9 Returning Players on U.S. Solheim Cup Team

U.S. SOLHEIM CUP CAPTAIN Rosie Jones called forming her team “an extremely exciting and difficult selection process.” Jones made two captain’s picks—veteran Vicky Hurst and LPGA Tour rookie Ryann O’Toole. That may have been the hard part, but the rest of the 12-player squad—all automatic qualifiers based on a points system—looks like it was as easy as an 18-inch putt.

This year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team will include nine of the players that won the Cup two years ago at Rich Harvest Farms west of Chicago, Illinois. They are world No. 2 Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Christina Kim and Juli Inkster. Stacy Lewis, a Solheim Cup rookie, was the other player to make the team on points.

In addition to playing, Inkster will serve as an assistant captain to Jones. Playing will come first said the 51-year-old Inkster, the oldest player to compete in The Solheim Cup.

“I feel like most of my career I’ve worn two hats as a mom and as a player,” Inkster said in reference to her dual Solheim Cup roles, “but it will be a challenge.”

The European Solheim Cup Team will be announced on August 29. Alison Nicholas will serve as captain. Melissa Reid, Laura Davies, Suzann Pettersen and Christel Boeljon have already made the team based on the Ladies European Tour point standings.

The Solheim Cup will be played at Killeen Castle in Ireland on September 23-25.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Ladies Return to Action in Portland

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE since the LPGA Tour has teed it up in the United States. It was nearly six weeks ago the U.S. Women’s Open wrapped up at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The Evian Masters, Women’s British Open and two lengthy breaks have filled the weeks since.

On Friday the ladies will begin play in the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola at Pumpkin Ridge near Portland, Oregon. The event, which began at the outset of Watergate, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The long-running tournament will have a stellar field, with 48 of the LPGA’s top 50 money winners and the top seven players in the Rolex Rankings. The top seven are world No. 1 Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen, Jiyai Shin, Na Yeon Choi, I.K. Kim and Ai Miyazato. Another win for Tseng would be her fifth LPGA title and eighth worldwide victory this year.

Safeway advertises low prices, but will the Safeway Classic have low scores? Perhaps. But the 6,552-yard par-72 Ghost Creek Golf Course at Pumpkin Ridge isn’t necessarily a pushover. Last year’s winning 54-hole total was 11 under by Ai Miyazato.

Golf Channel has the TV coverage (in the evening), 6:30 – 9:30 ET on Friday and Saturday and 7 – 9:30 ET on Sunday.

−The Armchair Golfer

Heartbroken Pettersen Plays on at Women’s British Open

SUZANN PETTERSEN IS IN CARNOUSTIE, Scotland, this week for the $2.5 million Ricoh Women’s British Open, but her heart is in her native Norway where 95 people died in a terror attack by Anders Behring Breivik, who has reportedly confessed to the atrocities.

Pettersen wore a black armband during the third and fourth rounds at last week’s Evian Masters in Paris to show respect for the fallen Norwegians. Everyone would have understood if she had withdrawn from the tournament and flown home to Norway, where all sporting events were canceled through the weekend. Instead, the seven-time LPGA winner chose to keep playing.

“I think everyone at home would feel like you should go out there and play for us,” Pettersen told Golfweek’s Alistair Tait. “You go out there and you fight for your heart and you fight for your friends and fellow Norwegians at home.”

Pettersen has carried the burden of her homeland’s tragedy to Carnoustie, one of the world’s most demanding links courses. The Women’s British Open is an important championship, the season’s final major, but Pettersen has a different perspective on golf at the moment in light of the events back home.

“It’s still heartbreaking …. What’s amazing through all this is how we all stick together. We stay strong together.”

The Women’s British Open field includes 22 of the world’s top 23 golfers, including world No. 1 and defending champion Yani Tseng. Tseng’s 11-under total at Royal Birkdale last year edged Katherine Hull by a stroke.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: ktan.kh, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Ladies Tee Off in Thailand

HERE COME THE LADIES. Finally. The 2011 LPGA season gets underway on Thursday at the Honda LPGA Thailand. A field of 60, including new World No. 1 Yani Tseng, will tee it up at the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. The 22-year-old Tseng was last season’s Rolex Player of the Year. She has superstar potential.

World No. 6 Ai Miyazato is the defending champion. A year ago Miyazato chipped in for birdie on the final hole to beat Suzann Pettersen by a shot. She went on to win the following week on her way to five 2010 victories. Her favorite pizza topping is pepperoni. And she doesn’t like cilantro. (It’s true. I read it at LPGA.com.)

(Photo: “I’m pretty sure this is my driver.” It’s been a long layoff for Ai Miyazato and all the ladies.)

Miyazato told USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio that she hasn’t played a competitive round of golf in two and a half months. Nonetheless, Ai said she’s ready to go after spending much of her offseason in Phoenix. She worked on getting the clubhead more square at the top of her backswing.

A long offseason is probably nice. But the rust can set in quickly. World No. 4 Cristie Kerr spent her break working on fitness—and relaxing. Kerr took five weeks off from playing golf, starting up again in mid-January. Her goals for 2011 are to bag another major and have a multiple win season.

Other LPGA players who are expected to contend for top honors such as player of the year and the money title include Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Na Yeon Choi, I.K. Kim, Sun Ju Ahn, Song-Hee Kim, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie.

The season opener is the first of 25 LPGA events on the 2011 calendar. The ladies tour has lost nine events since the economy tanked in late 2008. The Solheim Cup will be played in late September in Ireland.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Ladies Parity Golf Association (LPGA)

THERE ARE SIX LADIES vying for the Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) and the LPGA money title: Yani Tseng, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Jiyai Shin, Suzanne Pettersen and Na Yeon Choi. The post-Annika, post-Lorena LPGA has a new and very crowded look at the top. That’s why I was thinking we could start calling it the Ladies Parity Golf Association. We know they’re pros, so why not use the “P” for something that fits today’s LPGA?

They’ll settle POY, the money title and other season-ending issues at the LPGA Tour Championship in two weeks at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.

(Photo: Yani Tseng / Keith Allison, Flickr)

It’s been crazy since Lorena Ochoa retired in May. The top spot in the Rolex Rankings (women’s world No. 1, not to be confused with Rolex Player of the Year) has turned over nine times among three players—Miyazato, Shin and Kerr. Shin is the current No. 1 and holds a slim .49 edge over Pettersen. Kerr is third and Tseng fourth.

The money title has come down to Shin and Choi. In addition, Choi, with a 69.77 scoring average, has a .09 lead over Kerr in the Vare Trophy race.

If I counted correctly, there have been 15 winners in 25 events thus far. Miyazato, Tseng, Kerr, Shin and Choi have multiple wins this season. The LPGA is an extremely competitive tour these days. That’s a positive.

But is parity a good thing? Mega stars like Sorenstam, Ochoa and, for the men, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, have brought more exposure to professional golf, a minor sport that struggles for attention—and always will.

Parity can be good for core fans. I’m in favor of it. For me, dominance gets boring. But does parity make the LPGA a harder sell when it comes to attracting a larger following? Mike Whan might not say so, but I think it does.

−The Armchair Golfer

Michelle Wie Is Halfway Leader in Canada

MICHELLE WIE HAS A THREE-STROKE lead after two rounds of the CN Canadian Women’s Open at the St. Charles Country Club in Winnepeg, Manitoba. Wie backed up a first-round 65 that included an ace with a 69 on Friday. She’s 10-under par and averaging a lengthy 294 yards off the tee, but has only hit 10 fairways in 36 holes. Apparently, it hasn’t hurt her much.

Asked about stringing together good rounds, Wie said, “ ... sometimes you have bad weeks and sometimes you have good weeks, but I’m just going out there and I’m not thinking tomorrow’s the third round or tomorrow’s the final round. I’m just going out there and focusing on every shot and just playing my hardest.”

Jiyai Shin, Morgan Pressel and Suzann Pettersen are Wie’s closest pursuers.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Yani Tseng Smiles Her Way to Second Major

2010 Kraft Nabisco Championship Recap
Winner: Yani Tseng
Score: 13 under, 275 (69, 71, 67, 68)
Quote: “Stay focused. That’s what I wanted to do, and keep smiling.”
Fact: Favorite club is 8-iron.
Thought: Has tool set to be a dominant player.

ALL PLAYERS LOOK GOOD when they’re winning a golf tournament, because they’re obviously playing well during that particular week. The golf ball is generally going where the players want it to, and a considerable number of putts are usually falling into the cup. That was certainly the case for Yani Tseng at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the year’s first major on the LPGA Tour. Tseng fired 135 on the weekend to nip Suzann Pettersen by a shot. It’s the third win and second major title for the 21-year-old Taiwanese player. In her rookie season she won the 2008 LPGA Championship in a playoff with Maria Hjorth.

Tseng, however, strikes many onlookers as more than a good player who can put together an occasional win. She has talent galore and a bag full of shots. With experience and the right mental approach, she could win a lot more LPGA tournaments and several majors before she’s through. Evidently, she recently had a lengthy chat with a Hall of Famer that was quite helpful.

“I really want to thank Annika Sorenstam,” Yani said Sunday after taking the winner’s traditional jump into the pond beside the 18th green, “because she came to my house and we sit down and talk about two hours, and she helped me a lot about my game, about the mentals, and she told me go step by step.”

With the major victory, Tseng moved up to second in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Jiyai Shin dropped to third. Lorena Ochoa has held the top spot for 155 consecutive weeks, but with the likes of Tseng, Shin and others elevating their games, I wonder how long it will be before Ochoa is knocked off her pedestal.

−The Armchair Golfer

2010 Kraft Nabisco Classic TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2010 KRAFT NABISCO CLASSIC, the first LPGA major of 2010, is underway at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. Suzann Pettersen is the first-round leader at 5 under.

Purse: $2 million
Defending champion: Brittany Lincicome

Final field
Pairings
Tournament interviews
Complete tournament info

2010 Kraft Nabisco Classic Leaderboard

TV SCHEDULE

Nine hours of TV coverage are on tap for the 2010 Kraft Nabisco Classic.

Thurs, Apr 01
ESPN2 5:00-7:00 PM ET

Fri, Apr 02
ESPN2 5:00-7:00 PM ET

Sat, Apr 03
ESPN2 7:00-9:00 PM ET

Sun, Apr 04
CBS 3:00-6:00 PM ET

−The Armchair Golfer