Over the Green

Thank You Michelle
Incoming LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan had his prayers answered Sunday with Michelle Wie’s win at the penultimate event of 2009. Conceivably things will be different now for the ladies tour with the most marketable female player in the world now in the winner’s circle. One wonders if Carolyn Bivens would still have her job if Michelle’s win had come at the start of the season rather than the end.

Shop Rite Back
Another piece of good news for the distaff circuit is the return of the Shop Rite Classic in Atlantic City after an argument over scheduling with guess who…Carolyn Bivens. One more tournament and a million and a half dollar purse won’t solve LPGA’s problems but it reverses the trend of defecting sponsors, eight over the past two years.

USGA Allows TMaG Wedges
After some uncertainty and closed door conversations the USGA will “allow” TaylorMade to sell inter-changeable box groove faces for the TP xFT wedges in 2010. The crux of the matter was the USGA ruling that the innovative “screw in – screw out” faces were OK if they meet the conditions set by the groove rule made public this fall.

TMaG said the initial disposition by the USGA was unfair which in effect dissallowed sales of inter-changeable face box groove wedges in 2010 when noninter-changeable wedges with the old style box grooves were OK.