Weekend Wrap, Delayed

I was so excited about my Lydia that I forgot to use my traditional Monday morning post title... we'll do our wrap today, and hopefully an extra 24 hours improves our perspective.

Life Imitates Art - Don't scoff, that title is far more appropriate than you might realize.  but we'll lede with the raves...First up is Martin Blake and Mark Hayes with their notes on the week, which included this:

Lydia Ko hit more greens in regulation than any other player in the field, 64 of 72, which tells you a lot about her method.

Amazingly, she hit exactly sixteen greens every day, and these aren't necessarily the easiest greens in the world to hit.  Here's how Shack describes the accomplishment:

Keep in mind that while not a "hilly" course, there is never a flat stance at Royal Melbourne. Many of the greens are elevated, heavily contoured, firm and incredibly fast. After watching PGA Tour pros struggle with Riviera's firmer-than-normal greens, I can only marvel at Ko's consistency at such a demanding course.

And our Shack knows his way around the sand belt.

Alan Shipnuck, in his weekly Heroes and Zeros feature, has our Lydia as top dog:

1. Lydia Ko. People, there is a once-in-a-lifetime talent in our midst. Plenty of room left on the bandwagon.

Only as long as you don't want my seat.  Derek Lawrenson has also apparently drunk the Kool-Aid:

The world’s most extraordinary woman athlete? Those who love athletics and tennis and all the other sports in which women are achieving amazing things will have their favourites, no doubt.

But if there is anyone right now who is coming close to matching the feats of the remarkable Lydia Ko, I’ll be most impressed. 

Indeed, the only thing that might cost her marks is that she is barely a woman at all. She is only 17, for heaven’s sake, and yet ruling the world in a sport in which a player’s prime years are usually considered to be around twice her age.

It is exciting because the biggest weakness in her game, the absence of length, is likely to be mitigated as she approaches her late teens (and how funny is that).  I'm as guilty as anyone of feeding the hype, but it really would be nice to let her career unfold unburdened by expectations.

Her next challenge is to get in the mix at majors, but when she does you have to like her chances...

But first our Lydia is off to play in her home of New Zealand, and one has to love this story:

Bohyun Park, a 12-year-old, just qualified for the New Zealand Open. She shot a 2-under-par 70 to take one of the last spots available in the event that starts Thursday. We know what you're thinking: 'This sounds a lot like the next Lydia Ko.'

This young girl is the same age as Lydia was when she played in her home country's open (Lydia finished seventh), plays out of the same golf club and has the same coach.  Best part of all, she's using an old set of Lydia's sticks.

But there is a dark side...first the glasses, and now this:

And there are the less obvious ones, such as a new Callaway driver (it's going well), some subtle swing changes (they are going well, too), more focus on physical training, and even the addition of some ink on a wrist. 

Yes, the teen is "tatted up". The date of her first LPGA Tour win as a pro, at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in April last year, is now inked on her right wrist. 

"My parents were there and I felt like it was a very memorable win so I got that tatted up."

Oh, the Tart!  In my first post on Lydia linked above I embedded this video, though I did note that he might be referencing a different Lydia.  Now I realize he was just a tad early:

The Riv in Review - Count Alan Shipnuck as a fan of the Riv:

It was a pleasing juxtaposition that the L.A. Open coincided with the Academy Awards.

But while Sunday’s Oscars were a monument to star power, the golf tournament across town was all about the stage. Without the likes of a Tiger, Phil or Rory trodding the boards, Riviera Country Club dominated the conversation, and the telecast. It’s not easy to follow on the schedule the golf porn that is Pebble Beach, but Riv is the perfect counterpoint, an unending series of glorious holes without the distraction of all those ocean views. Riviera, built in 1926 by George Thomas, was celebrated from the beginning. The great Jazz Age architect Alister MacKenzie described it as being “as nearly perfect as a man could make it.” The late Jim Murray, the bard of Los Angeles, was a Riviera member, and ages ago he declared the place “a shrine of the sport. A citadel of the game.”

That meets the definition of Praise from Caesar.... Meanwhile, James Hahn is making friends with his self-effacing humor.  First there was this:

After college, he couldn't make it in golf. So, much of 2006, he sold shoes at Nordstrom in Walnut Creek and Pleasanton. 

"I was pretty good at it," he said. "Sold a lot." 

He was asked if he is a shoe guy. 

"I don't think we can afford Nordstom's," he said. "We are more Foot Locker kind of people."

He and his wife are expecting a daughter in the next few weeks, but I'm thinking they can now afford Nordstrom's.  But this was my fave:

Hahn, who said it was both amazing and "kind of cool" how many people don't know him, laughed about an incident Sunday. 

"I was signing hats after the round," he said, "and I asked some guy, 'Is there a playoff?' He said, 'Yeah, yeah. It's Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey and some other guy.' 

"I said, 'Cool, here's your hat.' "

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't remember the Gangham-style dance at Phoenix...just good to see him known for winning as well.  And Alan Shipnuck had this in his H&Z feature:

3. Riv. This classic course looks great in any conditions but it was particularly fascinating as a firm, fast, fiery test. It was utterly fitting that when sudden death reached the 10th hole the action suddenly resembled chess as much as golf.

Amen to that.  

I've got more but there posts unfortunately don't write themselves.  So let's get this puppy posted and I'll try to be back with more later... 

Photo: Joann DostA