Golf World - February 18, 2013

this one took the most protracted and lengthy period of discussion because we just wanted to make sure that this was really thought out. [But] if you’re going to govern with conviction, you have to make hard decisions, and this was one.” —Ryan Herrington

lpGA

Whan wants Match Play
back on 2014 schedule

�� Missing when the LPGA released its 2013 schedule last month was the Sybase Match Play Championship, contested the last three years at Hamilton Farm GC in Bedminster, N.J. Reading between the lines, the tour was probably not all that pleased that the sponsor waited until so late in the game to make decisions about this year’s event.

“When Sybase was purchased by SAP, we believed they would pick up the sponsorship extension that was available to them,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan told Golf World. “Unfortunately, we were informed in late 2012 that SAP would not title sponsor the event, at which point it was simply too late to find a new sponsor for the 2013 tournament. There is huge interest in bringing the Match Play back to our schedule beginning in 2014.”

While the Match Play was a success with Hamilton Farm proving to be a worthy venue, the purchase of Sybase by German software firm SAP meant a change in philosophy about how to spend those marketing dollars. “Hamilton Farm, the LPGA and [tournament management company] Octagon are working on putting together another event, and we are looking for sponsorship,” Erin Walsh, membership and marketing director of Hamilton Farm, told NJ.com.

Tournament director Harry Hardy of Octagon said his company would also work to find a new sponsor for an event in the New York/New Jersey area. Whether the Match Play comes back is a more dubious call. The original version of this event, the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship, was played at Hamilton Farm in 2005-06 and at Wykagyl CC in New Rochelle, N. Y., in 2007.

That year, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Lorena Ochoa, Se Ri Pak and Suzann Pettersen were all defeated on Friday, leaving the event short of big names going into the weekend. The Sunday final was won by Seon Hwa Lee over Ai Miyazato and drew scant attention. At that point HSBC moved its LPGA stop to Singapore and made it a stroke-play event, the HSBC Women’s Champions played Feb. 28- March 3 as the third stop on this year’s LPGA schedule.

The Sybase Match Play was won by Sun Young Yoo, 3 and 1, over Angela Stanford in 2010; Suzann Pettersen, 1-up, over Cristie Kerr in 2011; and Azahara Munoz, 2 and 1, over Candie Kung last year after a controversial slow-play penalty was called on Morgan Pressel in her semifinal match against Munoz (left). —Ron Sirak

01En route to an 18th-hole 8 at Pebble Beach in round three, Phil Mickelson takes a nasty slide on the rocks. Another opportunity for Lefty to complain about California being a pain in his backside. 02 WGC-Accenture Match Play’s 64-man field is set. Until someone tweaks his back and sends the brackets kablooey. 03 USGA to pull the plug on men’s and women’s Amateur Public Links after 2014. Lots of long faces, but not at Augusta National GC. 04 Brandt Snedeker joins early Masters favorites with his Pebble Beach win. Billy Payne buys members Rosetta Stone Fast Talk for Southerners. 05 Fifteen-year-old Lydia Ko captures the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open. Truth is, she’s not the future of women’s golf. She’s the present. 06 Rocco Mediate wins title at the Allianz Championship in his Champions Tour debut. No surprise, he’s been practicing swinging like an old man for the last two decades. 07 James (Gangnam Style) Hahn shares 54-hole lead at Pebble Beach, finishes T- 3. PSY’s the early favorite for next year’s amateur partner. 08 Vijay Singh ( T- 50) meets with PGA Tour boss Tim Finchem before AT& T play begins. Let’s hope, for his sake, he led with the “What a stupid I am” line.

: Andy Peterson, Omaha

09 Bill Murray heads a starry gather- ing of pros, celebs and CEOs at Pebble Beach—and misses the Pro-Am cut. He remains the perennial fan favorite, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.