Archive for August 2009

Rookie Hur Wins LPGA Safeway Classic

Rookie Hur Wins LPGA Safeway Classic

August 30, 2009 / Posted in Featured, LPGA, North America

PORTLAND, Oregon – Rookie M.J. Hur shot a final round 65, the low round of the day, and won the LPGA Safeway Classic with a birdie at the 17th hole in a three-way playoff over Suzanne Pettersen and Michele Redman. One of 21 rookies on tour this year and the...

Heads Up! Cute Head Covers Are All the Rage

Heads Up! Cute Head Covers Are All the Rage

August 29, 2009 / Posted in Featured, LPGA, North America, Style

There’s an army of animals on the LPGA Tour. Cute, fuzzy little animals. Cartoon characters. School mascots, too. Standard issue golf club head covers, designed to keep clubs from clanking (and help advertise club makers), are out. Boring! Instead, many of the world’s best women golfers express their personality and...

Natalie Gulbis Post Round 2 Interview: Safeway Classic

August 29, 2009 / Posted in Uncategorized, Videos

Check out what Natalie Gulbis had to say about her second round at the LPGA Safeway Classic today. Or if you prefer just put your speakers on mute and watch, kind of a no lose situation for many of us.

Tomorrow is shaping up to potentially be a fun final day here at Pumpkin Ridge.  You can pretty much forget any chance of Wie making history with her first win given she is (as of the writing of this article) +2 on the day.

But it’s still a pretty compelling leaderboard with the likes of Miyazato, Nordqvist, Gulbis and others all within range of making a run for the lead. 

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Seon Hwa Lee Post Round 2 Interview: Safeway Classic

August 29, 2009 / Posted in LPGA, Videos

Familiar with Seon Hwa Lee?  If not, you’re probably going to get your chance to see her in action during the whopping two hours of ESPN coverage tomorrow of the final round of the LPGA Safeway Classic.

Until then, here’s a brief recap of her round today that currently (as of 4pm Pacific) has her tied for 2nd place.

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What would Wie make the headlines?

What would Wie make the headlines?

August 29, 2009 / Posted in Humor/Satire, LPGA

Getting a chance to watch Michelle Wie play live can open your eyes to what has gotten people so excited the past several years about her potential. At least, if you catch her on a good day – which Friday was at the LPGA Safeway Classic. She finished at -4 with a...

Photos from the LPGA Safeway Classic

Photos from the LPGA Safeway Classic

August 28, 2009 / Posted in Featured, LPGA

A few images and a couple of video clips from Round 1.  Check back over the next few days for more. Click on the image for full size.                                                 ...

Day 0: LPGA Safeway Classic

August 28, 2009 / Posted in Featured, LPGA, Videos

Think of this as an amuse-bouche from us.  Just a lil something to get your taste buds dancing in advance of regular play kicking off at the Safeway Classic today.

Christina Kim

First up, a quick clip from @TheChristinaKim and a mea culpa on my part – due to user error technical difficulties I only got a portion of my interview with her captured. Yes…I know…and trust me, you can’t say anything about me on this subject that I haven’t already said at myself, thank you.

In the clip I salvaged Christina speaks about some of the criticism she got for her reactions during the Solheim Cup:

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What was screwed up by me lost on the editing room floor, was her comment/request to fans to please ‘don’t tweet me’ about their criticisms of her behavior. 

On one hand I get it. For her (and likely other players), Twitter is a fun venue to get some interaction and, let’s be honest, fan adoration. So unwanted criticism can put a damper on that mood.

Practically though, it is not realistic.  As we’ve said before, people are people and social media services like Twitter are about interaction.  All kinds of interaction - good/bad/indifferent. And in doing searches of @TheChristinaKim messages an overwhelming number of them are incredibly supportive and positive. 

So is it just a matter of an athlete with thin skin?  Maybe. Or it could arguably be more naïveté around what is to be expected from the general public interaction that happens via social media.  One thing is for sure, Kim gets a lot of attention, and not just on Twitter. Fans were regularly stopping her asking for a hug, a photo and complimenting her on her performance at the Solheim. If (and that is likely a big ‘if’) she’s suffered any loss of fan support from her actions at the Solheim Cup it isn’t reflected at Portland this week.

Junior Looper

Junior Seau has a future as an LPGA caddy if he decides to (finally) hang up his football cleats.  Thursday, Seau caddied for Natalie Gulbis during a ProAm at The Safeway Classic and here is a clip of him talking about what it’s like to carry the bag for Gulbis (note - the ‘Greg’ Seau calls out is Gulbis’ caddy and he said “They’ve (other caddies) been after my job for six years.”:

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Seau only carried the bag for 9 holes (such a candy-ass) and afterwards some EMT’s were kind enough to give him the medical treatment he needed by rushing oxygen onto the 9th green – in jest, I think…at least I’m pretty sure it was a joke.

Look for photos from the Safeway in our Gallery and further updates over the next several days.

The Bullsh!t-o-meter: Tiger Woods

The Bullsh!t-o-meter: Tiger Woods

August 28, 2009 / Posted in Humor/Satire

As several of our blogging colleagues have noted, Tiger Woods finds Liberty National “interesting.”  What does that mean? We force fed some of his soundbites through the Bullsh!t-o-meter and here’s what we got. Q. What did you think of the golf course? Tiger: It’s interesting. (Laughter). BSOM Translation: Get the bulldozers warmed...

Speaking of Golf: LPGA Safeway Classic

Speaking of Golf: LPGA Safeway Classic

August 28, 2009 / Posted in Uncategorized

Tune in Saturday Aug. 29 when NiceBallz will again appear on Speaking of Golf, a golf talk radio program, where we will air live from the LPGA Safeway Classic at our hometown golf course. Hear about the golf course where the tournament changed venues this year and what to watch...

Contest: Change the FedEx Cup

Contest: Change the FedEx Cup

August 27, 2009 / Posted in Contests

There’s a lot of chatter about the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour’s playoff, as is normal for this time of year. But, as has also become the new normal, criticism of the format and the event overall continues. So here’s your chance to vent a little and feel free to firmly plant...