Green Reading

Long wait is over

It was a joyous weekend in England for Myrtle Beach resident Mark Schoenwald and Kansas native Bruce Vaughan. Both ended long winless droughts, as neither had won since the mid-1990s. Vaughan, scrambling to retain his status on the Champions Tour, won the British Senior Open with Schoenwald on the bag, defeating John Cook in a one-hole playoff. Vaughan had never won on the PGA or Champions tours, and his last significant wins came in 1994 when he won a pair of events on the Nationwide Tour. Schoenwald has been a caddie on the Champions Tour since the mid-1990s, but hadn't won since he captured his second tournament championship with player Jimmy Powell in 1996. Their future seems a lot more secure and bright than their recent past, and a well-deserved congratulations are in order for both.

Local caddie contending overseas

Bruce Vaughan shot a 3-under-par 68 Thursday in the opening round of the Senior British Open and was tied with Eduardo Romero for the lead. The crazy round included eight birdies, eight pars, a double and triple bogey. Perhaps more noteworthy to Grand Strand golf fans is that Vaughan's caddie is Mark Schoenwald of Myrtle Beach. Schoenwald, who has been caddying on the Champions Tour for more than a decade, has been Vaughan's primary caddie since the latter part of last year.
After getting off to a slow start this year, Vaughan has recorded three consecutive top-14 finishes, including a tie for fifth, and earned about $125,000 in the past three events. Vaughan managed to get into 17 events in 2007 despite having to Monday qualify as the third-place finisher in the 2006 Champions Tour Q-School, and earned $434,934. It wasn't enough to secure a fully exempt card this year, but was enough to get him in to just about every event. Vaughan played predominantly on the Nationwide Tour in the 1990s, and spent the 1995 season on the PGA Tour.
Now you have someone to root for in the tournament. Unless you actually know Mark.

Mark knows I'm just kidding. Good luck.

LPGA defends actions

The golf world is looking ahead to Michelle Wie's impending missed cut next week at the PGA Tour's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, but the LPGA is still looking back at her disqualification this past weekend at the State Farm Classic. Though Michelle Wie is the only person who should be held accountable for not signing her scorecard, LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens felt her tour was taking some misguided heat for its handling of the situation, so she released a statement Wednesday.
She said the tour has received feedback e-mails, blogs and phone calls, and many have had varying and inaccurate accounts of what happened, why and when. ``All of this has confused and angered individuals.'' Bivens said.
Bivens describes that Wie left the designated scoring area without signing her card, a scoring volunteer noticed that the card was missing a signature and caught up with her approximately 40 yards from the tent, where Wie signed it. An LPGA staff member overheard volunteers recounting the situation only after Wie teed off in the third round, and after verifying the story with Wie and others following her round, they disqualified her for a rules violation. Bivens said they waited because they didn't want to disrupt her playing partners.
That's all well and good. Having a volunteer accept scorecards, however, is a mistake. You'd think the LPGA would have at least one paid staffer in the scoring area considering the importance of scorecards and chances of an incident or error there. They shouldn't have to rely on accounts from volunteers. This should be a lesson for the tour.
Bivens finished by commending her workers much like an elementary school teacher would commend a class: ``In the end, we should all hold our head up high knowing that our organization upheld the rules of golf and administered them with Michelle the same way they have been applied to every player since the LPGA's founding in 1950.  The rules are the rules.''

Regarding Wie playing in yet another event against men, if that's what she wants to do and is afforded the opportunity, who am I to tell her she shouldn't? That said, I will anyway. She has yet to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, and none of those events did her any good. This one won't either.

Kristy's forgotten share of first

Kristy McPherson of Conway is trying to replicate this week in the LPGA Tour's $1.7 million NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark., what she did at the event last year. She recorded the best finish of her career in the inaugural NW Arkansas event in 2007. Sort of. McPherson tied for second last year _ tied for first among pros _ but the result is nowhere to be found in her two-year LPGA record. That's because heavy rains left the course unplayable following McPherson's 6-under-par 66 in the first round, resulting in the cancellation of the final two rounds. Since the event was shortened to 18 holes a winner wasn't declared the event wasn't recognized as an official LPGA event. The money she earned spent the same, however. McPherson said the purse was cut in half last year and she received $60,000 for her share of first place. Without the $60,000 on her resume, McPherson officially earned just under $80,000 as an LPGA Tour rookie. This season she's already collected $128,000. The NW Arkansas Championship will be played Friday-Sunday, weather permitting.

U.S. Open extras

There are some interactive features that go along with this year's U.S. Open that might interest golf fans, especially early in the championship. With a local slant, North Myrtle Beach native and Golf Channel announcer Kelly Tilghman will host two live online chats on www.GolfChannel.com. They will be from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday and 10 to 11 p.m. on Friday.
A U.S. Open Live Challenge is also available. Golf fans compete live while watching broadcasts from Torrey Pines by playing along on the Web. Fans can predict the action live for a chance to win an expenses-paid trip to the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Players can predict the scores of their most-watched players, and call out live course action such as whether a player will sink a putt on the third hole or bogey on the next par 4. It happens in real time during the broadcast with immediate leaderboard updates, golf trivia questions, player-to-player chat and up-to-the-second opinion polls.
To play the U.S. Open Live Challenge, log on to www.USOpen.com, www.NBCSports.com or www.AirPlay.com.

This week's winners

The St. Jude Classic is the warmup to next week's U.S. Open, and in that spirit I'll take a major champion this week. David Toms hasn't won since January 2006, but two of his 12 career wins have come at the St. Jude Classic and the TPC Southwind, which is an accuracy-first layout that fits his game. The two titles came in 2003 and 2004, and he's got three other top-five finishes in the tournament this decade. He also enters the event playing some consistent if not spectacular golf, with six consecutive cuts made.
Picking the LPGA Tour has become as predictable as picking the PGA Tour. The first thing you do is see if Lorena Ochoa is in the field. If so, the pick is made. The 26-year-old from Mexico has won six of the nine events she has entered this season. Hard to go against a percentage like that. And in this week's McDonald's LPGA Championship, she's attempting to become only the fourth woman to win three straight majors.

Iron is out, Annika is in?

Tournament officials for the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika have come to their senses. They have scrapped the ill-conceived large, heavy and cumbersome cast iron Pineapple that was created by area artist Phillip Simmons to serve as the championship trophy. It has been replaced by a glass trophy created by a company in Sweden. It may have been the worst tournament trophy since the ill-fated soccer trophy created by former Myrtle Beach SeaDawgs owner Brian Kukon in 1999 that he presented to former U.S. National Soccer Team coach Bruce Arena and billed as the ``Heisman Trophy'' of soccer awards.
Tournament host Annika Sorenstam said Sunday that she is not considering making the Ginn Tribute the one tournament she continues to play every year. That is assuming the tournament returns to the area and RiverTowne Country Club. Bobby Ginn's company has a contract with the LPGA to stage the event for two more years, but the company has reportedly been seeking title sponsors for the tournament. Jane Geddes, the LPGA's vice president of competitions, said Saturday she expects the tournament to return and Ginn to honor the contract. If the event does continue, my guess is Annika may make this her one competitive week a year. Jack Nicklaus played for years at the Memorial Tournament that he hosts, and Arnold Palmer played right up until the past few years at his event at Bay Hill. And Annika can certainly be more competitive than those two legends were in the final days of their participation in their own events.

An early start, good weather, crowds and scores

There's going to be an early start Sunday to the final round of the $2.6 million Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika. Hopefully there will be an early finish to accompany it. Because of the strong possibility of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon, tournament officials have decided to adjust the starting times. There will be a two-tee start on Nos. 1 and 10 beginning at 7:15 a.m. and golfers will play in groups of three. that puts the lead threesome out at about 9:15 a.m., finishing by 2 p.m. or so, weather permitting.
Whatever inclement weather strikes the tournament Sunday, it's unlikely to rival the terrible weather that marred the inaugural Ginn Tribute last year. Tropical Depression Barry stormed through Mount Pleasant on tournament weekend, blowing over a scoreboard and pushing scores up. Nicole Castrale won in a playoff after shooting a 9-under-par 279. Outside of some wind, the weather and scoring conditions have been fabulous this week, and scores are relecting it. Players are tearing up RiverTowne this week, as leader Sophie Gustafson was 18 under through 46 holes Saturday, and three other players were better than 9 under. While 66 was the lowest round shot in the 2007 event, six players posted 65s through the first two rounds, including Gustafson Friday. Golf fans along the coast have also taken advantage of the good weather, as solid crowds followed several groups Saturday and filled bleachers on the ninth and 18th holes.
Here's to hoping the crowds will be rolling out of RiverTowne by 2 p.m. Sunday.

Ochoa out

Lorena Ochoa has withdrawn from the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika, which begins Thursday at Rivertowne Country Club in Mount Pleasant. A media official stated Wednesday that Ochoa has a sick uncle will go to Mexico to be with him. The loss of the World's No. 1 player, who has won 20 times since the start of 2006, leaves the tournament with 67 of the top 68 money winners on the 2008 LPGA Tour money list and 14 of the top 16 players in the world rankings.

Tuesday at the Ginn Tribute

The week has gotten off to a good start for Kristy McPherson of Conway. She spent Monday on a boat in the Charleston area, and Tuesday she beat friend and fellow LPGA Tour pro Meredith Duncan in a friendly match during their practice round. Perhaps a precursor for things to come this week at Rivertowne Country Club in the second $2.6 million Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika.
She'll have her work cut out for her, however, with world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and legend Annika Sorenstam in the field. In addition, the top 68 players and 98 of the top 100 on the current 2008 LPGA Tour money list are all entered, as well as 15 of the top 16 players in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings. McPherson has been selected to play in Wednesday's pro-am and will tee off at 10:30 a.m. on the first tee. She goes off at 1:49 p.m. off the first tee in Thursday's first round with playing partners Michelle Ellis of Australia and Na On Min of South Korea, and has a sceduled second-round tee time Friday off the 10th tee at 7:59 a.m.
The featured pairing of Sorenstam, Ochoa and seven-time major champion Juli Inkster will be five groups in front of McPherson and her partners in the first round, going off the first tee at 12:54 p.m. The host and her partners tee off at 9:16 a.m. off the 10th tee in the second round.