Weekend Wrap

This weekend was more about golf, playing thereof, than the watching thereof, so let's deal with the weekend that was rather quickly...

This Story Is At Least A year Old - A realy weird thing happened last night, as I found myself talking to Lydia to the effect that this was one she could let get away...As Morgan Pressel hadn't won since the Carter administration.  I know, your humble blogger rooting against Lydia must presage end times, no?

With the tournament finally in her capable hands, Ko rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to beat Pressel on the second playoff hole and cap off another birthday week in style. She turned 18 on Friday and is only getting better. 

She played the par-5 closing hole at Lake Merced three times and made birdie twice, the first one an 8-foot putt in regulation for a 2-under 70 that set up the playoff. Pressel played it three times and made par. Knowing that Ko was in tight for a likely birdie on the second playoff hole, Pressel missed from 8 feet.

Must have felt surreal to Pressel, who at age 26 has seemingly been out here forever, battling the just-turned-18 Ko and the 17-year old Brooke Henderson...  After missing a putt to join the playoff, Henderson is incongruously off to Monday qualifying for the next event, as she has no LPGA playing status.  Something is amiss there, though she'll hopefully garner enough sponsors exemptions to put together a reasonable schedule.

Here's the account of her near-miss for the game piece linked above:

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian, holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 14th to stay close to the lead and she had a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join the playoff. It missed on the low side and she had to settle for a 74.

She was no doubt feeling more pressure than she previously knew existed, but at one she had gone bogey-bogey-eagle-bogey.  Cards like that make me laugh...

So Lydia wind her first event as an eighteen-year old and wins her first title defense.... she might have a career out there.

 Video highlights here:

The Big Queasy - I had little interest in the events in New Orleans, but it seemed that every time I picked up my iPad ths week there was another announcement from the PGA Tour app that play had been suspended.  So, given the short week and long-flight ahead, some sort of tribute is warranted just for finishing the damn thing...

The winner, Justin Rose, found inspiration in an unlikely place:

“Great athletes you look up to, that’s what they do,” Rose said moments after extending his streak of years with a PGA Tour victory to six. “In the big moments they want the ball. And they make big shots and big putts and that’s luckily today what I inspired myself to do.” 

He took his inspiration from a shooting guard of renown who came through with an assist that won this one for Rose. On Friday night, Rose attended the Warriors-Hornets game in New Orleans, where Curry salvaged an off night shooting with an improbable three-pointer to tie the game at the of regulation.

Fair enough, and Mr. Rose certainly seems to have found his form.  Not a bad bet in the coming match-play event...and here's video of the Tour's highlight package, including D.H. Lee's ace:

Does The Winner Get a Bass-O-Matic? - Say you have a bass... Oh never mind, but most of you are old enough to remember that from way back when SNL was actually funny.  This is a horribly-named Champions Tour Event that's actually kind of interesting because they mix it up a little:

Not only did Joe Durant record a hole-in-one in the final round of the Champions Tour’s

Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf Sunday at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo., but he teamed with Billy Andrade to win the title. The pair played nine holes of modified alternate shot and nine of better ball and leap-frogged the team of Sany Lyle and Ian Woosnam, a duo that had the lead at the start of the day. 

Durant aced the third hole on the second nine, using a 7-iron on the 167-yard hole.

OK, Joe Durant and Billy Andrade aren't exactly appointment TV, but it's a team event utilizing different formats and the final round is played on a spectacular Par-3 course.  Or we can just play 72 holes of stroke play week after week until we lose our will to live...

Last year's final round was actually great because the winds were blowing at 30-35 mph... with lots of elevated tee boxes and the like, it was really challenging and great theater.

Other Stuff - Tiger is in China promoting his new architectural effort, but we're far more interested in amusing photo ops:

That's of course former NBA-er Yao Ming.  

And in fun litigation news, there's this on a lawsuit of which I'd not heard:

Almost a decade after the incident, John Daly says he is still pursuing legal action

against the PGA Tour for a mishap involving a fan who took his picture during the first round of the 2007 Honda Classic. 

Daly first took legal action in 2010, targeting the Tour and the organizers of the Honda Classic, including PGA National Resort & Spa. 

A five-time Tour winner whose career high points came with victories at the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open, Daly contends he was hurt when a female spectator jumped in front of him to take his picture as he was teeing off at the 12th hole at PGA National. He says he tried to stop his swing, hit behind the ball, and fractured two ribs and separated his right shoulder, negatively impacting his career for the rest of that season and years to come.

That seems imprudent on the part of the photographer...but just another reason not to give him any more sponsors exemptions, the poor boy might hurt himself.

And this certainly increases the likelihood of a capital expenditure in July:

It's getting quite eery 9sic) how closely video games resemble real life. We're not just talking about swings, or facial expressions, or how tightly Sergio Garcia wears his shirts, although that's all factored in as well.

Instead consider that the new EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour coming out in Julyalso forces you to adjust how you play depending on the firmness of the turf. No joke. With a greater focus on "Course Personalities," the game features different conditions depending on the region. For instance, courses in Florida will be soft, forcing you to play the ball more in the air, while Scottish links courses like Royal Troon will encourage a ground game.

That's way cool, though I can't resist noting that despite his place of origin, Rory himself seems incapable of playing such shots.

That'll have to do you for now... I've got obligations, but hope to be back with more on the weekend as well as the forthcoming match play.