Earth to Larry Bohannan, Come in Larry

by Bill Jempty on Feb 11, 2009 6:18 AM EST

TIn a article titled 'Five Questions to ponder as the LPGA season begins, he asks 'Who will be the tour's top rookie?"

The high-profile rookie is Michelle Wie, and she certainly will get the most exposure early in the season as she tries to overcome a few years of rough results and rougher criticism over how her career has been handled. But it was Stacy Lewis who won the LPGA qualifying finals and has been touted by some of the best players in the 2009 rookie crop. Wie may be the most marketable player right now, but the tour could use both Wie and Lewis to step up and provide some needed spark to a publicity-staved tour.

Wie my be the highest profile, but every 2009 LPGA rookie discussion has to start with one player Ji Yai Shin. Bohannan has written two articles on the LPGA this week and not mentioned Shin's name once.

The man is a complete idiot and more.

FanPosts are written by Waggle Room members. Viewpoints expressed do not necessarily reflect those of WaggleRoom.com, editor, Charles Boyer or any other writer or member.

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Comments

the Wie Effect

you know how it’s going to be – whenever the daughter of god shows up – she will all the attention. It doesn’t matter that she speaks less English than the Asian players. It doesn’t matter that she has been caught in lie after lie over the past 5 years. It doesn’t matter that her results have continued to nose dive. She is THE WIE.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Feb 11, 2009 12:50 PM EST reply actions

right answer, wrong question

Bohannan should have asked: “With the loss of Annika, which rookie will be the media face of the Tour,” or some such, which is a valid question. As everyone who doesn’t write for a newspaper has pointed out, Ji Yai Shin should be the odds-on favorite for ROY.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Feb 11, 2009 2:40 PM EST reply actions

Wie has not yet begun to fight

Hey, CG, Q-School didn’t convince you Wie’s on the comeback trail? I think the nosedive ended last spring, she stabilized in summer (but her brain didn’t catch up, what with the “what, I have to sign the card?” moment), and she’s been gaining confidence ever since. I think the only thing keeping her out of the top 30 is the cockamamie plan being trial ballooned by her people that she’ll only play in half the events this season. I expect a good number of top 20 finishes from her and, say, a half-dozen top 10s. If she wins, she’ll have really impressed me. I don’t see it happening her rookie year.

by The Constructivist on Feb 11, 2009 4:55 PM EST reply actions

Q-SCHOOL ??

Not in the least. Q-school is mostly players who will scrape around the tour and then sign up for quali’s next year. They play a course set up like a pitch and putt. And the idea is less to win the tournament than it is to just finish high enough to get a card. She has a lot to prove with all of her attitude and brain farts over the last few years.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Feb 11, 2009 5:58 PM EST up reply actions

true dat

I agree Wie has a lot to prove! And lots of people who do well at one Q-School find themselves there again the next time around.

But the ‘09 Q-School wasn’t as easy as you make it out to be: Curtis Cupper Alison Walshe is on the Futures Tour because of it, Anna Nordqvist will be spending most of her time on the LET because she handled their Q-School better, very successful KLPGA and JLPGA golfers Sun-Ju Ahn and Miki Saiki didn’t get cards there, and so on and so on and so on. (BTW, they played 2 courses there and have for a while.)

And you’re just plain wrong that her results have “continued to nose-dive.” C’mon, admit it—you’re so, like, last year!

by The Constructivist on Feb 12, 2009 4:42 PM EST reply actions

we'll see

nobody in their right mind can doubt that Wie has the physical tools to be a great golfer – but big and strong with a pretty swing (which was not very pretty last year – very choppy and inconsistent) doesn’t win golf tournaments. it’s all between the ears – and she has had a bit of an echo in there too often over the years. hope for the best.

those two courses…yes…I know there were two courses…were short and flat, with very few real hazards (for pros). Just because a course is easy doesn’t mean that everybody will play them well, as you pointed out. Every year, you’ll find a handful of long time tour members struggling or even losing their cards because they had a bad week. Sometimes you play well, but there are too many who played a shot better and all of a sudden, you’re on the outside looking in.

names like Ty Tryon are proof that a talented golfer who has a hot week can have lightning strike and earn a card.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Feb 12, 2009 6:21 PM EST up reply actions

66, baby

But she putted the lights out. We’ll see if she can keep it up.

by The Constructivist on Feb 13, 2009 6:55 AM EST reply actions

Did you notice...

…the broadcast crew chimed in with ROY predictons and none of them had Wie finishing first – BUT – Brian Hammonds always had another Wie story ready to switch to after his colleagues all picked Wie third.

Did you like the “gale force winds” that barely managed to blow hair around ?

How about the knee slapper of the night from Dottie Pepper ? “This is Mika Myazato. No relation at all to Ai Myazato…” (followed by her own laughter) (clearly, I missed the joke)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Feb 13, 2009 11:27 AM EST reply actions