Talk about a majestic way to end a slump!

Brittany Lincicome’s victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship may not be the most surprising Major championship win of recent memory – this, after all, is a talented young player with two prior LPGA titles on her résumé – but it did pretty well come out of nowhere. For despite having amassed an uncommon degree of experience in her 23 years (including leading after the first round of the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open as an 18-year-old amateur), Lincicome has hardly been a world beater of late. Consider that her early 2009 performances (MC, T65, T39) actually represent an improvement over 2008, when she failed to log a single top-10 finish, missed five of her last seven cuts and plummeted to 92nd in official LPGA earnings.

Such a slump might eventually have led to talk of failing to live up to lofty expectations, but such expectations – be they fair or not – can also offer some advantages. Specifically, having been a hugely dominant junior player, Lincicome has a whole lot of experience actually winning golf tournaments (attenion Michelle Wie...) and thus was able to summon forth her best golf in the crucial moments, curling a Hall-of-Fame-caliber hybrid approach to within three feet at the par-5 72nd hole to set up an eagle and a one-stroke victory. Lincicome herself admitted to nearly wilting under the pressure of the occasion, noting of her closing putt that “my hands were shaking so bad, I was almost crying.” But knowing how to win (and the positive expectations such knowledge creates) can be an invaluable thing. Of course, possessing the sort of length that allows one to reach the final green with a hybrid club doesn’t hurt either.

Which reminds me: Am I the only one who sees a significant stylistic resemblances between Lincicome and a young JoAnne Carner?

And one more LPGA thought of a (somewhat) interesting nature...

A week ago, I listed Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and Angela Stanford as favorites in Rancho Mirage – hardly a bold prediction as all are ranked among the top six players in the world. But as things played out only Pettersen was heard from in the end, and then only after a closing 66 (tied for low round of the day) lifted her into a late tie for 5th, four shots in arrears. Otherwise the top of the board included only one past Major champion (2007 U.S. Open winner Cristie Kerr) as well as relative upstarts like Lincicome, Meaghan Francella and the irrepressible Christina Kim, and genuine upstarts Kristy McPherson and Australia’s Lindsey Wright. For the record, Ochoa and Stanford tied for 12th, Tseng tied for 17th and Shin never broke 70 in finishing tied for 21st, all of which raises the question:

On a tour which, throughout its history, has traditionally been dominated by a small handful of elite stars, are we perhaps beginning to see signs of parity?

The Masters

Site: Augusta National Golf Club – Augusta, GA
Yards: 7,435   Par: 72
Defending: Trevor Immelman 280   (beat T. Woods by 3)
Field: World Top 20: All   Other Notables: Everyone who can get in.

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Elsewhere...
JLPGA – Studio Alice Open – Hyogo, Japan

PGA Tour: Shell Houston Open

Winner: Paul Casey   66-70-69-72 277   (beat J.B. Holmes in a playoff)
Site: Redstone Golf Club (Tournament course) - Humble, TX

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


European PGA Tour: Estoril Open de Portugal

Winner: Michael Hoey   66-76-69-66 277   (beat G. Fernandez-Castano in a playoff)
Site: Oitavos Dunes - Cascais, Portugal

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Sunshine Tour: Vodacom Origins of Golf Bloemfontein

Winner: Trevor Fisher   69-67-65 201   (beat J. Hugo & W. van der Merwe by 1)
Site: Bloemfontein Golf Club – Bloemfontein, South Africa

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


LPGA Tour: Kraft Nabisco Championship

Winner: Brittany Lincicome   66-74-70-69 279   (beat C. Kerr & K. McPherson by 1)
Site: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore) – Rancho Mirage, CA

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Elsewhere...
JLPGA – Yamaha Open – Ah-Reum Hwang 205 (Story)
Futures – Impact Enterprises Invitational – Misun Cho 210 (Story)
Nationwide – Stonebrae Classic – Michael Sim 266 (Story)

The great (if brief) British golf writer Patric Dickinson once wrote that “There is nothing new to say about St. Andrews, just as there is nothing new to say about Shakespeare,” and in this light, what is there really to add about Tiger’s win at Bay Hill that hasn’t already been reported, lauded, canonized and recorded for the ages?

Thus I will only add the following two thoughts:

1) The observation that I made to friends in 1996 upon the occasion of Woods’ third straight U.S. Amateur triumph (“The putting looks a tad shaky under pressure”) may not have been entirely on the mark...

2) Just once, I wish that upon holing one of these tournament-winning shots, he would act more like a golfer than a professional wrestler.

And with that, we move on.

Looking past Tiger, I originally anticipated leading this post off with one of two storylines that promptly went up in smoke: either Prayad Marksaeng’s closing 64 to win the Asian Tour’s Black Mountain Masters (rendered moot when Johan Edfors birdied the last two holes to snatch the title) or Jiyai Shin’s jump to number two (?) in the Rolex Rankings with her impressive win in Phoenix (unfortunately Karrie Webb – who’s now beaten Shin head-to-head twice in four months – had other ideas).

But while both of these would have tied nicely into previous posts on Prayad and Shin, Webb herself is a pretty good story, for much like Retief Goosen a week ago, this is a world-class, multiple Major championship winner who played herself back from the realm of “Can I do this anymore?” to victory, thus ending a two-and-a-half year drought in America. However, also like Goosen, Webb remained reasonably relevant on the world stage during her slump, winning the Australian Women’s Open in both 2007 and ’08, and finishing no worse the 22nd on the LPGA money list. And besides, she’s only 34 – which may look old next to Shin and some of the Tour’s other up-and-comers, but certainly suggests five or six more strong years ahead, at minimum.

But perhaps of even greater interest is the week ahead on both the PGA and LPGA circuits. The men return to Houston for the Tour’s final pre-Masters event, the Shell Houston Open , and it is fascinating to note that fully 15 of the world top 20 (though not the world number one) will be in attendance. Gone, apparently, are the days when most of the elite took the week off before a Major to rest and prepare, a method that seemed to suit men like Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus fairly well, and which appear to be further validated by Tiger Woods long having followed a similar routine. But much like the old Westchester Classic struck gold by tricking up the Westchester Country Club’s West course to USGA-like conditions, thus drawing numerous top players (especially foreigners) in the week before the U.S. Open, the Houston Open similarly now sets up Redstone golf Club to ape the conditions at Augusta National – apparently with some real success. Of course, Westchester is a quirky, old-fashioned northeastern test which, with a bit of window dressing, can reasonably approximate a U.S. Open layout. The Tournament course at the Redstone, on the other hand, is an overblown, oversized Rees Jones design whose flat terrain, 59 bunkers and near-complete lack of strategy bear no resemblance whatsoever to Augusta National.

Is it possible that some of our modern stars can’t tell the difference?

Despite Houston’s impressive field, however, the week’s major story lies in Rancho Mirage, California, where the Mission Hills Country Club plays host to the Kraft Nabisco Championship – women’s golf’s first Major – for the 38th consecutive year. The list of favorites is an obvious enough one – Lorena Ochoa of course, with Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng and perhaps Angela Stanford making up a reasonable top five – but at a gut level, one really looks at defending champion Ochoa and the rapidly rising Shin as the stars of the show. Indeed, this may be the first in a long run of Major championship battles between the two, with the world number one ranking (which is still held comfortably by Ochoa) eventually hanging in the balance.

If things break right, it could make for some compelling golf indeed.

PGA Tour: Shell Houston Open

Site: Redstone Golf Club (Tournament course) - Humble, TX
Yards: 7,457   Par: 72
Defending: Johnson Wagner   272   (beat C. Campbell & G. Ogilvy by 2)
Field: World Top 20: All except Tiger Woods (1), Kenny Perry (10), Jim Furyk (13), Stewart Cink (18) & Mike Weir (19)   Other Notables: Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III & Greg Norman.

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European PGA Tour: Estoril Open de Portugal

Site: Oitavos Dunes - Cascais, Portugal
Yards: 6,893   Par: 71
Defending: Gregory Bourdy   266   (beat A. Forsyth & D. Howell in a playoff)
Field: World Top 20: None   Other Notables: Most are in America.

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Sunshine Tour: Vodacom Origins of Golf Bloemfontein

Site: Bloemfontein Golf Club – Bloemfontain, South Africa
Metres: 6,344   Par: 72
Defending: Dion Fourie   201   (beat J. Hugo & C. Swanepoel by 2)
Field: World Top 20: None   Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Darren Fichardt & James Kamte.

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LPGA Tour: Kraft Nabisco Championship

Site: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore) – Rancho Mirage, CA
Yards: 6,673   Par: 72
Defending: Lorena Ochoa   277   (beat S. Pettersen & A. Sorenstam by 5)
Field: World Top 20: All who are physically able   Other Notables: Anyone who can get in.

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Elsewhere...
JLPGA – Yamaha Open – Shizuoka, Japan
Futures – Impact Enterprises Invitational – Daytona Beach, FL
Nationwide – Stonebrae Classic – Hayward, CA
Canadian – Spring International – Modesto, CA

PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational

Winner: Tiger Woods 68-69-71-67   275   (beat S. O’Hair by 1)
Site: Bay Hill Club & Lodge - Orlando, FL

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


European PGA Tour: Open de Andalucia

Winner: Soren Kjeldsen 68-72-62-72   274   (beat D. Drysdale by 3)
Site: Real Golf Club de Sevilla - Seville, Spain

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Asian Tour: Black Mountain Masters

Winner: Johan Edfors 64-68-71-68   271   (beat P.Marksaeng & C. Rodgers by 2)
Site: Black Mountain Golf Club - Hua Lin, Thailand

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


LPGA Tour: J Golf Phoenix LPGA International

Winner: Karrie Webb 70-68-69-67   274   (beat J. Shin by 2)
Site: Papago Golf Course - Phoenix, AZ

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Champions Tour: Cap Cana Championship

Winner: Keith Fergus 68-68-67   203   (beat A. Bean & M. O’Meara by 1)
Site: Punta Espada Golf Club - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Elsewhere...
Nationwide – Chitimacha Louisiana Open – Bubba Dickerson 274 (Story)

How about with another 62?

That’s precisely what Thailand’s 25-year-old Chapchai Nirat rather remarkably accomplished over the opening two rounds of last week’s SAIL Open, a relatively minor Asia Tour event played outside of New Delhi. Nirat then built upon his stunning start with a third-round 65 before missing just enough putts to manage “only” a closing 67 – which, for those not keeping score at home, adds up to the decidedly lean total of 256. PGA Tour fans will quickly note that Nirat did not break the world 72-hole aggregate record (set by Tommy Armour III, with a scorching 254 at the 2003 Texas Open) but his eye-popping 32-under-par total is believed to be the lowest 72-hole relative-to-par figure ever recorded, edging Ernie Els’31-under mark, which was also set in 2003, at Kapalua. Els, by the way, also held the previous Asian Tour record, a 29-under showing at the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2003 – which, apparently, was a very good year.

And one more number worth noting: While the Classic Golf Resort layout Nirat torched may not be Pine Valley, it’s not as though everyone shot it up, for his victory margin was a resounding 11 shots!

The win was Nirat’s second in Asia, and also marks a recent Far Eastern ascendancy by Thai golfers, with Thongchai Jaidee winning three weeks ago at the Indonesian Open, and Prayad Marksaeng winning two December events in Asia, plus a November triumph at the prestigious Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. Will this trio be finding their way to America anytime soon? Nirat has indicated that he will try PGA Tour Q School next fall, while Jaidee, Thailand’s first truly competitive international player, turns 40 this year and seems to show little interest in heading west. Marksaeng, however, is an interesting case. Now 43, his late ’08 rush launched him into the world top 50 (he currently sits 50th), which gains him access to various big-stage events like the WGCs. Yet save for one failed run at Q School in 2006, he has so far shown no inkling towards tackling America.

The deciding factor? Perhaps simply age, for at 25, Nirat presumably has his best golf (though surely not his low 72-hole score) still ahead of him, and thus would seem crazy not to try to take his act worldwide.

And speaking of the 40-and-over club, recent member Retief Goosen struck an important blow in his career resurgence with Sunday’s one-shot victory at the Transitions Championship, his first PGA Tour triumph since 2005. Bothered in recent years by a poorly executed laser eye surgery and some physical fitness issues, Goosen suffered through some shockingly lean times for one whose tee-to-green and putting skills both long ranked among the game’s elite. Though somewhat overlooked here in America, Goosen’s rise really began last November when he won the Asian Tour’s Johor Open, then continued in January on the Sunshine Tour when he claimed the African Open at East London. Neither event featured world-class fields to be sure, but when a man has won as frequently worldwide – including a pair of U.S. Opens – as Goosen has, renewed success in America could not lie too far ahead.

And here we are.

PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational

Site: Bay Hill Club & Lodge - Orlando, FL
Yards: 7,239   Par: 70
Defending: Tiger Woods 270   (beat Bart Bryant by 1)
Field: World Top 20: Tiger Woods (1), Padraig Harrington (5), Vijay Singh (6), Kenny Perry (10), Jim Furyk (11), Anthony Kim (13), Stewart Cink (18), Mike Weir (19) & Adam Scott (20)   Other Notables: Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, Ryo Ishikawa, Lee Janzen, Davis Love III & Corey Pavin.

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European PGA Tour: Open de Andalucia

Site: Real Golf Club de Sevilla Seville, Spain
Yards: 7,140   Par: 72
Defending: Thomas Levet 272   (beat O. Fisher in a playoff)
Field: World Top 20: None   Other Notables: Niclas Fasth, Miguel Angel Jimenez , Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie & Jose-Maria Olazabal.

                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL


Asian Tour: Black Mountain Masters

Site: Black Mountain Golf Club - Hua Lin, Thailand
Yards: 7,343   Par: 72
Defending: New Event
Field: World Top 20: None   Other Notables: Johan Edfors, Thongchai Jaidee, James Kamte, Chapchai Nirat, Seung-Yul Noh & Jesper Parnevik.

                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL


LPGA Tour: J Golf Phoenix LPGA International

Site: Papago Golf Course - Phoenix, AZ
Yards: 6,711   Par: 72
Defending: Lorena Ochoa 266   (beat J.Y. Lee by 7)
Field: World Top 20: The entire Rolex top 20 except Yuri Fudoh (13), Jeong Jang (14) & Maria Hjorth (15)   Other Notables: Laura Davies, Rachel Hetherington, Juli Inkster, Liselotte Neumann, Se Ri Pak, Grace Park & Michelle Wie.

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Champions Tour: Cap Cana Championship

Site: Punta Espada Golf Club - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Yards: 7,260   Par: 72
Defending: Mark Wiebe 202   (beat V. Fernandez by 4)
Field: Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup top 20 except Ben Crenshaw (12) & Mark James (T15)   Other Notables: Bruce Fleisher, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price & Curtis Strange.

                     ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL


Elsewhere...
Nationwide – Chitimacha Louisiana Open – Broussard, LA

PGA Tour: Transitions Championship

Winner: Retief Goosen 69-68-69-70   276   (beat C. Howell III & B. Quigley by 1)
Site: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) - Palm Harbor, FL

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


European PGA Tour: Madeira Islands Open BPI

Winner: Estanislao Goya 68-68-69-73   278   (beat C. Macaulay by 1)
Site: Porto Santo Golf – Madeira Island, Portugal

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Asian Tour: SAIL Open

Winner: Chapchai Nirat 62-62-65-67   256   (beat G. Bhullar & R. Moir by 11)
Site: Classic Golf Resort – New Delhi, India

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


LPGA Tour: MasterCard Classic

Winner: Pat Hurst 68-70-68   206   (beat L. Ochoa & Y. Tseng by 1)
Site: Bosque Real Country Club - Huixquilucan, Mexico

STORY          RESULT          MONEY LIST          STATS          INTERVIEWS


Elsewhere...
JLPGA – PRGR Ladies Cup – Ayako Uehara 135 (Story)
Futures – Florida Natural Growers Charity Classic – Jean Reynolds 212 (Story)
Euro Challenge/Las Americas – Club Columbia Masters – Alan Wagner 275 (Story)
Euro Seniors – DGM Barbados Open – Sam Torrance 202 (Story)

...To start talking about Augusta?

Maybe so, but my friends at www.golfclubatlas.com were generous enough to commission 10,000 words from me regarding the evolution of the Augusta National golf course, whether it was better then or now, and what alterations might potentially be made to restore some lost components of Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie's design - and with it, some of the Masters drama that has been missing in recent years.

For all you die-hard Masters fans with a little free time, click here...