"The players have already told the tour no way."

We have our first festering wound in the LPGA player-Carolyn Bivens relationship. The most amazing thing? That it took this long.

Michael Buteau reports that Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel have suggested they will not be Tweeting from the course.

“I will not be twittering in my round,” [Paula] Creamer, who’s ranked third in the world, wrote on her Twitter page this morning. “It should not happen in any sport. The players have already told the tour no way.”
Shortly before her anti-Twittering tweet, Creamer told her followers that she was “Eating some pancakes for breakfast with my dad before we go out to the course.”

Morgan Pressel shared Creamer’s sentiments moments before beginning her first round at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois.

“Thanks for the luck and NO I will not be tweeting when I play,” she wrote.

"Tweet during rounds?"

Jeff Rude raises another fine point about the absurdity of on-course tweeting.

LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens wants her players to be able to “tweet” their thoughts during rounds on Twitter.com. I’m not sure I’ve heard anything that nuts since I watched the Cuckoo’s Nest movie.

Tweet during rounds?

The competition must be held sacred. And concentration and focus are at the heart of the competition.

And isn’t the pace of play already slow enough?

"I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round"

Naturally I had to be traveling when Bloomberg's Michael Buteau and Mason Levinson revealed that LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens blabbed that she'd like to...oh I can't type, it's too funny even though it's not really a surprise.

“I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round,” Bivens said in an interview today in New York.

“The new media is very important to the growth of golf and we view it as a positive, and a tool to be used.”

Uh, the problem.

Bivens said the LPGA was awaiting word from the U.S. Golf Association on whether the use of handheld devices for Tweeting during competitive play is within the rules. The USGA oversees the sport in the U.S. and Mexico, with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew’s, Scotland, governing the rest of the world.

An e-mail to the USGA seeking comment about using smart phones, such as Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone, for social-media purposes during a round wasn’t immediately returned.

The USGA’s 2008 Rules of Golf make no mention of the use of handheld devices such as mobile telephones.

Rule 14-3 -- “Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment” -- states that a player may not use any equipment “that might assist him in making a stroke or in his play; or for the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play.” The penalty for violation of Rule 14-3 is disqualification.

Not mentioned here is that on Twitter, followers can respond to posts. And do it immediately.

So say player L had had trouble all week on 17 with club selection, she could send out a Tweet asking what the followers think of her outfit today, which could actually be code for, what are the others using on 17? Or her instructor could be watching on television and notice a swing fault and Tweet the player.

Actually, the list of potential pitfalls is quite long and I'm sure the person in LPGA headquarters who suggested this was either ignored, or was fired already. You know, those golfy people.

"With the passing of the Corning Classic the tour was losing a massive block in its foundation, a vertebra in its backbone."

Ron Sirak covered the final Corning Classic (won by Yani Tseng) and had this to say:

The Corning Classic truly captures the spirit of the LPGA, an organization that throughout its 59-year history had relied on the love and support of small-town America. And there is no market smaller or more supportive than Corning, a town of fewer than 11,000 people that managed every year to turn out 850 volunteers and upwards of 50,000 spectators.

While the community was losing the Memorial Day event that kicked off the summer tourist season in the Finger Lakes region of New York, it felt like the LPGA was losing much more than Corning. With the passing of the Corning Classic the tour was losing a massive block in its foundation, a vertebra in its backbone.

For as long as this tour has existed, places like Corning and Rochester and Toledo have been its heart and soul. And there is a sense now that is going away as the LPGA tries for bigger-market events with a more international accent.

Nancy Lopez Plotting Comeback; Still Undecided About Twittering Her Every Move

A lot has changed since Nancy Lopez dominated the women's game, but it sure would be fun to have her back.

“I do feel like a part-time golfer"

Karen Crouse looks at the LPGA's dwindling schedule in a story that is probably most noteworthy because the New York Times put it on the front page during Sybase Classic week. The Brand Lady only conducting interviews via email is also an interesting development. Can't say I think it's a bad idea.

"Wie: I can still win men’s event"

I noticed that headline at Golfweek.com on a Tom Canavan story, but I can't find where Michelle Wie actually talked about winning a men's event.

From her Sybase Classic transcript where she answers questions about playing in men's events.

Q. I believe you've talked in the past about someday competing in the Masters. Is that still part of your vision for the future, and if so, do you see a realistic scenario of attaining that goal?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, for sure that's definitely one of my goals that I started out with, and I still have it.

Q. Is playing in men's tournaments also a part of your goals at this point, and how realistic do you think that is?

MICHELLE WIE: You know, I think that's definitely a part of my goals. You know, like I always say, dream high and stuff, set your goals up high, and I think it's definitely -- I'm not saying it's an easy goal to achieve. I'm not going to be like, oh, I'm going to go out and win a men's event, it's not like that, but it's one of those long-term goals where I see myself getting to. I see myself getting there, and it's one of those goals that really motivates me and pushes me to be a stronger player, a better player.

Take That Brand Lady: PGA Tour Scoops Up Rejected LPGA Television Partner

Thanks to reader Gene who noticed that the PGA Tour's new partner for the season opening event in Maui has been overtaken by the same folks who were rejected by the LPGA Tour not too long ago.

The press conference today included Tim Finchem and SBS's Sang Chun. Here's what Ron Sirak wrote about SBS ending its sponsorship of the LPGA's Maui event.

While the matter of Korean television rights for LPGA events might seem like a minor issue, it is not. The income from those rights is the tour's largest single revenue stream. And it is safe to assume the value of the LPGA in the Korean market will only grow in direct proportion to the success of Korean players on tour. Last year, both the U.S. Women's Open (Inbee Park) and the Ricoh Women's British Open (Jiyai Shin) were won by Koreans, who now number nearly 50 on tour. That Park was only 19 years old and Shin 20 when they grabbed their titles certainly bodes well for more major victories by Koreans—and better ratings.

The contract with J Golf, which has yet to be announced by the tour or the network, but details of which were obtained by Golf World, is a multiyear deal likely worth in excess of $4 million annually, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. That is up significantly from the $2.25 million SBS says it paid to broadcast 30 events in Korea this year. Asked if his company would continue to sponsor the SBS Open when coverage moves to J Golf next year, Sang Y. Chun, president and CEO of SBS International, said: "Absolutely not."

Chun, who said he was "disappointed, upset really" at losing the contract, said his feelings were "not about the money [but] about the way we were treated."

Tim Finchem says thanks!

Brand Lady Rolls Up Her Donna Karan Sleeves To Pitch In For Charity

While Tim Finchem basks in the glory of The Players, Commissioner Bivens went all Jimmy Carter on us and joined in the LPGA's Habitat for Humanity photo-op.

Here she is with Jiyai Shin.

A Good Time Had By All LPGAers Who Attended Summit

So disappointing that with all of these LPGA'ers clogging my Twitter account with messages about how their feet hurt, not one reported anything of substance about last weekend's LPGA summit. Hank Kurz Jr. tries to shed a little more light on the event.

Imagine PGA Tour players doing this:

An example of the community involvement exercises that can only help, vice president of tournament marketing and sales Eric Albrecht said, is the planned building of a Habitat for Humanity home by several players this week in advance of the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill.