Here now, the lovely ladies of the LPGA show their silly side while filming a commercial last November for the 2010 LPGA Championship at the Tour Championship in Houston.
My favorite bit? Fast forward to the 2:42 mark, where a bemused Paige Mackenzie says, “I feel like I’m going to throw up right now.” She must have been really nervous…or pregnant.
You have until Sunday to vote for the 16th player to compete in the inaugural Mojo 6 tournament in Jamaica on April 15-16.
The exhibition event features a new format the creators have decided to call “Raceway Golf,” featuring 16 ladies pitted against each other in a series of six-hole matches. As the competition heats up, the players will have a chance to choose their opponents, which is designed to encourage clawing and bitch-slapping. Kidding!
The ladies who have committed to play are Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Jiyai Shin, Brittany Lang, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim, Angela Stanford, Mariah Stackhouse, Amanda Blumenherst, Yani Tseng, Anna Nordqvist, Na Yeon Choi, Brittany Lincicome, Suzann Pettersen and Kristy McPherson.
There are a dozen vying for the final spot. You can vote once a day here, choosing from Sandra Gal Beatriz Recari, Vicky Hurst, Anna Rawson, Amy Alcott, Nicole Castrale, Laura Davies, Jeong Jang, Eun-Hee Ji, Marianne Skarpnord, Catriona Matthew and Lindsay Wright.
According to the Golf Channel, Gal is leading the race, followed closely by Recari and Hurst. Interestingly, despite kicking off a PR campaign declaring she would donate all her winnings to charity, Rawson is in sixth place.
Speaking of which, I received two mass emails in five minutes with the same content but different subject lines (whoopsie!) — “Interview with LPGA Golfer” and “Pro LPGA Golfer Interview RE: Mojo6 Tournament” — from a PR flak, whom I’m assuming represents the company Rawson hired to handle publicity matters. Read and learn:
Hey!
I work with LPGA golfer and model Anna Rawson (www.annarawson.com), who was named Sports Illustrated’s Most Beautiful Female Athletes of the Year, Maxim’s Sexiest New Athlete and one of Golf Magazine’s Top Ten Golf Innovators.
I would like to see if there is interest in doing an interview with Anna about this incredible pledge Anna has made if voted into the $1 Million Mojo6 Tournament. See the release below for more details.
Best,
[Redacted]
Tip #1: Don’t send PR-y emails that are so blatantly impersonal. You know, at least take the time to say, “Hey, Stephanie!” Everyone knows there’s a standard email being sent, but the key is to pretend it’s somewhat personalized (I’ve had the tedious job before). I complained about it to my friend, a PR exec, who replied, “Tailor your pitching, tailor your pitching!!!” I’m always happy (or at least glad to be informed) to get these things, but for some reason, this one annoyed me. Especially after receiving it twice. Big PR boo-boo!
There’s an influx of Asians on the LPGA. And they’re really good. In fact, they win a lot. But many fans find it difficult to keep track of who is who because, you know, all Asians look alike and their names sound the same. So, let’s get to know them better.
Asian-ness Scale (1-10, 1: Michelle Wie, totally Americanized; 5: Se Ri Pak, somewhat assimilated; 10: Eun-Hee Ji, 한국말): Momoko = 5
You might remember Jean Reynolds from last year’s US Women’s Open. If you watched at all or were at Saucon Valley (like I was), then you definitely remember her. During the third round I watched her play about five holes. The fans at Saucon Valley fell in love with the sprightly petite lady from Newnan, Georgia, who spent the past two years playing on the Futures Tour. Jean made headlines after the first two rounds of the US Open when she was two shots off the lead. She ultimately placed T17.
Competing on the Futures Tour, she won two tournaments in 2009 and finished second on the money list to secure her LPGA Tour card.
Last month I received a nice email with some kind words from Paulie Maggiore, who introduced himself as Jean’s caddie. Naturally, I replied to thank him and asked if he could put me in touch with her for an interview. He graciously did. Read on for my chat with Jean.
Also, be sure to follow Paulie on Twitter (@TheTourCaddieOG) — he’ll be tweeting about his and Jean’s adventures this season and she’ll be using his account, too (she’s self-admittedly not tech-savvy).
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
SW: Talk about your experience at the 2009 US Women’s Open. How did it influence the rest of your year?
JR: Going into the Open, I had a lot of confidence. I started off well on the Futures Tour and had two wins tucked away. So going into that week, I knew I was playing well and I was just looking forward to make the cut — like I did the first year. I had the experience, so I knew kind of what to expect. I played a few practice rounds and my coach flew up — I work with Charlie King out of Reynolds Plantation — on Tuesday of that week. He settled my nerves a bit. I got off to a good start on Thursday [in the first round] and it just led to a good week. I was, of course, disappointed with Sunday, but I’d be lying if nerves weren’t a factor on the final day. Other than that, the experience was incredible and it just gave me a confidence boost for the rest of the year. I also met some awesome people. Everyone was just so nice, supportive, complimentary, and it added to making that week unforgettable.
SW: Your caddie, Paulie, told me to ask you about the games you guys played on the course at the Women’s Open. Talk about that.
JR: I had a lot of family and friends up there, and to keep me distracted we played a rendition of “Where’s Waldo?,” where we looked for a family member or friend. It takes your mind away from leaderboards, three-foot putts and just what was really at stake. So, Paulie was a tremendous help out there, especially as far as keeping me relaxed.
SW: Yeah, I followed you for a while on Saturday [during the third round], and you looked like you were having a good time.
JR: Yeah, we were just both laughing and cutting up. I mean, that’s the most important thing, for me, anyway — when I’m in that kind of stressful situation at a golf tournament, I just try to relax the best I can without forgetting what I’m there to do.
SW: Who introduced you to golf?
JR: My grandfather, father, and two brothers are huge golf nuts and I tagged along with them when I was 6 or 7. I got more into it when I was about 10 and started playing in some Atlanta Junior events, the Southeastern Junior Tour, and a few American Junior Golf Association ones. But I just had a really good state and amateur record. I played in four of the USGA Girls’ Junior Championships.
SW: You were on the University of Georgia Women’s Golf Team for one year. Why did you quit?
JR: I redshirted my freshman year. I was just enjoying college and I joined a sorority. I was doing normal college kid things and my head just wasn’t 100% in golf at that time, so I walked away from it. I think it was a really good decision because I don’t think I would be playing now if I stuck with it…I’ve had people ask me, “Do you feel like you missed out playing college golf?” I had that one year of experience. I didn’t travel with the team, but I really don’t think I missed out at all. I don’t regret the decision I made.
SW: Yeah, I hear that. It’s understandable. I mean, at Yale it was time-consuming enough and that’s just the Ivy League. I know it’s way more intense at a school like UGA.
JR: Yeah, you’re going from 6-8 five days a week — I’ve never played that much in my life. I mean, I practice, but I was just getting sick of it. I knew something had to change.
SW: What inspired you to turn pro after college?
JR: It was one of those things where my friends and I were like, “What are we going to do?” I’d played in a few Georgia State Amateur events prior to turning pro and finished pretty well. So I went to Futures Q-school and placed fifth. Then I played full-time in 2008 and had a mediocre year. I finished about 45th [on the money list] and that doesn’t get you anywhere. My attitude was heinous after that and I missed the cut at the final stage of LPGA Q-school. So I took the off-season to figure out what I wanted to do and sat down with my coach to reevaluate the year and what I really wanted. I started fresh in March ‘09 and here am I, about to start up in March on the LPGA. It’s been kind of a whirlwind.
SW: Paulie also said to ask you about mashed potatoes in your sorority house.
JR: Oh yeah…we had a huge mashed potato fight in the kitchen. There might have been brownies involved. But after that, they shut the kitchen down, where you couldn’t get in after ten at night.
SW: You’re a big Georgia football fan. How was that a part of your college experience?
JR: We would go to a lot of away football games. We always went to Georgia-Florida. Also, Georgia-Auburn was fun. Just weekends like that, we’d get together with friends from other schools. The [golf] coach wasn’t really big on me being in a sorority. At that point, friends were more important to me than my golf game. But it worked out best for me. A lot of people thought I’d quit for good, but I always knew I’d go back to it.
SW: Do you have any superstitions or rituals?
JR: I have a buckeye that I keep in my bag — a good friend of my parents gave me that he got from his father. He gave it to me about a year ago. I’m thinking that might be my good luck charm. I’m not sure, but I haven’t taken it out to see if the luck is going to change. So I’m just going to keep it in there and pretend it’s good luck.
SW: What’s the craziest fan encounter you’ve had?
JR: It was funny because at the US Open, a lot of my friends were there and we all have nicknames for each other. So there were fans were yelling, “Where’s Butters?” and “Where’s Jules?” Because [reporters] had written about them in some of the articles. I got a laugh out of that. But no crazy autograph stories. Someone asked me, “What’s the weirdest thing someone has asked you for an autgoraph?” I don’t have any weird stories like that. I had a fan ask me for my hat. I would have given it to him, but I had really bad hat hair, so I decided I better hold on to that one.
SW: What’s your drink, alcohol-wise?
JR: Beer.
Do you have a favorite kind?
JR: No, just beer.
SW: What’s your favorite place to travel? And why?
JR: Probably Chicago. It’s just such a cool city — so much to do. The golf courses there are incredible. I mean, I don’t like to stay in big cities for very long, but I definitely like to check out the activities and what’s going on.
SW: Do you have a celebrity crush?
JR: Oh, Ryan Gosling. Or, who did I just see? I’m a reality TV show watcher — you know the kind that just rots your brain. I love Keeping Up With the Kardashians. They just crack me up.
SW: What do you look forward to the most on the LPGA and what do you think will be the greatest challenge?
JR: Well, the greatest challenge will be the competition — it’s just gotten so good out there. But I’m just looking forward to playing awesome golf courses, meeting different people, traveling again, and just getting back to competing.
Nice spot by About.com’s Brent Kelly (and then Waggle Room’s Ryan Ballengee) to pick up on Paula Creamer’s tweet early Saturday morning: “Great to see we have another event in Malaysia, glad to have it but we really need 8 to 10 more in the United States.”
Creamer didn’t break the news, but her Twitter blast shows the impact of the growing use of social media by athletes on sportswriters’ roles — where we’re increasingly spending more time perusing athletes’ Twitter and Facebook pages. Creamer’s tweet likely led Kelly to find the article in the Malaysian paper.
But I digress. While the LPGA has yet to give official word, the Malaysian Star is reporting that the inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia tournament will be held October 22-24 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. The 54-hole, limited-field event will feature the top 50 ladies on the money list along with 10 sponsors exemptions.
Kelly also points out the tournament falls on the same week that had previously been reserved for the China event, which was having difficulties securing a sponsor. Again, the LPGA has yet to confirm, but it appears there won’t be a stop in China this year.
Now we wait for more details. But in the past few weeks the LPGA under Commissioner Mike Whan’s leadership sure has been providing plenty of positive news. Hopefully it’s just the start of more to come as the Tour kicks off its 2010 season in Thailand this week.
There’s an influx of Asians on the LPGA. And they’re really good. In fact, they win a lot. But many fans find it difficult to keep track of who is who because, you know, all Asians look alike and their names sound the same. So, let’s get to know them better.
Today, we have a special treat for “Know Your Asians.” Thanks to Ali Naqvi of Pure Golf Training and Bann Lynch Golf, we have a video interview with Hee Young (yes, she speaks pretty good English), where she chats about her training secrets, why Korea produces so many good golfers (spoiler: they practice a lot and they’re flexible!), the defunct “English-only” rule, and how she relaxes off the course. But first, here’s some background info on her:
Now watch her talk:
For more info, check out Pure Golf Training’s Korean Golf Secrets.
Asian-ness Scale (1-10, 1: Michelle Wie, totally Americanized; 5: Se Ri Pak, somewhat assimilated; 10: Eun-Hee Ji, 한국말): Hee Young = 5
[Photo by Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images AsiaPac]
Apparently not all automakers are struggling with their finances — at least the international ones. Kia Motors, the Korean car company, has signed a pair of new sponsorship agreements in women’s professional golf.
On Wednesday the LPGA announced Kia as the title sponsor for its first event in the States. The Kia Classic Presented by J Golf will take place March 22-28 in San Diego, California, at the La Costa Resort and Spa Golf Course.
Another win for Commissioner Mike Whan and the LPGA. Now this deal is just another example of what some have preached — if a company wants to expand its marketing portfolio in the golf sector, but doesn’t feel like spending the $6 million to $8 million to sponsor a PGA Tour event, it should look to the LPGA for a less expensive investment.
In January, SportsBusiness Journal’s Jon Show reported that the men’s tour had been in talks with Hyundai, Kia’s parent company, to become the next title sponsor of the tournament stop in San Diego (now the Farmers Insurance Open), but apparently negotiations fell through.
Perhaps more companies will follow suit and turn to the LPGA for sponsorship opportunities.
Meanwhile, Kia signed Michelle Wie as its brand spokesperson. Jon Show has some details:
The company’s logo will appear on her golf bag, replacing the spot previously occupied by Sony, which opted not to renew its three-year-old deal at the end of last year. This is the first new endorsement deal that Wie has signed since turning professional, when she signed with Nike, Sony and Omega watches near the end of ‘05.
In between midterms and working out, Michelle tweeted, “I’m so excited and honored to be a partner with Kia Motors!” She also posted a picture of her new Kia car (photo above). But the bad news is that she still has to work on her speaking skills. ESPN’s Jason Sobel playfully tweeted, “When reached for comment about her new deal with Kia, Michelle Wie said, ‘It’s like, OMG! I’m just so, like, wow, you know? I mean, like…’”
Um, like, totally, he was just joking, though. But hey, let’s go easy on her. She’s only 20.
Add another victory for new LPGA commissioner Mike Whan. Hana Financial Group has signed a three-year contract to maintain its title sponsorship of the LPGA event in South Korea. The tournament had previously been marked as TBD for date, venue, purse and sponsor.
SportsBusiness Journal’s Jon Show reports:
The LPGA Hana Bank Championship will take place Oct. 29-31 at a course near Seoul that will be announced at a later date. Terms were not disclosed, but purse commitments put the annual expenditure at $2 million.
Prize money for the 54-hole event will be $1.8 million, up $100,000 from last year when it was held in Incheon, South Korea. Coverage of the tournament will not air in the U.S.
It’s a shame we won’t get coverage of it in the States. Is Korea out of network for the Golf Channel or something? I assume the other four events in Asia won’t be aired either. So much for that “groundbreaking” TV rights deal. I guess something is better than nothing, right?
Well, good news is that since disgraced former commissioner Carolyn Bivens stepped down, sponsors have been returning and contracts are being signed. Now the announcement of another tournament on US soil would make many of us absolutely giddy. Perhaps that’s just getting greedy, though.
[Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac]
On Tuesday the LPGA announced the addition of a new tournament, the Sybase Match Play Championship. The LPGA re-signed Sybase, a database technology company, to a three-year sponsorship agreement. The $1.5 million event will be take place May 20-23 at the Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone, New Jersey.
Now, there are 25 events on the 2010 LPGA Tour schedule — which is good news, but the new contract didn’t come without concessions (hence the asterisk in the headline).
The tournament will feature 64 LPGA players competing in a bracket-style match play format. According to an LPGA official, eligibility for the field is as follows:
Newly-deigned Commissioner Mike Whan weighed in via the press release:
We’re pleased that Sybase has enabled the LPGA to bring a prestigious women’s golf event back to the Greater New York area. It is especially gratifying to continue the momentum that the LPGA has been enjoying since the end of last season, thanks to great partners like Sybase and Octagon.
Sybase was the title sponsor of the Sybase Classic from 2001 through 2009, but last fall it was announced the event was not returning. According to an industry insider, ShopRite, the presenting sponsor of the Sybase Classic for the past three years, opted not to extend its contract. Shortly thereafter it was revealed that ShopRite, which ran a successful tour stop for twenty years, was bringing back the ShopRite Classic to the Seaview Resort in Atlantic City.
Without a presenting sponsor, Sybase was unwilling to bear the full financial responsibility to hold a full field tournament — which explains why the new event is limited to 64 players vying for a $1.5 million purse, down from $2 million the previous two years.
An LPGA official noted, “The new format was the essential element in keeping Sybase on the schedule.”
It’s a sign of the times. The Tour must compromise to accommodate the sponsor’s requests — which is a very different plan than what disgraced former commissioner Carolyn Bivens envisioned when she took over in 2005 — but practical (the LPGA will take what it can get, right?).
But at least a new deal with Sybase was successfully negotiated. The better news is there are now two tournaments in the New York area on the schedule, rather than one — even if one of them is a limited field event with a smaller purse. Perhaps under Whan’s watch this is just the start of more good news to come.
Apparently NFL Hall of Famer Warren Moon was so mesmerized by LPGA player Paige Mackenzie’s pretty locks that he stopped to stroke them while they were presenting an award together at the Seattle Sports Star of the Year ceremony.
The expression on her face is telling (and priceless). But to clarify, Paige pointed out Warren’s baldness. He jabbed back, saying he lost his hair because he took up golf and she would face a similar fate after a few more years on the Tour. Not missing a beat, she replied, “I have nothing to worry about because I don’t have your golf game.”
So, no, Warren is not actually a creepy old man — at least to her knowledge.
