Joey's Golf Bag

Golfweek reports Wie second at LPGA Q-School after 65.

Michelle Wie shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 Wednesday in the second round of the first stage of LPGA Q-School, putting her in second place in a field of 164.

Displaying the ability that has put her in contention in major championships, Wie birdied five of her final nine holes on the Palmer Course at Mission Hills Country Club to finish at 9-under 135. The 18-year-old Wie was three shots behind South Korea’s Sun-Ju Ahn halfway through the 72-hole competition.

Good playing Michelle, and good luck the rest of the way!

I’m happy to find out that Michelle is going to enter the LPGA Q-School. Some details can be found in the CBS Sportsline article No more messing around: Wie’s heading to Q-School.

After two largely checkered seasons wracked by injury and mostly disappointing play, some of the exemption opportunities for Wie had begun to dry up. As a non-member of the tour, she was limited to six LPGA tournaments a year on sponsor exemptions.

The first-stage qualifier will be held [Sept. 16-19] at the same facility where the first women's major of the year is staged, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, an event Wie nearly won in 2006.

If she advances, the finals are Dec. 3-7 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

A second first-stage qualifier is set for Venice, Fla., on Sept. 30-Oct. 3. Players who pay a $5,000 Q-school application fee can enter both first-stage qualifiers if they don't advance out of the Palm Springs event.

It was unclear whether Wie, believed to be the highest-paid athlete in women's sports, paid the extra $1,000 that would allow her to take two cracks at the first stage if she fails to advance in California next week. Otherwise, the entry fee is $4,000.

Good luck, Michelle! I still believe in you!

Camilo Villegas won the BMW Championship in fine fashion yesterday, going wire-to-wire to win $1.26M by 2 shots over Dudley Hart. My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, finished T55 and will not make the Tour Championship, ending up in 50th place in the FedEx Cup standings. While Vijay didn’t clinch the FedEx Cup, he merely has to post a score to win it, as no one can catch him unless he declines to play, withdraws or is DQ-ed.

The PGA Tour posted a list of those who played themselves in, and out, of the Tour Championship. It is interesting that no one outside of the top 70 at the start of the playoffs made the Tour Championship.

Yesterday morning, I played 18 at the Grapevine Golf Course in Grapevine, TX. We played the Mockingbird and Pecan courses. The day was hot and muggy, with little breeze. The greens had been punched and sanded and were pretty bumpy, and surprisingly soft.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit six fairways, using mostly the Thriver but also hit two fairways with the driver. The sixth hole on the Mockingbird course was where disaster struck: I hit two nasty shanks into the hazard on this par-3 hole.
• Approach shots. Not very good at all. I hit only three greens in regulation, and one of those was a par-3 hole. Aside from the two shanks off the tee, I also had a shank that nearly hit one of my playing partners on the par-5 hole next to the dam.
• Wedges. A very mixed day with the wedges. I hit a couple of good wedges from the fairway, but also left a couple short.
• Chipping. I did have a good day chipping, getting up and down six times (though not usually for par).
• Sand shots. I hit into three greenside bunkers, and got out each time, but failed to get up-and-down on any of them.
• Putting. I had a pretty good day on the greens (once I got there), despite the greens having been punched and sanded earlier in the week. I had only one 3-putt and 31 putts total.

I was not very happy with my game yesterday. I should have had a REALLY bad score (not that 98 is anything to be happy about), but my chipping and putting redeemed my round. 31 putts on punched and sanded greens is pretty darn good.

Vijay Singh won the Deutsche Bank Championship by a five shot margin. He’s now far ahead in the FedEx Cup standings. It’s likely that someone will have to win both the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship for Vijay not to win the FedEx Cup.

So much for my assertion that Vijay can’t putt. He putted magnificently, two weeks in a row.

My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, missed the cut for the second week in a row and dropped to 44th in the standings. He’ll need to get into the top 30 to advance to the Tour Championship.

My dark horse picks, Anthony Kim, finished T27 and dropped one spot to 7th in the FedEx Cup standings; Phil Mickelson failed to make the second cut and finished T73. He fell to 8th in the FedEx Cup standings.

It’s looking pretty unlikely that Paddy can pull off the FedEx Cup. Even if he wins the next two events, he’ll have 121,000 points; Vijay is already at 120,500 points.

This morning, I played nine at North Texas Golf on a hot, breezy morning. The wind was from the east, which was unusual. The wind was about 2 clubs when I arrived but decreased to almost none by the time I finished my round.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. I hit an 8-iron 27 ft short of the hole and two-putted for par.
• Second hole. I hit an 8-iron 27 ft left of the hole and two-putted for par.
• Third hole. Hit a terrible PW shot short of the hole, where it landed next to a sprinkler. I chunked the chip badly just onto the green and three-putted from about 30 ft for double.
• Fourth hole. Hit a thin 9-iron into the mud next to a sprinkler head, where the ball embedded. Took relief from the sprinkler head, badly chunked the chip about 5 ft. I then hit a perfect chip 45 ft into the hole for par.
• Fifth hole. Hit a thin SW just short of the green, chipped to 7 ft and made the putt for par.
• Sixth hole. Hit a PW to 9 ft and just missed the birdie putt. Tapped in for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit an AW to 18 ft and left the birdie putt 6″ short. Tapped in for par.
• Eighth hole. Hit a PW just over the green, putted from off the green 7 ft past the hole, but made the par putt.
• Ninth hole. Hit a 7-iron to 27 ft. Left the birdie putt 2 ft short and tapped in for par.

Today was my best score ever with respect to par (+2) on nine holes and my best score on this course. It really could have been better, if I hadn’t chunked two chips and missed all five of my birdie putts. Still, I was happy with how I played today.

Padraig Harrington, my pick to win the FedEx Cup, missed the cut by one at the Deutsche Bank Championship today. Fortunately, he’ll live to fight another day.

A total of 13 players were eliminated by missing the cut. Some notables who were eliminated from the FedEx Cup due to missing the cut include Ian Poulter, Retief Goosen, Lee Janzen and Fred Couples.

Because 86 players made the cut, there will be another cut tomorrow for the low 70 and ties.

Golf.com reports on a new LPGA English requirement in LPGA to require all players speak English.

The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English.

The LPGA will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.

"Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

The LPGA is going to have to tread carefully on this one. Some might interpret this requirement as racism.

Update: That didn’t take long. Here is Michael Walker, Jr. in LPGA’s English-only policy is unsportsmanlike and un-American:

Even those in favor of the concept should be troubled by the fact that the LPGA won’t have a standard testing procedure. Players would be targeted for evaluation based on staff observations, according to Golfweek, and those “who already demonstrate English proficiency will not be approached.”

I had to read this paragraph three times to make sure it wasn’t a satire from The Onion, or a secret police manual from the Eastern Bloc. Not only are they requiring a language evaluation for their golfers, but they’re also making that evaluation subjective and arbitrary!

Vijay Singh won the Barclays in a playoff over Sergio Garcia and Kevin Sutherland. Kevin Sutherland was the first in with an 8 under par score. Sergio and Vijay both had birdie putts on the last hole for victory, but neither putt fell. On the first playoff hole, both Sergio and then Vijay hit long putts for birdie; Kevin Sutherland wasn’t able to hole his long chip for birdie and was eliminated. On the second playoff hole, Sergio hit into the left rough (almost in a hazard) and Vijay hit a perfect drive into the center of the 17th fairway. Sergio’s second shot ended up behind a tree on the right side of the fairway, where he was allowed to take relief for “abnormal ground” caused by a mole. Vijay hit a stellar fairway wood shot onto the green, while Sergio’s third shot was left below the green. Sergio failed to hole his short chip, and Vijay two-putted for birdie and victory.

My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, dropped to 23rd place following his missed cut. My dark horse picks, Anthony Kim dropped one place to 6th and Phil Mickelson dropped one place to 4th.

Several notable players were eliminated from the FedEx Cup by failing to make the top 120 for the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship. That group included Zach Johnson, David Toms and Chris DiMarco.

This morning, I played 9 at North Texas Golf. The weather was very hot and sunny, with only a slight breeze from the west. Before playing, I hit short and medium pitches, hit a small bucket of balls, chipped and putted.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. Hit a 9-iron just right of the green, chipped to 9 ft and made the putt.
• Second hole. Hit a 7-iron 48 ft short of the hole and two-putted for par.
• Third hole. Hit a fat AW short of the green into a drain. Took relief, chipped to 9 ft and two-putted for bogey.
• Fourth hole. Hit a slightly fat PW right of the pin, chipped to 5 ft, missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Fifth hole. Hit a fat SW short of the hole, chipped to 3 feet and hit the putt for par.
• Sixth hole. Hit an approach shot right of the green, chipped to 6 ft and made the putt for par.
• Seventh hole. Hit a pitching wedge to 18 ft, but hit the birdie putt much too hard and it lipped out 5 ft past the hole. Missed the return putt and tapped in for bogey (much cursing ensued).
• Eighth hole. Hit a pitching wedge to 24 ft. Again, ran the birdie putt well past the hole, missed the return putt and tapped in for bogey (more cursing).
• Ninth hole. Hit an 8-iron off the toe right of the green. Chipped 9 ft past the hole and missed the par putt, and tapped in for bogey.

My putting really let me down today. I could have had a good round, but threw it away with terrible 3-putts.