Aug
06
American Sherri Steinhauer has won her third British Open, shooting an even-par 72 to finish 7-under at Royal Lytham. She is the second oldest player to win a major in women’s golf, behind Fay Crocker (45 years) …
Annika Sorenstam shot an uncharacteristic 44 on the back side to finish at 7-over …
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods tees off shortly to try and capture his 50th win on tour. Tiger is almost automatic when leading final rounds. The only exception? His first Sunday in the driver’s seat.
| « U.S. Women's Amateur begins, Bulgaria the golf destination | Sherri Steinhauer takes Women's British Open lead as Ochoa, Inkster, Gulbis battle; Tiger Woods keeps up drive for Buick » |
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Q: Michelle, what do you take from this?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I think strangely enough that I learned more here this week then I did all summer. I played great all summer and played good in this tournament, just a couple of holes and a couple of shots did not go the way I wanted them to. But today, yesterday and the day before, I learned so much.
Q: What did you learn?
MICHELLE WIE: How to play the game really. Playing a links style golf course really forces you to play golf. I learned to try and be patient out here. When things go bad, you just have to play through it and make some putts when you have to. That is what I did today and I am going to move forward.
Q: You have to stay out of bunker too –
MICHELLE WIE: Oh yeah, definitely. I am going to secretly come out here with a pack of dirt and make nice tee boxes out of all these bunkers. (laughter)
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Dot, can someone explain to Dave M that Michelle's kidding about filling in all the bunkers at
Royal Lytham? He's on the phone to Scotland Yard as we speak.
What is funny here, is that Michelle Wie was criticized for putting a positive spon on her Top 5 finishes where she was only a shiot or two off the lead, but it likely to escape any criticism for saying the same thing when she finished T26 thirteen shots off the lead. I hope people will now recognize that this is Michelle Wie's way of looking at her tournaments. She would probably sound pretty much the same in assessing her play whether she won by 8 shots like Creamer did at last year's Evian or missed the cut by 8 shots like Webb did this week.
Wie did play well (she finished in the top 1/5 in a field of 150 of the world's best adult women pros), but Royal Lytham was the winner between Wie and the course. I think she said as much. Links golf is a game in and of itself. It requires skill at a variety of shots almost never used in the U.S. Wie is learning from the best. If she wins a tourney in the next few years, then hooray! If she doesn't win a tourney in the next few years, then hooray again! - so long as she continues learning her trade from the best.
Woods won his 50th tourney today at the ripe old age of thirty. He won his first tourney a couple months short of his twenty-first birthday. If MW were 21 today and had not won as yet, then the child-bashers may have had the embrionic beginnings of a point. But she's not 21 - she's 16. She'll still be in her 21st year five years from now.
However, she has won something of greter significance than a golf competion - the hearts and minds of millions of people throughout the world. In this day and age, that is a bona fide big-time win in any league.
Somebody please tell Michelle that on the driving range it is 10% mental and 90% physical...on the golf course it is 90% mental and 10% physical. Michelle will not win her first tournament until she is 19...this is from the golf guru.
on the golf course it is 90% mental and 10% physical
NOT TRUE. If that were true Annika could have been successful on the PGA--and she would not have needed to hand pick a course that would fit her game. After all, she has enough mental toughness to suit anyone. With the mental part as 90% she would not even have to worry about the petty little 10% that is physical.