Could This Be the Future of the LPGA?

Gender-swapping! That’s right, the first male-born, sexually tweaked “female” is now being allowed to compete in the Women’s British Open.

miannebagger.jpgDanish born, 37-year old Mianne Bagger, 1995 sexual convert (check out the adam’s apple), recently became the first to play in a professional women’s tournament. Turning professional last year, she sold everything she had when she became eligible to qualify for the LET. Mianne is now the first transsexual to play on a professional sports tour since tennis player Renee Richard (aka Richard Raskind) competed during the 1970’s. But, don’t worry ladies… Mianne recently missed the cut in her first event, the Tenerife Open.

The Ladies Golf Union, overseers of the British Open, have followed the European Union and the International Olympic Committee to allow transgenders to compete in women’s golf events, putting women’s sports at a possible disadvantage by pushing gender-neutral policies.

Teeing It Up at the Michelob Ultra Open

Se-Ri Pak defends her championship title against Annika Sorenstam and the top LPGA players at the Michelob Ultra Open.

LPGAThe LPGA returns to the Kingsmill Resort and Spa in Williamsburg, Virginia for the “5th Major” of the year. With a purse of $2.2 million (the second largest pay-out on tour), and a first place check of over $300,000, this tournament attracts the top contenders in the world. Money leader Annika Sorenstam, number two Lorena Ochoa and last week’s winner of the Franklin, Stacy Prammanasudh, are all scheduled to attend. Defending champion Se Ri Pak, number 78 on the 2005 Money List with a meager $20,000 in earnings, has yet to make a move this season. Tied for 81st in birdies, tied for 90th in sand saves and tied for 104th for greens in regulation, it is unlikely that the 25-year old has the mental game to challenge this hot field.

TaylorMade to Release New Equipment… Again

r7 TP fairway wood and R5 Dual TP driver to be released. What’s next? The r7 TP quad sided chipper?

r7 TP Fairway WoodTaylorMade has announced they will be releasing r7 TP fairway woods to compliment their r7 line of drivers as well as the r5 Dual TP driver. TaylorMade is currently the number one brand of driver and fairway wood on the PGA Tour.

Instead of pushing a single club, it seems TaylorMade has found a new approach to winning the wood market by overwhelming its competitors and customers with one club after another. While TaylorMade makes fantastic equipment of which I play with and dream about playing with, when is enough enough? Within the last couple of months, they have released five clubs with the moveable or fixed weight system; the r7 driver, r7 TP driver, r7 ht driver, r5 dual driver, and the r5 dual fairway wood. Now they suprise us with the r7 TP fairway woods and the r5 dual TP.

LPGA Sex Scandal

Caddie of LPGA Tour player claims he’s the father of her child and threatens legal action.

jackie_gallagher_smith.jpgI’m a little late to the game on the news of LPGA Tour player Jackie Gallagher-Smith seducing her former caddie, but I figure it’s time I show up to the party (fashionably late and to make an entrance, of course) to sound off on this scandal. To be honest, I’m not sure what I really think of this story.

So, for those of you not in the know, here’s the four sentence overview. LPGA Tour player hires a caddie who is 11 years younger to loop. She flirts with him and talks to him about the difficulties she (and her husband) are having trying to conceive a child. The caddie and Tour Player end up having relations and she thus becomes pregnant, and it’s a strong likelyhood the Caddie is the father of the child. The Caddie is emotionally distraught and is now taking legal action against Tour Player.

Now, I’ll dive into a few questions I have about this case.

Will Danielle Amiee Get Her Big Break at the Michelob Ultra?

Big Break III winner, Danielle Amiee, is scheduled to compete against top LPGA superstars at the Michelob Ultra. Will she be eliminated?

Danielle_Amiee.jpgTrash-talking Danielle Amiee, probably the most outspoken and condescending of the Big Break III contestants, will be up against 49 of the top 50 players on the LPGA tour this week at what is called “the fifth major.” Currently playing golf on the Futures Tour, the 28-year old resident of Newport Beach, California, is no stranger to challenges. Amiee has already competed in both the Australian Open and LPGA Qualifying Finals. Is battling through a grueling nine week reality stint similar to a week-long tournament?

Some folks don’t even think she’ll break 80! The conensus is that there is no consensus: the pundits are split 50/50 on both her ability and her overall demeanor. “Glad she won. What a grinder, although I must say, she’d better get her head on straight before next week!”, and “I can’t stand the witch, but she won the match fair and square. It will now be interesting to see how she does in the LPGA tournaments. Maybe they can pair her with Michelle Wie during one of her invites? One thing for sure, the LPGA players will scratch her eyes out if she tries to pull this gamesmanship stuff on them. She’ll be playing with the big girls now.”

Easy Peasy for the Big Easy

Ernie Els lambastes the field to win the BMW Asian Open by 13 strokes.

els_bmw_open.jpgErnie Els claimed his third European Tour victory of 2005 and his 21st career European title Monday morning as he shot a final-round 65 to win by 13 strokes over Simon Wakefield and the rest of the field.

Els went wire-to-wire to claim the BMW Asian Open and set the Asian Tour record for largest margin of victory. He also stands in second for the largest margin of victory in a European Tour-sanctioned event, trailing Tiger Woods and his 15-stroke victory at the 2000 U.S. Open. This was Els’ tenth wire-to-wire victory on the European Tour.

Wakefied shot a final-round 73 and didn’t offer much competition to Els, finishing at -13. Thomas Bjorn shot a 72 to stand alone in third place. Wakefield’s second-place finish has all but secured the Englishman his European Tour Card the 2006 season.

Volume Seven

Bunches of links this week as they include sex appeal on the LPGA tour, golf video art, Kip Henley’s diary and camera etiquette in China.

I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, but Chris DiMarco is driving me nucking futs. I used to like him, but since his run at the Masters, I almost can’t watch coverage of him. He reminds me of Phil Mickelson prior to his first major. I think he tries a little too hard, but will tell you that he’s happy with the way he’s playing and that he’s contending. Plus, the media is all over him about possibly being “the best player without a major” – and I hate that.

I don’t know maybe it’s that flippin’ claw grip or Ping commercials he does that drive me crazy?! But, I’m pretty sure it’s just me.

Anyway, here’s this week’s version of Hittin’ the Links.

Stacy P. Collects First Win on the LPGA Tour!

Armed with a guitar-shaped trophy and $150,000, Vince Gill handed Stacy Prammanasudh her first LPGA victory check at the Franklin American Mortgage Tournament.

stacy_prammanasudh.jpgWith wind and rain attacking the Ironhorse course all weekend, Sunday’s sunshine was a welcome surprise. Leading by two strokes in the morning, Stacy Prammanasudh took control of the Franklin American Mortgage Championship and never gave it back.

Challenging Stacy throughout the final round was Lorena Ochoa, who received her first LPGA victory at this event last year. The Mexican sensation could not compete with Stacy, who hit all but four fairways this entire week, also hitting over 90% of greens in regulation. Returning to Tennessee after a 3rd place finish at last year’s event, Stacy managed back-to-back birdies on six and seven and again at the 16th and 17th holes with only one early bogey to finish with a 3-under 69.

Darkness Postpones Inevitable for Els at BMW Asian Open

Ernie Els is forced to complete his final round on Monday morning as darkness halts his final round.

ernie_els_par3.jpgErnie Els must wait until Monday morning to claim (most likely) his third victory of the year at the BMW Asian Open. A three and a half hour delay on Sunday morning due to the threat of thunderstorms left 24 players on the course and in Shanghai for another day.

At the end of play on Saturday, Els had a five-stroke lead over Simon Wakefield and was able to open up his lead in his limited play on Sunday. The Big Easy is eight strokes in front of Wakefield and his lead is likely to go to nine first thing Monday, as he has a five foot birdie putt waiting for him on hole seven.

Els has carded two birdies on the six holes he’s completed while Wakefield has carded one bogey to fall eight strokes back.