FANTASTIC finish at LPGA Kraft Nabisco
The final hour of this championship turned into what will probably go down in history as the most exciting finish ever at an LPGA major. Whew! I'm exhausted from watching.
Within a span of a minute, Michelle Wie almost pitched her full wedge in for eagle at the 16th, only to miss by inches. Then, on 18, Karrie Webb -- who rebounded from yesterday's terrible play -- hit her wedge from 116 yards up and in for eagle. Her caddie called it, whispering "Be right" while the ball was in the air. It was. Right in the hole. That put Webb ahead at -9, but Michelle had the easy putt on 16 for -8.
Meanwhile, Natalie Gulbis looked and played brilliant today (shooting another 68 without any bogeys), and she made a huge clutch birdie on the 17th to pull into a tie with Michelle at -8. Third-round leader Lorena Ochoa, however, was having her difficulties all day, and was 2-over for the day when she stood on the 18th hole. In other words, she needed an eagle to get into a playoff, while Michelle and Natalie only needed birdies. Well, you guessed it, Lorena's luck finally changed, and she stuffed a 5-wood on the green in 2 and ended up sinking her clutch 12-footer for EAGLE! Michelle and Natalie both hit great putts for birdie that grazed the edge, but did not go down.
Playoff: Karrie v. Lorena, the Old Guard v. the New Guard. Holy smokes! Karrie Webb just sunk a 6-footer for birdie on the 1st playoff hole to win! Amazing! The Old Guard staved off the New Guard, ... at least for now. Karrie really deserved it after shooting an incredible 7-under 65 today after playing so poorly yesterday.
I'm emotionally drained, but will have more to say after I get an IV.
7 Comments:
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Why did CBS TV leave so abruptly? It`s a Major tournament and they didn`t even stick around for the presentation. I know it`s 6 PM in the East but they could have stayed on in the Central & Pacific time zones. Pretty crummy job,CBS!
It was some great golf played today, I was glad to see Karrie Webb back on track as it has been a rough couple of years for her....Michelle Wie played well, but just not well enough....but I watched her and I am a believer now that she has talent to go with all the hype...however she needs to win one to warrant all the press she does get....Hats off to Laurena Ochoa coming back and gathering herself after the wheels came off a bit early in the day....How about Natalie Gulbis, her swing is a bit odd looking...but man can she play and it is not going to be long before she gets in the winners circle....I am disappointed in my girl Paula Creamer...I was hoping she would have a good tourney and get some TV time.....All in All a great tourney to watch I really enjoyed it this weekend....
Where are the Americans!
Everyone talking about the new bread of lpga golfers being lead by Creamer, Wie, Pressel and Gulbis but I still have to ask the question; where are they? And where are the rest of the Americans? While this last weekends Kraft Major was filled with drama and great play down the stretch, the girls and boys over at the lpga have to be privately griping the wheel tonight as another week goes by and another tourney won by a non-American. I have no problem with the Swedes and Koreans and now the Abuses taking over the lpga, but from a marketing stand point you would think the higher-ups would want a Creamer vs. Wie vs. Pressel vs. Gulbis show and would want it soon.
If you watched the tourney this weekend and this afternoon it looked like they might get their wish and at a major and at a major while lefty was busy making sure know one was watching the men’s circuit. When Webb (Australian) hit her miracle wedge shot on the 72 hole Wie and Gulbis had the best chance of chasing her down. Ochoa (Mexico) had to pull off a miracle of her own with a 5wood on 18 to even get herself in to a playoff. Paint it how ever you want but Wie and Gulbis both choked down the stretch. Wie only needed a Birdie on 17 or 18 and she would be in the playoff. Gulbis got her birdie on 17 but missed the midrange jumper on 18 to tie for 3rd.
If the lpga wants to play in the sand box with the big boys they need someone to market, and history will show that someone needs to be an American. For those of you that think Tiger is dominate, Sorenstam makes him look like a City links Champ when you compare their records, yet the lpga can’t get off the ground with the Swede.
While what happen today was exciting (and yes I was watching) after Thursday of next week no one will remember it and I have to say it’s because we can’t relate to the players that are winning this year on the lpga. And if it wasn’t for a 46 year old Juli Inkster winning the Safeway the Americans would be shut out. In fact Inkster is the only American born that has been in the top 2 of any tourney this year. I for one would love for the lpga to final get its due but until Gulbis or Wie hold a trophy I think these girls are still playing second fiddle.
On a Side note; CBS needs to get their collective heads out of their well you know. CBS runs these clips over and over and over of every past Kraft winner jumping into the pond and then when it comes Karrie’s turn they are already pulling the production truck out of the parking lot. The equivalent of that would be Sergio sinking a put and before he could find an arm hole in a green Jackie the camera crews would be in the bar downing Ritas. Next time CBS lets commit to the show or just leave when you are contracted to, I for one was waiting to see someone take a dip in the pond.
Good luck to the ladies and as a disclaimer I own a Sky caddie only because Gulbis touts it.
How about me? My closing 74 was MONEY!! No doubt I'm a player to be reckoned with!
A shout out to my homie, spinman13!! Yo dawg!
Why did Wie chip from the back of the green on 18 and why did not one ask her about it?
Someone did ask Wie about why chipped instead of putting it. She said that she had a lot of fringe to go over -- that's why she didn't putt it.
As far as the execution goes, she said she hit it exactly where she wanted it, but basically misjudged how fast the green was from that side.
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