Up & Down: Let Ochoa go, but welcome Green wherever possible
CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling takes the lay of the land -- and the water, wind, temperature and whatever other forces of nature are involved -- as the PGA Tour begins one of its biggest events and the LPGA loses its top player for the second time in 1½ years.
Up
Hasta la vista, baby
In these turbulent times, anytime somebody walks away on their own terms -- be it in the corporate or athletic arena -- it's both a notable and laudable accomplishment. Lorena Ochoa isn't retiring because of burnout, a personal scandal, a twitchy putting stroke or for financial reasons. In its simplest form, she fell in love with a guy and out of love with the game. She leaves the hard-luck LPGA as its most recognized star, a four-time Player of the Year, and as one of the classiest and most conscientious stars in tour history. "I'm ready to start a new life," she said. "I want to be a normal person. I'm ready to move on." Normalcy will have to wait a few more days. She plays this week in the LPGA tour stop in Mexico, where a deserving saludo awaits, to be sure. Ochoa insists she's not irreplaceable, but after eyeballing the players on the horizon, and I'm not so sure. I will be hoisting a cold Corona in her honor, to be sure.
Green pastures
A few weeks back, Ken Green received word from the PGA Tour that his request for a medical extension on the Champions Tour had been denied. The reasons were perfectly valid, since he had only minimal status, but the emotional part of the equation should have been given more weight. The veteran played last week in the senior team event outside Savannah, his first appearance in a Champions event since a car crash last year took his wife, brother and one of his legs. His son died in an SMU dorm room a few months later. Green said Sunday that getting back into the game not only has proven cathartic, but represents his very salvation. The names of his dearly departed are written on one of his golf shoes. "I don't know if I could possibly express what this has done for me personally in terms of getting hope again for -- and I hate to say this, but getting hope for life," he said Sunday, fighting to keep his composure. Just as with the remarkable tale of Erik Compton, a double heart-transplant recipient who has received exemptions into multiple European and U.S. tour events and played with some success, Green's story of redemption and perseverance is two-fold. It makes us feel good for him and better about any minor setbacks in our own lives. Here's hoping he gets as many chances to play as his physical limitations will allow.
Woods' new tack: Committing early and often
Tiger Woods said on his website that the PGA Tour asked him to commit to his upcoming events earlier than has been his professional pattern, as a means of allowing tournaments to get their additional security organized, among other details. It makes you wonder why they didn't impose on him about a decade earlier, no? A couple of days after he committed early to play in this week's Quail Hollow Championship, the event sold out. While that's not altogether unusual for the Charlotte event, the addition of Woods gave fans an extra week to buy tickets or schedule days off. Security issues aside, it gave the tournament an opportunity to properly trumpet his presence in the field. When Woods in the past committed only near the deadline -- the Friday preceding tournament week -- the decision smacked of selfishness and ego. He never bothered to explain his reasoning. Hopefully, Woods realizes that while he might be the game's grand marshal, he's still part of the parade. What's good for the tour and his brethren is good for him, too.
Lefty and Woody revisited
I'm not sure which one is Batman and which one is Robin, exactly, and Charlotte surely isn't Gotham City. But the dynamic duo of Woods and Phil Mickelson this week will tee it up in the same tournament for only the fourth time in seven months. Woods was all over the place at the Masters, when Mickelson won his third green jacket, and if he's intent on proving that he's still the reigning No. 1 on the course despite his myriad issues, he's going to have to knock off Lefty to stay there. Mickelson has won the past three PGA Tour-sanctioned events in which both have played, dating to the Tour Championship last September in Atlanta, an unprecedented string by any player in the Woods era. By the way, in another quirky statistic that few have noticed, the typically unpredictable Mickelson now holds the longest streak of weeks in the money with a steady 19 in a row. Woods missed the cut at the British Open last year.
The Bohn Collector
Sometimes, 30 seconds is all it takes for real insight. If you witnessed veteran Jason Bohn's impromptu, post-round interview with Peter Kostis on Sunday, you got a true glimpse into the charisma and character of the 37-year-old, who cracked wise, laughed and cried all at once. Bohn has battled to make a mark on the PGA Tour and missed most of 2008 with back issues. His only other victory before Sunday was at the now-defunct B.C. Open, an opposite event against a weak field. Bohn, one of the most personable and self-deprecating players in the game, gave Kostis a big hug and fought to keep both his train of thought and composure. Sometimes, good guys do finish first, and given the stellar array of shots Bohn hit coming down the stretch -- it might have been the best clutch run of any player in contention all year while cementing a victory -- there might be many more such weeks for him.
Down
No such thing as bad publicity, huh?
There was some interesting news reported on the media front relating to the Quail Hollow Championship, set for this week in Charlotte. When saucy celebrity TV shows such as Inside Edition and Extra applied for credentials after Woods committed last week, they were told they had missed the application deadline. Yet when traditional print outlets and sports magazines asked for more credentials, they were green-lighted for admittance. We're all for maintaining some semblance of dignity and decorum here, but is there any more damage that the tabloids and celeb shows can do? The Woods scandal seems to have mostly played out -- a few loose ends about how he will be received by his peers and the public notwithstanding -- and golf probably can use the exposure. At this stage, the sport has already been tainted. Letting in a few breathless, bleach-blond TV reporters to report the sideshow might not be such a bad thing, given golf's apparently graying viewer demographics. I guess sex sells -- everywhere but in golf.
All over but the lawyering?
Amid increasing assumptions though back-door channels that Woods' marriage is all but officially over, several celeb sites outed him last week for attending a concert in Orlando while his wife and kids were in Sweden. Woods, mind you, said in February that he would be taking time off from the game to try to repair his relationship, then resumed playing his traditional schedule at the Masters. Given what he said, he was asked at Augusta whether he would be better served by staying home, as he'd pledged. "Well, I'm excited to play this week," was all he offered in response. So while his wife was reportedly in Sweden, he was partying backstage with the rock act Nickelback. In some ways, a divorce might be the quickest and cleanest way to publicly resuscitate his image, the personal financial setback aside. Because Elin Woods is going to get way more than a nickel back for what Woods put her through.
Taking the collar
Popular veteran Steve Stricker, who staged the most notable career turnaround of the past decade, finally found something that has slowed him down -- his 43-year-old body. The world No. 3 had to withdraw last week in New Orleans and isn't playing in Charlotte -- a tournament he should have won two years ago -- because of a nagging collarbone problem that has become swollen and painful. Doctors ordered him to lay low for at least two weeks, and Stricker says his status for the Players Championship next week remains somewhat in doubt. The personable veteran has never really worked on his body much over the years. "I don't stretch, I don't work out or anything," he told his hometown Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I never have over the course of my career, except in the fall. Maybe I need to look at that end of it." Stricker is the lone member of the world top five who isn't entered in the Queen City.
Daytona Beached
The new commissioner of the LPGA, Mike Whan, and his newly hired marketing whiz, Jon Podany, were schoolmates in college who used to hang out together. Whan went into the corporate side while Podany worked for years at the PGA Tour. When Whan took over as the boss earlier this year, he hired Podany, who is commuting daily from Jacksonville to LPGA headquarters Daytona Beach. "We thought it would be a good fit, because he knows the business world and I know the golf side," Podany explained at the Masters. What neither of them could have known is that their top player, Ochoa, was on the verge of quitting. With three events in Mexico on the schedule established largely as a result of Ochoa's magnetism in her homeland, the women's tour is facing an even tougher battle to retain a place at the table in North America. Ask yourself this: Once Ochoa effectively bails after this week, who is the No. 1 female player in the world? We'll wait for your answer. Unfortunately, the marketing folks at the LPGA can't afford to.
As for that other Spanish-speaking star
Sergio Garcia was ranked No. 2 in the world 15 months ago. Even after a steady fall, at No. 23, he was the highest-rated player in last week's surprisingly weak New Orleans field. That made his performance all the more perplexing, particularly when TV cameras were doing close-ups to determine which grip he elected to use while hitting full shots on the weekend. Garcia, looking for some sort of fix, switched from an overlap to an interlock grip for a few rounds, then gave up on the experiment. It's hard not to view that development as a muted cry for help. Garcia has long looked uncomfortable and mechanical on the greens, and now one of the game's great ball-strikers seems indecisive standing over the ball. Outside of some short-game tips gleaned from other gurus, Garcia has always been coached by his father, Victor, a former tour journeyman. Now 30 and starting to fade, he seems to need a fresh perspective.
