It's a rare Saturday at the keyboard for your humble blogger, as this afternoon is the Willow Ridge Mixed Member-Guest, a/k/a Glory's Last Shot. So, shall we see who we can piss off?
You Ko, Girl - Beth Ann Nichols gets it, as you'll see from here lede in her Friday game story from the Wegman's LPGA Championship:
Young Tom Morris won the 1868 Open Championship at 17 years, 5 months and 8 days.Lydia Ko’s window to beat that record and become the youngest winner in major championship history is quickly closing.
Ko, who at 17 years 3 months and 22 days already owns four LPGA titles, inched closer to her first major title at the Wegmans LPGA Championship when she carded a 3-under 69 Friday to move into a tie for fourth and trail big-hitting Brittany Lincicome by four strokes.
Lincicome might feel a tad dissed, as will Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson, who are tied for second. And Lincicome does have those Pure Silk smooth legs, but all eyes should be on our Lydia.
And speaking of Thompson, Randall Mell had a nice profile of the young lady here, including this rather edgy Puma Commercial:
Kind of interesting that they considered her significant enough to throw into the mix with Rickie and Usain, no?
And our Shack had some fun with her driving stats in this post:
For a little FYI on where Lexi's 271.2 would put here in a PGA Tour historical context...4th in 198013th in 198519th in 199031st in 1995T126th in 2000197th in 2005191st in 2010T185th in 2014 (ahead of Mike Weir, Justin Leonard, Tim Clark and Paul Goydos!)
As Shack is quick to note, that jump from 1995 to 2000 was fully the result of Tour players committing to their gym work, and in no way reflects the governing bodies' failure to control the equipment manufacturers. Nothing to see here, please move along...
Amateur Hour - We accepted an impromptu dinner invite last evening and as a result I saw none of the tape-delayed U.S. Amateur coverage, perhaps a blessing in disguise as our good friend Nathan Smith was soundly beaten by Pepperdine Junior Frederick Wedel. Nathan had a great run, but it's truly a young man's game these days, as per Ryan Lavner:
Well, it doesn't get much bigger than what will unfold here Saturday at Atlanta Athletic Club, after Wedel defeated Nathan Smith, 4 and 3, to reach the semifinals of the 114th U.S. Amateur Championship.
The 619th-ranked player in the world, Wedel’s last tournament win was the district title his senior year of high school. Now, the Pepperdine junior is two matches away from a national championship, and just one from a berth in the Masters.
In a field littered with silver-spooners and prodigies, Wedel’s story resonates most.
Here's what he means by Wedel's story:
He was 10 when his dad (also named Fred) kept scratching what he thought was a mosquito bite on his neck. It turned out to be a staph infection in his spinal cord, and a few weeks later he was paralyzed from the neck down.
A normal childhood was no longer possible. For three years, Fred spent most of his days in a car, driving an hour to and from the hospital, where sometimes all his dad could do was listen.“I really didn’t handle it well,” he said. “I just kept having hopes that maybe one day he’d walk again, that we’d figure it out. Eventually I realized he wasn’t going to walk again. It threw me into a dark place for a while.”
An eighth-grader without a father figure, Wedel rebelled. His family split apart. He got kicked out of private school. His golf game suffered without the man who taught him how to play with a cut-down 7-iron at age 3.
Do give Lavner's piece a hit, as it's quite a good story. I'll be rooting for the young man to continue his strong play, as one more win punches his ticket to the Masters. And a last note on the ever-gracious Nathan Smith. Loyal Unplayable Lies reader and good friend Mark W. writes with this anecdote:
Scott, Nathan played in the Baltusrol Invitational last month and came in 3rd with his partner Frank Fairman. You’re right, he is a very nice, pleasant fellow who was so delighted to be at BGC. This from a guy who seems to have a spot at the Masters all the time and having played on several Walker Cups must have played in some pretty nice venues. At the cocktail party after the first day, he made a point to introduce himself to the committee members and thank them for inviting him. Hmmm, just like Tiger.
Mark, we appreciate the story but need to remind you of our rules. I handle the snark around here, and your disparaging comments about Mr. Woods leave me no choice but to put you on probationary status.
Mini-Tour Update - Pravda had a recent piece on the new superstar on the Mini-Tour, though perhaps not the mini-tour you're thinking of:
She looked like nothing out of the ordinary, just another platinum blonde in baggy shortshanging out at the miniature golf course. But in the rarefied, close-knit, hypercompetitive world of professional miniature golf, Olivia Prokopova is nothing short of legendary.
“Olivia? There’s no fear in her,” said Rick Alessi, 57, a municipal heavy-equipment operator from Erie, Pa., who is to compete against her in the2014 United States Open Miniature Golf Tournament that begins here on Friday. “She just loves the game.”
But where's Martha Burke when you need her, as apparently the mini-golf world is still dominated by the patriarchy:
In a sport dominated by middle-aged American men, she is foreign, 19 years old, “and she’s a gal,” said John Forbes, the manager of the Bluegrass Miniature Golf Course, the elegantly landscaped spot, free of plastic clowns and windmills, where the tournament is to take place.
No windmills? Really, what's the point?
Aimless And Confused - The increasingly frequent appearances of Mark Broadie, Columbia University professor and golf stats guru, is a welcome development, though this current installment on putting may require further thought. He takes up the AimPoint green-reading system, all the rage these days:
Adam Scott has climbed to the World No. 1 spot largely by improving his putting. During the
Adam Scott giving the Vulcan salute. 2013 season, Scott gained only 0.05 strokes per round on the greens, 102nd on the PGA Tour. But since March -- when he started using a new green-reading method called AimPoint Express -- he's gained more than 0.5 strokes and vaulted into the top 15. Although data can't tell us how much of Scott's improvement is due to better reads, the Aussie has an opinion: "It's huge," he said.
I'll admit that I haven't the slightest clue what they're doing in reading greens, but perhaps I shouldn't be so set in my ways. Here's a little quiz for those of you that think you read greens well:
Here's a test of your green-reading savvy: Imagine a clock face on a typical back-to-front-sloping green, with the hole at the center, and the 12 o'clock position representing a straight downhill putt. Which putt will break the most: A sidehiller from the three o'clock position? A downhill, sidehill putt from two o'clock? Or an uphill sidehill putt from four o'clock? (Assume that each putt is hit with excellent speed, so that it would roll 1.5 feet beyond the hole if it missed.) If you said that the sidehill putt (three o'clock) would break the most, you're in the majority—but you're wrong. The downhill putt from two o'clock will break the most and the uphill putt from four o'clock the least.
You'll have to click through to read his explanation, and he also includes some drills at the end of the piece. I'll not tarry here, but this browser window will stay open.
A Star is Boron - We don't do a ton of equipment blogging her at Unplayable Lies, but these new Mizuno JPX 850 forged irons have been garnering some buzz. Mike Stachura gives us the skinny:
The new JPX850 Forged irons ($1,000) feature a boron-infused 1025 carbon steel for athinner face with a higher springlike effect than any other Mizuno one-piece forged iron. The metal's strength also allows designers to mill a pocket cavity that comes within 1.7 millimeters of the face and 1.5 millimeters of the sole to increase face flexibility.
The combination of the unique material and design saves 26 grams that is redistributed around the perimeter for enhanced stability.
They look great, but of course Mizunos always do. I'm playing the JPX 800's with which I remain extremely happy. Boron is incredibly strong and lightweight, and Mike details how it's created some complications for first responders to auto accidents.
While I'm happy with my irons and fairway woods/hybrids, this new driver has piqued my curiosity.
I Saw It On TV - Last week one of my golf buddies made a funny about there being no need to tune into the CBS golf coverage until at least 30 minutes after it's start time, as it would be that long before they stooped to showing an actual golf shot. Well, not so fast Mr. Fox:
-- CBS crushed the competition when it came to showing action. The network aired 1.18 shots per minute during the Masters (Yes, having limited commercials helps) and 1.16 shots per minute during the wild final round at the PGA. In comparison, NBC showed 1.12 shots per minute at the U.S. Open and ESPN came in a distant fourth place with just 1.02 shots per minute at the British Open.
Gotta admit, I wouldn't have guessed that either.
DVR Alert - Rory will be making an appearance on the Tonight Show, and apparently Nike has made him bring a chaperon:
It appears that being made fun of on late night television didn’t scare Tiger Woods or Rory McIlory, as both golf stars are set to appear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in New York City on Monday.
Woods and McIlroy are also set to appear at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, NJ, on behalf of their mutual sponsor, Nike.
I'm going to shimmy way out onto a limb and guess that NBC will have this video teed up for Fallon:
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