The weather in many places is turning inhospitable, the PGA Tour season is officially over, and many people are beginning to turn their attention to the upcoming College bowl season, but never-the-less Hittin’ the Links is still on the job finding what remains out there for the true golf fan. So read on golf nuts, there’s still actually quite a bit going on in the world of golf.
In this volume of HTL we first look at Annika’s farewell which came a couple of days too early, find out why they still drug tested her, and check out the phenom 14 year-old. Also, we check in on Daly in China, see how Seve is doing, and investigate yet another story that demonstrates why golf is such a honorable sport.
Hole 1: Annika’s Career Ends on Sour Note
Annika Sorenstam missed the cut in her last LPGA event. [Link]
Hole 2: They Get Younger Every Day
14 year-old Jason Hak became the youngest player ever to make the cut on the European Tour. [Link]
Hole 3: We Know You’re Retiring, But….
Annika Sorenstam had to submit to random drug testing just minutes after missing the cut in her final LPGA appearance. [Link]
Hole 4: Daly Plays Well in China
John Daly shoots a 62 in the final round of the Hong Kong Open. [Link]
Hole 5: Seve Doing Well
José Maria Olazabal reported that his fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros is doing well after brain sugery to remove a brain tumor. [Link]
Hole 6: Stage 2 Update
The PGA Tour Qualifying School is well underway. Here is an update on those competing for their card. [Link]
Hole 7: An Example of Why Golf is Like No Other Sport
Professional Golfer J.P. Hayes disqualifies himself for using a nonconforming ball. [Link]
Hole 8: Matt Bettencourt
Some twists and turns in the career path of Matt Bettencourt now has him on the PGA Tour. [Link]
Hole 9: ADT Championship
Ji-Yai Shin takes home the ADT Championship and the $1 million check that goes with it. [Link]
Sad ending to an otherwise stellar LPGA career for Sorenstam, but made moreso by her incessant whining about a random drug test request at the end of round two. Policy is policy and in the end the obvious stands out…No one person/player is ever larger than the sport or the organization. To that end, Sorrenstam always did (and still does) have a belief of a sense of privilege/entitlement that should be afforded her over others. The request for testing is valid and Sorrenstam should have complied without comment or complaint. Again, her actions/reactions speak volumes to my earlier assessment of her.
I never heard anything about Annika’s “incessant whining about a random drug test” and have to wonder if it’s in the imagination of the writer.
I would have to agree, I saw no mention of whining what-so-ever. She is a classy lady, I am sure she was more than disappointed having missed the cut in her final event of her career (so she says) so I know she was probably slightly inconvenienced and irritated by the whole thing. We all would be. So I would say the “incessant whining” was more imagination than fact.
Steve Elling covered the whining here and Geoff Shackelford picked it up here.
Although I would like to believe that I have a good imagination, in this particular case all you needed to do was watch The Golf Channel’s Golf Central and you would have seen it all.
There must have been more to the Golf Channe’sl coverage than has appeared in any of the articles I’ve read. Last I checked, three comments don’t qualify as “incessant whining.” Given the Golf Channel’s propensity to replay such events over and over again it might seem incessant, but then the broadcast would be incessant, not Annika.
Given the circumstances, I’d be apt to bet she was just having one of those human moments professional athletes aren’t aloud to have.