Jul 20

British Open Weekend Recap

Here are a few things that people will write and what I think of them.

1. Greg Norman didn’t choke…Whatever. You say potato, I say tomato. It does not matter whether he choked or didn’t choke. He didn’t win. I’m surprised on two counts: Norman, a noted high-ball hitter, stuck around as long as he did in the wind. Shows you how pure he struck the ball and how many putts he made; and Norman won two British Opens as a high ball hitter? How? Imagine if he had a “crunch punch,” a hold shot, back in his hey-day…how many more tournaments would he have won?

2. Paddy Harrington made a great shot on 17…No he didn’t. He put a decent swing on the ball and got luckier than hell that it carried the bunker and didn’t plug in the face. The rest was luck, except for the five feet putt.

3. Michelle Wie is a spoiled child…Not anymore, it seems. She handled the DQ with some class, indicating that she thought all was well when it wasn’t. She then played a great third round that went for nought.

4. The LPGA is in the clear…No way! They messed up four ways. First, they assigned volunteers to the most crucial point of the tournament, the scoring tent. Think they do that on any other tour? Second, they split hairs as Wie returned as soon as she was made aware of the infraction, mere minutes after she left the tent. Third, they waited an entire round to DQ her, clearly counting on attention garnered from her surge up the leaderboard. Fourth, they let a goofball make an official, classless statement about Wie…where did that official attend charm school?

5. Colt Knost versus Webb Simpson qualifies easily as the great unseen battle of the weekend. Knost started Sunday with roughly a one-stroke advantage. He went three under on the front and was two behind Simpson, who made six birds on the front to shoot 30. Simpson made only one bird on the back and shot 65. Knost started the back nine 2-3, or eagle-eagle, piled on three more birds and shot 29 on the inward half for 62 and a four-stroke victory. Harrington-Norman was good, but this was great. Speaking of the Nationwide Tour, why don’t they have a cup? Old coots have Chuck Schwab Cup, while young coots have FedEx chalice. Why don’t the old-young coots have one on the N-Wide?

6. You fill in the sixth spot below…

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10 comments

§ Visitor said on : 07/20/08 @ 18:15
Ron, was that "classless statement" you mentioned the part where Sue Witters said "she was like looking at a little kid after you tell them there's no Santa Claus?" I did think that was kind of an odd comment...
§ Ron Mon® said on : 07/20/08 @ 18:29
That was precisely the one. It was so condescending and demeaning, in a backhanded-compliment, sort of way. I'm wondering if the LPGA is colluding against Wie in the same way that MLB is treating Barry Bonds. Don't F' with us seems to be the message.
§ MaiTaiSoo said on : 07/21/08 @ 03:49
Sorry, you both need to read the transcript of the entire presser before you accuse SW of being insensitive. She handled the situation professionally... too bad though as it cost a lot of organizations quite a bit of moola. SW should have waited and DQed her after the final round and maybe after she beat Oh Tseng. That would have been worth millions in publicity for next year's SFC.
§ MaiTaiSoo said on : 07/21/08 @ 15:44
BREAKING NEWS: MW scheduled for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open with the men (PGA) next week. Yippeeeee, the saga continues and now scrambling to find out who will provide the TV coverage. Gotta get the popcorn ready.
§ Visitor said on : 07/21/08 @ 17:32
Several other bloggers with similar sentiment: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/39353-michelle-wie-no-claus-lpgas-sue-witters-no-class
§ MaiTaiSoo said on : 07/21/08 @ 21:42
Hey Ron, what about this? I have read a few detailed explanations of what happened and how the DQ is valid and all make perfect sense and I agree BUT... What most have not noticed in these explanations is that there are 2 rule books at play here: USGA The Rules of Golf & LPGA Rules of Play. The "LPGA Rules of Play" book Item 3 defined the scoring area and what happens when one leaves the scoring area which placed her in violation of the "USGA The Rules of Golf" 6-6b of an unsigned score card. 1 rule shoving MW into a violation of another rule. A perfect gotcha.

She's not an LPGA member so is it reasonable to assume that she does not need to know all of the intricacies of the "Rules of Play" like she would with the "USGA The Rules of Golf", which I agree that she should have memorized. After all, she did physically sign her score card ASAP and only another rule from another rule book made it into a technically unsigned card. So, what you think?
§ Ron Mon® said on : 07/21/08 @ 22:11
USGA rules officials will sing eternal songs about "that's a tour rule, not a USGA one." We run into it all the time in high school matches. I don't think she has an argument other than this one:
33-7. Disqualification Penalty; Committee Discretion

A penalty of disqualification may in exceptional individual cases be waived, modified or imposed if the Committee considers such action warranted.

Any penalty less than disqualification must not be waived or modified.

If a Committee considers that a player is guilty of a serious breach of etiquette, it may impose a penalty of disqualification under this Rule.
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Wouldn't you call this an exceptional individual case? I would certainly consider it before the DQ.
§ MaiTaiSoo said on : 07/21/08 @ 22:23
Ron, thanks for the explanation.

Agree with you on the "exceptional individual case" and thought the DQ was harsh considering that she did sign the card ASAP and she already completed the 3rd round.

Maybe some day I'll have a little extra time to research the other tours, Euro & Asian, Rules of Play books and see how they define the scoring area. Makes me wonder about golfers like Tiger who play all over the world and whether they have all the different tours Rules of Play memorized like they do with the USGA The Rules of Golf?
§ Ron Mon® said on : 07/22/08 @ 06:36
There are two sets of rules and they align very closely. The R and A and the USGA have worked together a great deal to eliminate major discrepancies. It is when the tours get involved that things change, usually to the benefit of the contestant. In this case, the contestant got screwed. It is common-sense, no doubt, and is a great example of why a kid should not be pushed into adult activities too soon...certain taken-for-granted growth steps are lost along the way. Would Wie have done this at junior tourneys? No. They would have reminded her and she would have ingrained it in her psyche. That said, since it is the only time she has done it as a pro, it was probably an oversight.
§ MaiTaiSoo said on : 07/22/08 @ 23:44
My question is if the USGA sees fit to describe the return of a signed score card within an "ASAP" timeframe, why does the LPGA feel a need to further muck the rule up with things like ropes, lines, trailers, tents, boxes, etc.? Why not just leave it alone?

By creating their own LPGA Rules of Play Item #3, they push the golfer into a "gotcha" dilemma.