Will Doug Ferguson please pick up the red courtesy phone.

So someone can tell the Associated Press reporter how little he knows about the LPGA Tour.

The LPGA Tour previously announced a new tournament in The Bahamas on May 23-26 and a return to Texas, its first official event in the Lone Star State since Meg Mallon won the U.S. Women's Open at Colonial in 1991. The North Texas LPGA Shootout will be April 25-28, three weeks before the PGA Tour arrives in town for its Texas swing.

Last time I looked Austin and Houston were in the Lone Star state. The LPGA Tour played official events in the former from 1999 to 2001 and in the Houston area in both 2003 and 2009.

and 2012 also saw the emergence of Na Yeon Choi, who won the U.S. Women's Open and the Titleholders.

Sorry Doug, but Choi emerged in 2010 when she won two golf tournaments plus took home the Vare Trophy for low stroke average and was leading money winner that year!

The biggest tournament on the schedule is the Solheim Cup

Doug Ferguson can't get something simple right. The Solheim Cup isn't a tournament, it's a 'is a biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition'. I've picked on Doug Ferguson's inability to get facts straight before on multiple occasions. Here and here, are just two examples. Today's article might be his worst effort ever. Update- Ferguson's Texas mistake probably stems from here where it says ' It will also mark the Tour’s first stop in North Texas since the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open, won by 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup Team Captain Meg Mallon at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth'. Doug removed the North and added official. AP reporters have a habit of bollixing the facts when they copy from a source as I once pointed out here. Whatever the source, Doug Ferguson's writing was very careless.

2013 LPGA Schedule

Is this the week the LPGA will finally announce its 2013 tournament  schedule? Yes it is, but apparently they will tease us by doing it in stages.

The LPGA, and Commissioner Michael Whan announced today that the LPGA will be making its first ever official appearance in the Bahamas in 2013 with the playing of the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic.

This tournament will take place May 23-26. It will be a full field event that will include four tournament rounds and 72 holes of stroke play. The purse will be $1.3 million, with coverage provided by Golf Channel.

The tournament will be played at the Tom Weiskopf designed Ocean Club Golf Course at The Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas and will be supported by Pure Silk and The Islands of The Bahamas. Recently recognized as the #8 Resort Course in North America and the Caribbean by Golf Digest Magazine, the course has played host to several nationally-televised events, including the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational. 

Pure Silk also sponsors several players on the LPGA Tour including 2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Natalie Gulbis, Katherine Hull, Jeong Jang, and Brittany Lang.

Since Michael Whan took over the Commissioner's job, the LPGA has seen the number of tournaments grow from 23 in 2010 to 27 in 2012.

This announcement is the first in a series of new 2013 tournaments to be announced in the coming week.

I would recommend to readers of this blog to check back here daily this week, as I will be adding new information to this post as it becomes available.

Update #1 - 1/8/13 ... The LPGA announced today that Acer has been added as a Sponsor to the Shoprite Classic in Galloway, N.J. It will now be called The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer.

Update #2 - 1/9/13 ....  Marathon Petroleum Corporation joins the LPGA family as title sponser of the Toledo, Ohio tournament. It will now be called The Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning & O-I. It will now be televised around the world via Golf Channel and the LPGA’s international television partners. It was not televised last year. Stay tuned to this blog, as the LPGA has promised big news in the next few days. .

Update #3 - 1/10/13..... This is a big one. The LPGA today announced its return to a region rich in golf history with the announcement of the North Texas LPGA Shootout, to be held April 25 to 28, 2013 at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas. The $1.3 million North Texas LPGA Shootout will host a full-field of 144 players playing 72 holes of stroke play over four days of competition

Update #4 - 1/15/13......The LPGA 2013 schedule has finally been released!
Here are the Highlights:

1- Three new tournaments added. Tournaments in China, Texas, and The Bahamas have been added to the schedule. As of now, The Navistar Classic and The Sybase Match Play Championship have been eliminated.

2- The number of tournaments has increased to 28 (does not include the Solheim Cup), 27 of them will be televised.

3- The CME Group Titleholders Championship contract has been extended through 2016.

4- The 2013 prize money will be increased to $49 million.

5- Golf Channel will televise more than 300 hours of tournament coverage, the most in the tour's history.

6- 2013 will be the first year where 5 majors will be played. The Evian Championship has become the 5th major.

Here is the link to the complete story:
http://www.lpga.com/golf/news/2013/1/2013-schedule-announcement.aspx

Update #5 - Commissioner Michael Whan has just stated on the Golf Channel, that he hopes to add another tournament to the 2013 schedule in the next 30 days.



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Top LPGA Stories of 2012

As I patiently wait for the LPGA to announce its 2013 schedule, I would like to look back at what I consider the top stories of 2012.

I have narrowed my list to ten, although I know there were many more. Of course this list is very subjective, depending on who your favorite golfers are. A top story for me may be a story someone else would want to forget.

Feel free to add your own top stories in the comments section if you feel that I missed one.

So in reverse order, here we go:

10- Rules Official Doug Brecht passes away.
Following a three month battle with the West Nile Virus, LPGA Rules Official Doug Brecht passed away at the age of 62. Doug may be the only person who hated slow play more than me. Doug became the center of controversy at the Sybase Match Play Championship in 2012, when Morgan Pressel after winning the 12th hole was informed she would lose that hole instead because of slow play. Doug was known for being tough but fair, and truly loved the LPGA. He will be missed.

9- Yani Tseng's slump at the age of 23.
Most golfers usually hit slumps sometime in their careers, but usually not at the age of 23.
Yani, at a very early age has already won 15 times with 5 of those wins major championships. She won 3 of the first 5 events of the year and then practically disappeared for the rest of the season. She failed to finish in the top 25 in 11 of the last 15 tournaments she played in. This is certainly worth keeping an eye on in 2013.

8- Morgan Pressel's loss of hole penalty.
After winning the 12th hole in her match with Azahara Munoz and taking a 3 hole lead with 6 to play, Morgan was informed she would be penalized the loss of that hole because of slow play. She was warned previously in the match. She was told that she took 129 seconds to play the twelfth hole, 39 more than allowed. Instead of a 3 hole lead, it was changed to one. She would go on to lose the match and Azahara would win the Championship. Morgan would not play well again the rest of the year.

7- Paula Creamer and Jiyai Shin's 9 hole playoff.
Was this playoff golf at its best, or golf at its worst,  I am still not sure. I can only tell you that this was golf at its most exciting. After finishing tied at the Kingsmill Championship after 72 holes, they went to a playoff. After 8 playoff holes were played with still no winner, they had to stop because of darkness. The next day while everyone else flew to Europe for the British Open, Jiyai would come out victorious on the ninth playoff hole. While most people thought that arriving a day late would hurt the 2 players at the British Open, Jiyai would win that also, and Paula would finish 3rd.

6- Lydia Ko wins the Canadian Open at age 15.
This one speaks for itself. Lydia became the youngest player ever to win an LPGA event.

5- Two women granted membership to Augusta National.
Former United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and Financier Darla Moore became the first two women ever to be granted membership to Augusta National. Not to take anything away from the great accomplishments of those two women, but wouldn't this have been a much bigger and more satisfying story if they would have chosen Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez instead?

4- Na-Yeon Choi shoots 65 in third round at the U.S. Open.
Why was this such a big story? It was the hottest and most humid day I have ever spent walking on a golf course. The average score for the day was ten strokes higher than what Na-Yeon shot. Yani Tseng and Suzann Pettersen shot 78. Stacy Lewis shot 80. Karrie Webb and Angela Stanford shot 81. Ms. Choi would go on to win the Championship.

3- Inbee Park's ten consecutive top 10 finishes.
I don't know that this has ever been done on the LPGA tour before. I don't know that it has been done on any tour. This is an accomplishment we may not see again for a very, very long time.

2- Stacy Lewis wins Player of the Year.
If your not an American you probably think that I rated this too high. Maybe I did. But this is still an American based tour, and I have been waiting since 1994 for this to happen.

1- I.K. Kim misses 12 inch putt and loses Kraft Nabisco Championship.
I honestly hate making this the top story of the year. Especially it being about someone as classy as I.K.
Problem is the criteria I used for my rankings here, is what story will I remember the longest. That look on her face. I think the whole country just wanted to hug her. Will any of you forget this anytime soon? I won't. Every time somebody has a small putt to win a championship, we will think of this.


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Rolex Rankings Movers of the Year - Final Look

It has been 3 months since I last took a look at the biggest gains and losses in the Rolex Rankings for the 2012 season. A lot has changed since then. Rolex ranks the ladies based on average points per tournament, on a rolling 2-year calender. For example, Yani Tseng, the #1 player in the world, has accumulated 561.10 points playing in 50 tournaments over that period, for an average of 11.22 points per tournament. I have gone back to the first published rankings of the year and compared them to the rankings released on 12/17/12. The only requirement for my list is that a player must have been in the top 100 at the start of the year, or be in the top 100 now.

The Year's Biggest Gains:

1- Inbee Park - 4.57 to 8.30 = Gain of 3.73 (move 23-4)
2- So Yeon Ryu - 4.15 to 7.02 = Gain of 2.87 (move 27-7)
3- Stacy Lewis - 6.59 to 8.78 = Gain of 2.19 (move 10-3)
4- Shanshan Feng - 5.61 to 7.57 = Gain of 2.16 (move 13-5)
5- Lydia Ko - 0.36 to 2.50 = Gain of 2.14 (move 295-43)
6- Hyo-Joo-Kim - 0.38 to 2.46 = Gain of 2.08 (move 289-44)
7- Azahara Munoz - 3.29 to 5.18 = Gain of 1.89 (move 40-16)
8- Carlotta Ciganda - 0.37 to 2.19 = Gain of 1.82 (move 291-50)
9- Mika Miyazato - 4.37 to 6.06 = Gain of 1.69 (move 24-10)
10- Jee-Yoon Yang - 0.45 to 2.10 = Gain of 1.65 (move 265-53)
11- Karine Icher - 1.71 to 3.16 = Gain of 1.45 (move 85-33)
12- Jessica Korda - 0.31 to 1.68 = Gain of 1.37 (move 314-77)
13- Haeji Kang - 0.95 - 2.31 = Gain of 1.36 (move 162-47)
14- Jenny Shin - 1.07 to 2.37 = Gain of 1.30 (move 147-46)
15- Lizette Salas - 0.23 to 1.51 = Gain of 1.28 (move 353-90)
16- Karen Sjodin - 0.48 to 1.75 = Gain of 1.27 (move 258-72)
17- Sun Young Yoo - 3.06 to 4.29 = Gain of 1.23 (move 44-23)
18- Chella Choi - 2.07 to 2.91 = Gain of 0.84 (move 70-36)
19- Lexi Thompson - 3.38 to 4.21 = Gain of  0.83 (move 39-24)
20 - Gerina Piller - 0.64 to 1.47 = Gain of 0.83 (move from 215-95)

The Year's Biggest Losses: 

1- Yani Tseng - 17.46 to 11.22 = Loss of 6.24 (move 1-1)
2- Cristie Kerr - 9.74 to 5.83 = Loss of 3.91 (move 4-11)
3- Michelle Wie - 5.08 to 1.98 = Loss of 3.10 (move 17-58)
4- Song-Hee Kim - 4.00 to 0.98 = Loss of 3.02 (move 30-147)
5- Maria Hjorth - 4.65 to 1.79 = Loss of 2.86 (move 22-70)
6- Suzanne Pettersen - 10.12 to 7.33 = Loss of 2.79 (move 2-6)
7- Morgan Pressel - 5.34 to 2.71 = Loss of 2.63 (move 16-38)
8- Paula Creamer - 7.97 to 5.53 = Loss of 2.44 (move 5-12)
9- Su Ju Ahn - 7.83 to 5.43 = Loss of 2.40 (move 6-13)
10- Yukari Baba - 4.29 to 2.07 = Loss of 2.22 (move 26-54)
11- I.K. Kim - 6.60 to 4.51 = Loss 2.09 (move 8-21)
12- Sakura Yokomine - 4.83 to 3.00 = Loss of 1.83 (move 20-34)
13- Brittany Lincicome - 6.57 to 4.84 = Loss of 1.73 (move 11-18)
14- Yuri Fudoh - 4.34 to 2.63 = Loss of 1.71 (move 25-39)
15- Shiho Oyama - 3.61 to 1.96 = Loss of 1.65 (move 34-63)
16- Julie Inkster - 2.52 to 1.02 = Loss of 1.50 (move 55-142)
17- Saiki FuJita - 2.80 to 1.39 = Loss of 1.41 (move 46-105)
18- Jimin Kang - 2.40 to 1.00 = Loss of 1.40 (move 59 to 144)
19- Ji- Hee Lee - 4.00 to 5.36 = Loss of 1.36 (move 15-25)
20-Cristina Kim - 0.58 to 1.74 = Loss of 1.16 (move 82-228)


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Were My Pre-Season Questions Answered?

Way back in January, before the LPGA season began, I listed 10 questions that I hoped would be answered this year.

Below I have shown those questions again. Let's see whether or not they were actually ever answered.

1- We all know that Yani Tseng is the real thing, no question about that. The question here is can she be as dominant in 2012 as she was in 2011, or will someone else step up and challenge her for her crown?

This question was answered very definititively, Yani was nowhere near the player in 2012 that she was in 2011. After winning three of the first five titles of the year, she was hardly a factor. Yani failed to even finish in the top 25 in 11 of her last 15 tournaments, resulting in her almost blowing what was a huge lead in the Rolex rankings. Although still #1 in the world, her lead has shrunk to about one quarter of what it once was.
Stacy Lewis replaced her as player of the year, and Stacy and Inbee Park are going to make it very hard for Yani to remain the game's #1 ranked player next year.

2- Lexi Thompson will be 17 years old on February 10th. We all expect her to be an elite golfer soon. Is it expecting too much of her to think she can be a top 10 golfer this year?

At seventeen years old she is not a top ten golfer yet. But finishing #21 on the Money list is quite an accomplishment for a teenager. Lexi started the year ranked #39 in the world, and is now ranked #24.
Look for more upward movement in 2014.

3- No American player has won the Player of the Year award in 18 years. Will someone rise to the occasion in 2012?

We all know by now that Stacy Lewis became the first American to win the player of the year award since Beth Daniel in 1994.

4- Can Stacy Lewis and Sandra Gal, the golfers who in my opinion improved the most in 2011, continue to do so in 2012?

The Stacy Lewis part of this question has already been answered. As far as Sandra Gal is concerned, although she didn't break into the winner's circle, she had a very similar year to 2011. She finished in the top 25 on the money list both years.

5- Who will win the 2012 Rookie of the Year Award? Will it be one of the favorites (Lexi Thompson & So Yeon Ryu), or will someone else sneak up and pull off an upset?

There were some fine rookie seasons in 2012 (Sydnee Michaels, Lizette Salas, and Danielle Kang come to mind), but Ryu and Thompson were head and shoulders above the rest. You can now make a case for So Yeon Ryu being among the best in the game already.

6- Is Ryann O'Toole the real thing, or just a "flash in the pan"?

Writing unflattering things about my favorite players is probably the most difficult thing I have to do on here. That said, my crystal ball is leaning towards "flash in the pan".

7- Who is the real Song-Hee Kim? Is it the golfer that had 15 top 10 finishes in 2010, or the golfer who had only two in 2011?

I guess it's the golfer who had zero top tens in 2012, and lost her playing card.

8- Can Michelle Wie, who graduates from Stanford University this year, now focus on golf and move up to elite status?

Michelle dropped all the way down to #64 on the money list. Maybe a better question for next year will be, can Michelle play well enough to keep her card? This is turning into quite a sad story. It is too bad because
Michelle winning would be great for the LPGA.

9- Can Amy Yang and Brittany Lang, two golfers with so much talent, finally break through and get their first LPGA victory?

Brittany finally got her first victory, so did five other golfers. We are still waiting for Amy to break through.

10- Can Michael Whan, who has done a great job so far, continue adding tournaments and get the number up to 30 by 2013?

Mr. Whan added 3 more tournaments in 2012, bringing the number to 27. Sometime in the next three weeks I would imagine the 2013 schedule will be announced. Will it get to 30? Stay tuned.


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