Hello again golf fans and thank you for joining me for another Hittin’ the Links. It was another full weekend of golf action on TV. I don’t know how you feel about it but to me there is nothing like watching match play. I wish there were more match play events on Tour.
In this week’s edition of HTL we begin with a look at Alexis Thompson’s minitour win, see who has dropped the their LPGA sponsorship now, and check out the unfortunate death of Erica Blasberg. Also, we investigate the funniest professional golfers, find out who talks too much, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. Read on!
Hole 1: Girl Power
16 year-old Alexis Thompson wins a men’s minitour event in Florida. [Link]
Hole 2: Dropping Like Flies
The LPGA Tour loses yet another long time sponsor in State Farm Insurance. [Link]
Hole 3: Erica Blasberg
ESPN chronicles the life and suicide of Erica Blasberg. [Link]
Hole 4: Funniest Pro Golfers
Here is a list of the funniest professional golfers, young and old. [Link]
Hole 5: Fore!
An elderly Florida couple has filed suit because of too may golf balls ending up in their yard that borders a local golf course. [Link]
Hole 6: You Talk Too Much!
Johnny Miller joined several others on TGC’s new State of the Game Live program, and immediately became annoying. [Link]
Hole 7: HSBC Champions
Karrie Webb closes strong to win the HSBC Champions in Singapore. [Link]
Hole 8: The Other PGA Tour Event
Johnson Wagner wins the Mayakoba Golf Classic south of the border. [Link]
Hole 9: Accenture Match Play
Luke Donald improves to number 3 in the world by winning the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. [Link]
“[Alexis] Thompson played from tees that measured 94 percent of the distance of those played by males.”
What a sham. Some may not think 6% is a lot, but even a 1% difference means she’s not playing the same course as the men are. Alexis, if you think you have the game to compete with the boys, then play the same course as they do. I would be infuriated if I’d been one of the other golfers forced to participate in this. Did Wie or Sorenstam get to play from different tees when they competed against the men?
While I agree that it was unfair to her fellow competitors, it’s still impressive nonetheless. If you look at the shortest and longest holes on that course, she’s being given at least 10 yards and at most 32 yards off the tee. It’s not like she played from the ladies’ tees. And if the tournament was 2 weeks earlier, she’d still be 15!