The Two Events I'm Watching This Week

Well, I guess everybody will be watching them, but they're the events that have storylines I'm interested in this week.



The LPGA will be at the Indy Women in Tech Championship, which is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (aka "the Brickyard," where the Indy 500 is held every year). Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event here, but there are two things that particularly interest me this week.

• Lexi Thompson is defending her title, and it's her first event back after her self-imposed exile for personal reasons a few weeks back. I'll be interested to see how she plays.
• I'm equally interested to see how Emily Tubert plays this week. For those of you who missed it, Emily caught the bug for long drives after attending an event a couple of weeks back. This week she decided to try Monday qualifying for the Tennessee Big Shots tournament... and she not only got in, she won the thing! Then she drove to Indianapolis for the LPGA event, which she was already in. I'm curious to see how she does after her unexpected victory.

On the other hand, the PGA Tour will be in my backyard this week, teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro NC. As I'm sure most of you know, this is the last regular season event before the FedExCup Playoffs start, so a number of players are under pressure to secure their Tour cards. But there's more on the line than that.

Henrik Stenson is the defending champ, so his card is secure... but his spot on the European Ryder Cup team isn't. A number of players are in the same boat, jockeying for a spot via the World Rankings point list before the Euro automatic qualifiers are determined. Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Matthew Fitzpatrick are all in the field trying to make it in... or at least begin the "impress the Captain" process.

Ironically, none of the most likely American choices will be at the Wyndham. They have apparently decided to take their chances with the FedExCup events. (I should note that Webb Simpson, who snagged the last qualifying spot, WILL be playing this week. This is a home game for him.) But it's worth noting that some players who are more than a dozen spots down the US list ARE playing this week. These are players who usually play here -- guys like Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore -- and some good play at a place where they're comfortable could give them a jump on the other guys if that play continues during the Playoffs.

I have my own thoughts on who might be the US picks but I'll wait a bit closer to the Ryder Cup to post them. And I need to see who the Euro qualifiers are before I even try to guess theirs!

Bear in mind that both events begin on Thursday this year. The LPGA event was only 54 holes last year, but it's a full 72 this time around. The LPGA event begins at noon ET while the PGA Tour event follows it at 3pm ET, both on GC.

My "5 to Watch" at the RICOH

Our fourth consecutive week of links golf brings us to the Ricoh Women's British Open, where I.K. Kim will be the defending champion.



Tony Jesselli has his (as usual) top-notch preview of the event at his blog. This year the Ricoh will be held at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, which last hosted the "big tour" back in 2012 when Ernie Els won and the women in 2009 when Catriona Matthew won. (The Champions Tour hasn't been there in over 20 years.)

At this point, it appears that the course is 'gettable.' In Monday's final qualifier, Swedish amateur Linn Grant shot a 10-under 62 to take the medalist position. Englishwoman Cloe Frankish (an LET player) came in second with a 66. The 17 players who qualified all shot 69 or better, and there was a seven-way playoff for the final spot.

Yeah, we could see some low scores this week. But who will shoot the lowest scores of the bunch? I have some ideas...

• Of course, Ariya Jutanugarn has to make my list. Coming off a win at the Scottish Open, in difficult conditions, you have to think she'll be in a good frame of mind to possibly get two in a row.
• Minjee Lee is playing ridiculously well to have only won once this year. I don't think I've picked her as a Top5 pick in any major this season... but this week she makes my list. Her form has held up week after week, and it's that consistency -- combined with a runner-up last week at the Scottish Open -- that makes her a pick this time.
• Remember 'rookie' Jin Young Ko? While she has cooled off a bit from her two wins in late 2017-early 2018, she's still playing extremely well. She finished T3 last week, her eighth Top10 of the season, and she put up a 67 in the tough conditions Sunday to get that T3. She could rise to the occasion this week.
• I.K Kim seems happy to be back on the links, having posted a seventh-place finish last week. She proved last year that she can handle this style of play, and a return to the style of golf that broke her "major curse" should put her at ease as she tries to go back-to-back.
• My flier is Mo Martin. Mo has only one LPGA win, but it's the 2014 Ricoh. She's been playing pretty well this year and, although she's one of the shorter players on tour, that doesn't really matter in links golf and she plays well in tough conditions. She won't be first on most people's list but I wouldn't bet against her if she gets in contention.

And my pick is... Minjee Lee. While Martin is a sentimental favorite and I think Ko may be underrated at this point, Minjee is waaaaay overdue for a major win, and her consistency this season bodes well for a good showing at Royal Lytham.

GC's coverage of the Ricoh begins Thursday morning at 6am ET. Best of all, it looks as if the women are going to get seven-hour coverage windows each day, so we should get to see a lot of the players for a change.

Tiffany Joh's Swing (Video)

Tiffany Joh has yet to win on the LPGA but she's leading the Ladies Scottish Open by three strokes. I don't know if she'll win but there's one thing I think you should learn from her swing. This video shows her hitting a hybrid.



There aren't many videos on YouTube of T-Joh's swing. In part, that's because she hasn't won yet. But there's a more important reason, and it's very simple:

There is nothing special about T-Joh's swing.

Do you understand what I'm saying? Tiffany doesn't have some unusual move that makes her stand out from the crowd. She's got a very good swing, and she hits the ball very solidly. This week she's playing some of the best golf of her life, and the rest of the field is struggling to catch up.

Her swing isn't the reason T-Joh hasn't won. If you look at her stats, you'll see that she doesn't hit many fairways or greens, she's not ranked very high in putting, and her scoring average is only 71.81, good enough for 81st on the Tour. That's just over 2.25 strokes behind the Tour's best, Ariya Jutanugarn... yet she's 81st on Tour! Cristie Kerr, at exactly 71.00, is 38th.

In other words, she hasn't won because she just needs to practice more. She's good enough to keep her card, but she hasn't been good enough to win. Tiffany just needs to learn how to score better.

This week she seems to have caught lightning in a bottle, at least for two rounds. Perhaps she'll get it done in Scotland, and that would be great. But she's a good lesson to everyone -- you don't need a great swing, you just need to make sure it works well most the time.

The Ladies Go Scottish

The LPGA is in Scotland this week, at the same venue the men played a couple of weeks ago, for the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.



As usual, you can get a good preview of the event at Tony Jesselli's blog. I'll just note that they're teeing it up at Gullane Golf Club, the same as the men did, only they'll be playing it at 6480 yards.

This is only the second playing of the event but Aberdeen's sponsorship has already given it a certain amount of stature, given that it's held the week before the Ricoh Women's British Open -- the same situation as the men's event, which precedes the Open Championship -- on the same course. At this point it hasn't become quite the warm-up that the men's version has, but I suspect in time that it will. There just aren't that many chances for the ladies to work on their links play, especially the week before their Open.

Of course the biggest news so far is Lexi Thompson's announcement that she's skipping this event, the Ricoh and perhaps others to "work on herself" after a particularly trying 18 months. We'll just have to wait and see what she does, but it does add to the big names skipping this event -- although there will be plenty who WILL be there.

Personally, I'm anxious to see how Laura Davies does after her dominating victory at the Senior Women's US Open.

You can check out the official website here. This link is for the LPGA's leaderboard for the event. And while the event starts in less than two-and-a-half hours from the time I'm writing this, GC's coverage begins at 9:30am ET today (Thursday), between their coverage windows for the Senior Open.

My "5 to Watch" at the KPMG

There are two majors to pick this week, so let's get started with the ladies and the KPMG Women's PGA.



Tony Jesselli has posted his usual must-read preview over at his blog, so make sure you pop over and check it out. Danielle Kang is the defending champion -- although, as we know, the KPMG winner never gets to defend on the course where she won. This year's event will be played at the venerable Kemper Lakes Golf Club, which has hosted a large number of major events over the years.

The big news at this point is how much rain has fallen at the course. The LPGA plans to play the course at roughly 6700+ yards, which means it will play extremely long -- at least for the first couple of rounds, as it will take some time for the course to firm up, even if the rains stop before the event starts. I, however, am going against the prevailing sentiment and am NOT picking any of the long hitters to win.

A slow course helps long hitters by minimizing run into the rough, but it can also allow the shorter players to hit their long clubs and still get controllable shots... and I believe the shorter players' accuracy will prove to be more important this week.

• I have to start with Inbee Park. How can you not include one of the best short hitters in the game?  She's played less than almost any other big name player, yet her season's looking pretty good. Even when she doesn't make a "5 to Watch" list, rest assured that I never count her out... but she makes this one for sure.
• I'm also going with defending champ Danielle Kang. She has only one LPGA win -- this event, last year. She's no long hitter and, as I said earlier, she doesn't get to defend on the course where she won. But both KPMGs, 2017 and 2018, are being played in Illinois, which means this is as close as it gets. Danielle's been inconsistent this season, but that's typical for her, and I think she'll be focused this week.
• My flier at the US Women's Open was Nasa Hataoka; this time she's not a flier. I may have been a bit early with that pick, but she's proven I was right about her finally finding her stride on tour. Coming off a win in Arkansas, she can definitely make some noise this time.
• How can I not pick So Yeon Ryu? I've been a fan for a long time and she makes these lists more times than not, but I love her game. Her play has been a bit uneven this season, but she has a win in the last month and she always seems to step forward in tough conditions. I think Kemper Lakes qualifies!
• And my flier is... Shanshan Feng. I know, that sounds like a strange flier pick. She's a major winner, after all... and it's THIS major! Plus she's #4 in the Rolex Rankings. But despite three T3s and a T5 this season, she's having a fairly mediocre season (for her) and is flying way underneath the radar. Still, Shanshan has a tendency to show up when you least expect her, and I wouldn't be surprised if she won this event for a second time.

My pick is... So Yeon Ryu. I still remember how So Yeon won her first major, the 2011 US Women's Open at the Broadmoor in Colorado, over 6200 feet above sea level. Bad weather plagued the event -- every round spread out over multiple days, and after the tournament ran into Monday, she still had to play a three-hole aggregate playoff for not just her first major, but her first LPGA win. You want to talk about a grinder? That's So Yeon Ryu.

GC's coverage starts early on Thursday. Officially, it starts at 11am ET but GC will probably do a PreGame Show at 10:30am ET.

So Yeon Ryu Returns to Arkansas

The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship has drawn a strong field as players prepare for next week's major, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. And defending champ So Yeon Ryu comes into the event with some serious momentum after winning last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic.



As usual, Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event at his blog. He notes that this is the third strongest non-major event of the year -- understandable, as this is the third event preceding a major this year!

While the field is very strong and there are plenty of players with major storylines this week -- such as Stacy Lewis trying to grab a "home game" before leaving on maternity leave, and fellow Razorback Gaby Lopez hoping to grab her first win here (as Lewis did nearly a decade ago) -- it seems to me that So Yeon Ryu is the real story here. Her play has been a bit uneven this year, and there are reports that she's been very frustrated.

But after last week's win, and with the KPMG coming up next week, So Yeon could find herself with an Ariya Jutanugarn-like season if she could manage to win this week. After all, two wins leading into a major...? Last week's win wouldn't have drained her the way, say, Brooks Koepka's major win did last week -- the women simply don't draw the same media attention as the men, and the Meijer isn't a major (although it may have felt like one to So Yeon). A little positive adrenaline after finally breaking through this season could be just what she needs.

So I'm looking forward to see how she performs this week. This is only a three-day event, so it's unlikely to tire her too much. And whether she wins or not, a strong performance could put her in the right frame of mind to pick up her third major next week.

GC's broadcast starts tonight, and runs from 6:30-8:30pm.

A Few Thoughts on the Two-Hole Playoff Format

The USGA's decision to use a two-hole aggregate playoff to break a tie at the US Women's Open was the subject of much debate in the months leading up to the event. But now that we've seen it in action, I think we can finally make a few informed observations.



First of all, many thought a two-hole playoff would not be long enough to eliminate the "randomness" of sudden death, not the way a three- or four-hole aggregate playoff does. Well, we learned that's just not true. In sudden death, Hyo Joo Kim would have won on the first playoff hole... and as it turned out, a three- or four-hole playoff would not have changed the outcome we actually got.

The two-hole format allowed one player to take a lead, and the other player to even the score before moving to sudden death. Would the results have been the same if one player had been sitting for quite a while and the other player was just coming off the course? We don't know the answer to that question, but the result shows that this playoff format can work.

We also learned that the two-hole format is sufficient to provide an exciting finale to a major. It provides a real chance for a punch-counterpunch result that moves into sudden death, with each player having had a couple of holes to regain their rhythm and even some time to compensate for a poor start.

And, if the players successfully counter each other, as Ariya and Hyo Joo did Sunday, the sudden death playoff that follows doesn't seem so random anymore. In fact, Sunday's two-hole format actually felt like a three-hole aggregate that went an extra hole of sudden death.

I realize that, should this format get used when one of the players has been sitting for a while, and should that player lose two straight holes and thus the playoff, there will be a lot of questions about whether a two-hole aggregate playoff is really fair.

But given what we saw on Sunday, I'd have to say that the USGA won the first hole of this debate.

My "5 to Watch" at the US Women's Open

The women are back in the major game this week. The US Women's Open is being played at Shoal Creek in Alabama, which will be playing a bit over 6700 yards. This time of year in Alabama, that should make for a hard and fast course -- but the extended forecast looks like the ladies will be dealing with heat, humidity and rain.



As usual, Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event over at his blog, so I refer you to it for more info. I'll be focusing on my picks in this post.

And those picks are tricky enough when dealing with the men; the parity among the ladies has turned my picks into a real crapshoot. The ladies not only have depth -- which the men also have -- but more of the ladies tend to be "on their games" each week. You need look no further than Pernilla Lindberg's win at the ANA Inspiration, as she took down Inbee Park head-to-head without any apparent nerves at all despite not having been in that position before.

So looking at "current form" is less useful when picking winners among the ladies, although...

• Minjee Lee certainly has to be one of my picks this time. Minjee is not only coming off a win at the Volvik last week, she won the Oates Victorian Open (cosponsored by the ALPG and LET) earlier this year. And her control from tee to green last week was incredible. This season she is, in my opinion, in her best form heading into the thick of the major season, so I like her chances this week.
• Moriya Jutanugarn finally broke through for her first LPGA win just a few weeks back, but she had been playing well enough to win for well over a year before that. While some players get their first wins at majors -- Danielle Kang and Pernilla come to mind, among others -- it's more typical to have a win under your belt first. Moriya is consistently in the Top10 these days and, with her control from the tee, a US Women's Open seems a likely track for her first major.
• Defending champ Sung Hyun Park has already proven she can win a US Women's Open and she won on tour only a month ago, at the Volunteers of America event. If Shoal Creek should get waterlogged, her length will give her a huge advantage.
• Jessica Korda has cooled down a bit since her early win this season but it's not as if she's played badly. She has three Top4s and no finish worse than T26, and she is certainly feeling better as she gets further along in her recovery from surgery. I think she's more ready for this major than she has been in quite some time.
• And my flier is... Nasa Hataoka. The youngster seems to have found her legs on the tour in the last month, with finishes of T19, T19, T7, T2 and T10 in her last five starts, and she hasn't shot over par in her last four Sunday rounds. I think she could post a good score early on Sunday and sneak up on the rest of the field.

I know that I have left off a number of players who should be favored above the ones I listed above. Inbee Park, Shanshan Feng, Ariya Jutanugarn, Lexi Thompson and more have stronger major pedigrees than all of my choices other than perhaps Sung Hyun Park. But I think Pernilla may have set the pace for this season, and I suspect her win may encourage some of the other "close but not yet" players to believe they can do it too.

And so my pick this week is Moriya. I really like the trajectory of her game over the last couple of years and I think she could be the next player to stake her major claim.

An Early LPGA Start Today

After a few weeks in primetime, the LPGA gets an early broadcast window -- at least for the first two days -- at the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic.



As usual, Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event at his site.

There has been some talk about the change of venue this year and how the players haven't seen the course before. You might think that would be a problem for defending champ Haru Nomura. But I've been unable to find her listed in the pairings, so I'm not even sure she's there.

Instead, Stacy Lewis, who announced her pregnancy earlier this week, seems to be the favorite among the expert pickers. Personally, I think the new venue makes any pick little more than a guess. And if the wind comes up -- as the wind is prone to do in Texas -- I wouldn't even try to pick a winner. While I would expect a low ball hitter to have an advantage, this one looks to be anybody's title.

The only thing I can say for sure at this point is that GC's coverage starts at 10:30am ET this morning. You've got three hours of live golf to get your day started, on an unfamiliar course where any player could win this week. What more do you need?

How Close Is a Joint PGA-LPGA Event?

A recent post from Golf Digest's Dew Sweeper included this little bit of news amidst its collection of tidbits. I thought you might find it interesting.



Here's the part of the article that we're interested in:

The Zurich's success last spring spurred conversation regarding other outside-the-box tournaments the tour should implement, chief among them a mixed competition of PGA Tour and LPGA players. This talk arose again last week, its prospects advocated by LPGA commissioner Mike Whan. That Whan would proselytize on the matter is not surprising; the LPGA would greatly benefit from the heightened spotlight of the PGA Tour's platforms. However, the idea received further endorsement on Sunday, from a particularly influential voice.

“We’re very interested in getting the men and women together inside the ropes in the same week and in the same competition,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan told media members on Sunday. “I think that’s something you’ll see in the future. It’s just a matter of time. That’s really exciting and interesting.”

The PGA Tour's revamped schedule is coming out shortly, but sources told Golf Digest that a mixed event is not currently on the table for next season. Conversely, both Monahan and Whan floated the theoretical tournament as an offseason possibility, one that could be happening in relative short order.

“They’re partners of ours,” Monahan said. “Generally speaking, that’s something we’d like to see.”

So at least the talks are still on. Let's hope it becomes more action and less talk very soon.

Inbee Takes Over as #1 at a New Event

This week Inbee Park and her caddie Brad Beecher will resume a familiar role -- that of #1 in the world. (The photo shows Park and Beecher at her last event with the bib.) Inbee's return to the top after a couple of years struggling with injury has been amazing.

And now she gets to start all over again at a brand new event,  the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship.



The event may be new but the venue isn't. Lake Merced Golf Club hosted an LPGA event from 2014 to 2016, the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, but the sponsors moved the event to their home in Taiwan. Now Korean skin-care company Mediheal (which I Googled and found they make facial masks) has taken over the event. Lydia Ko won the first two events played here and Haru Nomura the last one.

As best I can tell, Nomura is not in the field, so I guess Ko is the closest to a defending champion that we can find.

Tony Jesselli has a nice preview here, so I won't bore you with details he has already covered. But it's pretty clear that the big storyline this week is Inbee's return to the #1 spot in the Rolex Rankings, despite a widespread belief that this dominating but understated player wouldn't be able to find the motivation to take on the kids. She just continues to amaze us all.

I love it!

GC's live coverage begins Thursday night at 6:30pm ET, which is becoming something of a standard for them when the LPGA is playing the West Coast. I, for one, am interested in seeing what Inbee does, given her previous finishes here at T4 (2014) and T18 (2015). She didn't play in 2016, the year the injury problems became evident.

One thing's for sure -- the LPGA has not been at a loss for storylines so far this year, and this event is no different.

Two Different Ways... to Get It Done?

While much of the attention is on the major winners in the Top5 of the HUGEL-JTBC LA Open, it's hard not to pull for the two yet-to-be-winners leading the event. Both came out in 2013.

• Neither is a power player; both average between 255 and 260 off the tee. (I know, that sounds really long to some of you, but it puts them around 70-80 in the stats.)
• One gets it done tee-to-green, the other on the green, but both are pretty good scorers. Both make lots of birdies and get into the 60s a lot.
• And both have been oh-so-close this year.

In second place after two rounds is Marina Alex, who posted a T2 at the Founders Cup and a T5 at the Australian Open. She's the "tee-to-greener" of the pair and she's been in the mix of several events so far, even if she stumbled near the end.



And in first place is Moriya Jutanugarn, Ariya's big sister. She's got a T2 at the Thailand event, a T6 at the ANA and a 10 at the LOTTE, so she's on a bit of a roll. She's been the better putter of the two, and is Top4 in both eagles and birdies this season.



Even their approaches to the game seem to be opposites, according to the LPGA. For Marina, it's about breathing and self-talk:

“I'm way more aware when I'm kind of getting a little bit anxious, wound up. I kind of like am just, ‘Okay, this has happened so many times.’ Time to step back and not get myself into that place, into that head space. I'm managing it a lot better than my first few years on tour, so I think that's helped contribute to a little bit more consistent finishes.”

For Moriya, it's more a matter of patience:

“Just try and hit fairways and greens. That’s the key for this week. That’s what I try to do.”

What you'll hear most about are the chasers -- major winners So Yeon Ryu, Eun-Hee Ji and Inbee Park being the closest and most dangerous. Other past winners are close at their heels as well. And it's these chasers who are most likely to run down the leaders and steal their thunder.

But don't tell Moriya and Marina that. They really don't care. And I won't be surprised if one or the other finally gets a win this weekend. They're getting used to the lead and they don't seem nearly as shaken by the pressure.

Could be a fun battle for this inaugural tournament. And since I understand the winner will play with Mark Wahlberg in the event's pro-am next year, they just might have something on their minds besides the trophy. ;-)

The New LPGA Event

This week the LPGA welcomes a new event to the schedule, the HUGEL-JTBC LA Open. It's been a decade or so since the Tour was in Los Angeles, and they return to Wilshire Country Club, a historic venue that has hosted the LGPA, PGA Tour and Champions Tour.



You can catch Tony Jesselli's preview at his website. Tony notes that this is the strongest non-major field of the year thus far, even beating out the Kia Classic which has the advantage of being the week before the ANA. He also notes that the only reason this event didn't match the majors is because the top players from other tours, who usually play majors, aren't in this event.

Clearly the ladies are excited to be back in LA!

The continuing battle for #1 in the Rolex Rankings will be in the news again this week, with Shanshan Feng maintaining a very slim (.38 point) margin over Lexi Thompson and Inbee Park. One good week -- or one bad round, as Inbee experienced last week -- could put one of them well over the top of the others. That will be worth keeping an eye on!

Natalie Gulbis is making a rare appearance this week as well, after receiving a sponsor's exemption into the event.

Here's a small bit of trivia for you: HUGEL is a South Korean company that makes beauty products -- I can't help but think that's part of the reason Natalie was chosen to receive an exemption -- and their primary product is none other than botox.

And just so you know, JTBC is the LPGA's Korean TV partner and a previous sponsor of other LPGA events.

This will be another primetime event, with coverage starting Thursday night at 6:30pm ET on GC. And since the three primary challengers for #1 in the world are teeing it up, at a brand new venue for most of the players, this could be a very compelling event.

But then again, haven't all of this year's events been compelling?

More PrimeTime LPGA Action Tonight!

Yes, the LPGA is back with more primetime golf. The Lotte Championship is not only in Hawaii, which is five hours ahead of the normal Eastern Standard Times I post here, but it's a Wednesday-Saturday event. That means (obviously enough) that the tournament starts tonight, not Thursday.



As usual, Tony Jesselli has done a fine preview of the event at his blog. I will simply note that defending champ Cristie Kerr set the tournament record of -20 at last year's event and, knowing what is possible, it will be interesting to see how low the ladies go this year.

Four of the Top5 in the Rolex Rankings are playing (Lexi's the odd girl out), as are the last four winners of the event. (The two missing champs, Ai Miyazato and Suzann Pettersen, are retired and on maternity leave, respectively.) And new major champ Pernilla Lindberg will be playing, as will Inbee Park, so we could see those two battle it out again. Today Pernilla will be paired with Ariya Jutanugar and Lydia Ko, while Inbee will go out with Brooke Henderson and Bronte Law roughly ten minutes later.

A coincidence? I doubt it.

GC's four hours of live coverage begin tonight at 7pm ET. Again, this is a Wednesday-Saturday event; and with the four hours of coverage scheduled to start at the same time each night, it should be unusually easy to keep track of when the LPGA is being broadcast this week. That's good news for us LPGA fans!

Things We Can Learn from Pernilla Lindberg

I hope you all got to watch Pernilla Lindberg and Inbee Park's final four holes on Monday morning. It was pretty impressive, especially as Pernilla continued to make critical putt after critical putt, finally sinking a long one at the 10th hole (playoff hole #8). Inbee finally flinched, giving Pernilla the win.



Her caddy, who also happens to be her fiance Daniel Taylor, was also pretty impressive as he dove headfirst into Poppie's Pond.



Anyway, I thought I'd take a quick look at some things we can learn from Pernilla. First, a look at her pre-shot routine.

Those of you who follow my blog regularly probably know that I'm not a big fan of pre-shot routines -- I think they have become an excuse to avoid hitting your shot. Pernilla's is different though. She seems to use her routine almost purely to get her alignment correct.

I looked all over for a video of her current routine and couldn't find one. This video from 2014 is a little different but it's the best I could do, and you really only see her routine twice -- once at the beginning of the video and once at the end. Still, you can see that she sets her ball position, then spreads her feet, lifts her club and bumps her lead hip toward the target, then addresses the ball and makes her swing.

Her current "club lift and hip bump" is a bit more formal, and she uses a couple more club lifts instead of a waggle, but this is essentially the same that she did before each wood and hybrid shot all week. (She doesn't bump her hip on the irons, probably because she's more concerned with accuracy than distance when hitting those clubs.)



You can also learn from her strategy. She (and Inbee too, for that matter) played each hole almost the same each time through, both in the regular tournament and in the playoff. The only variation I recall happened on the 7th playoff hole Monday morning -- that's the par-5 18th -- where Pernilla got her drive close enough to go for the green in two. She didn't get close enough for a realistic chance for eagle, but she did put the ball safely on the green and walked away with a two-putt birdie.

In other words, she played smart. She played to her strengths and, when she did play an aggressive shot, she missed it in the correct spot so she kept herself in the game.

Finally, her mindset was amazing. Pernilla said she figured out early on that she was the underdog, so she figured she had nothing to lose. She took this as both an opportunity and an honor. She decided to enjoy her chance and just kept grinding. Terry and Judy said it on Monday morning -- even if Pernilla didn't win, she had proven herself and won so much respect that her future in the game would be different anyway!

And when Inbee missed the putt that would have sent the playoff to a 9th hole, Pernilla was visibly shocked. She said afterward that she just assumed Inbee would make the putt, and she was already planning her tee shot for the next hole.

When Inbee missed, Pernilla Lindberg pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent golf history. And now you know some of the reasons why she did.

Let me add just one more thought on Pernilla's amazing mindset. While most viewers will believe it came from nowhere, it didn't. No doubt many of you will have heard that you "need to pay your dues" before you can earn a win like this. Perhaps that's true.

But "dues" don't have to be "paid" in the same place where they are collected, if you follow what I'm saying.

Business people recognize what they call "transferable skills," which simply means that many seemingly unrelated professions use similar skills. A mother who manages a household with a husband and three kids, planning all the meals and coordinating all the schedules, may turn out to be a skilled office manager. The skills needed for both are essentially the same.

In much the same way, "dues paid" in one area of life can be applied in other areas as well. After all, patience and persistence and the ability to handle pressure are necessary skills in many areas of life, not just golf And once you add Pernilla's considerable experience as a college golfer -- plus her time as a competitive downhill skier, which many folks don't remember -- she's been in some pretty big arenas before, places where those dues would have been paid.

So remember that when you think you can't handle things out on the golf course. You may have more usable experience to draw on than you realize.

The only difference between Pernilla and you is that she knew she had paid her dues.

Today's Two Biggest Storylines

After several weeks of older players breaking winning droughts, we have a couple of interesting storylines to watch today.



Pernilla Lindberg turned pro in 2009 and has never won a professional event, although she was quite the amateur player. She won the 2008 Amateur World Championship, was the 2007 NCAA West Regional champion and was a First-Team All-American in 2007 and 2009, in addition to her wins at Oklahoma State University.

But even though she hasn't won a pro event, you wouldn't know it to watch her play this week at the ANA. Like Dannielle Kang last year, she could make her first pro win a major. She's got a three-stroke lead going into today's final round and, while there are some proven major winners like Inbee Park, Ariya Jutanugarn and Sung Hyun Park just four strokes back, Pernilla's game seems pretty solid and she still seems pretty relaxed despite sleeping on the lead for days now.

Ian Poulter, on the other hand, has won 16 times as a pro... but not since late 2012 at the WGC-HSBC Champions, which I usually just call the WGC-China. Ian shot 73 in his first round, so far back that he'd already packed his bags. But after two bogey-free rounds of 64 and 65, he's tied with Beau Hossler at -14, two strokes ahead of the field at the Houston Open.

And Ian has something to play for as well. He needs a win to play at Augusta next week.

Pernilla at 31, Ian at 42. Both considered "veterans" on their respective tours, both in need of a win for different reasons. Both playing some of the best golf they've played in a long, long time.

And I refuse to bet against them today. This year has already been so weird, I see no reason why either should fail to get it done. I'll sure be pulling for them!

My "5 to Watch" at the ANA

Yes, I know this is my first "5 to Watch" post of 2018. This year has thus far been so unpredictable that the thought hadn't even occurred to me until this week. But I can't let a major go by without some predictions.

So welcome to the ANA Inspiration, the first major of 2018!



The ANA is the LPGA's equivalent of the Masters -- built around a single personality (the late Dinah Shore), always played on the same golf course (the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage CA), and celebrated with a unique ritual (the jump into Poppie's Pond).

And while the defending champion is So Yeon Ryu, it's Lexi Thompson who is most associated with the event this year after that devastating ending last year... and the resulting rule change it pretty much forced on the USGA and the R&A. (A long-overdue change, in my opinion.)

Let me quickly remind you that Tony Jesselli has a preview for this event over at his blog. I will just point out that both Gerina Piller and Suzann Pettersen are missing the event due to pregnancies, and I can only guess that Karrie Webb, at 105 in the Rolex, didn't qualify.

As with the men's game, the women have been mixing it up a bit as well. Past winners have stepped up and, with the exception of Jin Young Ko, have dominated the podium. The question becomes whether the youngsters can turn the tide at the first major of the year?

I know that, no matter who I choose, I'm going to miss some players with a solid chance. So this list is mostly chalk

• It's hard to bet against Lexi Thompson, and not just because of last year. Lexi has one of the best records around this course of any player -- she has won here before, back in 2014 -- but she hasn't won yet this year. I'm guessing she's hungry for one... and I'd be surprised if the thought of this event doesn't make her ravenous!
• Likewise, although she's never won here, Michelle Wie has one of the better records around Mission Hills. In fact, she probably would have bet she would win an ANA before a US Open. But Michelle has struggled with injuries and such since she won that US Open, and the key for her now is that she's finally healthy again and seems to be having fun. I could see her breaking through this week.
• I have to include Inbee Park. Another previous winner (2013), she missed several months with back pain and a hand injury... then walked back onto the course a few weeks ago and promptly crushed the field. Her game doesn't seem to fit this course but hey, she's already won here! Why not do it again?
• Brittany Lincicome at Mission Hills, in many ways, reminds me of Bubba around Augusta. She can seem to be completely out of competitive shape until she arrives at this course... at which point she finds her game and eagles the last hole for the win. Twice, in fact (2009 and 2015). And, like Bubba, she's already won this year. It's probably not a good idea to bet against her.
• And my flier is... Laura Davies. That second-place finish at the Founders Cup shows she's still got it, and I'm encouraged that she's putting better. Laura's always been streaky, but it's possible she's starting a streak at the right time. This is a wide-open course, which should suit her game. And I know she hasn't won the ANA before... but that's part of the reason she's a flier!

To be honest, I don't know how to make a reasoned pick this week so I'm making a gut pick. I'd really like to see Laura get this one, as it would be enough to get her into the LPGA Hall of Fame, and I really hope she wins. But I'm going to pick Michelle Wie, simply because I've got a feeling.

Hopefully it's not appendicitis.

More Prime Time LPGA Action

As the LPGA prepares for their first major of the year -- the ANA Inspiration next week -- we (here in the US, at least) get another prime time LPGA broadcast with the Kia Classic.



Tony Jesselli's weekly tournament preview is at this link. I'll just remind you that the event is held in Carlsbad CA and the defending champ is Mirim Lee. She's hoping to recapture last year's magic, having not cracked the Top20 since.

Seven of the eight past Kia champs will be in the field this week. (2010 champ Hee Kyung Seo is the missing one.) Kia does tend to pull a strong field as many players are preparing for the ANA next week. Inbee Park is also in the field -- she's never won but she has a couple of runner-up finishes.

After last week's performance I wouldn't bet against her.

Beyond that, the #1 spot in the Rolex is up for grabs again. Shanshan Feng leads Lexi Thompson by a mere .21 points, with So Yeon Ryu .5 back and Sung Hyun Park another .2 behind her. We could see a shake-up this week.

GC's coverage is tape-delayed at 8:30pm ET Thursday and Friday night, but goes live at 7pm ET on Saturday and Sunday. And I'll say it again: The ANA comes up next week, so this should be a very competitive event.

Inbee Park Proves That Length Is Overrated (Video)

Inbee Park missed several months with back pain and considered quitting the game. But she decided to keep playing.

And now she's leading the Bank of Hope Founders Cup as if she hadn't missed a beat. She even had a 59 watch going for a while on Saturday. That tends to happen when you're six-under after five holes.



You might want to read Randall Mell's article over at golfchannel.com about the last few months of her life. It's very interesting. And the video here lets you hear a bit of how she's thinking right now.

But what fascinates me is how she continues to blow her competition away when she's not as long as the big guns. In one round this week she was playing from 40 to 50 yards behind her opponents.

And this is something that weekend players should learn from.

Look, I'm not saying that length isn't an advantage. It can certainly help you post a low score if you're able to capitalize on it. But even among the pros, length doesn't make most players into contenders. DJ and Justin Thomas are the exceptions, not the rule. And unlike Tiger in his heyday, even they haven't proven they can win as consistently as the Big Cat did. I mean, DJ has won every year for over a decade now... but Tiger won five times a year for over a decade.

The players who win consistently are the players who learn to take what they have and post a good score with it. That's a matter of mindset ("I can compete with these other players") and strategy ("My game allows me to do these things really well"). And even if you can't knock the cover off the ball, you can learn to capitalize on your strengths by playing smart.

It's still working for Inbee Park. And while she doesn't win all the time, wouldn't it be wild if it worked today?

I'm not betting against her.

Mariah Stackhouse Meets Hank Aaron (Video)

In case you don't know, Hank Aaron is a baseball legend, one of the greatest home run hitters in history and a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He also created the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation, which he began to help children with "limited opportunities" (which can cover a lot of territory) pursue their dreams.

As it turns out, Mariah was one of the kids he helped... and Thursday was his first time getting to see her play. GC posted this video of the two finally getting to meet.



This was just so cool that I wanted you all to see it in case you missed it