Natalie Gulbis Contemplating Run For Congress...

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First she spoke at the Republican National Convention and now it seems Natalie Gulbis has politics in her system. The former LPGA Tour player and former Celebrity Apprentice contestant is taking meetings this week to discuss running for Nevada's third congressional district, reports the Nevada Independent's Jon Ralston.

He writes of the possible competitors and includes this from a strategist:

One well-connected Nevada GOP strategist put it this way: “I think there is intrigue and she definitely has some interest but everyone, including Natalie, is trying to figure out whether it is the right fit. NRCC is casting a wide net and they rarely engage pre-primary.”

Kevin Casey has a Golfweek roundup of Gulbis tweeting her way around Washington D.C.

Meet So Yeon Ryu's Caddie: Tom Watson

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With So Yeon Ryu rising to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, Randall Mell takes the opportunity to tell us about the talented golfer and her longtime, devoted caddie Tom Watson.
And that’s pretty much the story of Ryu’s loyal and talented caddie.

Mell writes:

The Aussie Watson’s father was a top-level amateur, a great golf fan.

“My dad watched Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus to win The Open at Turnberry in ’77, and he just loved it,” Ryu’s caddie said. “He knew Tom Watson was a special player. I was born eight months later, and my dad just said, ‘Well, screw it, we’re naming him Tom Watson.’ Unfortunately, he made my middle name Jack, after Jack Nicklaus. So, you know, I was always going to have issues.”

Watson’s father was friends with Ian Baker Finch, another Open champion, and Aussie pro Michael Clayton.

“They knew my dad was completely insane naming me Tom Watson,” Watson said.

Sigh: Lexi Declines To Talk To All Media Pre-KPMG

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With the KPMG Women's PGA at Olympia Fields, the women's second major would seemingly be a good spot for Lexi Thompson to return to some normalcy after her brutal penalty strokes at the last major.

Instead, Lisa Cornwell reports for Golf Central, Thompson is declining all media requests. This is especially a shame given Thompson's likability, star qualities and age. Hopefully it's a short term situation.




Must Read: "Threat of stalkers, trolls makes social media complicated for LPGA players"

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Beth Ann Nichols files a Golfweek.com eye-opener on the social media ramifications for LPGA Tour players.

From the security issues to sponsorship opportunities won and lost, it's a fascinating look into the risks players take in sharing more about their lives.

Just one of the many revealing bits from LPGA Tour Security Director Joe Funk, who says he spends about 60 percent of his time tackling social media related issues for players.

Funk also warns against players posting too much private information about their schedules. Geotags, for example, make public the real-time GPS location of a player’s whereabouts.

Though in the case of four-time winner Wie, something as innocuous as a Tweet about a sunrise practice session at the LPGA stop in Portland, Ore., a few years back turned alarmingly bizarre.

It didn’t take long for security to notice the man in the powder blue suit and floppy hat at 6 a.m. Turns out he took a bus from Iowa to Portland to propose to Wie.

“We took him to the hotel and put him on a bus back to Iowa,” Funk said. The man showed up once more in Rochester, N.Y., but hasn’t been heard from since.

Flashback: LPGA Commish On Golf Digest's Paulina Cover

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With an LPGA tournament holding a Twitter poll to determine a sponsor's invitation, there is an apparent blessing from Commissioner Mike Whan that seems inconsistent with the outrage his organization directed at Golf Digest two years ago.

To recap: Golf Digest put Paulina Gretzky on the May 2014 cover and many in the women's golf world were outraged given how few females had ever graced the front page. And when a woman did make the cover, it was not one of the LPGA's many stars.

Whan at the time:

"Obviously, we're disappointed and frustrated by the editorial direction (and timing) Golf Digest has chosen with the announcement of its most recent magazine cover," Whan said in a statement released Friday. The tour's first major of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, began on Thursday at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

"If a magazine called Golf Digest is interested in showcasing females in the game, yet consistently steers away from the true superstars who've made history over the last few years, something is clearly wrong. ... 'Growing the game' means a need for more role models and in these exciting times for women's golf, the LPGA is overflowing with them."

At the time, it was surprising that Whan to disrupt his tour's first major championship of the season given the importance of that event and the reduced importance of magazines or their covers. But given his membership's strong feelings about media emphasis of sex appeal over on-course accomplishment, many could understand why he spoke out.

Fast forward three years and the ShopRite LPGA Classic is essentially holding a beauty contest between four non-LPGA Tour members for a field spot. Only one of the four is on the Rolex Rankings (Booth at No. 365).

Golf Digest was trying to sell magazines and generate attention. No professional golfer was harmed by the cover.

But the ShopRite exemption could go to a promising Symetra Tour player in need of starts. Or a recent college golfer looking to "showcase" the start of her career could benefit. Instead, a spot in an LPGA Tour event will go to an attractive but undeserving player in large part to get the tournament attention.

Maybe Whan and the LPGA will think twice about letting this happen again? Because they risk losing credibility the next time a player is passed over because she doesn't fit someone's idea of what sells.

John Feinstein and I debated today on Golf Central:

LPGA Tour Event Giving Field Spot To Twitter Poll Winner

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And there is something these four finalists have in common. I've been trying to put a finger on it...just can't quite get it. Anyway, they are the lucky four, that we know!

Here is the ShopRite LPGA Classic Tweet, and do make sure to go read the fan backlash. While I'm all for sponsors invites being used as an event sees fit, the response on Twitter suggests this stunt may backfire.

As GolfDigest.com's Alex Myers notes, the tournament is working with MVP Index on this idea. That is the media tracking firm founded by Shawn Spieth, father of Jordan.

Kerr Apologizes For Slow Play; LPGA Still Mum On The Insanity Of Playing The Same (Lame) Hole Six Times

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Credit Cristie Kerr for taking to Twitter to (sort of) apologize for her deliberate tactics in Sunday's Volunteers of America Shootout. But the silence from the LPGA Tour, which damaged its product in the name of bringing golfers back to corporate tents over and over again, and noted here in Randall Mell's GolfChannel.com rant. The move did a disservice to Las Colinas Country Club and the tournament. Given that this is not the first time a playoff has done this merry-go-round, the tour deserves the hits being leveled.

The Kerr Tweets:

 

 

LPGA Nightmare: Playoff Tests The 18th Hole Six Times, Cristie Kerr Slow Plays

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The LPGA had a chance to share the spotlight with a rain-delayed Zurich Classic on Golf Channel, and while the network (in my biased view) did a solid job managing a real traffic jam, they could not overcome the LPGA product failings.

Namely that the tour, even after criticism following past deja-vu-all-over-again fiascos, insisted on conducting a sudden death playoff on only one hole. That would be Las Colinas's less-than-perfect 18th hole.

This meant eventual winner Haru Nomura and slow-poke Cristie Kerr played the 18th hole six excruciating times.

And then there was Kerr, who played at a painfully slow clip and was eventually called out by lead analyst Judy Rankin for trying to slow play her opponent. Twitter appreciated Rankin's tough call.

 Rooting for Cristie Kerr to lose now. Glad Judy Rankin finally called her out for the ridiculous slow play. Rather see PGA finish only here.

To be clear, none of this taints Nomura's win in the Volunteers of America Shootout. In fact, the world No. 18 ability to channel Kerr's gamesmanship and the lousy playoff hole makes it that much more impressive.

Will Gray at GolfChannel.com on how this does, however, taint the LPGA:

The LPGA should have learned from that particularly monotonous ending, but apparently they did not. So let Sunday’s anticlimactic conclusion outside Dallas serve as final reinforcement that any playoff rotation that calls for the same hole over and over needs to be thrown away and promptly re-written.

The LPGA should have learned from that particularly monotonous ending, but apparently they did not. So let Sunday’s anticlimactic conclusion outside Dallas serve as final reinforcement that any playoff rotation that calls for the same hole over and over needs to be thrown away and promptly re-written.

Lexi Finally Explains "The Mark" & It All Sounds Pretty Innocent

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Reading Randall Mell's GolfChannel.com account and hearing Lexi Thompson speak, she would have made a strong case for herself if the "reasonable judgement" and "naked eye" Decisions had allowed her to. Now that the Rules of Golf do so, it's hard to see how Thompson is penalized under the revised rules given her explanation of what happened in the 2017 ANA Inspiration.

From Mell's story:

Thompson said she marked the 15-inch putt because her father told her not to rush short putts in majors. She also said she twisted the ball slightly before returning it to its mark, because she uses a dot on the ball as a focal point for making her stroke.

Thompson was asked a second time to explain how video came to show her returning her ball to a different spot on her mark, a violation that many of  her fellow players agree warranted the first two-shot penalty.
“I have seen the video, and I can see where they’re coming from with it,” Thompson said. “It might have been, I guess, me rotating the ball, but like I said, I’ve always played by the Rules of Golf. Growing up with two older brothers, they were always on me for playing by the Rules of Golf.

“There’s no need for me to improve anything. Those greens were absolutely perfect, and the whole week there was nothing in my line to be moving it from anything. So, I have no reason behind it. I did not mean it at all.”

And only after slowing down and zooming in does anyone think she "did" something, which is why we have the new decision.

The press conference video from GolfChannel.com:

Stacy Lewis On New Video Rules Decision: “It didn’t really clarify anything.”

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Ron Sirak writing for ESPN wonders why the LPGA just doesn't invoke local rules to address call-in rulings and scorecard issues. And after reading the comments from players interviewed by Randall Mell, it's obvious the players might start pushing that option.

While I was left a very confused about where Stacey Lewis stands on the Lexi situation based on her comments to Mell, she was clear in her view that Tuesday's emergency Decision adds confusion from the player's perspective.

Catriona Matthew agreed. From Mell's GolfChannel.com report:

“I think it muddies the water even more,” Matthew said. “That puts the rules officials in a much harder position. What do they call a judgment call?”

If Matthew had her way, viewers wouldn’t be able to call in violations, which would have spared Thompson the penalties.

“I don’t think you should be able to phone in after the fact,” Matthew said.

Mell: Lexi Thompson Has Many Questions To Answer

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I doubt anyone wants this Wednesday's Lexi Thompson press conference at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout to turn into the Grand Inquisition, but given Tuesday's expected USGA/R&A announcement inspired by her ANA Inspiration penalty, it sounds like Lexi will get a lot of questions.

By staying quiet since the penalty and not giving her side of the story after the round or since, she's set herself up for a tough press conference, writes Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com.

So, there will be players and fans alike looking for transparency when Thompson meets with media on Wednesday.

After seeing replays, does she agree she committed an infraction?

Or does she think there may be some optical illusion created in the nature of the camerawork?

And why did she come in from the side of the ball to mark it?

Ko Fires Another Caddie, This Time After 2nd Place Finish

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Giving Michelle Wie a strong run for player with a penchant for firing luggage handlers, Lydia Ko is splitting with bagman Gary Matthews after just nine events.

More impressively, after Ko had her best start of 2017, finishing second in this weekend's Lotte Championship.

Beth Ann Nichols reports for Golfweek.

And I think I speak for us all in wishing the next caddie the best of luck later his month when Ko returns at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout.

The move by the world No. 1 also comes not long after Ko moved from instructor David Leadbetter to Gary Gilchrist, and from Callaway to PXG.

Meanwhile Cristie Kerr picked up win number 19 in the Lotte.

Phil On Lexi Situation: "I think it should be reversed"

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Phil Mickelson's comments today on the Lexi Thompson situation make too much sense. Well, maybe not reversing it, but the sentiment is sound in suggesting what a black eye this is for golf.

From The Masters Press Building:

Q.  Curious to get your reaction to what happened to Lexi, and viewers calling in.

    PHIL MICKELSON:  So rather than address that specific instance, what I would say is this:  I know a number of guys on TOUR that are loose with how they mark the ball and have not been called on it.  I mean, they will move the ball two, three inches in front of their mark, and this is an intentional way to get it out of any type of impression and so forth and I think that kind of stuff needs to stop.

    But I think it should be handled within the TOUR.  I think that the TOUR should go to those players and say, look, we've noticed you've been a little lax in how precise you've been in marking the ball.  We'd like you to be a little bit better at it ‑‑ and see if that doesn't just kind of fix the thing.

    Because we've all marked the ball imprecisely, especially when you're standing on the side of the ball like she was and not directly behind the ball, in line with the hole, where it's easy to draw a line.

    And I think that that should have been handled within the LPGA saying, hey, look, you're a little lax in how you're marking the ball.  You need to be careful.  Here's a warning and let's go from there.

    But to have a tournament be decided like that, with all the scenarios going around, as far as viewers calling in, as far as it being a one‑foot putt with really no advantage, just a little bit of loose marking, if you will, something that happens all the time, intentionally and unintentionally, I just think that's ‑‑ I think it should be reversed.  I think that she should be given the trophy.

Poll And Quick Wrap: Lexi's Infraction At The ANA

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Anyone for expediting the Rules of Golf simplification?

I see both sides on this one. Why was Lexi Thompson picking up her ball and twisting her hand? Most likely for alignment purposes but there is always the possibility it was in a spike dent she didn't like. This was not addressed after the round anywhere I can see.

But like the Dustin Johnson situation last year at Oakmont, the evidence seen by someone at home (not apparently known to the rules staff according to this Nichols Golfweek column), was just not strong enough to fit the crime. But I suspect Rules of Golf experts don't agree even as we are likely to not face this situation in 2019.

The infraction, which again needed HD and slow motion to see, and the ensuing mid-round informing of a leader during the final round of a major:

Thompson lost the tournament on the first sudden-death hole to Soyeon Ryu, a fine player who has been trending toward a major win for some time. Sadly though, this one will be remembered for the four-stroke penalty.

From Beth Ann Nichols' Golfweek excellent report from Mission Hills:

LPGA rules official Sue Witters later said she was 100-percent certain that Thompson did not do it intentionally.

“It was a hard thing to do. To be honest, it made me sick.”

The LPGA said she breached USGA Rule 20-7c and Rule 16-1b. She incurred an additional penalty for incorrect scorecards under Rule 6-6d.

Ah the dreaded intent word.

As Missy Jones explains, the rules re-write will address this.

When you need to estimate or measure a spot, point, line, area or distance under a Rule, your reasonable judgment will not be second-guessed based on later evidence (such as video review) if you did all that could reasonably be expected under the circumstances to estimate or measure accurately.

The LPGA's statement:

Your thoughts?

Was the LPGA correct in assessing a penalty to Lexi Thompson for not replacing her ball correctly?
 
pollcode.com free polls
 

Recap: Wie Plays With Li

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Michelle Wie's recent resurgence made the first round ANA Inspiration pairing with Lucy Li a lot more fun given a former prodigy was able to enjoy seeing the game's future before her eyes.

Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com with Wie's fun reaction to getting an up-close look at 14-year-old Li.

How does Wie remember reactions to her debut?

“They were just like, `Damn, she's big,” Wie cracked.

Wie is 6 feet tall today, and she was practically that tall when she played her way into the final Sunday pairing with Annika Sorenstam back in 2003.

Li is nearly a foot shorter and petite.

“I was walking behind her on No. 1, and I'm like, `She's really cute,’” Wie said. “No one really called me that when I was 13. `Damn, she tall.’ That's all I got.”

Wie made herself laugh, and that’s what kind of day this pairing was. It was a feel-good match of the veteran and phenom.

Wie posted a 68 and Li a 71 before first round play was suspended.