse in Jamaica....
In an era when stroke-play golf has seemingly grown stale with some of its customer base, the Mojo event is certainly offering a new presentation platform--in all, the 16 players will log 30 six-hole matches in approximately 30 hours.
I'll even forgive Elling his lobbying for Anna Rawson to get in on the action. Once I find out who #12 through #15 are (I'm hoping for Michelle Wie, In-Kyung Kim, Na Yeon Choi, and Ya Ni Tseng), I'll let you know who I'll be voting for today. A lot depends on who makes the Mojo 6's list of 12 potential final picks besides Rawson. I'm hoping to see Song-Hee Kim, Morgan Pressel, Vicky Hurst, Amy Yang, Katherine Hull, Jee Young Lee, Natalie Gulbis, Eun-Hee Ji, Stacy Lewis, Hee Young Park, and Jane Park make it.
Why no Japanese players on my list? For the same reason that I didn't put the best active match-play specialist, Seon Hwa Lee, on it. I expect them to be in Japan playing in a 4-week stretch on the JLPGA leading up to the Salonpas Cup, the tour's 1st major, in the 1st week of May. The LPGA's mini-silly-mid-season is just fine for those without any other options in April....
[Update 1 (4:29 pm): Here are the players you can vote into the 16th spot. Now if only I knew who #12 through #15 are.]
[Update 2 (4:31 pm): Ah, by simply scrolling down further on that page, looks like it's Choi, Tseng, Pressel, and Blumenherst.]
[Update 3 (2/11/10, 6:24 am): My bad! Pressel had been in from the start--the newbie to the regular 14 was Brittany Lincicome. Along with Georgia teen Mariah Stackhouse, the 16th player to be voted in by the fans will round out the field. But that voting link above now takes you to the site's main page. Try this one!]
Credit Where Credit Is Due: On Global Golf Post
In my critique of Global Golf Post's test issue last November, Golf Girl left a long comment suggesting I not expect too much from them on women's golf when they went live in the new year. Well, 4 issues in and I had to give them credit for much better coverage of women's amateur golf than I had ever hoped for. Then, in this Monday's issue, they struck gold. Steve Ellis broke the news that 15-year-old-today Alexis Thompson plans to turn pro and play on sponsor exemptions around the world. Brian Hewitt does a great interview with Annika Sorenstam in which she strongly implies she's not coming back to competitive golf any time soon. Heck, they even slipped 2 paragraphs in on Sarah Oh's successful title defense on the ALPG! And did a brief profile of junior golfer Simin Feng, who won the Annika Invitational last year and wants to play for Stanford for 4 years before turning pro.
Of course, the gold standard is how well they cover the major women's professional tours, starting later this month. But I'm actually starting to get a little hopeful about this new venture....
[Update 1 (2/12/10, 9:31 am): Randall Mell downgrades the Thompson Watch from "planning" to turn pro to "exploring options" after talking with Alexis's dad.]
Of course, the gold standard is how well they cover the major women's professional tours, starting later this month. But I'm actually starting to get a little hopeful about this new venture....
[Update 1 (2/12/10, 9:31 am): Randall Mell downgrades the Thompson Watch from "planning" to turn pro to "exploring options" after talking with Alexis's dad.]
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