Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do.  This week we have a great golf course, a host who can't attend, and a huge sponsor who is putting up a very big purse.  The guy who would probably win the tournament he is laid up, leaving a very big check up for grabs.  Add to that a July 4th weekend in the nation's capital with one of the best fireworks shows and celebrations anywhere - great family time. (hint hint Mr Family guy...aka Phil "hide behind the kids" Mickelson)

PERFECT !  Here's a chance to pick up some big time dollars and a lot of Fed Ex Cup points normally reserved for one Tiger Woods.  Who could ask for anything more ?

Apparently almost everybody ranked in the top 10 on the money and Fed Ex Cup points lists has something better to do.  Just two, count 'em, TWO members of the top 10 (6 more from 10-20) are on hand for the AT&T National, hosted by Tiger Woods.  Ryuji Imada (6) and Anthony Kim (10) are the two top tenners.

Must be saving their energy for the John Deere Classic.  Oh wait - Team Phil is probably over in England measuring and mapping every square inch of Royal Birkdale trying to decide if he really needs a driver OR a three wood to make room for a 6th wedge at The British Open.

Well, on the cover of Golf World anyway. The issue that arrived in the mail today is the issue covering Tiger Woods' surgery, and also includes the magazine's coverage of the recently completed U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. On the cover is Tiffany blurbage:

TIFFANY JOH
A lot better
than she thinks

The blurb refers to Tiffany's tendency to, ahem, "downplay" her abilities. You can read the article here.

The queen of self-deprecation was at it again, trying out new material at the 32nd U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. Tiffany Joh swears her game is never more than one swing away from ruin. ...

As often happens with Joh's tales of woe, there was a problem of truthiness to contend with: specifically all those red numbers beside the San Diego native's name on the leader board. An eagle and 36 birdies in 116 holes? The calligrapher can't get credit for all of them.

The article's author, Ryan Herrington, says more about the T-Joh in a blog post titled "Joh is more competitive than she lets on."

He concludes his Golf World article thusly:

Does Joh's pessimistic outlook inhibit her competitiveness? Some wonder how good Joh could be if she thought she was any good. Arguably, though, they are missing the point. No matter how low her expectations, Joh never stops trying to win. And isn't that the true sign of a champion?

He also passes on a haiku Tiff wrote that was included in the USGA media profile:

Haikus are easy
but sometimes they don't make sense
refrigerator

It's definitely an interesting time to be ranking the Super Sophs in particular and the Young Guns in general. Before the start of the season, I went out on a limb and predicted that we'll start seeing the best of them play a major role in the Player of the Year race, and I was duly impressed by Inbee Park when I watched her play the last few holes with Ai Miyazato at the Wegmans a couple of Saturdays ago, but even I have to admit to being blown away by Park's and Eun-Hee Ji's back-to-back wins. The Super Sophs have now tied the Class of 2008 in victories this season and overall majors, but both still trail the Junior Mints by 2 total wins. I wonder who will be next in the Young Gun victory parade? Here are the top Super Soph prospects.

Simply the Best

1. Inbee Park: From #5 to #1 in 3 months--that's what getting hot will do for you in this class. That and becoming the youngest winner in U.S. Women's Open history! She's been riding her putter thus far this season; if her ballstriking doesn't improve, she's vulnerable to runs from her peers.

2. Eun-Hee Ji: Her win at the Wegmans shouldn't have been all that surprising, given her 4 victories on the KLPGA and her gaining exempt status in only a handful of starts as a rookie. If she can putt like she did at Locust Hill the rest of the season, she'll be the #1 in her class by season's end. But she needs to make more birdies more consistently just to hold steady.

3. Angela Park: The former #1 has given her peers a lot of help the past few months, but hopefully her T3 at the Open means her putter is coming back online for her. She needs something to go right for her--she's dropped all the way from #9 to #26 in my Best of the LPGA ranking system in the past 6 months.

The Contenders

4. In-Kyung Kim: Like Angela Park, this former #2 in her class had a great Open, but what a long drought between her top 10 at the HSBC Women's Champions and her feats at Interlachen. I've heard injuries had something to do with it, so let's hope she's healthy for the rest of the season.

5. Song-Hee Kim: The second-highest-ranked Super Soph in my Best of the LPGA system, she would be at the top of her class if she hadn't let that 1 bad round back into her most recent tournaments.

6. Jane Park: Still not making as many birdies or cuts as a player of her obvious talents ought to be, but her accomplishments in her 1st full season on tour show how much potential the current leader in the "best career-to-be among the LPGA's Parks" Waggle Room poll has.

Quantum Leap Candidates

7. Na On Min: Struggling by the standards she set for herself last season when she won her card as a non-exempt player, but a lock to win her card again.

8. Ji Young Oh: On of the nice surprises of her class this season. She's shown she can go low and put herself in contention, but she still has a tendency to blow up on Sundays.

9. Jin Joo Hong: This 2-time KLPGA winner (including, like Junior Mint Jee Young Lee, a surprise win at the Asian Swing's joint KLPGA-LPGA event) definitely has the potential to excel on the LPGA, but she needs to make more birdies if she plans to keep her card.

10. Kristy McPherson: Now that this non-exempt player has locked up her card for 2009, she can focus on improving her putting and getting more birdies.

11. Irene Cho: Another non-exempt player who locked up her card for 2009, she's been less consistent than McPherson but got a top 10 at the LPGA Championship. Now she can get to work on her ballstriking.

12. Charlotte Mayorkas: Slumping badly lately, but can still keep her card if her ballstriking and putting both come around....

As always, I show my work at Mostly Harmless--and rank the rest of the class.

The USGA Rules site has an update to the rule that caught Stewart Cink at the Zurich Classic earlier this year.  Too little - too late for Cink.

His ball came to rest outside of a fairway bunker, but he had to step into the bunker to see where his best stance would be.  That shot ended up in a greenside bunker.  He raked his footprints from the fairway bunker before moving to the greenside bunker - and broke Rule 13-4, then signed for an incorrect scorecard when he didn't include the penalty strokes.

Rule 13-4 says: “Except as provided in the Rules, before making a stroke at a ball that is in a hazard … the player must not:

a. Test the condition of the hazard or any similar hazard; …”

Since then, they have "reconsidered" that rule and released a new decision and a statement.  Better late than never...unless you're Stewart Cink and this silly rule bites you on the backside.

The R&A, USGA Announce Position On Raking A Similar Hazard

The Joint Rules Committee (JRC), consisting of representatives of the Rules of Golf Committees of The R&A and the United States Golf Association, have issued an interpretation of Rule 13-4a with respect to testing the condition of a similar hazard (whether a bunker or a water hazard). At its customary April meeting, the JRC reviewed several issues relating to Rule 13-4 (Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions), including some that were carried over for resolution from the previous quadrennial Rules revision cycle. One such question was whether a player whose ball lies in a bunker may smooth sand to tidy up another bunker, even though he had not made a stroke from that other bunker.

After discussion, the JRC agreed on the following position, effective immediately:

Rule 13-4a prohibits a player from testing the condition of the hazard in which his ball lies or a similar hazard. Yet Exception 3 to the Rule, which was introduced in 2008, allows a player to test the condition of one hazard after playing from that hazard into a similar hazard. Although Decision 13-4/0.5 lists smoothing a bunker with a rake, club or otherwise as an example of testing the condition of the hazard, the Etiquette Section of the Rules of Golf provides that "Before leaving a bunker, players should carefully fill up and smooth over all holes and footprints made by them and any nearby made by others."

It is not the intent of Rule 13-4a to prohibit players from practicing the proper etiquette of the game when more than one bunker is involved. Therefore, when the player's ball lies in a bunker, it would not be a breach of the Rules if the player were to smooth the sand in another bunker, provided (a) the smoothing is for the purpose of tidying up the bunker, (b) the smoothing does not breach Rule 13-2 (Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play) with respect to his next stroke and (c) there is not a reasonable possibility that the smoothing could affect a subsequent stroke by the player.

If the player were to smooth sand in the bunker in which his ball lies prior to making his first stroke in that bunker, he would be in breach of Rule 13-4a.

While the JRC does not normally make public the results of its deliberations outside the updates of the Decisions on the Rules of Golf every two years and the Rules of Golf every four years, The R&A and the USGA do informally answer questions about the Rules of Golf as those questions arise. Questions have arisen in connection with a recent ruling involving Stewart Cink at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In that situation, the player incurred a penalty for smoothing sand in a bunker from which he had not made a stroke, when his ball lay in another bunker -- a ruling that followed the USGA's Rules of Golf Committee's position at that time. To avoid such an act being a breach of the Rules in the future, the JRC has decided to make public its agreed position on smoothing a similar hazard.

I closed April's ranking of the Best of the LPGA with this comment on Lorena Ochoa's dominance: "No one can stay in the zone forever...." After the loss of her uncle and grandfather, I'm sorry to see her sublime play come to an end. But the 2nd half of the season becomes even more interesting, doesn't it, when anyone can win any given week?

Who has the best chance to make up the most ground on Ochoa this summer? Let's find out by combining the most recent results from the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the LPGA Official Money List, and Hound Dog's Top 30.  (For #21-35, head on over to Mostly Harmless!)

Despite her recent struggles, there's no question who's #1:

1. Lorena Ochoa: #1 money ($2.03M), #1 RR (19.46), #1 GSPI (68.00), #1 HD. She still leads in almost every single significant statistical category the LPGA keeps track of, but the gap between her and her closest competitors is closing. More important, her run of utter dominance is over. The LPGA's Young Guns are gaining in confidence; with each win by one of their peers, it makes the rest of them wonder why they haven't yet done it. Rookies Louise Friberg and Ya Ni Tseng and Junior Mint Seon Hwa Lee woke up Super Sophs Eun-Hee Ji and Inbee Park. Who will be next? With Ochoa not returning to competition for a few weeks, the possibilities are endless....

While it's clear who Ochoa's top competition on tour is and that this chase pack has been gaining on her, it's just as clear that they've been dealing with problems of their own, as symbolized by Suzann Pettersen's and Paula Creamer's inability to close the deal the past 2 weeks (and Jeong Jang's multiple near-misses this season), along with Annika Sorenstam's inability to build on her own dominating win back in mid-May. The only 1 moving up is a rookie--and Tseng's been playing hurt, just like Jang.

2. Annika Sorenstam: #2 money ($1.46M), #2 RR (11.39), #3 GSPI (69.24), #2 HD. If she was putting 1/10th as well as she was striking the ball, she'd have made up some serious ground on Ochoa. As it is, she's missed the top 10 in 4 of 5 tournaments since she ran away with the Michelob Ultra.

3. Paula Creamer: #3 money ($1.06M), #4 RR (8.08), #4 GSPI (69.41), #3 HD. With her final round blow-up at the U.S. Women's Open, she missed her chance to pass Sorenstam and get tha "best player without a major" label off her back at the ripe old age of 21. But she did get her 3rd straight top 10.

4. Ya Ni Tseng: #5 money ($876.8K), #6 RR (6.16), #5 GSPI (69.86), #5 HD. This is not a typo. I'm ranking Tseng ahead of Pettersen. Winning a major will do that for you. With tricep tendonitis, though, she's better think long and hard about getting some rest before the European swing.

5. Suzann Pettersen: #8 money ($729.5K), #3 RR (8.93), #2 GSPI (69.52), #4 HD. After blowing up in the first round of the Open, she outplayed just about everyone over her final 3 rounds. But that's been the story of her season--she's probably playing better than she was last year, but one big round has dashed her hopes for contention. And when she has been in the hunt, she hasn't closed the deal: 3 top 3s but 0 wins will not put her back in the top 4.

6. Jeong Jang: #6 money ($826.0K), #8 RR (5.10), #8 GSPI (70.17), #7 HD. With 5 top 3s this season and missed chances for multiple wins, Jang knows just how Pettersen is feeling. And with a bad wrist, she ought to be considering a short break before the European swing just as Tseng should be.

Surprisingly, there's only 1 player in the top 10 in 3 of the 4 systems:

7. Karrie Webb: #10 money ($524.6K), #5 RR (6.34), #12 GSPI (70.61), #8 HD. She has 3 top 3s but no other top 10s this season. I call it veteran-itis. Don't expect her to remain in the top 10 next ranking. There are too many hungry young guns behind her playing better and more consistent golf than she has been the past 2 years.

The rest of the lead pack has fallen back a bit and can be found in the top 10 in only 2 of the 4 systems (and/or in the top 20 in all):

8. Seon Hwa Lee: #7 money ($738.8K), #14 RR (4.47), #16 GSPI (70.72), #6 HD. Seemed to be coming out of a bad stretch in May but hasn't followed up on her amazing come-from-behind win in the Ginn Tribute.

9. Cristie Kerr: #20 money ($395.4K), #7 RR (5.32), #7 GSPI (70.08), #14 HD. Big disappointment over the weekend at the Open, but she does have 5 straight top 20s, so seems to be overcoming her early-spring inconsistency.

10. Maria Hjorth: #13 money ($457.0K), #10 RR (4.84), #13 GSPI (70.61), #10 HD. Lost to Tseng in a playoff at the LPGA Championship right after missing the cut at the Ginn Tribute. What more can I say to illustrate her inconsistency?

11. Jee Young Lee: #15 money ($436.6K), #13 RR (4.55), #15 GSPI (70.64), #9 HD. Inconsistency has been her demon this season, as well. She's either following up top 10s with a finish in the 50s or sandwiching a missed cut among top 20s. Like Pettersen, made a good comeback after a bad start to the Open, so maybe she's due for better things....

But there's a large group of golfers with a top 10 in 1 system or top 20s in 3 of the 4.

12. Inbee Park: #4 money ($1.01M), #12 RR (4.55), #33 GSPI (71.44), #26 HD. Ever since I proclaimed that she had been passed by a couple of classmates who have much fewer events under their belts, she's been playing great in 2008. And now she's the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Open! I love it when a plan comes together....

13. Na Yeon Choi: #11 money ($508.1K), #39 RR (2.86), #9 GSPI (70.28), #11 HD. Her worst finish on the LPGA (T32) is still her 1st event of the year and she did well to get a top 20 at the Open after competing in Korea the week before. With Tseng's injury and Ueda's lost opportunity on Open Sunday, she may be the favorite for the rookie of the year, even though she's still 97 points behind.

14. Hee-Won Han: #21 money ($395.1K), #29 RR (3.22), #10 GSPI (70.54), #20 HD. The top new mom on tour hasn't played at all well since the Michelob Ultra, but despite her uncharacteristic inconsistency, she still has 2 top 10s in that stretch. Look for her to shake off her terrible Open quickly.

15. Song-Hee Kim: #9 money ($553.4K), #56 RR (2.00), #40 GSPI (71.74), #12 HD. Was one of the hottest players on tour in the spring, but has shown signs of her early-season shakiness since her 3rd-place finish at the Ginn Tribute.

16. Mi Hyun Kim: #30 money ($338.5K), #16 RR (4.18), #11 GSPI (70.60), #16 HD. Her T6 at the Open was the 3rd straight top 10 in a major for the player with my vote for the "best w/o a major" title. Unfortunately, she has a bad history at the British Open....

17. Christina Kim: #17 money ($421.7K), #35 RR (2.92), #14 GSPI (70.63), #15 HD. She's #3 in the Solheim Cup standings and #4 in top 10s this season, so why is she ranked so low? Say it with me: inconsistency!

18. Stacy Prammanasudh: #31 money ($330.0K), #19 RR (3.86), #19 GSPI (70.95), #17 HD. She was the 12th player to finish under par at the Open, but missed out on a top 10 last weekend. Still has a good chance to salvage a season that opened with such promise (a 5th-place finish at the HSBC Women's Champions) but has resulted in only 2 other top 10s.

There are only a few golfers with top 20s in 2 of the 4 systems.

19. Eun-Hee Ji: #12 money ($486.7K), #18 RR (3.94), #22 GSPI (70.98), n.r. HD. One hot weekend in Rochester does not a season make, but beating the LPGA's #5 golfer shows just how much potential this Super Soph has!

20. Sophie Gustafson: #27 money ($360.9K), #28 RR (3.28), #17 GSPI (70.84), #19 HD. Like Pettersen and Hjorth, suffering an all-too-common European disease of being unable to finish off tournaments, but look for her to shake off her Open MC quickly.

21. Momoko Ueda: #39 money ($280.9K), #11 RR (4.57), #18 GSPI (70.84), n.r. HD. Her recent win on the JLPGA and near-miss of a top 10 at the Open may be signs of better things to come for Japan's top golfer. But she's had chances to go on a tear earlier this season and failed to sustain the momentum of twice playing in the final pairing on a Sunday. Here's hoping she heats up as the summer does.

Just heard that the U.S. Women's Open was bumped off the air in St. Louis today. The local NBC affiliate chose to show the St. Louis Cardinals game instead. Wonder if they got any complaints? In St. Louis, the Cards are kings ... but there were probably some angry golfers, too.

Perhaps the NBC affiliate has a contract with the Cards the requires them to take precedent over anything the network is offering. Or perhaps the local channel thought it would get better ratings ...

Ok - #18 at Interlachen is supposed to be a 530 yard par 5, dogleg to the right - carry over a fairly sizeable lake.  No problem - the fairway rolls around the left side of the lake.

I watched Cristie Kerr and Maria Jose Uribe hit their second shots.  Uribe, according to the ESPN announcers, had 266 left to the pin - which means she hit a tee shot 264 yards.  Kerr hit after Uribe, so her second shot was a few yards shorter.

Both women hit their shots to the green - Uribe's shot was magnificent rolling to pin high. 

Fantastic !  Until you think about it - there is NO WAY she hit her 3-wood 266 yards off the ground when she couldn't hit her driver that far off the tee.  She may have had 266 yards to the flag following the contour of the fairway AROUND the lake, but there is no way she had 266 to the flag on a straight line OVER the lake.

Her shot was a great shot - but don't tell me that she hit her 3-wood 266 yards like that - then brag about how great and how long these women are today.  You have to get the facts straight - you can't give the audience bad information like that.  Eventually, it will be proven wrong.  (then again - this is the media we're talking about - and admissions of inaccuracy are about as common as a palm tree at the south pole)

I'm posting this mid-day during Round 1, when the morning groups have completed play, and there are currently two UCLA Bruins among the Top 7: Maria Jose Uribe at 4-under, in second; and Sydnee Michaels at 2-under, in seventh.

Two UCLA Bruins in the Top 7 ... and the best UCLA Bruin isn't even there!

But with Michelle Wie's woes on No. 9 today, at least there is now another golfer who understands the effect of a 9 on the scorecard ...

Are just two of the four classes I'm enrolled in this summer.  BTW- the pornography class--not that interesting.  I fell asleep in the first day of class yesterday.

On a more interesting note, the U.S. Open has been all the buzz.  Which amateur am I cheering for?  Geez, I can't seem to decide.  Obviously, my three teammates, Sydnee Michaels, Tiff Lua, and Maria Jose Uribe.  However, I can't forget about my other buddies out there: Blumie, Kathleen, Walshe, Mina, Kim Kim,J Lee, and my new little trojan friend, Jennifer Song.

I, unfortunately, had a little mishap during the sectional qualifier.  Actually the whole qualifer was a mishap and I missed by 3 strokes.  Who knew that 9s could affect a scorecard so much?

Anyways, back to my prediction for Low Am...if everything I've read about the course is true, I'm going to look for Kim Kim and Blumie to do well; both are long and straight, which is great for this layout.  Kathleen Ekey and Cydney Clanton are two more long bombers that'll do great if they can putt and chip well (or as Momma Joh likes to call it, "doing the dishes"). 

I will be anxiously watching live scoring from my laptop while learning about pornography.  I hope you will all do the same...except without the porno part.

 

This weekend is The Dogwood Invitational - one of the biggest annual amateur events in the US.  It is held at the Druid Hills Country Club here in Atlanta - one of the most prestigious clubs and courses in Georgia.  Amateurs from around the world turn out, including the Australian National team, and dozens of top ranked collegiate players from around the country.

I had a real treat today playing in the Am-Am event.  The groups have one tournament player for each of us "normal" amateurs.  In our foursome, we had Rick LaRose, the golf coach from University of Arizona (he's coached one or two fair golfers in his time), and Tim Halling, an Aussie who was the runner up at the 2007 British Amateur.  This guy is 23 years old, 6'6" tall, and swings like Ernie Els.  He put up a 66 and hardly broke a sweat.  It was amazing to watch.  He's planning on turning pro at the end of the year and will be taking a shot at the Austral-Asian, European, and PGA Tour Q-schools.  This is a guy who could show up on the professional radar in the next few years.

Druid Hills really rolls out the red carpet for these players. (they have am, mid-am, and senior divisions)  Most of the kids who don't live around Atlanta already are living with families in the neighborhood, and the hosts I met today had nothing but good things to say about the players they have hosted over the years.

After reading two more stories about a football players getting arrested for drugs and alcohol just this week - it really makes you proud to hear great stories about kids playing golf and never hearing a word about any kind of legal trouble.