The Good, Bad and Ugly of the US Women's Open

Hello. Here are some quick thoughts from a wonderful US Open:

The Good

1. Annika Sorenstam. She is Tiger Woods' equal on the LPGA. Some "slump" she was in, huh? Now she's won 2 tournaments this year, and arguably the toughest major. She could be Player of the Year again. Congratulations!
2. Pat Hurst. Great to see someone who is a "part time" golfer, who puts family first, go toe-to-toe with Annika for the last 54 holes, and not be intimidated. Pat could've won the LPGA Championship last month if she would've putted half as well as she did this week.
3. Juli Inkster. Same as Pat Hurst, except she didn't play with Annika, and didn't make the playoff. Hard to believe she's 46. She hit the ball long, and came very close.
4. Michelle Wie. If anyone doubted her short game, they won't now. Could wait another 3 years to win a major, and still be the youngest ever, ahead of arguably Canada's great golfer, Sandra Post, who was 20 when she beat Kathy Whitworth in the LPGA Championship. Again, could've won the LPGA Championship if she putted like she did this week. Look out at the Women's British Open.
5. Se Ri Pak. Proved the LPGA Championship was no fluke. Only hit one bad full shot on 15 that I saw on Sunday. Unfortunately it cost her. Still shot 69, which was tied only by Hurst for low round by a contender.
6. Stacy Prammanasudh. How do you hit 5 greens on Sunday and end up 2 back? What a great performance. Did for 18 holes what Phil Mickelson did for 17.
7. Newport Coujntry Club, Rhode Island. Good job getting the course ready after difficult weather. Proved to be a proper major site. Maybe more tourneys in the future?

The Bad

1. Slow Play. Apparently the rounds took 5+ hours to play each day, making Sunday's 36 hole marathon. Speed up ladies! It will make you better players. Trust me.
2. Lorena Ochoa. Sorry this is harsh, but Ochoa had a chance here to get Player of the Year locked up. This course favoured long hitters, but Ochoa didn't come through.

The Ugly

1. Jeong Jang's ruling. Jang apparently hit the ball twice with one swing on her 54th hole of the tourney. I can give her the benefit of the doubt as to why she didn't think she hit it twice - the heavy grass probably didn't allow her to feel the ball the first or second time. While I've commented on hating to use "Judge TV", two things come to mind. First set of questions - why did it take until Jang's 59th hole before she was told what the ruling was? Why wasn't she automatically disqualified for signing a wrong scorecard, like the rule said? Why didn't her playing partners say anything? Second question - if Roberto De Vicenzo had done his "what a stupid I am" 1968 Masters mistake now, would the video replay overturn the mistake? If it can't work both ways, if "Judge TV" can only make a player's score worse, then it should be scrapped.
2. 18 hole Monday playoffs. Go to 3 or 4 hole playoffs, like the British Open and PGA Championships have done. As E.M.Swift of si.com and Mercer Baggs of thegolfchannel.com both said today, it's an idea whose time has come and gone. It would make everyone's lives better. That's why I don't think it will happen soon. Besides, the US Amateur and other titles decided by match play are sudden death.
3. TV Coverage - NBC airs a Wimbledon highlight package at 2pm Sunday instead of the late 3rd round/early 4th round action. Would they have done the same with the men's US Open? No, when Tiger won in 2000 at Pebble Beach we saw every shot. And TSN did not show early Sunday play or any of the Monday playoff. One more reason for not having an 18-hole playoff.

Regards,

Steve