Weekend Wrap

I didn't watch a whole lot of golf this weekend, unfortunately even when I wanted to... thanks to weather and NBC's final did to their good friends at the USGA.  Where to start?

Arrivederci Rochester - As noted previously, the LPGA has bid Rochester, NY a fond farewell with the completion of the final Wegman's LPGA Championship.  Next year this event will morph into the KPMG PGA Championship in conjunction with the PGA of America and move next door to Unplayable Lies World Headquarters at tony Westchester Country Club.

So, how did the last event go?  Quite well it seems, as long-hitting Brittany Lincicome fought her nerves and recorded her first major win since 2009.... Not so fast, Cowboy:  

A playoff was only fitting. After 38 years in Rochester, no one wanted to say goodbye. Inbee Park broke the heart of Brittany Lincicome with a string of clutch putts down the stretch to etch

her name on the last bit of silver left on the LPGA Championship trophy. 

“I think I’ve been in too many playoffs lately,” said Park, who lost in a playoff last week in Michigan. It’s the second consecutive year Park has won the Wegmans LPGA Championship in a playoff. Only two other players have successfully defended their titles in Rochester: Patty Sheehan and Nancy Lopez.

No way to sugar coat this one, Bam-Bam gagged.  She needed only to two-putt from the fringe on No. 18 to win it outright, and then couldn't get up and down from nearly the same spot on the playoff hole.  With the benefit of hindsight, Park drained a long par-saver on the 18th in regulation that put her in position to benefit if Lincicome failed to par the difficult finisher.  And Brittany absorbed one additional bad break when playing partner Suzann Pettersen, in the midst of a day from hell, hit it long and required a ruling for her drop.  Lincicome is known to fight her nerves, and the additional time to ponder her putt could not have been helpful.

But, It's Different Out Here™ as they say, so let's give Brittany all due credit for this fitting final tribute to Rochester for their long-term (38 years) support of the ladies:

“Lots of tears,” said Lincicome, who shared an emotional embrace with good friend Brittany Lang immediately after the playoff along with several others. 

“Obviously I’m disappointed with myself for not winning, but I’m planning on going to sign all the autographs I can because they’ve embraced us.”

  And let's hope that Commissioner Mike Whan can work out a speedy return to Rochester for the gals.

AmScray YangWay - I'm sure my Pig Latin won't be up to par, but NBC managed to put lipstick on the pig that is the new Fox Sports USGA television contract.  Here's Shackelford's take on the event:

On an abhorrent Rees Jones redesigned course with massive mounds, utterly artificial nonsense around everywhere you look and a fake lake thrown in too often to appease the EA video game crowd, the absurdly difficult Atlanta Athletic Club should have been a nightmare for Gunn Yang and Corey Conners. Yet they kept hitting bold and clutch shots, so all five of the people watching NBC's final USGA telecast were having a grand old time. Count me in, I was glued!

C'mon Geoff, don't keep your architectural criticisms to yourself.... the reason there were only five viewers and those five excluded your humble blogger, as core as the core audience gets, is that a rain delay resulted in NBC shuttling the telecast to something called NBC Sports Network, a channel I couldn't find with a gun (or Gunn) at my head.

I'm in agreement with Shack on the architectural merits of Atlanta Athletic Club, a place that's hosted far too many PGA's for my taste especially as that event, like the Amateur, is held in August.  The only caveat I'll add is that the design-on-steroids is modestly less repellent for a match-play event, for obvious reasons.

So, who is Gunn Yang?  A delightfully improbable winner as per Ryan Lavner:

Consider the odds: 6,803 entrants were whittled down to 312 qualifiers who advanced to the 64-man match-play bracket that was trimmed to two finalists, and the player who emerged victorious was Yang, a little-known 20-year-old from South Korea. This is a player who has played only four college events and lost his golf scholarship at San Diego State because of poor performance; who is only 15 months removed from back surgery; who withdrew from an event only three weeks ago because of shoddy play; and who, incredibly, is ranked No. 776 in the world, the lowest ever to hoist the Havemeyer Trophy.

The Amateur is a storied event, and deserves more committed television coverage.  I've assumed from the get-go that one benefit of the Fox contract will be more expansive early week coverage, as Fox's fledgling sports network will have fewer conflicts than NBC/Golf Channel.  Of course that assumes that Cablevision carries that network, something I've had no cause to investigate previously.  And hopefully they'll leave the final on the flagship channel, even if it runs a bit long... Of course, the promos will have those crashing robots no doubt...

And since we at Unplayable Lies seek above all to amuse, there was this delightfully awkward moment at the trophy presentation, when USGA Prez Tom O'Tooles' handshake was left hanging:

 As Shack noted, when you're as unlikely a winner as Gunn you keep both hands firmly on the trophy.  And that gave our Shack license to take a trip down memory lane, revisiting the Bubbameister doing the same to ANGC's Billy Payne:

That last one I can watch for hours.....as Billy shows his choreographic chops, effortlessly turning a spurned handshake into a nose scratch.

Turn On The Dark - Spider-Man is back, or so I hear:

When Camilo Villegas finished his final round in the Wyndham Championship, he was hoping to

get into a playoff. 

Instead, every other contender stumbled, and the Colombian didn't have to hit another shot to win his first PGA Tour title since 2010. 

Villegas shot a 7-under 63 and finished at 17-under 263. He earned $954,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points in the final regular-season event.

For those unfamiliar with Villegas, his career peaked with this:

I saw exactly none of this event, so can someone tell me if he still does the Spider-Man bit?

Haven't We Seen This Movie Before? - This has a déjà vu feel to it, no?

Bernhard Langer rallied to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on Sunday for his fifth

Champions Tour victory of the year, while Kevin Sutherland followed his tour-record 59 with a 74 to drop into a tie for seventh. 

The 56-year-old Langer played all 54 holes without a bogey, closing with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Woody Austin and Mark O'Meara. Langer finished at 16-under 200 at En-Joie for his 23rd career victory on the 50-and-over tour.

I don't care how easy the set-up was. to go 54 holes without a single bogey is pretty amazing.  Sutherland's abrupt fall to Earth was entirely predictable, but he'll have many years to kick himself for his final hole bogey that denied him the first professional 58.