Condi On USGA Fast Track?

Jim Achenbach reports that Condoleeza Rice will be on the 2012 USGA Nominating Committee and may be on the fast track to the Executive Committee.

In addition to Rice, other members of the 2012 Nominating Committee will be former USGA presidents Fred Ridley and Walter Driver, along with three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Sarah LeBrun Ingram and M.J. Mastalir of Denver.

The announcement of the 2012 Nominating Committee will be made at the USGA’s Annual Meeting, which concludes Feb. 5 in Phoenix.

“We’re certainly interested in having highly qualified women involved in leadership roles,” said current USGA President Jim Hyler, who will serve his second one-year term in 2011.

“We’re excited to have Condoleezza Rice participating in the nominating process. She brings a lot to our organization, although I should say that the slate is wide open for women in the USGA. You don’t have to be famous like she is. We look forward to welcoming more women across the board, both as volunteers and as staff.”

Frankly I'm shocked. After all, with Fred Ridley and Walter Driver, who value loyalty over competance, how can an iconoclastic, independent thinker like Condi fit in with those two? I smell trouble!