Stacy Lewis Pushing For Firmer, Faster LPGA Courses

In another I'll file under "how far pros have come" in the last five years, it was fun to see Stacy Lewis yearning for firmer, faster conditions and not just declaring today's players superior to their predecessors.

I could do without her love of rough, but two out of three is still amazing.

And it's her reasoning that may be the best part. Randall Mell reports for GolfChannel.com from Mission Hills as the ANA Inspiration is about to begin:

Three of the year’s first tournaments were won with 72-hole record scores. The average winning score this year is 20 under par. The LPGA’s last major, the Evian Championship, was won by In Gee Chun at 21 under, the lowest score by a man or woman in major championship history.

“I definitely think play has gotten better, but I’ve also noticed over the last year and a half that our golf courses have gotten a lot softer,” Lewis said. “Softer golf courses mean you don’t have to think as much. You can be more aggressive and you can go at pins. There’s not as much penalty for a bad shot.

65 At 56: Inkster One Off Founders Cup Lead

Maybe it's that so many LPGA players are getting younger by the day, but 56-year-old Juli Inkster's 65 should remind Solheim Cup players later this year that the captain's still got game.

Randall Mell from Phoenix on the impressive start by Inkster.

This is Inkster’s 35th year in the LPGA. She’s an LPGA Hall of Famer with 31 tour titles, including seven major championships. She is 10 years older than the oldest player to win an LPGA title.

“I’ve been working hard on my game and it’s nice to see some results,” Inkster said.

Inbee Park Is Back (Again) And Incredible Again

She turned up in Rio, won the gold medal and seemed to be setting the stage for a walk-off (career) win. Turns out, Inbee Park took six months off and beat a top field in the HSBC Women's Champions. And seems to be back? Maybe?

Either way, the Inbee legend grows and becomes more intriguing if she continues to play a limited schedule, especially when she hits turns up to hit 64 of 72 greens and 55 of 56 fairways in beating an elite leaderboard that included Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and a resurgent Michelle Wie.

Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek reports on the win and Park's ability to post incredible numbers off a layoff.

“Today was pretty much, everything I looked at, it wanted to drop in,” said Park, who hit 17 greens (her first miss coming on the 18th hole) and took only 27 putts.

It wasn’t that long ago that an ailing Park struggled to finish tournaments to even qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. A lingering thumb injury made her future on tour seem doubtful. But then she shocked the golf world in Rio by taking Olympic gold after a two-month break.

At the HSBC Women’s Champions, Park stunned once again, winning in only her second start since last August.

In the winner's circle with Inbee Park! #hsbcwomenschamps

A post shared by LPGA Tour (@lpga_tour) on Mar 5, 2017 at 12:33am PST

One Rule Change (Almost) All Agree On: The Caddie Lineup

While I'm still reading through many of the new Rules of Golf language and many responses, I'm certain nearly everyone is ecstatic to see the new rule preventing caddies from lining up players.

Not only was it inconsistent with rules attempting to unify the professional and amateur game, but also contradicted efforts to speed up the game.

Caddies lining up players also undermined respect for LPGA Tour players, who were most likely to take advantage of this rules book gap. With that in mind, Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com explores what this means for the LPGA Tour and while most were positive, there was one player not pleased.

Brittany Lincicome, however, didn’t seem pleased.

“I disagree!” Lincicome tweeted. “Lining up players has nothing to do with pace of play. I get 40 [seconds], I should be able to do what I want!”

Lincicome tweeted a pair of angry emojis after her comment.

The story goes on to explore some of the dynamics of why female tour players rely on caddies to line them up. Now that the rule will be changed, this freed up the opinions of Jerry Foltz and Karen Stupples are the most forthright that I've read.

“I think women in general are more likely to delegate stuff to other people,” Stupples said. “I think it’s about reassurance more than anything else. I think that’s just conditioning. When you have someone behind you saying, `You’re good,’ that’s just confirmation.”

That is why the practice had to go.

LPGA At 22 Domestic Events, U.S. Women's Open A $5M Purse

The momentum of the LPGA Tour's business side continues under Commissioner Mike Whan's tenure, with purse increases at the majors and 22 events in the United States (but three domestic events disappear, including the Swinging Skirts at Lake Merced). 

Randall Mell notes the new events for GolfChannel.com as well as the purse increases.

The new schedule features four new events, the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Ladies Open, the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open, the Indy Women in Tech event at Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis and the Thornberry Creek Classic in Green Bay, Wis.

This Golfweek report notes the return of match play in a revamped Lorena Ochoa Invitational and the USGA's $1 million purse increase at the U.S. Women's Open.

On the match play event and the dying events.

The biggest surprise of Wednesday’s announcement is that match play will return to the LPGA schedule for the first time since 2012. The Lorena Ochoa Invitational, a tournament that struggled to get a strong field in recent years, will transition into the Lorena Ochoa Match Play and will feature a field of 64. The event will also move from the fall to the spring and will be held at Club de Golf México in Mexico City, the tournament site since 2014.

Three domestic events, the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic (Prattville, Ala.), Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic (Daly City, Calif.), and Coates Golf Championship (Ocala, Fla.) will not return. 2017 will mark the first time the LPGA hasn’t competed on a Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail property in 19 years.

What's Up With The State Of America's Women Golfers?

As the LPGA wraps up its season, Bill Fields tackles the sensitive topic of American women's golf. Sensitive because it's usually just chalked up to South Korean golfers working harder. But as Fields notes, the issue may be something both straightforward and difficult to address given the already robust college golf system.

Writing for ESPNW, Fields says...

Talented female golfers in other parts of the world frequently are immersed in golf at younger ages through organized channels of a national scope -- federations or associations charged with developing and supporting young talent. No existing American entity has that responsibility.

"It really is a missing link here," says Hall of Famer and 31-time LPGA winner Juli Inkster. "Places are trying to grow the game but not really grow individuals. We don't have a federation to push our young athletic girls into golf, and we've come to a point where we need a federation to really grow top-level golfers. I'm not saying our girls aren't good, because they are. But they've grown up in a different type of golf atmosphere."

Impressive: '21 Solheim Cup Going To Inverness

Few gems have served the game better than Inverness. Even having grown too short for the modern ball and having seen a few holes badly defaced by the Fazio's, Donald Ross's design retains a character that few other inland courses enjoy. The joint first tee, the walkability factor, the character-rich holes and the golf-first approach of the membership makes it a such an important course for all to see.

Yet Inverness has had trouble luring a significant event, so news of it getting the 2021 Solheim Cup is both tremendous for fans and for the cup. Of the upcoming Solheim Cup courses--Des Moines Golf & CC, Gleneagles--it's easily the best. In fact, of all professsional Cup courses currently scheduled, this is the best architecturally. It's just a shame we have to wait so long.

Randell Mell with all the details at GolfChannel.com.

Ran Morrissett filed this review in 2014 while also previewing some improvements to the course.