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.
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.
Paige Mackenzie is an LPGA Tour player. When she’s not playing golf, she likes to write every now and again. She graciously penned a guest blog for Wei Under Par to share her reaction to the most recent column by SI/Golf.com’s anonymous pro.
I recently read an article from an anonymous pro bashing a new PGA Tour policy that requires some players to attend sponsor functions on Tuesday and Wednesday during a tournament week.
He describes the experience as pure drudgery: “[Players] are on the hook to visit sponsors — that’s a nightmare. I can tell you that every player would rather endure a five- or six-hour pro-am round than put on a happy face and hang out at a two-hour dinner.”
To say I was upset would be an understatement. It is the players with that attitude which makes it all the more difficult on the rest of the players (on all golf tours) to make the experience worthwhile for the sponsors. They pay a generous sum of money to support the Tour — not only because they love golf and enjoy a hospitality tent, but it’s also to wine and dine their clients; it’s a marketing play for them, too.
For example, at a Pro-Am this year, Julieta Granada played with a group that was entertaining a distributor of their product. She is charming and bubbly and gave a mini-lesson to one of the distributors. Interestingly enough, the following day the company that brought the Pro-Am group did several million in new business with the clients they invited.
I am not writing this to compare the LPGA to the PGA; we each have our own unique challenges and responsibilities in our job and on Tour. It does however make me wonder if some of the guys on the PGA Tour are acting like spoiled brats.
The anonymous pro article reminds me of a recent piece I read on raising spoiled children (don’t ask why):
When Too Much Attention Causes Spoiled Behaviors
Sometimes [PGA Tour players] act spoiled when [the PGA Tour and sponsors] do too much. Don’t continue to do things for your [PGA Tour players] that they can physically do for themselves.
For example, most preschool-age children can dress themselves, brush their hair and put their own toys away.
To do these things regularly for [PGA Tour players] teaches them to feel they deserve such service all the time. Few [PGA Tour players] learn to show appreciation for these efforts. Instead, they often become impossible to satisfy, thinking there is no limit to what they can demand. [The PGA Tour and sponsors] who feel exhausted and unappreciated may find that they have made their [players] dependent on them.
I am poking fun, but this is a serious issue for the PGA because players rely on sponsors to even have the opportunity to play. I have one thing to say to the anonymous pro and the other players that agree with his stance: If they feel entertaining sponsors is a “nightmare,” GROW UP! This is your job, we work in an entertainment industry and we are a sponsor-driven sport. There is a reason that sponsors support professional golf, and it’s not for the buffet. Rather, it’s one of the only sports in the world that they get to play and interact WITH the athletes.
So do your fellow golfers a favor, put on a happy face and DO YOUR JOB.
Spoiler: He chipped in for eagle on the 72nd hole. Clutch!
Now we don’t hear very much about the guys grinding it out weekly on the Canadian Nationwide Tours. Some will make it to the PGA and others never will — there’s a ton of talented pros and golf is hard. (Shocking, I know.)
But Andres is a guy you should know and look out for. After winning the Saskatchewan Open, he played at the RBC Canadian Open and finished T62. He also had a stellar college career at UNLV, where he played alongside Ryan Moore.
As you can see, he’s a character. He’s outrageously hilarious (doubt there’s anyone funnier on any of the tours). And he has the best mustache (which he describes as “pimp”) in professional golf.
He’s also one of my best friends. We grew up playing junior golf together and took lessons from the same instructor. In the horserace at the AJGA Trophy Lake tourney in ‘04, Paige Mackenzie, Andres and I named our team “Andres and the Pussycats.” More recently, I caddied for him at the ‘08 Canadian Tour Championship (seriously). I’m heading to his wedding next weekend in Olympia, WA. Knowing the way he does things, it will be a total blast.
Congratulations, buddy. Happy marriage. Cheers.
ESPN’s “Bodies” issue drops in October, but everyone’s already talking about Christina Kim, Sandra Gal and Anna Grzebien, who decided to strip down for it. Thing is, they could have devoted more space to LPGA women not including the obvious choices (Gulbis, Rawson, etc.). If ESPN decides to make this an annual issue, here are five more candidates whose body parts should be considered for next year.
Erica Blasberg, 25 — This former Arizona Wildcat was named 2003 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-American before she bolted after her sophomore year to turn pro. She’s soft-spoken with a good sense of humor, but feisty on the course, where she can throw a club farther than Tiger. On her website it says, “She enjoys running, reading magazines and shopping.” She forgot “partying.” She is also already a fixture on the Vegas club circuit.
Paula Creamer, 22 — The Pink Panther is one of the best players on the planet. She has 8 career victories and was the 2005 Rookie of the Year. She’s also a 3-time member of the US Solheim Cup. And, she’s limber! “I love doing cartwheels, handsprings, and most tumbling.”
Kim Hall, 28 — This classic blonde bombshell is a Stanford graduate, where she was a three-time member of the All-Pac-10 Team. She lives in Vegas in the off-season but unlike most professional golfers, she does not have a gambling problem.
Jeehae Lee, 26 — The beautiful, brilliant Yale grad didn’t take the normal route to the LPGA. She had secured an investment banking job in Hong Kong, but ditched it to become a professional golfer. She’s fluent in three languages — Korean, Mandarin Chinese and English. She can bark better than any dog. Apparently she can pick up large objects with her toes.
Paige Mackenzie, 26 —An All-American at the University of Washington, she ended her senior year ranked the top amateur in the country. She was also a member of the 2006 Curtis Cup Team. She has an IQ of like a gazillion and gives excellent dating advice. She’s a big sports junkie and won’t date a guy that knows less than her. Plus, she has an award-winning butt.
LPGA Tour players partnered up with Pantene Beautiful Lengths at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship to make wigs out of their pretty, long hair for women living with cancer. Paige Mackenzie, Christina Kim, Carri Wood, Lisa Strom, Chella Choi, Vicky Hurst, Stacy Lewis, Heather Daly-Donofrio, Jeehae Lee and many others attended the “ponytail cutting” event to support a great cause. How cute are Paige, Jeehae, Christina and Stacy’s new looks? I especially like Paige’s. Maybe because it looks like mine.
[Jeehae Lee and Christina Kim]
[Paige Mackenzie practices at Priddis Greens in Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.]
The pieces finally fell together for Paige Mackenzie last week. She shot a total 9-under and finished T8 at the LPGA Safeway Classic in Portland, Oregon. In the final round she carded a 66, the second-lowest round of the day behind champion M.J. Hur.
On Tuesday evening Paige said, “It’s about time. «laughing» I’ve been playing very well and I didn’t feel like my scores were representative of that. Statistically I’m in a better place than my standing on the money list.”
It’s true — she is ranked 14th for Greens in Regulation and T23 for Driving Distance. In the first two rounds last week, she only missed three greens and two fairways total.
Now her scores are starting to reflect her solid play.
In the seven-week hiatus between tournaments, Paige had been working hard on her game, especially her putting. She said, “It was difficult to not get results, so it was good to see the hard work pay off last week. I knew I had to be patient because I was playing well. I was excited going into the tournament and for the next few weeks.”
After the second round at Safeway, she spent some time on the practice green to figure out what she was doing wrong. She found her stroke and the putts started to drop in the final round.
But the days leading up to the tournament were a little bizarre for Paige. She was supposed to stay with a friend in Portland. As it happened, her friend had the hardwood floors in her house redone, which made it uninhabitable because of the fumes. The friend stayed in a tent outside her home and invited Paige to camp out as well. She decided to take a pass and crashed with Anna Grzebien’s host family for two nights and slept on the top bunk of a bunk bed. Yes, grade school slumber party style!
Her week got even more interesting. She had been visiting her parents in Yakima, WA, and drove their car down to Portland. On Monday morning she rolled the windows down because it was dewy. Well, the back two wouldn’t roll back up. So, for the rest of the time she drove with the windows down.
The random mishaps continue this week. She flew from Portland to Calgary on Sunday night and the airline lost her luggage (along with many of the other players’). She went shopping on Monday afternoon and decided to buy a dress because, well, she didn’t want to purchase golf clothes. So, the following day she showed up to the golf course and practiced/played in it (see picture above).
Perhaps these minor strokes of bad luck are actually fortuitous for Paige’s performance on the links. One thing is for sure — she’s taking the boost of confidence and momentum from the Safeway Classic to the Canadian Open, which starts tomorrow. Look out for more solid results from her this week and for the remainder of the season.
[Photo by Ray Kim]
By Guest Blogger, LPGA Tour pro Paige Mackenzie
…That’s the ONE piece of dating advice I received after making the Tour (from 6 different players).
Dear Rookies,
While you may meet hundreds of men every year playing in pro-ams and
LPGA sponsor parties, most will be over the age of 50. This is the terrible truth (unless you have Daddy issues and that’s your thing).
Dear married men at aforementioned pro-ams and LPGA sponsor parties,
No. Turn around and check out the look on your wife’s face….no. For your (and my) own good, NO!
Dating at home:
Was that a date? Dating is tough. This year I bet on the NCAA b-ball tournament with a guy I liked. I lost. We went out to dinner and had a good time, but I wasn’t sure if it was a “date” or not. So I asked one of his friends, PGA tour player Kevin Streelman. Our exchange:
KS: “Did he wear a hat?”
Me: “No.”
KS: “Then it was a date.”
Since I wasn’t sure if it was a date or not, you won’t be surprised to know there wasn’t a second date.
Groupies:
Like Ludacris sings, “I got hoes…in different area codes…”
Yep. Even the LPGA has them. I recently had 3 autograph seekers waiting outside my hotel. They looked a little like they had come straight from the trekkie convention. But ya know, they count.
Ahhh, but I jest. I have met some pretty amazing people in my time on the Tour, and some of them are even single, interesting, and handsome. These are the ones you want to hang on to and stay in touch with. But then you hit the road again and need to make the decision on whether to try to pursue a long-distance “relationship.” I use the term loosely because most likely, as a hotel homebody, you haven’t even rounded first — speaking in terms of the baseball metaphor of intimacy — in the 6 days you have been in town.
And if you have rounded first, what are really the odds the relationship would work anyway?
So there you have it. Dozens of potential relationships lie as roadkill in the path of my travels. But the hope is that a man at some future pro-am or LPGA sponsor event, or hell, maybe even a caddy — will catch my attention long enough to last.
First of all, congratulations to Anna Nordqvist on winning the LPGA Championship! The rookie’s snagged her first career victory after ONLY five starts. She shot 68 in the final round and finished at 15-under-par besting runner-up Lindsey Wright by four shots. You could say she pulled a Se Ri Pak on the 18th hole - Anna knocked her approach shot to a few feet on the 18th hole, which was reminiscent of Pak’s when she won in 2006.
Tip of the cap to the Golf Channel now working in collaboration with the LPGA, in doing an incredible job covering the tournament. In February, Commish Carolyn Bivens struck a 10 year deal with TGC, which gave the network exclusive broadcasting rights. It’s not in effect until 2010, but it’s obvious that there’s already a vested interest to improve the telecast.
I posted this video on Friday - it was taped the week of the Sybase Classic in May. Coincidentally, some of Paige Mackenzie and Anna Grzebien’s suggestions were applied!
Throughout the week, the commentators, Dottie Pepper, Brian Hammons and Rich Lerner showed tweets by some of the players, most of which was fun and interesting. But they would NOT stop cracking cheesy jokes about Twitter, saying that they were too “old” and how “all the kids were doing it.” With all due respect, many of the tweeps I follow or “converse” with are the same age as them. I’m not going to sugarcoat it - their commentary about it became pretty old half-way through the first round. However, Rich had done his homework and was able to do a good job explaining it to his broadcast partners and the viewing audience. I understand it’s a new concept for them, and to their credit, they are doing their best to embrace Twitter. I especially have to applaud the LPGA. It’s a tremendous step forward that they’re utilizing social media to connect with fans and promote both the players and the Tour.
I already said it several times this week, but miking Christina Kim during the first and second rounds provided amazing entertainment and enhanced the viewer experience. And since she was playing with Michelle Wie, we saw the cheery and funny side of Michelle that we don’t necessarily see (unless you follow her). I also thought it was great that they chatted with players in between nines to gather their insights. Pulling the ladies into the box for interviews after they finished was another excellent addition.
As for future telecasts, the analysts should ask viewers to tweet questions @lpga or @[tournament name] and they could select a few to answer. I have no doubts that TGC and the LPGA will continue to work together to make further improvements.
Hats off to all parties involved.
In part 2 of our discussion about commentators, Paige Mackenzie, Anna Grzebien and I discuss how to liven up golf announcing and enhance the viewer experience.
In fact, much of what we discussed was implemented yesterday. Coverage of the first round of the LPGA Championship was a riot! Of course, it helped that Christina Kim was mic’d, but the commentators pulled several players, including Christina and Michelle Wie into the booth for post-round interviews to gather their insights and opinions.
I hope the LPGA continues to work with The Golf Channel and other networks to create new broadcasting concepts.
If you missed part 1 of our chat, check it out HERE.
