One of my faves (and the lovely lass pictured in my avatar) Jee Young Lee gets a nice shoutout from Golf Digest this month. They picked her as one of their "longshots" to keep an eye on at the U.S. Women's Open.

It's nice to see Jee Young getting some ink. But why is she a longshot? Sure, she hasn't won yet outside of Korea, but c'mon, the girl makes tons of money, pops up on leaderboards left and right, and has a pretty darn high world ranking!

To add insult to injury, Golf Digest then rank Jeong Jang's picture and said it was Jee Young Lee. Ouch. Somebody needs to invest in better copy editing!

(Their other longshots were Yani Tseng - you're a month too late, GD! - Louise Friberg and Minea Blomqvist.)

Here's a post in her Golf For Women blog by Stina Stirnberg about the last episode of Big Break:

http://www.golfforwomen.com/magazine/blogs/editors/2008/05/big-break-shock.html

There's also a preview clip of the next ep.

Stina says Liz and Adrienne were both "inconsolable" after their ousters. And not to underestimate Susan who "can play the pants off most of you."

Hey, Susan can play my pants off any time ... heh heh heh .... um, don't tell my wife I said that!

Want to win a trip for two to the ADT Championship in Florida? The winner also gets a chance to make a $1 million shot.

The sweepstakes is offered by Blue Diamond Almonds, which is an LPGA sponsor this year. They have booths at some of the tournaments, giving away samples. I've tried these - in fact, got some at the grocery store this morning - and they are really good. Especially the Wasabi and Soy Sauce flavor, mmmmmm.

There's a page on LPGA.com -- http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=14054&mid=1 -- where you can click into the entry form.

First round: Jill McGill 67, Lorena Ochoa 76. What the hell is going on??? Reminds of that Bill Murray speech in Ghostbusters about cats and dogs living together ... How shocking would it be if Ochoa missed the cut?

If that happens tmorrow, I think I'll start stocking up on canned goods, batteries and ammunition ...

Yes, YOU could win Hank Haney in a sweepstakes! Tiger doesn't need him anymore!

I kid! I kid! The sweepstakes is the Gillette "Get the Look of Champion" sweepstakes, and you can enter at http://www.dlblairsweeps.com/j8112/sweeps.form. The big prize is a trip for two that includes a private coaching session with Hank Haney.

As always check the rules before you enter!

Is it my imagination, or has Adams always signed mostly Champions Tour golfers to endorsement deals? That's the impression I have of Adams. They never tried to compete on the same field with the big boys, and they mostly focusted on signing the old guys. Maybe that's wrong, but that's the impression I have.

The reason I was thinking about this is that in the last two days I've seen announcements that Adams has signed Rory Sabbatini and Aaron Baddeley. A change in direction? A step up in playing field? Are they making a play to become one of the top-level companies?

Haven't posted a sweepstakes in a while, but here's a good one. Golf Digest, NBC and the USGA are teaming up for this one -- the winner gets to play Torrey Pines a week before the U.S. Open in 2008, along with three celebrities.

The idea behind this one comes from last year's U.S. Open when Tiger Woods said that a 10-handicapper wouldn't be able to break 100 at Oakmont under U.S. Open conditions. So here's a chance for a 10-handicapper (or scratch, or 20 or 30, or whatever) to play a U.S. Open venue under U.S. Open conditions.

Oh, and the round will be televised. Sounds scary!

Enter by Jan. 29, 2008, at www.gdopencontest.com

Because I'm lazy, I'm just going to re-post what I just posted over at Golf Babes ... so here goes:

Elin Nordegren is married to ... um ... what's his name? Tiger something. She's already won that sweepstakes.

Now she's been nominated for inclusion on AskMen.com's "Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008" rankings. And you can cast as many votes as you want for Elin (you know Tiger's sitting in front of his computer right now clicking away - he doesn't like to lose at anything!).

Go to askmen.com/specials/2008_top_99/index_vote.html and find Elin in the Models section. Then rate her from 1 to 10 (10 being the "most desirable," natch). You can vote as many times as you like. The final results will be revealed on AskMen.com on Jan. 31, 2008.

I guess Morgan Pressel didn't learn anything from the last time this happened. Because today at the ADT Championship ....

Morgan didn't learn anything, but I guess the photographers did! I'm a little surprised that the AP decides to send this stuff out on the wire ... but obviously not surprised enough to not re-post it myself.

As the proprietor of the Golf Babes blog, I feel it is my duty to take every excuse to post a pic of Natalie Gulbis. First, the pic:

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, the excuse taken to post the pic: "The Natalie Gulbis Show" is coming back for a third season on The Golf Channel.

It's back on the air on Sept. 19 and will run for six episodes.

That is all.

Just a week after winning the Canadian Open, world's No. 2 Jim Furyk had to withdraw from the Bridgestone Invitational today because of a bad back.

Furyk hurt his upper back on Tuesday while practicing. It's a terrible time for an injury, with the PGA Championship just a week ago. But that's probably while Jimbo withdrew - to protect himself against aggravating it, and to give himself the best chance to be ready for the PGA.

(Note: Elevated from the diaries. Full first-round pairings for the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship are here. - MS)

Just noticed that a first-round pairing at the Women's Match Play is Morgan Pressel vs. Birdie Kim.

How juicy! Remember Kim holing out from the bunker to win the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, while Pressel was crying back down the fairway, her shot at the Open gone in a flash?

Betcha Morgan still has nightmares. I predict Pressel wins this match something like 7 and 6.

Birdie will always have Cherry Hills.

Here's a pretty nifty sweepstakes for golfers: You can win a round of golf for yourself and two buddies with Jim Furyk at TPC Sawgrass.

Imagine that - you can play golf with the only tour pro whose swing looks funnier than yours!

It's the Johnnie Walker Play Golf with Jim Sweepstakes. To enter, you have to register for the "Striding Man Society," a club of Johnnie Walker enthusiasts, and your registration serves as your entry. Winners are announced on Sept. 28, 2007.

As always, read the fine print and know the rules.

You can view the sweepstakes at www.johnniewalker.com/PlayWithJim

Is it just me or did Morgan Pressel suddenly turn into a hottie?

What could the reason be? Hmmm ... maybe it has something to do with those much shorter skirts she started wearing! I don't know why she went shorter, but I think she might need someone to point out to her that if she's going to wear short skirts, she needs to be careful about just how far she leans over:

And Morgan, if you're going to be showing more leg, you might want to spend some time under a tanning lamp. I'm just saying.

(AP Photo)

(Here's another pic of Morgan)

Poll

Morgan Pressel - hot or not?

80%

Hot

730 votes

19%

Not

175 votes

905 votes | Poll has closed

18-year-old Esther Choe made her professional debut this week with a sponsor's exemption into the LPGA Wegmans.

That's not the part she needs to "say ain't so," though. This part is:

She shot 78-78 and missed the cut. D'oh! At this rate, the only people she'll be beating are Michelle Wie and Nancy Lopez!

But cry not for Esther. This kid's got talent o'plenty. She'll come back soon with a strong showing, either on the LPGA or the Futures Tour (a couple weeks ago, still playing as an amateur, she tied for second on the Futures Tour).

(Editor: Bumped up from the diaries.)

If you didn't know before, you probably know by now that Angel Cabrera's caddie is Eddie Gardino from "The Big Break." He was on seasons IV and VII - 7 being the most recent "Reunion" version.

And that's where Eddie and Nikki DiSanto seemed to make a "love connection" - or at least that's how the Golf Channel played it up in the editing room!

So when I was watching the U.S. Open on Sunday, I was wondering, "Is Nikki watching this? Are Nikki and Eddie still an 'item' - if they ever were"?

Hey, it's amazing what kind of info you can find out if you're just willing to ask! I have corresponded with Nikki a few times in the past when I featured her on my Golf Babes blog. So I dropped her a line.

And as she always does, Nikki quickly and courteously wrote me back. (She's one of the nicest people you'll meet - if I can count trading emails with her as "meeting" her.)

Nikki told me that she and Eddie remain friends and have seen each other once or twice since the last "Big Break" show ended.

"I could not be happier for Eddie and Cabrera!" Nikki said. "I am so pleased and proud of him and it was a pleasure to watch him light up on TV like that."

I didn't want to pry any further because, well, it's none of my business. So I didn't badger Nikki with follow-up questions. It's enough to know that Nikki and Eddie are still friends.

And I'm just happy to have an excuse to post another photo of the gorgeous Nikki:

Tiger Woods looks buff in that shirt he's wearing in the first round today. Everyone knows the dude works out like a madman. I guess he usually wears much looser shirts. Today he looks like a smaller version of the Governator.

Just for the record, I normally only notice tight shirts when FEMALE golfers are wearing them. And when Mickelson wears them. But in both cases, it's about the boobs.

I kept wondering why Natalie Gulbis isn't playing the McDonald's LPGA, but every time I searched the news for answers there weren't any.

So I fired off a few emails - gotta have my Natalie! - and found out that she has a disc problem in her back.

She pulled out off the Ginn Tribute last week too. Guess that got lost in all the Wie stuff.

A random drawing will be held by the PGA of America for tickets to attend the 2008 Ryder Cup. And you can now register to get your name into that drawing. Registrations are accepted through Sept. 30, 2007.

The drawing will take place in November, and those people whose names are drawn then get to purchase Ryder Cup tickets. Daily grounds passes start at $40 on practice days and go up to $100 for the final day. Other packages range up to nearly $2,000 per ticket.

You can read more about it at http://www.golfbusinesswire.com/releases/117411/ or go straight to https://rydercup.pgalinks.com/index.cfm?from=1 to start registering.

Want to win a free trip to Annika Sorenstam's new golf academy to learn golf the Annika way? Of course you do! Now you can thanks to this nifty sweepstakes.

It's called the "Share My Passion" sweepstakes. Eight golfers win a "Soren-Slam Package" and one of them will win a "Dream Package." The "Soren-Slam Package" is the top-of-the-line package offered by the Annika Academy at Ginn Reunion Resort in Orlando.

The "Dream Package" will include shopping sprees, Callaway clubs and a year rental of a Lexus.

You have until Aug. 15 to sign up.

Fill out the sweepstakes entry form located at http://www.golfdigestpromotions.com/Annika/.

Remember, always read the rules and the fine print!

Just noticed, via mylpga.com, that Kimberly Kim played on the Korean LPGA last week. Kim Kim is the U.S. Women's Amateur winner from last year and she's only 15 years old (14 when she won the Women's Am).

The KLPGA tournament results are at http://www.klpga.com/asp/tour_info_en/ti_tour_lastprize.asp?gid=545

Kim finished 11th at 220, not bad for a 15-year-old, eh?

Cristie Kerr and Sophie Gustafson were also playing the KLPGA that week. Kerr finished tied for second (216) and Gustafson finished tied for 5th (217). The winner was at 212.

Kerr and Gustafson must have gotten some pretty good appearance money to show up on the KLPGA in between LPGA tournaments.

This just seems kinda funny to me -- http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20070513/Sports/105130055

Annika Sorenstam is now the "director of sports and wellness" at the Tahoe Mountain Club in North Lake Tahoe, where she spends part of the year.

Guess she needs a second job, since the first one is kinda on hiatus right now.

Hope she's not the power-mad P.E. teacher type. Picture Annika riding around in a golf cart in her little gym shorts with a whistle around her neck ... those club members better watch out. Annika will whip them into shape!

Let's hear it for Peanut, a k a Mi Hyun Kim, who won the the LPGA Tour tournament last and then donated almost half her winner's check to help victims of the Kansas tornadoes.

From LPGA.com:

Mi Hyun Kim, an eight-time winner on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and champion of last week's SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons in Broken Arrow, Okla., announced after her win that she will donate $100,000 of her winner's paycheck ($210,000) to the United Way Greensburg Disaster Fund to aid the victims of the tornado that destroyed the Kansas town last weekend.

"I was just happy that I won the tournament," said Kim. "Sunday and during the week, the tornados came out of the middle of nowhere. I felt like I needed to do something for them. Winning a tournament on its own was a good thing, but I just decided to donate some money."

"We've already seen a tremendous outpouring of support for the residents of Greensburg and I know this very generous donation from Mi Hyun Kim is truly appreciated. The citizens of Greensburg have a tremendous spirit and are determined to rebuild their community. It is my honor to acknowledge this donation on their behalf," said Governor Kathleen Sebelius today.

Kim, 30, is currently seventh on the 2007 LPGA Official Money List with $315,341 in season earnings. She moved into 10th all-time on the LPGA Official Career Earnings List with her victory at the SemGroup Championship last week. She has earned more than $6.5 million since joining the Tour in 1999.

"Honestly, I made a lot of money in the United States on the LPGA Tour," said Kim. "Most of time, I get the money here and donate to South Korea. But, I want to help people here, too. The win was a surprise for me and I think God gave it to me like a special present or he is using me like, `okay, I give you this, but after that you give to help the people.' "

(Editor's Note: Bumped up from the diaries.)

On my own site (Golf Babes) I post photos of female golfers. And I occasionally get emails from women asking, "hey, where are all the hot guys?" And from those emails, I've gathered that Mr. Adam Scott is considered sexy by a significant portion of women worldwide. Something around 98-percent.

Scottie the Hottie.

So here you go, ladies, just for you:

Poll

Who's the biggest hottie of them all?

20%

Tiger Woods

2 votes

0%

John Daly

0 votes

10%

Fluff Cowan

1 votes

50%

Adam Scott

5 votes

20%

Camilo Villegas

2 votes

10 votes | Poll has closed

Want to grab three of your buddies and head to Whistling Straits? Enter the Jim Beam sweepstakes by going to http://www.jimbeam.com/golf/default.aspx (you'll have to enter your birthdate to prove you're of age, since it's sponsored by a liquor company).

The prize is a 4-day, 3-night stay at American Club Resort in Kohler, Wisc., Sept. 9-12, for four people, and including two rounds of golf at Whistling Straits.

As always, read the official rules. And note that you have to register to become a member of the "Brotherhood of Bourbon" (whatever that is) in order to take part in the sweepstakes.

Some people complain every time there's a new article about Michelle Wie, or when she gets invited to a tournament, or when she's on TV. But there's a very simple reason why she gets invited to tourneys, onto tv shows, and gets featured in so many newspapers, magazines and websites.

She sells. Simple as that. Here's the latest case in point --

"Please tell Edmontonians we need another 100 volunteers for the CN Canadian Women's Open," said Don Sprague, chairman of the Aug. 13-19 event at the Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club."

"Demand for tickets rose by about one-third this week after Michelle Wie announced she will play in the LPGA tournament in Edmonton."

Some expect the demand to almost double before Wie arrives.

When you can move tickets like that (or ratings, or circulation numbers, or page views ...) you don't have to worry about the invitations and attention drying up.

I will guess this will continue at least until she's 20 even if she never wins.

Here:

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. --A mother teed off by drunken golfers urinating near her house by the 18th hole resorted to videotaping the men after no action was taken on her complaints. Video of some men relieving themselves behind trees at the city-owned course was played on local and national television news.

"Many times I would say, 'You're on camera,' and they'd keep right on going. They'd yell and scream obscenities at me," Delisa Schubert said.

Schubert, her husband and daughters ages 11 and 15 live next to the Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge, 20 miles west of Knoxville. ...

Schubert has reported the problem to police, city officials, the local district attorney and the golf course manager. They suggested she record the offenders, and in a year she says she has captured more than 40 golfers in the act.

Signs banning public urination are posted on the golf course, and the city is talking to the course operator about the issue, said Josh Collins, director of the city's recreation and parks department. There are restrooms nearby at the 16th hole and the clubhouse.

I'd like to state for the record that I haven't been in Tennessee in more than two weeks ... and besides, that doesn't look anything like me.