Wow! Where do I begin? Let’s start with Mindy’s status. It did not look as if she would be totally healthy by Thursday’s opening round so she withdrew on Tuesday. That let in the first alternate Becky Lucidi. Becky teed it up in yesterday’s qualifier -not knowing Mindy withdrew- and shot the low score of even par 72. Since Mindy withdrew before the qualifier was finished, Becky’s round was washed out and the next two lowest scores qualified.
Speaking of the qualifiers, it’s my custom to enter all the scores on my site not just the two who made it. When Doug Brecht (head honcho in the rules department) sees me coming, he knows I’m after the sores but today, disappointment was all he could offer. Seems the only computer fostering the qualifier results had been infected with a nasty virus and any attempt to use that machine was futile. I decided just to enter the two who made it but was bowled over when Doug hunted me down later with all the score cards in hand! He dictated, I took notes and all the scores are now posted. Mucho kudos to Doug!!
Off with her head! That may be a bit extreme. A huge controversy was all the buzz as word that Michelle Wie arrived early last week and played practice rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Player after player thought that early practice was prohibited during the week of an ongoing event with the penalty being disqualification. But after perusing the rules, they were wrong on both counts. Part of the rule reads as follows.
In the case of all co-sponsored tournaments, an LPGA Tournament Division member who is eligible for, but has not properly committed to the tournament being played that week, or has withdrawn or been disqualified from such tournament, may not advance practice on the tournament course of the subsequent week. The time period during which advance practice is prohibited extends from Monday morning until 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the tournament week (local time at the advance practice site). This prohibition does not apply to use of the practice facilities or to walking the golf course.
Since Michelle practiced after the prohibited time, no infraction occurred and the penalty would have been a fine not a DQ.
Acapulco update: Last week I reported that the MasterCard was on its way to Acapulco next year but the latest word is that it will remain in Mexico City and an event in Acapulco will be added to the schedule. We’ll just have to wait and see.
That was nasty: As usual, there is a casualty list of players and caddies who succumbed to the ravages of “Montezuma’s Revenge” from our trip South of the boarder but one looper was hit particularly hard. He was infected with E. coli and was treated at a local VA Hospital. Doing much better now I understand.
The American way: With spring training in full swing, rental cars are as sparse as a drop of agua in the Sahara. Some were going for as much as $700 per day! At least that’s what I was told.
Now we know: There were a few inquiries last year regarding who T-Mack (Annika’s caddie) was going to loop for. The lucky gal turned out to be Momoko Ueda.
A sawbuck away: $5 is all that separated 70th place on the money list last year from the next spot down but oh, did it meant a lot. That measly amount earned Katie Futcher and place in next week’s Major and left Irene Cho sitting on the sidelines. But wait. The top thirty on this year’s list get in so Irene still has action.
Posted by lifeontour 
