Everyone is anticipating a Lorena Ochoa (pictured)-Annika Sorenstam duel (numbers one and two in the world, respectively; click here for the current women’s world rankings) this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota, but as Tiger and Phil show us time and time again, rarely do these much-hyped #1-2 scenarios pan out. Golfobserver.com has a ton of preview stories relating to the Open, though I’ve highlighted a few here. Mark Craig posits that Ochoa is “part Tiger Woods, part Mother Teresa.” Beth Ann Baldry reports that Suzann Pettersen is returning to the site of her “grand introduction at the 2002 Solheim Cup [when] the spirited Norwegian burst onto the [golfing] scene.” Doug Ferguson writes that Michelle Wie “feels like a new person.” South Africa will have its collective eyes on the 19-year-old “star-in-the-making” Ashleigh Simon, according to Grant Winter. 19 is old though compared with 14, per the Argentinian Victoria Tanco, who already states she has no plans to attend college before turning pro. Tanco practices at the IMG Academies in Florida and is accompanied to the U.S. by her mother. At 14, however, she’s already getting a lot of praise by her IMG teachers. But 13 trumps 14, making Alexis Thompson (who played in last year’s Open as a 12 year old!) the field’s youngest competitor. Gene Wojciechowski is Captain Obvious when he states that “Ochoa is worth watching” this week. ESPN’s “experts” weigh in with their Open predictions here. And speaking of predictions, Ron Sirak profiles some of the tournament’s contenders. Finally, Bob Sansevere has a nice sit down with Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competitions for the USGA, the man of the hour who has the privilege of setting up the course conditions for USGA Championships and, after Torrey Pines, is getting much praise for his somewhat novel ideas of “graduated rough” and drivable par-4’s to the USGA’s once bland-albeit-butcherous repertoire of course setup. Craig, though, did an even better Davis interview.
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Defending U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr (pictured) played her practice round at Interlachen Tuesday with Dr. Joseph Parent of Zen Golf in tow. Parent is no stranger to the professional golf world, as you can see by his ever-growing client list. While observing Kerr’s game, he spoke to her about the importance of visualizing her shots and getting herself in the right frame of mind in order to execute properly. Kerr was playing alongside Natalie Gulbis, Kelli Kuehne and (for the first nine holes), Morgan Pressel. Kerr, it should be noted, is considered a strong favorite, if for no other reason that her victory last year came on a very similar Donald Ross layout.
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Matt Egan at FOX Business wrote that Tiger’s injury “will likely have a negative financial impact on the PGA, television networks and even some of the many companies like Nike that sponsor Woods.” In fact, Steve Dennis, the PGA Tour’s senior director of communications, recently told the L.A. Times that when Woods plays in the bigger tournaments and finishes in the top five, Sunday afternoon television ratings average 4.3. Without him, ratings fall 26% to 3.4. And Greg Johnson of the L.A. Times speculated on a “ripple effect” from Tiger’s absence. However, because the Tour has already negotiated deals with the networks, advertisers and tournament corporate sponsors, how much money will the Tour per se really lose? Even a decrease in attendance at certain tournaments Tiger normally plays in cannot be assumed, since presumably the majority of those tickets had already been sold.
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It seems that every sports writer in the world had something to say about this year’s U.S. Open. Pat Forde asked if this was in fact the greatest U.S. Open ever. PTI wondered if it was the greatest of Woods’ career? Jason Sobel argued no, citing the ’97 Masters. Tim Rosaforte examined the latest chapter in the curious incident of Phil Mickelson (and his no-so-trusty 3-wood) in the U.S. Open. And Ron Sirak reflected on what the epic prime time duel means for the future of golf.
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Many casual golf fans may never have heard of Rocco Mediate prior to Torrey Pines. But Rocco’s always been a favorite with golf fans, as well as one of the more popular players in the Tour locker room. Aside from a few moments of brilliance however, his game has historically lacked the flash or consistency necessary to ever be considered among those of the elite. That said, Rocco showed that in golf, like in all sports, on any given Sunday (or Monday)…
And you can bet that Rocco’s Q rating jumped considerably over the U.S. Open weekend. In fact, Mike Dudurich wrote that Rocco was “riding an emotional high” despite the playoff loss, and that agent Frank Zoracki’s phone was ringing off the hook. Jason Sobel wrote about the newfound demand on Rocco’s time: “[he] granted one-on-one interviews to CNN, Fox News, the BBC, CBS Sports and the Golf Channel. He sat down on the set of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He did every radio interview from Fox Sports (Dan Patrick, Tim Brando) to 2YK Radio in Sydney, Australia. ESPN? Yes, Rocco drove through our “car wash,” appearing on SportsCenter, Pardon the Interruption, First Take, Mike and Mike in the Morning, the Tirico and Van Pelt Show and — coming soon to a Web site near you — ESPN.com, as we placed him on the Hot Seat for a Q&A that will run in advance of this week’s Buick Open coverage. And, yes, there were even potential interviews that Mediate had to turn down, too, including invitations from all three major network morning programs. ‘There have been so any requests,’ said his agent, Zoracki. ‘You just can’t do them all.'” Sobel also noted, however, that “Zoracki intimated that a possible book deal is also currently in the works.” And here’s hoping the 45-year old Mediate–“Rock” as Tiger fondly calls him–finds himself in contention again.
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Nice article in John Huggan’s Guardian blog on Lee Westwood, once ranked 4th in the world way back when, and long since written off by many a golf pundit. Westwood spent the week with close friend and agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler (founder of International Sports Management), who not only had a personal chef from Merry Ole England flown in (bangers and mash, anyone?), but also had a helicopter on hand, ready to whisk his client away to the airport at tournament’s end. Despite failing to win, Westwood seemed energized by his performance and feels that he has the game to win a major. Chandler was a bit more succinct with his sentiments. “It’s about time he won one of these [majors],” he said. And speaking of Chandler, I found this article on him from two years back in the Telegraph which is worth a read.
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Remember when Vijay Singh’s caddy wore a hat that said “Tiger Who?” on the side? That was silly. But his latest comment on British golfers was just stupid, especially since ‘the Big Fijian’ hasn’t exactly made his presence felt on the course in quite awhile.
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The college season has given way to the summer amateur golf circuit, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look ahead to this fall. Ryan Herrington gives a sneak peak at the 2008-2009 campaign over with his Campus Insider blog, and over at Golfweek Ron Baliki reports that “when the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Championship takes place at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, it will feature a new – and suddenly controversial – format.”
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Sal Johnson breaks down this week’s Buick Open. The real question is whether, a la the tree falling in the woods phenomenon, the suddenly Tiger-less tournament still means as much to golf fans and viewers alike.
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Those needing to get caught up with the 2008 Nationwide Tour season can do so with this “near mid-year mark” review over at PGATour.com.
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Ryuji Imada, the 2008 AT&T Classic champion, launches his new website, www.RyujiGolf.com.
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