It was a lot of fun to watch Troy Kelly in the final round Sunday. Kelly was in contention at the 2011 Wichita Open and just couldn't put enough birdies together on the back nine on Sunday to win it from Mathew Goggin. Kelly had all the game in the world, and it was evident at Crestview and after a 62 on Saturday he closed with a 4-under par 66. Oh but that missed birdie putt on 18 will haunt him. This reason right here is why the Wichita Open is so munch fun. When the players, win or lose, go on, we can follow them. When Jhonny Vegas won on Tour, we all celebrated. When Jason Dufner did the same, it was awesome, as was Joe Daley's victory. It's fun to see what these guys do with themselves after playing in Wichita. And even though Kelly didn't win in 2011, we still cheered on Sunday.
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Can you name me the past five US Women's Open champions? Can you name me the past three? 2011's? Anyone? Nobody? Buhler....?
Remember Na Yeon Choi outlasted the field and Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin to win her fifth major title on the LPGA.
Paula Creamer was the low American on the board at +3, 10 shots off Choi's victory. What Choi did was nothing but spectacular on a course some are saying was built too hard for the ladies.
Choi becomes the fourth South Korean in the last five years to win the US Open. And that's a problem. The LPGA has some dynamite ladies on the Tour and they can't seem to win the Majors. When Paula Creamer won her US Open and Christie Kerr did the same, that was huge for the game here at home. Choi winning is not huge. It's par for the course, no pun intended. When Lexi Thompson was in the mix going into the weekend along with Michelle Wie, the LPGA was salivating but then the course kicked up and they all faded, leaving them with cottonmouth.
South Koreans dominate the Tour and good for them for doing so but the same way the American's are starting to come back to life on the PGA, the same needs to happen on the LPGA if they want other young girls to pick up the game.
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So I picked up some new sticks a few weeks back and I'm really upset with myself for letting them sit as long as the have. I'll explain.
I bought them right before the Wichita Open and didn't get to use them once that week, then I had to move the week following, so no luck there, then this week, it's just been so dang hot. I know that isn't a great reason but I'm human - I would melt. But the few times I've swung them, they have been great but something isnt exactly right about them. They are new for sure. The shafts are different, the faces are smaller and little more upright I found out. This is just teaching me a hard lesson I want to put on my fellow golfers: get fitted. It's sooooooooo important. Not every golfer is the same, and we all swing differently and guess what, clubs are all different too. Clubmakers build them differently, size them differently. So get fitted. If you want to take your game to the next level - get them fitted. The guys on Tour get fitted constantly and they are the best in the world, so why would you not?!
