Florida's schedule for the upcoming week

M- At Tampa

Tu- At Wash

Th- Buffalo

Sa- NY Islanders

Like the Panthers, Theodore is 2-1-0 for the year. His save pct. is .930 and his GAA 1.97. If you're wondering that makes Theodore 11th in the NHL for the former, and 10th for the latter. Obviously you have to take any stats based on such a small sample with a grain of salt.

Theodore's play this year has ranged from very good(against the Islanders) to Ok(Against Pittsburgh).  I don't think the Islanders challenged Theodore that often and at the same time the sloppiness of other Panthers was at fault in the Penguins getting four goals in the one Panthers loss.

I can't see Florida trotting Theodore out for all four games this week no matter how well he's played. The Panthers open the week off with back to back night road games. Say you start Theodore in Tampa and even if he plays well or even excellently, you're taking a great chance on him being gassed the next night facing Washington and Ovechkin.

The people who would argue against Markstrom playing would say 1- It's early in the season so Theodore should be able to do a back to backer  2- Markstrom has never started an NHL regular game and putting in net against either Washington or Tampa is throwing him to the wolves.

I consider the 2nd argument more compelling than the first. It would be nice if the Panthers could give Markstrom an easier baptism of fire, say against Buffalo or the Isles, but the schedule doesn't work out that way.

As for Theodore, he has played well for three games but I don't think its enough proof to those who had doubts going into the year.  His consistency is still a question.

If it was me, I'd start Markstrom on Monday night in Tampa. Theodore the next night. For the rest of the week? Whoever has the hot hand. What does everyone else think?

The CBSSports.com writer whines about the LPGA Tour again

.

The scheduling of these LPGA-sanctioned events continues to baffle one and all. Why have this event the same week as the PGA Tour's bazillion-dollar finale? With the choice between watching the Solheim or the East Lake event, most Americans will, of course, choose ... football. Hey, at least I am honest.

Steve, you're not being honest. You're being a total imbecile. When does this weekend's Solheim Cup go up against any form of football? The Solheim's television schedule-

# Friday: 2:30 am - 1:00 pm (replay 10:00 pm - 12:30 am) # Saturday: 2:30 am - 1:00 pm (replay 7:00 - 10:00 pm) # Sunday: 5:00 am-11:30 am, plus Closing Ceremony (replay 8:00 - 10:00 pm)

The only time Football goes up against the Solheim is Saturday afternoon for an hour(or two. The matches are known for running late) On Sunday the television coverage ends 90 minutes before the NFL begins playing. There is no football vs. Solheim Cup choosing to be done.

Elling has been showing signs of carrying a grudge against the LPGA ever since he wrote this column which took to a shredder here. If he picks up the courtesy phone, I will recommend he see a good proctologist. So to get his head out of his ass.

Hat tip- Geoff Shackelford

Early reports say 36 of 37 people on board are dead. Very tragic and God bless the friends and family of those who died.

Feel free to correct me, but I don't know of a incident like this involving a pro or college hockey team. There have been aviation incidents where most or all of a sports team were wiped out. In most cases in the Americas or involving Americans, the teams were amatuers(The U.S. Figure Skating team aka Sabena Flight  548 disaster in 1961 or college teams like Marshall, University of Evansville, Wichita State) to name a few, involved college athletes.

Overseas is another story. In 1958 members of the Manchester United football were killed in a crash in Germany, the famous 'Alive' story involved uruguayan rugby team players. A Zambian soccer team was wiped out in a crash about 10 years ago. I recall a crash involving Italian athletes about 40-50 years ago but I forget the details. There have been other crashes.

Pro sports teams have to travel and with plane travel there is a risk. RIP to those who died today.

Michelle Wie, Ai Miyazato, and Tiffany Joh are tied for the lead going into the final round of the CN Canadian Women’s Open. Wie is going for her third LPGA win. A few days ago, I planned the dinners I'd be cooking and tomorrow I'll be serving Chicken Parmesan with Penne. Exactly the food we ate the two other Sundays on which Wie won. Will it be 3 for 3?

This isn't a meal I prepare that often. I've made it once or twice since Wie's last win.

Could the tournament that has been in existence since 1976 be in danger of folding. From AP-

Organizers of the annual LPGA Tour stop in Springfield, Ill., say State Farm is dropping its sponsorship after this year.

Kate Peters, executive director of the LPGA State Farm Classic, said Friday that she was disappointed by the decision. She said the tournament will try to find a new sponsor.

State Farm has sponsored the tournament for the past 19 years.

When I first read this news, I wondered if the English policy controversy of three years ago might be at fault. State Farm had strongly voiced their displeasure over it at the time.  The idiot LPGA Commissioner responsible for that fiasco is long gone but sometimes companies or corporations will carry a grudge. I haven't been able to find confirmation for it, but I read in a comments section that State Farm is pulling out of another sports sponsorship they have.

One way or another, LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan is facing another challenge. I really hope this works out better than it did with the Corning Classic.

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Steve Elling at CBS Sports has more on the incident at the CN Canadian Open  which I wrote about yesterday.

Initially, the LPGA seemed satisfied with the player actions and sanctions.

“No one with the LPGA was privy to any discussions between the players and caddies in advance of the players’ efforts to seek out a rules official to explain the situation,” a spokesman said Saturday. “We know only that the players came forward, admitted their issue and received the appropriate result based on the rules of golf.”

However, that stance has clearly changed.

LPGA communications chief David Higdon confirmed Sunday morning to CBSSports.com that the tour intends to interview all the parties involved and then mull a possible course of action.

“We have treated this situation very seriously, and have or will speak to all principles involved,” Higdon said in an email Sunday morning. “Yes, we are looking very closely at it.”

The LPGA has had issues in the past with South Korean natives, who have been accused by other players of bending rules by conversing with friends or parents and receiving advice in their native tongue, among other perceived violations. The LPGA at one point put players on notice that such conversations and interaction would not be tolerated. One longtime LPGA caddie with his own blog site claimed this weekend that Korean players have been getting away with rules violations for years, causing some to accuse him of racism.

The LPGA has to investigate what happened, and if Ahn and Chung’s actions were deliberate, they should be suspended from the tour. Ryan at Waggle Room now writes

On Saturday evening, Waggle Room learned that it was Ahn’s caddie who told the story direct to Smich but may not be willing to share details publicly for fear of being shunned in the golf community.

Ahn’s caddy could be in position of  causing great harm to a pro golfer’s career and reputation.  It is very understandable why he wouldn’t want to talk publicly.

One last comment about Smich.  He has a long history of making derogatory comments  about the South Korean players.  People who have read his blog for any length of time, would  have a basis to say he is a racist.  I think his anger at being fired by Mi Hyun Kim 11 years ago has made him very bitter and his lack of success as a caddie of late,(He hasn’t been close to a winning bag in all the time he’s blogged, and if I checked, the top 20 finishes of his players in that time can be counted on one hand easily) caused his feelings to turn to hate or racism. His outspokenness has undoubtedly caused these players also not to want to hire him.

Interestingly enough I checked Smich’s archives, he worked for Ahn once at the  Wegmans. So he has caddied for both Ahn and Chung in the past.

Update- Golf writer and blogger Bob Weeks has more

A source told me on Sunday that the two players allegedly knew about the mix up by the time they reaced the scorer’s tent and discussed it in Korean, agreeing not to bring it up. The source then alleged that Ahn’s caddie also knew about the situation and threatened to turn them in.

Reportedly, the players waited two hours after their final round before contacting the LPGA Tour to report the incident, calling from their hotel.

Weeks is a much more credible source than Larry Smich. Chung and Ahn are in for big trouble.

Hat tip- Geoff Shackelford

LPGA Blogger and Caddy Larry Smich wrote the following-

Finally, caught in the act! All this time, I’ve been detailing cheating by the Koreans and been called a racist and more for my observations. Even been taken to the woodshed by the head honcho. Well yesterday, it all became evident that I was spot on. Did you notice that Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chung were disqualified? The reason is that they both played the wrong ball on their final hole and not correcting the infraction before signing their cards, to put it mildly.

Here is what I’ve heard of the alleged incident. Both balls were in the fairway. Ahn missed the green and Ilmi hit hers on. Ahn chipped it close and tapped in for par. This is where it all begins. Apparently, Ahn noticed that this was not her ball and conversed in Korean with Ilmi. In the mean time, at least one caddie in the group noticed it also but did not say anything. They finished the hole, went to the scoring tent, checked the scores and signed their cards. Somewhere, either before or after going to the tent, Ahn told her caddie (a Nationwide looper and only working for her this week) “You did not see anything”. As of right now, I do not know who owned up and went to the officials. The third player in the group was oblivious to the situation and was not involved. BTW, Ahn shot 72 and Chung a 76.

Before I go any further I’ll give some background on Smich and the golfers he is accusing. He has been an LPGA caddy for over 30 years. In that time, he has had three winning bags. The last of which was with Mi Hyun Kim in 1999. Shortly after that win, Kim fired Smich.

Smich has worked for other South Korean players, but the last was over two years ago. He did work for Chung at some point in the middle of the last decade.

Anyone who reads Smich’s blog knows he doesn’t like the Korean players. Ryan at Waggle Room uses the word vendetta towards how Smich writes about players from South Korea. In 2007, Smich also accused LPGA player Young Kim of cheating. Most of the time Smich doesn’t name players when he makes cheating allegations.

Ahn is a one-time winner on the LPGA Tour and was the 2004 Rookie of the Year. She is a looker, and is nicknamed Cinderella. I get lots of hits at my home blog from people looking either for Ahn photos or are looking to find out what golfer is nicknamed Cinderella.

At the 2009 LPGA Championship, a golf ball of Ahn’s struck and killed a bird.

Chung has never won on the LPGA Tour and since the retirement of Pearl Sinn, I believe she is the oldest South Korean born player on the LPGA Tour.

Ryan at Waggle Room apparently got someone to corroborate part of what Smich says(Remember he didn’t see it happen)

We have learned of a second account of the situation. The second account is all the same until the green.

When Ahn and Chung realized what had happened, Chung’s caddy approached Downey’s caddy and said, “We have a bit of a problem, but I’m not saying anything.” Downey’s caddy went into the scoring tent. Ahn and Chung signed for their scores. Downey’s caddy was prepared to turn in Ahn and Chung, which then prompted their seeking of LPGA officials for a ruling and their certain disqualification.

The LPGA’s Mike Scanlan also made the following comment to Ryan-

“The players sought out a rules official after their round to explain the situation and were subsequently disqualified.

“No one with the LPGA was privy to any discussions between the players and caddies in advance of the players’ efforts to seek out a rules official to explain the situation. We know only that the players came forward, admitted their issue and received the appropriate result based on the Rules of Golf.”

Bob Weeks, who is also blogging on the incident, went looking for Larry Smich at the tournament. Interestingly enough, Smich couldn’t be found. The golfer who he was caddying for, Stephanie Loudon, had her husband carrying her bag for the third round.

At the moment, the golf tournament is on television, and so far as I know, no mention has been made of the Ahn and Chung incident.

Deliberate cheating in professional golf is very serious and not unheard of. A Latin American player was suspended by the PGA Tour around 40 years ago. Jane Blalock was suspended for a year by the LPGA in1972. That was till she filed a antitrust lawsuit. The accusations against Blalock was probably the sport’s biggest cheating scandal of the last 50 years. She was one of the tour’s stars at the time. What we have today involves two fairly obscure players. I don’t know if we’ll ever learn what did happen. The golf media rather write repetitive article after repetitive article on Tiger Woods than give the LPGA even five minutes of their time.

On a side note, Michelle Wie is leading the Canadian Open. Should she hold on to win, the LPGA attention deficit might decrease at least for one week.

The broadcast is supposed to be live. Then why are scores at LPGA.com ahead of the broadcast. When JiYai Shin birdied the 13th hole, LPGA had the result several minutes before the Golf Channel broadcast did.

On the 12th hole they had Shin making bogey before Golf Channel showed the result. Also Michelle Wie's drive on the 10th hole was described as in the middle of the fairway before Wie even hit her shot.

A few minutes behind is no big deal. I just find it interesting and wonder why it is taking place.

This news isn’t very surprisingly in light of these facts

1- Yani Tseng is at present holder of two of the tour’s major championships and ranked as one of the top five rated players in the world. Tseng is from Taiwan.
and
2- The increasing popularity of golf in Asia.

Of course people continue to grumble about the lack of United States based tour stops on the LPGA Tour. These people are being short sighted.

1- Any tournaments for the tour is good news

2- The LPGA could be close to bankruptcy at the moment. When a tournament is played, the tour takes a cut of the purse for operating expenses. I heard from a reliable source that the LPGA needs 30 tournaments a year to stay solvent. At the moment the LPGA schedule for next year looks like it will be under 30 events like it has been since 2009.

The LPGA is losing at least one United States LPGA event for 2011, the Jamie Farr, as it goes on hiatus for a year. Also CVS will no longer sponsor a California tour stop. That leaves 12 LPGA events in the United States, plus the foreign events. As it stands, the tour will visit Singapore, Thailand, Mexico(at least 3 times), Canada, England, France, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea next year with possible additions of Brazil and China.

The LPGA is in trouble right now. Nationalistic based pride and paranoia about Asia and Asians need to be shelved.

Hat tip- Ryan at Waggle Room who apparently hasn’t gotten the memo about CVS not renewing its sponsorship.

Yani Tseng from Taiwan leads the Women’s British at Royal Birkdale by four shots with 36 holes to play. Should she win, Tseng would already have amassed three of the four major championships in Women’s professional golf.

I won’t be conceding the tournament to Tseng quite. Just two years ago, Lorena Ochoa was on a roll and was leading the LPGA Championship by one shot after 36 holes. One golf scribe at the time was all but ready to crown Ochoa at that point. Ochoa ultimately finished third, to Yani Tseng.

Royal Birkdale is an interesting place for Tseng to be going for her third major. Thirty-nine years ago, or 1971 to be precise, the Open Championship was played at Birkdale. It was won by Lee Trevino. The golfer who finished second by one shot that week was Lu Liang Huan. Lu, who is still alive today at age 75, is from Taiwan just like Yani Tseng.

Lu, or as Open Championship fans in 1971 nicknamed him Mr. Lu, was an obscure golfer to even knowledgeable golf people at the time. His three career wins were all in Asia before the 1971 Open Championship.

Mr. Lu’s obscurity didn’t prevent him from being a fan favorite that week in 1971. He didn’t speak much English, but through tips of his straw cap and smiles to the gallery, he had many people in England and through television cheering for him that week.

A week after the 1971 Open Championship, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club issued an invitation to Mr. Lu. It said- “come back to this country as often as you like and we hope you’ll bring more fine golfers from the Far East.”

Many fine golfers have come to the United Kingdom and the United States since then. Unfortunately, the attitude of people has regressed since then. Asian golfers, even Asian American golfers, are seen as a threat by the media and or fans. No one was bothered by Mr. Lu’s poor English in 1971, so I have trouble understanding the attitude of some people today. 

I wasn’t following pro golf in 1971. At the time I was ten-years-old and more interested in New York Mets baseball. What I learned about the 1971 Open Championship is through media accounts at the time. Even these are hard to find.

What I do know about that Open Championship is-

1 Trevino and Mr. Lu were paired together for the last 18 holes.
2 Lee Trevino made double bogey at 17
3 Mr. Lu and Trevino both made closing birdies on 18
4 As he played 18, an errant golf shot of Mr. Lu’s struck a person in the gallery injuring the woman. After the Open Championship, Mr. Lu paid for the woman and her husband to visit Taiwan.

Mr. Lu never again seriously contended for a Major Championship. He did however win the French Open the following week and in 1972 partnered with Hsieh Min-Nan to win the World Cup. When his professional career was over, Mr. Lu had at least twenty professional wins to his credit but he is probably still best remembered for his runner-up finish at the 1971 Open Championship.

So far as I know, Mr. Lu is still alive today at age seventy-four.

With a little over three months till the tournament's startup date, I'm having increasingly strong doubts this tournament will be played.

With every day that passes, I think my view is well justified. First of all the tournament is listed as TBA on the LPGA's website. This has been the status of the Tour Championship ever since the 2010 LPGA schedule was announced.

The organizing needed to run a tournament has to start well ahead of when the tournament is actually played. In fact the old ADT*, the Tour Championship's predecessor, would already be through taking volunteer applications

The LPGA is silent in the matter. I emailed Mike Scanlan in Daytona Beach. Mike said an announcement will be coming. I believe that, but the news in the announcement may not be good.

Another source(not directly affiliated with the LPGA) told me that they heard the LPGA is talking with ADT again and that also that the tournament will not be in Texas or possibly not played at all. Whether an event is played could be dependent on IMG who floated last year's tournament after the Stanford Financial debacle.

Caddie blogger Larry said in one of his blog posts that the tournament may be played in central Florida.

I'm sure Commissioner Michael Whan has worked very hard on the 2010 LPGA Tour Championship. He and others have done miracle work since Carolyn Bivens resigned. I am not being critical. All I hope is that there is a LPGA Tour tournament after the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in 2010.

*- The ADT was my hometown tournament and one I was credentialed by the LPGA to blog in 2007. I'd love to see the LPGA return to Palm Beach County.

Golf World's Ron Sirak writes-

An indication of Ochoa's inconsistent play last year was the fact she was tenth on the money list, yet still won Player of the Year by a single point over Jiyai Shin.

That would be truly incredible in light of how Ochoa didn't win a major championship last year. The only problem- It isn't true.

Lorena Ochoa finished 4th on the 2009 LPGA money list. She is 10th on this year's money list.

Ron Sirak did a similar blunder  last year involving Juli Inkster. I can cite over a half dozen other cases in Sirak's writing. Getting simple golf stats or facts straight is too much for this golf writer on a regular basis.

I liked the column other than that. As for Ochoa, she was a class act. I liked her, she was humble where as Annika Sorenstam came off as arrogant on more than one occasion. Sorenstam was sometimes hypocritical and never liked being challenged, and was rather unsubtle when in those occurrences. Ochoa was more of a superstar than Sorenstam,  when everything is weighed. IMHO.

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Who is on the cover of the magazine this week. Is it Yani Tseng, the golfer who won her 3rd career tournament and 2nd Major Championship overall?

No, it's Anthony Kim for winning a Masters warmup.

What a joke this magazine is. The biggest on course story of the week doesn't merit a cover photo. It isn't the first time GW has done this either. In 2006 they featured Phil Mickelson for winning at Atlanta by 12 shots instead of Kraft Nabisco winner Karrie Webb who didn't just make a comeback after nearly two years of no victories, but holed out on 18 for eagle to force a playoff.

Before 2006, GW used to put the Players Champion on the cover over the winner of Kraft Nabisco. Pseudo majors are more important than real major championships in their eyes.

Lets not forget their disgraceful 2009 LPGA preview which came to some of their subscriber's mailboxes after the first tournament of the year was already completed. A golf architecture issue was more important than the LPGA to them also.

GW is a joke of a golf publication. The next thing I expect from one of their authors(Ron Sirak maybe?) is an article about how poorly placed the Kraft Nabisco is and that it doesn't get enough attention. What's  a case of h Chutzpah  in comparison to their regular displays of journalistic stupidity?

Ryan at Waggle Room writes-

Meanwhile, Karen Stupples holds a tenuous one stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen entering the final round at Mission Hills in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.  Since winning the Women's British Open in '04, Stupples has finished in the top three just once on the LPGA Tour.  With a win today, she would have a second LPGA major and enter a rare company.

First of all if Ryan didn't do half baked research which is becoming his specialty, he'd know Stupples has 3 top 3 finishes since her British Open win not one. Stupples finised 2nd and 3rd in tournaments in 2004 after her major championship triumph.

What's rare about a golfer notching a second major championship. Lets take a look how many LPGA major champions in the last decade won two majors or more in their career-

2 or more- Sorenstam, Webb, Pak, Ochoa, Inkster, Mallon, Steinhauer,

1 and done- Matthew, Ji, Nordqvist, Lincicome, Shin, IB Park, Tseng, Kerr, Pettersen, Pressel, Jang, B. Kim, G. Park, Meunier-Lebouc, Lunke, Stupples,

7 of the 23 LPGA Major Champions in the last decade had two or more major championship wins or about 30% of the time. Since when is 30% of anything considered rare.

Lets go back only 5 years-

2- Sorenstam, Webb, Pak, Ochoa, Steinhauer,

1-  Matthew, Ji, Nordqvist, Lincicome, Shin, IB Park, Tseng, Kerr, Pettersen, Pressel, Jang, B. Kim,

5 of 17 major champions have two or more major championship wins. That's still over 30% and that isn't rare territory either.

Oh Ryan is probably counting the last two years when 7 of the last 8 major winners were one timers. Then who uses the word rare to describe something on such a small statistical sampling. Maybe someone who is a member of the golf media where laziness is so often the rule.

The fact is, LPGA majors in the last ten years have been won more often(22-18) by 2 time winners or more 1 and dones. For the last 5 years, the 1 and dones only have 13-7 lead or about the same percentage as if you count them individually. 

Just in case Ryan wipes out his mistakes without acknowledging he made them in his post(Something he's done before and failed badly. Check the words in the URL I linked to) I made a screen capture for posterity sake. It can be seen here.

One more thing Ryan writes-

Meanwhile, Karen Stupples holds a tenuous one stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen entering the final round at Mission Hills in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

and

Major champions Yani Tseng and Karrie Webb lurk as well.

Tseng opened the final round tied with Pettersen one shot back and should have in the sentence with Pettersen above. Putting Tseng  down  as a lurker with a golfer 5 shots back is way off reporting wise. Ryan's carelessness doesn't just extend to golf stats and history but elementary golf reporting. Way to GWAA! You give membership to people doing such subpar work and on a regular basis.

The old adage about history repeating itself, certainly applies to its golf coverage. A AP photograph taken last Friday comes with the following caption-

Yani Tseng, of South Korea, hits her tee shot on the 15th hole during the second round of the LPGA Kia Classic golf tournament at La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif. , Friday, March 26, 2010.

At first I thought the Orange County Register was at fault for this, but no its at other websites also.

Last May an Associate Press writer wrote the following-

The LPGA Corning Classic certainly received a memorable farewell.

Just when Yani Tseng seemed headed for a playoff Sunday with fellow South Korean Soo-Yun Kang, Tseng watched in amazement as Kang missed a 3-foot par putt on the final hole.

How long before AP does it again? Maybe we should start a pool.

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Hee Kyung Seo, the Super Model of the Fairways (her KLPGA nickname), made it look easy today. She shot a 2-under 70 to win the LPGA's Kia Classic by 6 shots over 2008 U.S Open Champion Inbee Park. Other than a tee shot in the water, Seo was nearly flawless on the day.  She entered the round with a 5 shot lead and saw it shrink to four shots early on. Back to back birdies on three and four pretty much stifled the idea of a final round collapse.

Seo was the 40th ranked player in the world but will move up after this win. She did not have LPGA playing priviliges before her victory. She was playing in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption. Now Seo faces a decision: to play the LPGA full time in 2010 or not. It may depend on her Korean commitments. Seo has expressed her desire to play the LPGA.

For those of you unfamilar with Seo, she won 11 KLPGA tournaments in 2008 and 2009. In 2009 she won 3 KLPGA majors. This player could have a big impact on the LPGA. In fact she may be one of the ten favorites at next weekend’s Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA’s first major of 2010.

Other assorted notes about the tournament.

*- From the "I’ve never seen that before" department: Seo’s tee shot on 14 hit some wires overhanging the fairway. She got to replay her shot. Tha’t’s the rules and I’ve never seen anything like this happen in 32 years of television golf watching.

*- Seo is very attractive. She could change the view of the Asian players on tour but she’ll have to drop those dark shades she wears when playing. It hides her beauty.

*- Asian golfers have won all 3 LPGA events this year. In fact the Kia leaderboard was dominated by Asian golfers, eight of the top 10 finishers were either born in Asia or Asian-American.(Four of the top 5 were South Korean. Seo, Park, Jee Young Lee, and Jiyai Shin. The other, Candie Kung, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan.)  Of the top 20 finishers, only 6 golfers didn’t have at least one Asian parent(Stacy Prammanasudh’s Dad is Thai, Pat Hurst’s mother is Japanese). If another wins the Kraft Nabisco(Only Asian golfer to win it ever is Grace Park in 2004), we may hear again ugly and hateful talk again similar to what was written in this column.

*- Michelle Wie’s play on today’s 11th hole is going to be the subject of lots of talk the next few days. The hole is a par-5 and Michelle’s 2nd shot came up short in the water. Wie tried to play it, but barely budged her shot. After completing her swing, Michelle inadvertently grounded her club. She was assessed a 2-stroke penalty, which dropped her out of a tie for 2nd to a tie for 6th.

Wie told a rules official that she only grounded the club because she worried she was going to lose her balance. She did have a unsteady stance because of having to hit from the water. I agree with the officials, Wie put the club down and didn’t need to do so to steady herself. When she was told of the penalty, Michelle called it unfair.

*- Inbee Park looks to be playing well again. She struggled after winning the U.S. Open two years ago, but has started 2010 strongly. in addition to this week, she finished 2nd or 3rd in a JLPGA event.

*- The #1 player in the world, Lorena Ochoa, continues to play poorly. She finished T-52.

*- Golf Channel cut away from the customary bathing of the winner in beer after walking off 18 to show Wie talking with rules officials.  A dumb and unnecessary move by GC.

Update- Hound Dog is also blogging on the final round.

2nd Update- Also blogging on Seo’s victory or the Wie ruling- The Constructivist, Geoff Shackelford, and Jeff Skinner.

The LPGA is in the United States now and the time for sloppy golf writing is under way.-

2 -- LPGA tournament victories for golfers in the leaderboard's top four. Michelle Wie had one in 2009 and Candie Kung had the other in 2008.

Kung hasn't won once. She has won four times on the LPGA Tour. She took home trophies 3 times in 2003. How many places is Kung's right win total reported at. LPGA.com, Wikipedia, and the LPGA's own media guide book.  Kung is also a former Southern California native. There is no excuse for the above mistake.

The media keeps reporting 'Taiwan's Candie Kung'. Kung has lived in the United States for 15 years, is a naturalized citizen, and doesn't maintain dual citizenship. She sounds awfully American to me, and listen to how she talks you will know what I mean. I'll also add Kung shouldn't be unfamiliar to Southern California sports departments either. She played golf at USC.

If Kung wins, I bet the media doesn't report it as an American win.

Also-

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I asked my caddie on the third hole, 'Do you still have the ear plugs they gave on the plane?' He said, 'Yeah, I thought about that too.' We certainly needed them."

-- Candie Kung, on playing with Christina Kim, who is known for being loud and raucous on the course.

I like Christina but I also know she wears on people

Be careful there's an asterisk in the title of my post.

Ai Miyazato is going for her third win out in California this week.

Japan's Ai Miyazato is chasing history here, but attempting to do so in the wind while starting with a six-shot deficit is, well, as difficult as bettering Tiger Woods' record at her home course in America.

Miyazato became the sixth player in the history of the LPGA to win the first two tournaments of the year, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Marilynn Smith did it in 1966*. At the Kia Classic Presented by J Golf at La Costa Resort here, Miyazato is attempting to become the first ever to win the first three tournaments of an LPGA season.

Oh no there is another asterisk. Now let me explain.

What is being written is true. There's just a little more too it. In Smith's case-

The first event of 1966 was the Lagunita Invitational played in Venezuela. It was won by Kathy Whitworth. This according to the LPGA's 2008 media guide book.*(I got a copy when I blogged the Stanford International) I checked further, the win is not included in official wins and media reports at the time said the tournament was unofficial.

Smith's two wins came after Whitworth's unofficial victory.

As for the first to win the first 3 of a season, we must turn back the clock even further to 1951. Babe Zaharias won The Ponte Verda Beach Women's Open and the Tampa Women's Open to open the year. Then she won the Florida 2-Ball with George Bayer. The Florida 2-Ball was an unofficial tournament though like with Whitworth's above win, its listed by the LPGA in its media guide book with nothing to say its unofficial unless you dig further.

Today's lesson in LPGA history is over. Beam me up Scotty.

*- The media guide book has a section listing all the winners by year and in order.

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Ai Miyazato is going for her third win out in California this week.  Be careful, though.  There's an asterisk in the title of my post.

Japan's Ai Miyazato is chasing history here, but attempting to do so in the wind while starting with a six-shot deficit is, well, as difficult as bettering Tiger Woods' record at her home course in America.

Miyazato became the sixth player in the history of the LPGA to win the first two tournaments of the year, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Marilynn Smith did it in 1966*. At the Kia Classic Presented by J Golf at La Costa Resort here, Miyazato is attempting to become the first ever to win the first three tournaments of an LPGA season.

Oh no! There is another asterisk. Now let me explain.

What is being written is true. There's just a little more too it.  In Smith's case, the first event of 1966 was the Lagunita Invitational played in Venezuela. It was won by Kathy Whitworth. I checked further and the win is not included in her official wins.  Media reports at the time said the tournament was unofficial.  Smith's two wins came after Whitworth's unofficial victory.

As for the first to win their first three in a season, we must turn back the clock even further to 1951. Babe Zaharias won The Ponte Verda Beach Women's Open and the Tampa Women's Open to open the year. Then she won the Florida 2-Ball with George Bayer. The Florida 2-Ball was an unofficial tournament, though like with Whitworth's above win.  It is listed by the LPGA in its media guide with nothing to say that the win is unofficial unless you dig further. The media guide book has a section listing all the winners by year and in order.

Today's lesson in LPGA history is over. Beam me up Scotty.