Will Gulbis and Pressel ever win? Perhaps Cristie Kerr can teach them how!

Time has a way of slipping by during the summer season, especially if you’re not winning on the tour. There can only be one winner per event and the problem with that statement is that there are approximately 75 remaining “losers” each week.

Although both Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel have been touted early on as two ladies to watch, their performances have been short of perfection. Come on guys, who remembers the person who came in second…especially on the LPGA tour?

Both are great golfers (I can’t beat them…yet) but they have not set themselves up to win, just to perform adequately among superior talent. Even Paula Creamer, in her sophomore year on the tour, has put way too much pressure on herself after her stellar four-win 2005 season. “The difference between this year and last year” Creamer admitted in her pre-round interview for this week’s Wendy’s Championship for Children, ” is I just haven’t made quite as many putts.” But that’s not the whole truth. Paula’s expectations were also too high, but now that she realizes it, the “Pink Panther” is coming back down to earth, reevaluating her course management opportunities and trying not to give back too many birdies.

Morgan Pressel, in a second round interview at last week’s Safeway Classic agrees that putting is what gets you the trophy on Sunday; that and getting her iron shots closer to the pin for easier putting opportunities. Possibly, instead of playing the game that she said she would, Morgan’s change of strategy and the onslaught of pressure to perform is what led to her collapse that Sunday.

Both Pressel and Gulbis are currently at the top of the leaderboard. It’s only round one. How long will that last?

So how do ladies like Donald Trump’s pal, Cristie Kerr, get past the comfort level of second place to winning tournaments?

As Kerr stated, “I’ve been playing with a lot of confidence. And when it’s like that for me, it’s a lot of fun to play golf.” The magic words are “confidence” and “fun"…and Cristie means every word of it.

Does that mean the other ladies are not having fun? Are they not confident enough to make it through the most stringent of tests? Possibly. It can’t be much fun to come so close every week and never see light at the end of the tunnel. It’s got to be frustrating to go out and practice seven days per week and not be able to close the deal when absolutely necessary. It must make it so much more difficult to start yet another tournament the following week. I would assume these ladies expect results, not just “talk” about how well they’re playing or how comfortable they are out there on the course.

I’ll leave you with a statement by Cristie Kerr which pretty much sums up the feelings of a champion. “It’s knowing you can do it, having the confidence to be able to hit the shots under pressure when you need to.”

That being said, Wendy’s Championship for Children will be televised on ESPN2 from Friday to Sunday. Check your local listings.

P.S. Dave Thomas would be proud of what his tournament has accomplished.