LPGA Launching Probe Into Canada Saga

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Steve Elling gets the word from LPGA communications chief David Higdon.

“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.

Golfers Post The Funniest Things...Carol Mann Facebook Edition**

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Stephanie Wei posts the public Facebook comments of Carol Mann, LPGA great and World Golf Hall of Fame ambassador who may not be voting for any non-Christian hall entrants anytime soon.

"It was like giving someone the death penalty on hearsay.”

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Jim Achenbach digs up more on the dreadful Duramed DQ of Sarah Brown and it paints an ugly picture considering that there was an on-site testing device (not used) and some silly on-course behavior from the rules official, who is identified in the story as Jim Linyard. I'd like to give Linyard the benefit of the doubt since this isn't exactly the big leagues of officiating work and there were inevitably issues with determining conforming clubs on a tour that only this month adopted the groove condition of competition, but it's hard to look past the events reported by Achenbach.
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"It was the arrogance to say, ‘I’m pulling her off the course.’"

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Sean Martin fleshes out the story of Sarah Brown's terribly unfair DQ in a Duramed Futures Tour event. While the confusion of determining conforming vs. non-conforming wedges could be chalked up to a USGA rule implementation issue, you really have to wonder about the official who pulled her off the course. I'm guessing a retired school principal type missing the days of major power displays.
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2010 U.S. Women's Open Open Thread

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Sorry I'm late to posting this but after reading a Tweet from F.X. Flynn (below) I realized that I'm missing an NBC telecast involving Johnny Miller and Oakmont!  A 63 drinking game is in order, if it's not already underway at households around the land. And as for this thread, any other rants you'd like to post about the rapid pace of play are always welcome.

"For one or two days of the Women’s Open, the second hole will be set up to play as a drivable 250-yard par 4."

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Bradley Klein notes what should make for even more interesting viewing at this week's Women's U.S. Open.

That will make the hole doubly interesting, because the lay-up – dealing with that mid-fairway bunker short of the green – would be no simple matter. As for trying to drive the green, players would face a formidable challenge thanks to six greenside bunkers. Depending on the hole location, being short-sided would leave a near-impossible recovery and place par very much in doubt.

“The L.P.G.A. needs its stars right now.”

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Reader Tim enjoyed Karen Crouse's pre-U.S. Women's Open look at the role motherhood plays in LPGA career decisions, focusing on Cristie Kerr's choice to put off child rearing to purse her career. But as Tim notes, there is one major oversight in the piece: 2009 Women's Open Championship winner Catriona Matthew, who won just eleven weeks after giving birth.
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“That’s almost too good."

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What an astonishing 12-shot win by Cristie Kerr in Sunday's LPGA Championship.

“That’s almost too good,” Miyazato said, figuring 8 under would be good enough to win the tournament. “She’s just amazing. I played really good, too, but she is just better than me.”

Kerr’s rise comes with women’s golf going through a changing of the guard. In April, Lorena Ochoa followed Annika Sorenstam into retirement, leaving a vacuum at the top.

Kerr will become the third player at No. 1 in the past three weeks. Miyazato supplanted Shin last week by winning the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her fourth victory of the year.

Americans have won only four of the past 14 majors, with Kerr winning two of them. Americans also have won only six of the past 34 LPGA events, with Kerr winning three times.

Randall Mell wonders if we're seeing an transformative moment for the new world No. 1.

Kerr was a chubby, prickly teen who didn’t make friends easily when she first hit the tour, but she’s evolved. There’s evidence of that in the foundation she established to help fight breast cancer after her mother was diagnosed with the disease. There’s her well documented physical transformation that’s landed her on the cover of women’s magazines, and there’s the social transformation. She counts Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel as close friends. She credits her husband, Erik Stevens, for helping her evolve since they married in ‘06.

“I’ve won one tournament without my husband,” Kerr said. “I’ve won all the others with him. He’s been one of the biggest influences on me becoming a better person, changing and evolving and giving back.”

Unfortunately, for Kerr’s fellow competitors, the evolution hasn’t softened the little warrior within who wants to kick their butts.