Shag Bag

RICHMOND, Texas – With some luck, the LPGA Tour Championship can still be completed as a 72-hole event before Sunday ends.

That was the word late Friday afternoon from Doug Brecht, the tour’s vice president of rules and competition.

Brecht said the tour is committed to playing 72 holes with Player of the Year and other awards at stake this week, plus money rank and determinations as to who must go to Q-School or not.

“There are a ton of things riding on this,” Brecht said.

Brecht said if every player who went off in the first wave Friday afternoon is able to complete at least nine holes before darkness, the second round could be completed Saturday morning. After the cut is made to the low 70 scores and ties, the third round could begin Saturday at 2 p.m. and finish up Sunday morning. Under this plan, with a 54-hole cut to the low 30 scores and ties, the final round would begin at 11 a.m. Sunday and finish about 5 p.m.

“We still need a little bit of luck,” Brecht said.

If there’s another rain delay, or the 36-hole cut features an abnormally large number of players, Brecht’s plan might spill into a Monday finish.

RICHMOND, Texas – Stacy Lewis is playing this week’s LPGA Tour Championship with a special purpose.

Lewis, a rookie who grew up in The Woodlands about an hour from The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, underwent surgery when she was 18 to repair damage scoliosis caused to her spine. She had the life-changing surgery at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital just a few miles from this week’s event.

“It’s basically why I’m able to be here,” Lewis said. “It’s special being here.”

Lewis’ mother works at the Hermann Hospital’s Woodlands’ branch. It would be a thrill for Lewis to win her first  LPGA event at this site.

“I have about 75 tickets for family and friends,” Lewis said. “I really haven’t played a tournament around here since I was in high school.”

Lewis, a four-time University of Arkansas All-American and the 2007 NCAA champion, opened with a 2-under-par 70 on Thursday. She’s 46th on the LPGA money list with two top 10s.

“It’s been frustrating at times this year,” Lewis said. “I expected to be in the hunt more, but if you told me at the beginning of the year that I would finish top-50 in money I’d be pretty happy about that.”

RICHMOND, Texas – Michelle Ellis received a standing ovation when it was announced she was re-elected LPGA president during the players meeting this week at the LPGA Tour Championship.

Ellis helped the tour navigate through one of its most tumultuous seasons while also tending to her ailing father, who died of cancer at the start of September. She spent most of the summer in her Australian homeland helping her family. While juggling family and serious LPGA issues during the ouster of commissioner Carolyn Bivens, Ellis’ game suffered. She didn’t make a cut in 13 tour starts this year.

Ellis said the standing ovation touched her deeply.

“Of all the good things that have happened to me in my career, that’s right up there at the top of them,” Ellis said.

Ellis, a nine-year veteran, said she’s dedicated to reviving her game, starting with her play in the Australian women’s events next month.

RICHMOND, Texas – Johanna Mundy striped her tee shot down the middle of the first fairway at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club.

Despite an ominous afternoon forecast, play resumed at 1 p.m. local time at the LPGA Tour Championship. The sun managed briefly to break through the gloom moments before play resumed but dark clouds are rolling across the course.

Lift, clean and place is in effect.

With heavy rain falling this morning, the start of Friday’s play was pushed back six hours. The players originally scheduled to go off Friday afternoon are not likely to play at all today with more rain forecast.

RICHMOND, Texas – LPGA officials announced that they will attempt to begin play at 1 p.m. local time Friday at the LPGA Tour Championship.

Rain postponed the start of Friday's action at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club. Play was scheduled to begin with the 10 players whose rounds were suspended due to darkness Thursday going back on the course to finish at 7 a.m. local time. Round 2 also was supposed to begin at 7 a.m.

The forecast calls for a 100 percent chance of precipitation until 2 p.m., when the chance for rain falls to 90 percent. 

Karen Stupples (1-under through 16 holes) was the only player under par on the course when play was suspended Thursday night due to darkness.

RICHMOND, TEXAS – Michelle Wie withdrew from the LPGA Tour Championship about 45 minutes after Thursday's first round due to injury.

Wie's left ankle, which troubled her during her breakthrough victory at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational last week, worsened through the first round. She managed to shoot an even-par 72 but limped right from the first tee. The limp grew worse as the day went on. She left the scoring area to have the ankle treated. The announcement came shortly after.

"This tournament, and the support shown from the fans in Houston, meant a lot to me and I wanted to do everything I could to fight through the injury," Wie said in a statement. "It bothered me last week in Mexico, but I was able to play through the pain. I realized today that I wouldn’t be able to continue to play through it. I want to make sure that I’m being smart with it, so I will return home to have it looked at by my doctors and follow their advice for treatment.”

RICHMOND, Texas – Michael Whan is piling up mileage hiking around the LPGA Tour Championship.

The new commissioner, who doesn’t assume his role until Jan. 4, is making strong impressions with his visibility in his first appearance at an LPGA event.

When Morgan Pressel looked up at the ninth hole Thursday, Whan was in the crowd.

After Stacy Lewis signed her scorecard, she got a fist bump from the new commissioner.

He hiked up and down the driving range Wednesday at the pro-am meeting players and later that night was grilled by them during a special commissioner’s forum for players.

“I like him,” Lewis said. “I like the way he talks about the future. He really wants to listen to us and what we have to say, which I think is what we’ve needed for awhile.”

Lewis acknowledged the new commissioner’s task will be tall that way.

“He said he talked to 40 different players after getting the job and all 40 players wanted something different,” Lewis said.

Whan ended the forum giving all the players his e-mail address. He said he’d be willing to give them his cell phone, too, but they would have to e-mail and ask him for it. He also gave tournament owners and sponsors his e-mail and cell phone information during the Tournament Owners Association meeting last week.

Whan opened Wednesday night's forum sharing details about his life as a husband and father of three sons.

“He shared a lot about his family,” said Heather Daly-Donofrio, a two-time LPGA winner and player liaison. “He shared that before he shared anything about business. That was nice, to get an insight into what kind of person he is, to learn what his priorities are.”

LPGA President Michelle Ellis said family was a strong theme at the forum.

“He really bases his job around being a family,” Ellis said. “He talked about how important family is to him, and he wants to be part of our family.”

Through much of this year, especially in a player revolt that led to the ouster of Carolyn Bivens as commissioner, the LPGA was too much a dysfunctional family. Whan will be looking to change that.

Tour pros better get used to the idea that they are a global family, because Whan also emphasized the global nature of the tour and how important that is to its future. While American players want more American events, Whan made it clear he will continue to seek playing opportunities wherever they occur around the world.

“He shared his vision as it relates to the schedule,” Daly-Donofrio said. “He talked about how the schedule doesn’t have to fit everybody. Ideally, we’ll build a schedule where if you want to play domestically, you can tailor your schedule to that. If you are a player who likes to play overseas, we’ll have a schedule for you. If you are a player who wants to play here and abroad, we'll have a schedule for you. The idea is to create enough playing opportunities that players can have the best of both worlds.”
 
Given the shrunken nature of the schedule the LPGA released Wednesday, that makes the commissioner’s vision bold and his challenge enormous. The 24-event schedule released is the smallest in nearly four decades. Players have made it clear that they want Whan to give them more chances to play.

RICHMOND, Texas – Michelle Wie's left ankle appears to be bothering her considerably in the first round of the LPGA Tour Championship.

After ripping her driver at the sixth tee, she hobbled out of her stance and was limping noticeably down the fairway. She has been limping from the first tee. Still, she rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at the sixth hole to get to 1-under. Wie hurt her ankle at the Solheim Cup in August and aggravated it stepping into a hole at the Navistar Classic in October.

The winds have picked up substantially in the afternoon at The Houstonian. The morning rounds were played in calm conditions early with the winds picking up mid-round.

 A fast start could mean a lot this week with heavy rain possible on Friday.