IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to scheduled maintenance, Squarespace websites will not be accessible from approximately 1:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m. on Monday, May 12th.  This may delay posting of the upcoming Week In Review page slightly...but we'll see. 

- Meanwhile, Across The Ocean: It was an interesting choice indeed for world #48 Robert Karlsson to pass up a spot in the lucrative Players Championship in favor of one in the European Tour’s Italian Open, an event featuring less than one-third of the Players’ prize money and who knows how many fewer World Ranking points.  But Karlsson’s motive – precious Ryder Cup points – was a certainly a logical one; he just needed to make certain he brought his A game and didn’t squander the opportunity for a high finish against a relatively lean field.  The big Swede’s opening 68, though eminently solid, did little in the way of grabbing the world’s attention, but he certainly delivered on Friday, uncorking a record 11-under-par 61 over the Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & Country Club layout.  This splendid round included eight birdies (all of which came between the third and 12th holes) and two eagles, plus a single bogey at the 433-yard 13th, and might well have crept below 60 as Karlsson could only par the last three holes, including the 387-yard 17th and the 423-yard 18th.  In the end, his 129 total provided a two-stroke halfway lead over South Africa’s Hennie Otto (who the Sunshine Tour website really did list as playing in Swaziland this week) and England’s Mark Foster.  For those of us who’ve admired the 38-year-old Karlsson’s not-unimposing talent over the years, the only question is why such leads don’t happen more often...

- Tackling A New Frontier:  With sponsor exemptions unavailable at the Players Championship, 609th-ranked John Daly has taken the Trainwreck Express overseas of late, missing the cut at last week’s Spanish Open, then creeping into the weekend with rounds of 67-73 in Italy.  In Daly’s world, everything apparently is okay.  Tossed by ex-coach Butch Harmon, the big fella is “working out the kinks” on his own (no worries there, because Butch never won any Majors) and healthy after recent surgery to his quasi-mysterious rib injury (does this mean there won’t be seven withdrawals this year?).  And while I sort of doubt that they have Hooters Pavilions at many E Tour events, Europe would appear to be especially fruitful ground for Daly’s number one non-golfing hobby: getting tanked with fans after the round.  I was, however, a bit curious: though Daly is a two-time Major champion, those wins came several lifetimes (not to mention wives) ago.  So how, exactly, is he getting into these E Tour fields?  A little research produced that most ubiquitous of answers: big John has entered both recent E Tour events as a Category 4 player which, loosely translated means……sponsor exemptions.  It never ends!

- Age Before...: Leave it to the great Pete Dye to build a golf course which requires as much thought and shot placement as pure muscle, factors very much in evidence at the TPC Sawgrass this week.  First, at 7,215 yards, the TPC is hardly backbreaking by modern PGA Tour standards.  Second, we look to a pair of recent winners – 48-year-old Fred Funk in 2005 and 41-year-old Stephen Ames in 2006 – to illustrate that young and super long are not requisite qualities here.  And then there are today’s third-round pairings, which feature 43-year-old Paul Goydos, 47-year-old Kenny Perry and 50-year-old Bernhard Langer among the final four starters.  I would also note that from what I’ve seen, the golf course appears to be set up quite well, with a near-optimum balance of tough vs. fair.  Balls that are slightly mis-hit will struggle to finish close around Dye’s well-contoured greens, but there is little of the over-the-top, U.S. Open-like silliness that often artificially boosts luck’s role in the equation.  In fact, I like the setup so much that I will resist temptation and refrain from any more “Fifth Major” jokes for the remainder of the week.

- Overnight Update: Robert Karlsson eagled the first hole on Saturday (surely sparking thoughts of an epic runaway) before settling down to a semi-disappointing 69, which leaves him four shots behind 54-hole Italian Open leader Hennie Otto.  Otto, by the way, has finally had his Royal Swazi Sun Pro-Am status changed to “withdrawn” on the Sunshine Tour website, where we can only assume his red-hot Italian rounds of 65-66-63 finally triggered some recognition that he was not, in fact, teeing it up in Swaziland.  John Daly, meanwhile, must have found the right remedy Saturday morning as he opened with four birdies in his first five holes before hitting the wall, ultimately finishing with a 68 that leaves him tied for 46th through 54 holes.  Of course, someone may wish to remind the cash-strapped Daly that with the far lower purses in Europe, he’ll need to finish quite a bit better than 46th if he wants to turn a profit during these overseas sojourns – even if his drinks are on the house.

- The World’s Most Controversial Hole:  Perhaps the only Players Championship week discussion more predictable than the silly “Fifth Major” stuff is the never-ending debate over the TPC Sawgrass’s legendary 17th, likely the single most recognized golf hole on earth.  Certainly there has never been a more all-or-nothing test, because with the exception of the small semi-pot bunker that cuts into the green’s front-right edge, there is simply no place to miss; one either hits the putting surface or marches off to the drop area to reload.  Pete Dye has explained that the hole was not initially intended to have any island green, least of all this one.  But as more and more dirt was excavated from the area surrounding his planned green complex (to build nearby stadium mounding) he and wife Alice just sort of...discovered it.  For my part, I love the hole.  It seldom requires more than a 9 iron, and the green is by no means small.  Indeed, for any professional or top amateur, the challenge here is mostly psychological, because finding a target that size with a 9 iron should not be terribly difficult.  True, under certain odd wind conditions, things can get really tough – but it’s not as though the 17th is the only hole in the world about which we can make that observation.  The key, I believe, is context.  As the penultimate hole in a top-shelf, non-Major (sorry) professional event, it represents  a test that is singularly dramatic in nature.  On the other hand, as the legendary 66 recorded here by one Angelo Spagnolo during Golf Digest’s Worst Avid Golfer contest illustrates, the less-skilled hold the potential to literally empty their bag.  But remember: Deane Beman and Pete Dye built this golf course with the Players Championship first and foremost in mind.  Even if it’s only for four days each year, when tournament play is the criterion employed, the 17th is, in my opinion at least, an absolutely heroic golf hole.
 
- Long Overdue:  Though a traditionalist through and through, I have always been greatly admired the talent - no, the genius- of Pete Dye.  Like any course designer successful enough to build dozens and dozens of courses, his work has at times seemed formulaic or vaguely repetitive.  Yet it is my firm conviction that Dye single-handedly altered the direction of modern architecture away from the long, tough, character-free work of Robert Trent Jones (and his various imitators), leading the medium back to shorter, more strategic, and infinitely more interesting creations.  With that in mind, his recent selection to the World Golf Hall of Fame seems long overdue – particularly given that Trent Jones is enshrined there already.  In any event, several years ago, I was present as an annual meeting of the American Society of Golf Course Architects broke up, and I pointed out Dye to a friend as he sat in a corner, fairly well removed from the sea of plaid jackets.  My friend asked me how I viewed Dye relative to his assembled brethren and I replied, without hesitation: “There are 150 people in this room who’ve made their livings out of following that man’s lead.”  A bit of hyperbole to be sure...but perhaps not so very much.  Anyway, to save time  (and to present something that’s actually been edited), here, as a modest career retrospective, is Dye’s entry from my ever-handy (to this website) Book of Golfers:
 
  Old Tom Morris was among the first to codify it, Willie Park, Jr. and H.S. Colt advanced it greatly, C.B. Macdonald gave it Golden Age definition and Robert Trent Jones modernized it worldwide.  Yet for all the impact that these men had on golf course design, a strong argument can be made that no one has influenced it more than an insurance broker from rural Urbana, OH, one Paul “Pete” Dye.
  A fine amateur who competed in one British and five U.S. Amateurs, Dye (b.12/29/1925) played at Florida’s Rollins College where he met and married Alice O’Neal before returning North to sell insurance.  In 1959, Dye left the business world to begin designing golf courses, initially creating a several low-budget Midwestern layouts hardly demanding of the world’s attention.  But in 1963, Pete and Alice took a month-long trip to Scotland, where they discovered pot bunkers, unmanicured rough, railroad sleepers shoring up hazards and a far less power-oriented approach to game.  The impact of these things upon the Dyes was immense, and once back in the States Pete blended them into a somewhat modernized hybrid that would soon become the most copied style in the business.
  Crooked Stick, a local Indianapolis club completed in 1966, was the first layout to reflect this old/new look, with The Golf Club, a 1967 project in New Albany, OH, spreading the word a bit farther.  But only in 1969, when Dye teamed with Jack Nicklaus to build Hilton Head Island’s Harbour Town Golf Links, was the Dye style widely introduced to the world stage.  Initially measuring little more than 6,600 yards, the tight, strategic Harbor Town hosted the PGA Tour’s first Heritage Classic in 1969, yielding the highest 36-hole cut of the season with rounds in the 80s outnumbering sub-par scores roughly 2 to 1.
  In 1981, Dye would again change the face of architecture with his TPC at Sawgrass, a longer, tougher track built to serve as permanent host of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship.  With its much-imitated 132-yard 17th elevating the concept of the island green to an entirely new level, the TPC’s creative use of waste areas and greens contoured to repel inferior approaches once again captured the design world’s attention.  Several years later, as advances in equipment began to presage changes in the game’s fundamental balance, Dye stepped things up even further, first with the Stadium course at PGA West (1986), then, in 1990, with the windswept Ocean course at Kiawah Island. 
  It is interesting to note that for most of his career, Pete Dye has charged considerably less for his services than many other big-name architects, and, occasionally, has worked essentially for free.  Further, he has long built his courses in the oldest of fashions, seldom using maps or even sketches, always improvising and refining in the field.  Misunderstood by many but widely observed by all, Pete Dye has surely been postwar golf’s most important – and copied – golf course designer.

- Major Hype:  It’s upon us again ladies and gentlemen, as the PGA Tour cranks its P.R. machine into overdrive in their unceasing effort to convince the world that the Players Championship somehow counts as a “Fifth Major Championship.”  Make no mistake, I’m a big fan of the Players.  It’s got a powerhouse field competing over one of modern golf design’s most unique and exciting courses – and with the most innovative/controversial hole in the competitive game at the par-3 17th, there is always the guarantee of drama down the homestretch.  In fact, I daresay that it is only the PGA Championship’s place in history – the fact that the winner is forever immortalized as a Major champion – that makes it more compelling viewing (for me) than the Players.  The problem here is that the PGA Tour simply can’t leave well enough alone when it comes to marketing their product – and one really has to wonder if even a single TV viewer or newspaper reader pays any more attention to this already-great event because someone tries to convince them that, like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, there is a fifth Major championship.  Of course, the argument can be made (and likely is within the hallowed halls of Ponte Vedra Beach) that this sort of hype is okay because while it may not help, it surely can’t hurt the product…but I’m not positive that I agree.  As an example, I’d point to the FedEx Cup which, upon its inception 17 months ago, the Tour tried to ram down the media and public’s throat like a presidential campaign ad.  The overkill became so relentless that when Tour media people began introducing tournament winners in the press tent as “our champion, and the winner of god-knows-how-many FedEx Cup points,” it drew audible groans and laughter from reporters.  Pretty soon the columns began to appear portraying the Cup as, well, not quite the earth-shaking event that Tim Finchem envisioned, and despite the Commissioner’s repeated assurances of its great success, the inaugural FedEx Cup seemed to fall somewhere between the Greater Milwaukee Open and the Tour Championship on most people’s scale of importance.  The Players Championship is a well-established franchise, and thus likely suffers less from this branding overkill…but wouldn’t it be nice if the Tour just let it stand on its own merit?  Enough already.

- Legendarily Quotable:  “Using carefully chosen phrases like "challenge to the modern-day player" and "increased player capability," Dawson, not for the first time, disguised the fact that the current "programme of significant change" that is well under way at every Open venue has virtually nothing whatsoever to do with the players themselves and virtually everything to do with the collective and joint abrogation of responsibility by the R&A and the United States Golf Association when it comes to their (lack of) legislation on the modern golf ball. Had today's equipment been properly regulated over the last decade and a half, it is a safe bet that the likes of Augusta National and the Old Course at St Andrews, to name but two classic courses that have been forced to endure unnecessary change, would not have had to be screwed up to the extent they have been.”  - John Huggan, on R&A Secretary Peter Dawson’s detailing the changes foisted upon Royal Birkdale in preparation for the 2008 Open Championship.

- Playing For Book Money?: With an estimated $19 million dollar annual income – which ought to cover her Stanford tuition with (a little) room to spare – there surely isn’t any pressure on Michelle Wie to earn a massive paycheck at this week’s Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg, Virginia.  But coming off yet another wrist injury which has sidelined her since February, one has to assume that the now-18-year-old Wie must feel a bit of internal pressure to begin returning her to the form that made her the most famous early teens golfer since Bobby Jones from 2004-06.  She’s practiced for a solid month with David Leadbetter (what happened to school?  Did he move to Palo Alto?) and, smartly, is downplaying expectations, but with a limited competitive schedule for the second straight year, it’s not like Wie will have a month’s worth of consecutive outings to ease back into form.  Either way, she remains a compelling story – though it also says a great deal about the hugely marketable product that is today’s LPGA that her return is, well, second-level news.  Now, if Wie were to find herself, say, slugging it out with Lorena Ochoa on Sunday…  Well, you never know…

With apologies for yet another (hopefully final!) computer-related delay...

PGA Tour:  The Players Championship

Site: TPC Sawgrass (Stadium course)  -  Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Yards: 7,215     Par: 72
Defending: Phil Mickelson 277  (beat Sergio Garcia by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: All except Tiger Woods (1)   Other Notables: Everyone else who’s physically able.

Notes: This is the 35th edition of The Players Championship, which was initially played at the Atlanta Country Club, the Colonial Country Club, the Inverrary Golf & Country Club in 1974, ’75 and ’76, then at the Sawgrass Country Club from 1977-81.........Pete Dye’s legendary Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass opened just across the road from the Sawgrass Country Club in 1982 and, through multiple renovations, has hosted the event ever since.........The tournament record is held by Greg Norman, who torched the Stadium course for a 264 total in 1994 which remains the Sawgrass record by six and the overall record by five.........Always boasting an elite field, this year’s Players features the entirety of the world top 25, with the exception of the injured Tiger Woods.........The PGA Tour will, of course, trumpet this relentlessly as “The Fifth Major” which would actually be amusing were it not so mind-numbing.........I’m not absolutely certain that there aren’t Tour players who’d actually rather win this than the PGA Championship, but any way you look at it, four is four is four…

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

European PGA Tour:  Methorios Capital Italian Open

Site: Castello di Tolcinasco Golf Club  -  Milan, Italy
Yards: 7,283     Par: 72
Defending: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 200  (beat Markus Brief in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None   Other Notables: Anders Hansen, Robert Karlsson, Stephen Dodd & Charl Schwartzel.

Notes: The Italian Open is one of the European Tour’s most established events, having been contested since 1925.........Though won by homeland stars like Alfonso Angelini, Aldo Casera and Ugo Grappasonni in the early postwar years, it has generally been dominated by British and European players, especially France’s Auguste Boyer (who won the title four times before the war) and Belgium’s Flory Van Donck (who claimed it three times afterward).........The only American to win it was Billy Casper, who edged Briton Brian Barnes by one in 1975.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Japan & Asian Tours:  Pine Valley Beijing Open

Site: Pine Valley Golf Resort  -  Beijing, China
Yards: 7,259     Par: 72
Defending: Gaurav Ghei 272  (beat Adam Blyth by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Thongchai Jaidee & Thaworn Wiratchant.

Notes: This is the second playing of this young event, but the first time it will be tri-sponsored by the Asian and Japan Tours, and the China Golf Association.........Though the Asian and Japan Tours have collaborated once before, this is the first J Tour-sanctioned event to played off Japanese soil – let the OneAsia conversation begin!.........Though the event is trumpeting its invasion of J Tour stars, the field is actually a light one, as the region’s elite will, of course, be in Florida for the Players Championship.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Sunshine Tour:  Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open

Site: Royal Swazi Sun Country Club – Swaziland, South Africa
Metres: 6,166     Par: 72
Defending: Des Terblanche +50 (Stableford)  (beat James Kamte by 2 points)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Darren Fichardt, Hennie Otto & Des Terblanche.

Notes: Like the Asian and Japan Tours, the Sunshine circuit – which generally sees few of its world-class stars compete at home during the American summer months anyway – is virtually devoid of world-class talent this week, though men like Darren Fichardt and Hennie Otto have certainly proven their worth in Europe.........This event has been played under the Modified Stableford system since 2003, twice being claimed by 17-time Sunshine winner Des Terblanche during that time (2003 & ’07).........Sadly, our hero, PowerHouse McIntyre narrowly missed qualifying when a bogey at the 18th hole knocked him fron the final spot.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

LPGA Tour:  Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill

Site: Kingsmill Resort & Spa (River course)  -  Williamsburg, VA
Yards: 6,315     Par: 71
Defending: Suzann Pettersen 274  (beat Jee Young Lee in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Ji-Yai Shin (7), Se Ri Pak (12), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Yuri Fudoh (19).    Other Notables: Laura Davies, Meg Mallon, Liselotte Neumann, Grace Park & Michelle Wie.

Notes: The LPGA returns to Pete Dye’s River course at the Kingsmill Resort for the sixth time, having replaced the PGA Tour her in 2003 following a 22-year run (1981-2002) by the men.........A strong field is entered, including the world’s top six players, led by number Lorena Ochoa, who will be looking to begin a new winning streak after tying for 5th at last week’s SemGroup Championship.........With her playoff triumph over Jee Young Lee, defending champion Suzann Pettersen claimed her first-ever LPGA victory here a year aho, kicking off a run that included five wins, a Major title (the LPGA Championship) and a rise to second in the world ranking.........Kingsmill seems well-suited to brining out the best as past winners have included Grace Park (2003), Se Ri Pak (2004), Cristie Kerr (2005) and Karrie Webb (2006).

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Elsewhere...
On the women’s side, the LET makes its maiden visit to Turkey for the Garanti American Express Turkish Open, the JLPGA returns to Tokyo for the grandly named World Ladies Championship, and the KLPGA remains in action with the KB Star Tour in Chungcheong.   On the male side, the Nationwide Tour travels to Arkansas for the Ft. Smith Classic.

A breakthrough win for Anthony Kim in Charlotte, and sudden-death playoffs in Europe, Japan and Asia, plus on the LPGA Tour in Oklahoma.  Another week where Tiger's absence did little to keep the show from rolling on...

PGA Tour:  Wachovia Championship – Charlotte, NC

As a former AJGA superstar and three-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma, California native Anthony Kim arrived on the PGA Tour in 2007 with relatively high expectations – so high, in fact, that Kim himself admitted to being overconfident to the point of borderline laziness.  Kim’s rookie season (which saw him finish 60th on the money list) was hardly a failure, but his inability to claim a victory pointed him towards a more motivated 2008, and with a T3 at the season-opening Bob Hope and a T2 at the Heritage, the trend certainly was a positive one.  At the Wachovia Championship it all came together, and Kim, with rounds of  70-67-66-69 simply left a very strong field far in arrears, his 272 total beating Ben Curtis (who closed with 65) by five, Jason Bohn by six, and Robert Allenby by seven.  The key for Kim was his Saturday 66, which vaulted him to a four-shot lead.  He then  came out firing on Sunday, logging four front-nine birdies to salt things away early, ultimately cruising home with an uneventful 69 and the cakewalk victory.  With the win, Kim becomes the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since Sergio Garcia claimed the 2001 Colonial, and also jumps his world ranking from 37th to 16th.  Perhaps more importantly, the win may well serve as a jumpstart to the career of a talented young player who, given his high level of confidence, is worth considering as an up-and-comer potentially capable of giving world number one Tiger Woods a run for his money – or, at least, more of a run than the rest of Kim’s under-30 contemporaries.

       FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS

European PGA Tour:  Open de Espana – Seville, Spain

Ireland’s 34-year-old Peter Lawrie, whose previous best Order of Merit finish was 53rd in 2005, claimed his first European Tour victory at the Spanish Open, defeating homestanding Ignacio Garrido on the second hole of sudden death.  Lawrie, who was on form after a tie for 9th at last week’s BMW Asian Open,  entered the final round five shots behind Garrido, and needed four birdies over the final six holes to post a 273 total.  Minutes later Garrido – who cooled a bit on the weekend after e 66-63 start – came to the last needing birdie to tie and duly rolled in a 30-footer, forcing the playoff.  On the first extra hole, Garrido knocked it in close for birdie but Lawrie himself holed a 30-footer to stay alive.  However on the second hole, the Spaniard’s approach spun back into a pond and with Lawrie skillfully finding the green from a fairway bunker, it was all over.  A one-time Irish amateur star, Lawrie climbs from 243rd to 156th in the world ranking with the win, and to 12th in the Order of Merit.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS

Japan Tour:  The Crowns – Nagoya, Japan

Tomohiro Kondo, a 30-year-old veteran, claimed his fourth career victory on the Japan Tour at the prestigious Crowns tournament, defeating Hiroyuki Fujita on the second hole of sudden death after the pair deadlocked on 271.  Both Kondo and Fujita entered Sunday two strokes behind third-round leader Ryoken Kawagishi and carded closing 67s, while Kawagishi slipped to a one-over-par 71.  Coming off a Saturday 64, Kondo logged four birdies in his first 10 holes on Sunday and held a one-shot lead in the late-going, before Fujita made birdie at the 72nd hole to tie.  The pair parred the first playoff hole before Kondo put things away by holing a long birdie putt at the second.  World number 56 Shingo Katayama, who’d lingered around the lead in Sunday’s early-going, made a crucial bogey at the 14th to finish alone in 3rd, one shot back.  The victory lifts Kondo from 152nd to 109th in the world ranking, and into the top spot in the J Tour Order of Merit.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          J TOUR STATS

Asian Tour:  GS Caltex Maekyung Open – Seoul, Korea

Korea’s Inn-choon Hwang won for the first time on the Asian Tour and in dramatic fashion, defeating 16-year-old phenom Seung-yul Noh on the first hole of sudden death at the Maekyung Open.  Noh, who was the event’s third-round leader, was attempting to become the Tour’s youngest-ever winner and played well on Sunday, carding a steady even-par 72 to post a 279 total.  Coming from four off the pace, Hwang closed with 68 to force the tie, then won the playoff at the par-4 18th when Noh’s approach ran through the green and the talented teenager failed to get up and down.  The victory lifts the little-known Hwang to 19th in the Order of Merit.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          ASIAN STATS 

LPGA Tour:  SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammonds – Broken Arrow, OK

Lorena Ochoa didn’t win.  There, with the big news out of the way, we can get on to recognizing the impressive performance of 22-year-old Paula Creamer who, after losing in sudden death to Annika Sorenstam in Florida a week ago, rebounded to win in a similar fashion this week.  The victory was not without a few anxious moments, however.  Leading Hall-of-Famer Juli Inkster by two going to the 72nd hole, Creamer bogeyed the last while Inkster made a clutch birdie, and suddenly Creamer’s last-fairway march to victory became simply an unnerving warm-up for a playoff.  Creamer missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole that would have won it but, given a second chance, did not miss from eight feet at the second, and that was all she wrote.  Creamer and Inkster were the only players to break par for the week over the tough Cedar Ridge layout, their 282 totals beating Jeong Jang and Angela Stanford by four.  So far as Lorena Ochoa went, her  celebrated attempt to win a fifth consecutive LPGA start never really got going, with opening rounds of  73-74 digging so deep a hole that even with a fine closing 69, the world number one could climb no higher than a tie for 5th.  The victory is Creamer’s second of 2008 and lifts her to 3rd place in official earnings, behind Ochoa and fellow two-time winner Sorenstam.

        FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS          INTERVIEWS

Champions Tour:  FedEx Kinko’s Classic – Austin, TX

Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson won his second Champions Tour title of 2008 at the FedEx Kinko’s Classic, but received more than a little help from his countryman, Hall-of-Famer Nick Price.  Price, who began Sunday with a two-shot lead over Scott Simpson, and Loren Roberts, appeared to have things well in hand through 14 holes before logging stunning back-to-back double-bogeys at the 15th and 16th, essentially giving away the tournament.  Watson, for his part, played well, carding six birdies (including a much-needed two-putt four at the par-5 18th) en route to a 69, good enough to finish one up on Price, Simpson and Scott Hoch.

                    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS

Elsewhere…

France’s Gwladys Nocera won the Ladies Scottish Open on the Ladies European Tour, carding a 208 total the Carrick on Loch Lomond for her sixth career LET victory………Miho Koga won for the eighth time on the JLPGA Tour, capturing the Crystal Geyser Ladies, defeating Maiko Wakabayashi in sudden death after the pair tied over 54 holes at 206………Nineteen-year-old Ha-Neul Kim claimed her first victory on the KLPGA Tour, shooting 204 at the Phoenix Park Classic to defeat world number seven Ji-Yai Shin by four………Canada’s Bryan DeCorso broke through on the Nationwide Tour, annexing the South Georgia Classic by four strokes over Bryce Molder and Greg Owen in Valdosta with a 274 total………Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey won the European Challenge Tour’s Banco Popular Moroccan Classic by two strokes after posting a 276 total at the El Jadida Sofitel Resort.      

- Six Strokes of Separation:  If Lorena Ochoa manages to make history by tying Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam’s record of five consecutive LPGA Tour victories at this weekend’s SemGroup Championship, it will certainly be no cakewalk.  Through 36 holes, Ochoa has posted rounds of 73-74 over the tough, par-71 Cedar Ridge Country Club course, her five-over-par total of 147 leaving her tied for 21st, some six shots back of halfway leader Paula Creamer.  In Ochoa’s favor, a six-shot margin is hardly overwhelming, particularly on so difficult a golf course where, say, a 67 might leapfrog most of the field.  Further, the absence of players like Sorenstam and Suzann Pettersen leaves a somewhat more direct path to the top – though world top 10s Jee Young Lee and Jeong Jang, and top 20s Juli Inkster and Angela Stanford potentially represent significant bumps in the road.  But Ochoa’s biggest problem might well be the 21-year-old Creamer, a winner at February’s Fields Open in Hawaii and a disappointing playoff loser (to Sorenstam) at last week’s Stanford International Pro-Am.  Following a post-round pep talk from her Hall-of-Fame mentor Nancy Lopez, Creamer is surely loaded for bear this week…meaning that world number one Ochoa might just need a two 67s – a very tall order – to catch her.

- Youth Might Be Served:  The Asian Tour’s GS Caltex Maekyung Open may lack a significant dose of star power, but it will still write one heck of a story if 16-year-old Korean Seung-yul Noh plays as well on Sunday as he did on Saturday.  Noh, who despite his tender age has already logged two 2008 runner-ups in Asia, carded a four-under-par 68 over the Nam Seoul Country Club course to take a two-shot lead over fellow Koreans Kyung-tae Kim and Do-hoon Kim III, and would become the youngest winner in Asian Tour history should he hold on tomorrow.  As a curious sidebar, former U.S. Ryder Cup player Chris Riley, lacking status on the PGA Tour, currently sits tied for 9th, some five behind the talented Noh.

- Youth Might Be Served II:  Five weeks ago at the European Tour’s Open de Andalucia, the world’s number one ranked amateur, 20-year-old Englishman Danny Willett, surprised observers with an opening-round 66, before tailing quietly off to a tie for 19th.  Returning to E Tour action at this week’s Spanish Open, Willett barely made the cut with rounds of 73-70, leaving him tied for 59th at the halfway mark.  But on Saturday, Willett got of to a blazing start, eventually standing nine under par through 14 holes before bogeying the 15th, then parring in for an attention-getting 64.  This splendid round moved him up 56 places up the leaderboard, all the way to 3rd, but his end-of-day position may not look so sweet; as he finished his Moving Day round, none of the top 12 names on the leaderboard had even teed off yet.

First off, my apologies for the two-day absence.  Suffice to say that Microsoft's "Last Known Good Configuration" isn't flawless, and it was an adventure thereafter...

Before my unplanned vacation, one of our more astute readers noted that in fact, Lorena Ochoa will not be trying to set a consecutive wins streak this weekend but rather attempting to tie the record of victories in five straight starts set by Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05).  Part of this mistake was 100% my own fault; I am just old enough to remember Lopez's sensational rookie season, and have little trouble recalling (or so I thought) her remarkable five-win streak.  Another part, however, was the result of dashing over some misinformation that was floating around the web following Ochoa's victory at the Ginn Open two weeks ago.  Probably (note italics) I would have caught that under normal circumstances, but at present two book projects are coming to completion almost simultaneously, leaving this website - at least temporarily - in the position of being squeezed in around the edges.

In any event, here, for the record, are the various relevant LPGA winning streak leaders:

VICTORIES IN FIVE STRAIGHT LPGA STARTS

NANCY LOPEZ  -  1978 (5/14 - 6/18):

5/14 - Greater Baltimore Golf Classic (MD)  (beat D. Caponi by 3)
5/21 - Coca-Cola Classic (NJ)  (beat J. Carner in a playoff)
5/29 - Golden Lights Championship (NY)  (beat J. Carner by 3)
6/11 - LPGA Championship (OH)  (beat A. Alcott by 6)
6/18 - Bankers Trust Classic (NY)  (beat J. Blalock, D. Massey & A. Reinhardt by 2)

Note: DNP at the Peter Jackson Classic, the week of 6/4.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM  -  2004-05 (11/7 - 3/27):

11/7  - Mizuno Classic (Japan)  (beat A. Miyazato, M. Ohba & G. Park by 9)
11/21- ADT Tour Championship (FL)  (beat C. Kerr in a playoff)
2/26  - MasterCard Classic (Mexico)  (beat K. Webb by 3)
3/20  - Safeway International (AZ)  (beat L. Ochoa in a playoff)
3/27  - Nabisco Dinah Shore (CA)  (beat R. Jones by 8)

Note: DNP at the LPGA T of C (11/14) & SBS Open at Turtle Bay (2/13)

VICTORIES IN FOUR STRAIGHT LPGA STARTS

MICKEY WRIGHT  -  1962 (8/12 - 9/3):

8/12 - Heart of America Open (KS)  (beat M. Mills by 1)
8/19 - Albuquerque Swing Parade (NM)  (beat K. Whitworth by 5)
8/26 - Salt Lake City Open (UT)  (beat K. Whitworth by 1)
9/3  - Spokane Open (WA)  (beat K. Whitworth by 9)

MICKEY WRIGHT  -  1963 (5/12 - 6/2):

5/12 - Alpine Civitan Open (LA)  (beat J. Prentice by 1)
5/19 - Muskogee Civitan Open (OK)  (beat M.Smith by 8)
5/26 - Dallas Civitan Open (TX)  (beat S. Haynie by 5)
6/2  -  Babe Zaharias Open (TX)  (beat C.A. Creed by 5)

KATHY WHITWORTH  -  1969 (3/16 - 4/20):

3/16 - Orange Blossom Open (FL)  (beat S. Englehorn & M. Hagge by 1)
3/23 - Port Charlotte Invitational (FL)  (beat S. Haynie & S. Post by 1)
3/30 - Port Malabar Invitational (FL)  (beat M. Wright by 4)
4/20 - Lady Carling Open (GA)  (beat M. Wright in a playoff)

LORENA OCHOA  -  2008 (3/30 - 4/20):

3/30 - Safeway International (AZ)  (beat J.Y. Lee by 7)
4/6  - Kraft Nabisco Championship (CA)  (beat S. Pettersen & A. Sorenstam by 5)
4/13 - Corona Championship (Mexico)  (beat S.H. Kim by 11)
4/20 - Ginn Open (FL)  (beat Y. Tseng by 3)

As a worthwhile note for anyone doubting Mickey Wright's status as the greatest woman golfer ever, in addition to the above-listed four-win streaks, Wright also claimed three consecutive wins on six (!) additional occasions, in the years 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 (twice) and 1966.

While the PGA Tour's Wachovia Championship is certainly an A-list event, discerning eyes should really be trained on the women this week, as Lorena Ochoa attempts to become the third player ever to win five consecutive LPGA starts (following Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05).  The European Tour begins that part of the schedule where it actually plays in Europe, while the Japan Tour offers its first 2008 event of major prestige, The Crowns.  Other than Tiger still being on the shelf, the week looks good...

PGA Tour:  Wachovia Championship

Site: Quail Hollow Club  -  Charlotte, NC
Yards: 7,442     Par: 72
Defending: Tiger Woods 275  (beat Steve Stricker by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Phil Mickelson (2), Steve Stricker (4), Adam Scott (5), Geoff Ogilvy (6), Jim Furyk (9), Vijay Singh (9), Justin Rose (10), Rory Sabbatini (12), Stewart Cink (14), Trevor Immelman (15), Aaron Baddeley (16), Sergio Garcia (17), Luke Donald (18), Angel Cabrera (19), Zach Johnson (21), Andres Romero (22), Boo Weekley (23) & Stuart Appleby (25)   Other Notables: Fred Couples, David Duval, Davis Love III & Jose Maria Olazabal.

Notes: This will be only the sixth playing of the Wachovia, but with a large sponsorship commitment and plenty of support from the commissioner’s office, the event has already risen to a spot among the elite of the non-Majors.........Four of the five previous winners have been Major champions: David Toms, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods.........Among these, only Woods will be absent this week, continuing to nurse his surgically repaired knee.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

European PGA Tour:  Open de Espana

Site: Real Golf Club de Sevilla – Seville, Spain
Yards: 7,140     Par: 72
Defending: Charl Schwartzel 272  (defeated Jyoti Randhawa by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: Niclas Fasth   Other Notables: Darren Clarke, John Daly, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie & Charl Schwartzel.

Notes: Niclas Fasth may be the only world top-25 present, but Darren Clarke is coming off a victory at the BMW Asian Open, and Colin Montgomerie is still frequently capable of world-class golf.........Perhaps John Daly – who clearly can’t cut it in America these days – might considering venturing to Europe more frequently?.........Hardcore TV viewers may recognize the Real Golf Club de Sevilla as the site of the 2004 World Cup.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Japan Tour:  The Crowns

Site: Nagoya Golf Club (Wago course)  -  Nagoya, Japan
Yards: 6,547     Par: 70
Defending: Hirofumi Miyase 278  (defeated Toru Taniguchi in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Tad Fujikawa, Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama, Wen-Chong Liang, Rory McIlroy , Tommy Nakajima, Jeev Milkha Singh & Toru Taniguchi.

Notes: This will be the 39th playing of Japan’s prestigious Crowns tournament, an event which has a long history of attracting high-level overseas talent.........Past foreign winners have included Peter Thomson, David Graham, Graham Marsh, Scott Simpson, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Davis Love III, Darren Clarke and Justin Rose.........Japan’s elite have also prospered here, with Isao Aoki claiming the title five times and Jumbo Ozaki four, including three straight from 1995-97.........This year’s foreign contingent is a bit less glamorous, but does include two noteworthy youngsters, Northern Ireland’s 18-year-old Rory McIlroy and American teenager Tad Fujikawa.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Asian Tour:  GS Caltex Maekyung Open

Site: Nam Seoul Country Club  -  Seoul, Korea
Yards: 6,962     Par: 72
Defending: Kyung-Tae Kim 270  (defeated Wen-Chong Liang by 5)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Thaworn Wiratchant.

Notes: With the European Tour returning to the Continent until autumn, here begins the smaller-field events which fill out the Asian Tour’s summer schedule.........Suffice to say that a victory here will not jack up one’s Official World Ranking standing too tremendously.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

LPGA Tour:  SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammonds

Site: Cedar Ridge Country Club  -  Broken Arrow, OK
Yards: 6,602     Par: 72
Defending: Mi Hyun Kim 210  (defeated Juli Inkster in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Annika Sorenstam (2), Suzann Pettersen (3), Karrie Webb (5), Ji-Yai Shin (7), Se Ri Pak (12), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Yuri Fudoh (19).

Notes: This event offers the possibility of history being made as world number one Lorena Ochoa returns to action after a week’s rest, and will attempt to become the third player ever to win five consecutive LPGA starts (following Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam).........Curiously, Sorenstam, a three-time winner here (2002, ’04 & ’05) will be absent from the field, as will number three Suzann Pettersen and number five Karrie Webb.........This will be the eighth edition of the SemGroup Championship and the fifth consecutive year it will be played at the Joe Finger-designed Cedar Ridge Country Club.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Champions Tour:  FedEx Kinko's Classic

Site: The Hills Country Club  -  Austin, TX
Yards: 6,879     Par: 72
Defending: Scott Hoch 201  (defeated D.A. Weibring by 2)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Bernhard Langer (1), Tom Watson (4), Andy North (17) & Vicente Fernandez (18)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green, Sandy Lyle, Gil Morgan, Larry Nelson, Mark O’Meara, Ian Woosnam & Fuzzy Zoeller.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

Elsewhere...
Aside from the LPGA, the three other major women’s tours are also in action: the Ladies European ventures north for the Aberden Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, the JLPGA gathers for the Crystal Geyser Ladies, and the KLPGA contests the Phoenix Park Classic.  On the male side, the Nationwide Tour remains in the Southeast, playing the South Georgia Open, while the European Challenge Tour also ventures south, to the Banco Popular Moroccan Classic.

Both Adam Scott and Annika Sorenstam win in sudden death, and Darren Clarke claims an ultra-emotional victory by holing a 40-footer at the last.  Pretty good stuff relative to my Week Ahead comment: "A quiet week then.  Perhaps..."

PGA Tour:  EDS Byron Nelson Championship – Irving, TX

Adam Scott certainly made it exciting at the 2008 Byron Nelson Championship, squandering the three-shot lead with which he began the final round, then falling behind former four-time collegiate All-American Ryan Moore when Moore birdied the 71st hole.  But if nothing else, Scott certainly proved that he could execute when it counted, holing a nine-foot birdie putt at the last to force sudden death, then draining a 49-foot bomb at the third extra hole to clinch his sixth PGA Tour win and his 12th victory worldwide.  The triumph represented a fitting week for Scott who was a late entry into the Nelson, curtailing his post-Masters visit to his native Australia and rushing back to the States in the belief - obviously correct - that he was playing too well not to compete.  Moore, who closed with consecutive 68s over the recently redesign TPC Las Colinas layout, remains winless in 75 career Tour starts, though with 10 career top 10s, he has certainly proven that he belongs.  Scott and Moore fairly well left the field in the dust, for their 273 total was four better than 3rd-place Bart Bryant and four ahead of Mark Hensby, Carl Pettersson and Nicholas Thompson.  The victory lifts Scott back to 5th in the Official World ranking and 9th in PGA Tour earnings, while Moore climbs to 72nd worldwide with his runner-up finish.

     FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
European & Asian Tours:  BMW Asian Open – Shanghai, China

Scoring one of the more emotional tournament victories in recent memory,  Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke rolled home a 40-foot birdie putt on the 72nd green to win the BMW Asian Open by one over Holland’s Robert-Jan Derksen in Shanghai.  The popular Clarke, a former world top 10, had been understandably off form since the untimely death of his wife in 2006, though three previous E Tour top 10s in 2008 had at least signaled a positive trend.  He began Sunday with a one-shot lead over Derksen and, through 14 holes, looked to have things under control.  But bogeys at the 16th and 17th allowed Derksen to draw even going to the last, where the Dutchman missed the green long but made a fine up-and-down, leaving Clarke to hole his dramatic putt for a 280 total and the victory.  The win is Clarke’s 11th E Tour title (though his first since 2003) and 14th major tour victory overall.  The triumph moves him up to 14th in the Order of Merit, and lifts him from 236th to 112th in the Official World Ranking.  Derksen also gains a rankings boost (from 173rd to 122nd) as do 3rd-place finishers Robert Dinwiddie, Francesco Molinari and the event’s low Asian finisher, Lin Wen-Tang.

                    FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS    
 
 
Japan Tour:  Tsuruya Open – Hyogo, Japan

Korea’s S.K. Ho scored his seventh career Japanese victory at the J Tour’s second 2008 stop, the Tsuruya Open, posting a 12-under-par 272 total to edge his countryman Kyung-Tae Kim by one.  Though Ho finished with weekend rounds of 65-68, he received a great deal of help from Japan’s 27-year-old Hiroshi Iwata who, on the verge of his first J Tour victory, stood two up with two to play before double-bogeying both the 71st and 72nd, handing Ho the title.  The victory lifts Ho, a former world top 100, from 299th to 206th in the world ranking, and into 1st place in the early stages of the Order of Merit race.

                     FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          J TOUR STATS
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Golf Gauteng – Pretoria, South Africa

Twenty-six-year-old Tyrone van Aswegen scored his maiden professional victory at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Gauteng on Friday, birdieing the 53rd and 54th holes to close out a final-round 65 en route to a 201 winning total.  Third-round leader Neil Schietekat was the lone player with a chance to beat van Aswegen, but after maintaining his lead through the turn, a series of missed short putts proved his undoing down the stretch.  Van Aswegen now stands 787th in the world ranking, and moves into 30th place in the Sunshine Order of Merit.

                  FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          SUNSHINE STATS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Stanford International Pro-Am – Aventura, FL

Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam, once again healthy and hungry, captured her second LPGA Tour victory of 2008 (not to mention her 71st career triumph) by defeating 21-year-old Paula Creamer in sudden death at the inaugural Stanford International Pro-Am, played just north of Miami.  Creamer actually held a one-stroke lead through 70 holes but a bogey at the par-3 17th allowed Sorenstam to draw even.  Annika then missed an opportunity to win at the last when a 12-footer for birdie just crept by on the low side, but she closed matters out on the first extra hole with a routine par, while Creamer three-putted from just off the fringe for bogey.  The victory will help Sorenstam to consolidate her hold on the world number two spot, but therein lies the rub: it is perhaps unfair to saddle one of the two greatest women golfers that ever lived with the “won without Ochoa in the field” asterisk, but considering that both of her ’08 wins came absent Lorena Ochoa, and that Annika has trailed the Mexican superstar by a combined 45 shots in the four events in which they’ve both played, well…  For the moment anyway, the numbers sort of speak for themselves.

         FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
Champions Tour:  Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Savannah, GA

After opening with a spectacular 13-under-par 59, the team of Tom Watson and Andy North added rounds of 62-64 to hang on for a one-stroke victory in the Legends division of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.  The win is Watson’s second in succession on the Champions Tour and North’s first ever on the senior circuit, providing the two-time U.S. Open winner-turned-ESPN-announcer a two-year exemption which he may or may not use.  The team of Craig Stadler and Jeff Sluman finished 2nd, with the “rookie” pairing of Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam taking 3rd.  Earlier, the NBC broadcast team of Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie won the event’s unofficial Raphael division, while Jimmy Powell and Al Geiberger claimed the Demaret division, for players 70 and over.

    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS          INTERVIEWS
 
 
Elsewhere…

Twenty-four-year-old Ayako Uehara closed with a splendid 66 over the Kawana Hotel’s famed Fuji course to claim her first JLPGA victory at the Fujisankei Classic, edging Erina Hara by one………On the KLPGA circuit, 19-year-old Chae A Oh posted a 54-hole 219 total to win the absurdly named MBC Tour MC Square Cup Crown CC Ladies Open………Closing with a torrid 64, Vicky Hurst won the Jalapeno Futures Classic with an 18-under-par total of 198, beating Ashley  Prange by three………Australia’s Greg Chalmers claimed the Nationwide Tour’s Henrico County Open, defeating Henrik Bjornstad on the second holeof sudden death after the pair deadlocked at 274………Longtime E Tour veteran Joakim Haeggman carded a five-under-par 275 to win for the first time on the European Challenge Tour, claiming the Open Cotes d’Amour Bretagnes by one over Marcus Higley………American John Ellis won for the second consecutive week on the Canadian Tour, riding an opening-round 62 to a 273 total, and a one-shot victory at the Mexican PGA Championship.

- Mark It With An Asterisk?:  With streaking Lorena Ochoa taking the week off, it might seem tempting to place an asterisk beside the winning name at the inaugural Stanford International Pro-Am this week in Aventura, Florida.  Of course, there are still any number of elite players present, not the least of which is Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam, who has finished a combined 45 strokes behind Ochoa in the four events in which they’ve both competed, but is going for her second Ochoa-free 2008 victory.  Sorenstam currently sits alone in 2nd place at the halfway mark, one stroke behind Young Kim and four ahead of Americans Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford.  Also notable is the 7th-place standing of Grace Park, former Kraft Nabisco champion and six time LPGA winner, who has struggled with back and neck injuries for several years now.  The stylish Park made some brief noise at March’s Safeway International with a third-round 65 (her first sub-70 round of 2008) and played three solid rounds at last week’s Ginn Open (72-71-71) before a closing 77 dropped her to a tie for 61st.  This week, Park opened with 72-69 at the Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, a solid start that has her in an eight-player logjam seven strokes off the lead that includes Juli Inkster, Christina Kim, Cristie Kerr and Mi Hyun Kim, among others.  At this point, any win – Ochoa or no Ochoa – would suit Grace Park just fine.

- Golf In The Olympics:  Golf last appeared in the Olympics in 1904, and to celebrate the 104th anniversary of the occasion, the game has been invited to present its case (along with softball, baseball, rugby, squash, karate and roller sports) to be one of two sports added for the 2016 games.  The leaders of all seven candidate sports will make their arguments before the International Olympic Committee executive board in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 14 months, with the full IOC then deciding which two to admit later in Copenhagen.  Most of golf’s top worldwide organizations (e.g. the USGA, the R&A, the PGA of America and various PGA Tours) support the game’s return to the Olympics, and several high-profile players (most notably Phil Mickelson) have recently voiced their support.  So...does anyone really care?  Perhaps I’m just generally less enamoured with the Olympics than most, but with four Major championships, a Players Championship, Ryder/Presidents Cups, WGC events and numerous other prestigious tournaments being played out annually on tours around the world, will it make any difference to anyone which professionals finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in a pseudo-exhibition match played over some generically boring course, hugely overshadowed by tradition Olympic favorites like soccer, basketball and track & field?  Further, with golf’s costs ever rising and its popularity declining (at least in America), don’t the game’s great visionaries have more important things to worry about than the Olympics?  I’m not in favor of Olympic golf, I’m not opposed to Olympic golf.  I simply couldn’t care less about Olympic golf.  Now roller derby roller sports, well, that might be intriguing...