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Check out each week the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting to us @tweet. this week, We discuss Alison Corpuz’s victory at the US Women’s Open, and Michelle Wie’s legacyLPGA par-5 yards and more.
American Alison Corpuz shot a 69 in the final round of the US Women’s Open in Pebble Beach, finishing ninth overall and beating Charlie Hall and Jiayi Shen by three. It’s the first win of the 25-year-old’s professional career. What caught your eye about her victory?
Josh Berhau, Managing Editor (@tweet): She missed two fairways all day, which in the US Women’s Open is key to keeping yourself on her, and while she only hit the 11th green, her closeness to the hole was ranked fifth. But these are just stats. If you watched, it looked very composed for someone who had never won an LPGA title. Her pre-shoot routine was intentional, but it also looked relaxed, like she was playing a practice round. She was not afraid of the moment. Impressive stuff.
Jack Hirsch, assistant editor (@tweet): Her game was absolutely unbearable at noon on the ninth day. She was missing it as she had to make all the hits she needed. It was a rather dull tour, but this is the kind of golf that wins major tournaments, specifically, the US Open. I played Pebble’s toughest side, the fullback who played all in the win, three fewer times for the week while the rest of the field averaged over two strikeouts per inning. It’s also a good recipe for a win when it was #1 in close of the week and #6 in strokes earned: putting (thanks Shotlink!).
Jonathan Wall, Managing Editor of Equipment (@tweet): I’m with Josh and Jack. To look lounging on the back of a nine at a Pioneer – playing at Pebble Beach (!!!) – was impressive. This was her first win. It is almost impossible to beat the best golfers in the world when they are hitting hard and hitting putts. I was able to do both all week, even when the pressure increased on Sunday. I expected Charlie and Jay to get a chance – and it didn’t. Its impressive all-around performance makes winning even sweeter.
While Corpuz had a great time Sunday night, Michelle Wee-West had her time Friday, putting a par-long on the 18th hole and saying goodbye to professional golf for good. What kind of legacy will Wei West leave behind?
Birhau: I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that most people, herself probably included, thought she would have won more, but one of those five wins was the US Women’s Open (and Pinehurst’s No. 2!), and no one can ever take that away. I also can’t imagine the pressure she had to deal with and the stress she must have felt trying to meet other people’s expectations of her. She was constantly in the spotlight. However, despite the total win, her impact was still enormous. She brought eyeballs to the game—when she played with the guys and on the LPGA Tour—and inspired countless young girls to pick up the sport. I’ve always thought that a good way to gauge a star player’s strength is if their name alone is enough for you to open up a leaderboard on your phone and look specifically for their position. This is something I did for Tiger. Something you can still do for people like Rory or Brooks or Spieth. You’ll do it for Wie, too. wins for them big. And its influence on the sport is by no means over. She is the brand ambassador for the Mizuho Americas Open, which is one of the coolest new events on any professional tour. Wie West hasn’t been a regular on the LPGA Tour for two years now, but her presence is sure to be missed.
Hersh: I don’t think the story of her legacy has been written yet. I saw pictures of her wearing a bucket hat, sweatpants, high-top golf shoes and a big Nike logo across her sweatshirt earlier in the week. I said to myself, “Michelle Wei has swag that no one else really has.” The game absolutely needs more of that. Potentially, now that she’s completely away from the competition, she can focus more on game development through her Mizuho hosting as Josh mentioned, through her relationship with Nike, etc. Even in retirement, Michelle Wie still has the potential to change the game for the better and that may be more of her lasting legacy than she has ever achieved on the course.
wall: I think her legacy is found in all the young Tour professionals who likely used her as a measuring stick growing up. She gave women’s golf a wow factor with a fresh swagger that helped take the LPGA game to new heights. Some will point to the fact that she has only won 5 times during her career and say that she has not lived up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon her at such a young age. Playing in a PGA Tour event on the 14th will do that for you. Instead of focusing on the running of the game, I chose to look at all the girls I helped introduce to the sport. Without Wie West, I don’t think the LPGA Tour would be where it is today.
On Golf Live From, Brandel Chamblee and LPGA player Mel Reid expressed their frustration with the par 5 being so long on the LPGA Tour (and at the US Women’s Open this week). Reid called it frustrating, while Chamblee said it takes away from this round of extra excitement. Do they have a point? Why did no change happen?
Hersh: Yes, I think they have the whole point. If the world’s best (and tallest) men can make it to 18th at Pebble Beach in two regularly, why don’t the world’s best (and tallest) women do the same? The reason nothing is done about it is because there might be a fear that if the courses are too short it will distort the setup. This game is obsessed with long courses and short courses is counterintuitive. However, the women’s game does not witness the exciting distance games that the men’s game has. I take issue with Brundle’s idea that we should shorten holes based on the gap between the shortest and tallest players on the PGA and LPGA tours – it should be based on a percentage gap. If the tallest LPGA player hits 85% as far as the tallest player on the PGA Tour, that’s how long the par-5s should be. To give you an example, if we use 85 percent, Pebble’s 18, which is regularly reached on the PGA Tour at 540 yards and played about 510 this week, should play about 460 yards.
Birhau: That would certainly make the tournaments more exciting, but it’s not like the men made dozens and dozens of eagles here during the 2019 US Open. They made 28 in three of 5, while this year the women made 16 for four of them. The big difference was the closed hole, with the men making six vultures for the women’s vultures. So yes, let’s find the correct distance at which it is possible to get to the green in two but that is not a criterion. I don’t have a big problem with how the course plays out this week.
wall: It’s a great question. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a pair of 5 short players to entice players to take a chance. When you stretch the holes to the point where it’s basically three shots per person roughly on the field, it makes it nice and straight. Then again, were we really expecting the USAF to throw a bone in the players? It’s the US Women’s Open. On the LPGA Tour, I think it’s something they have to think very hard about for regular events. But I’m not sure the same rules (or course setting) should apply to the major.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Brooks Koepka, captain of LIV Golf’s Smash GC team, ripped off teammate Matthew Wolfe, saying “I basically gave him away. A lot of talent, but I mean talent is wasted.” Wolfe had struggled a lot in the last few months, and dropped out before the final round in an event in May where he was 46th out of 48 players. What are your thoughts on the harsh public criticism of Koepka?
Birhau: Saying that you have given up on someone is a very strong statement, and adding a jab about wasted talent is like adding salt to a wound. I’m not going to act like I’m in the inner circle of Smash GC here and know what’s going on, but I also can’t help but think of Wolff taking two months off from the game in 2021 due to mental health issues when reading these comments. It’s weird, because in a way, isn’t that the kind of controversy that was supposed to make LIV Golf’s team format compelling? Teams fight, argue, change players, and so on. We don’t see that in the 72-hole single play events. Koepka could also have been trying to motivate Wolf, still only 24, who hasn’t finished in the top 30 in his last six events, but that certainly wasn’t very subtle.
Hersh: Yikes! I thought the team aspect was supposed to make LIV more fun? Brooks really can’t be faulted for calling out a teammate who contributes to his interests. I have to imagine that was some way of trying to light a fire under Wolf, but Wolf’s reply seemed to indicate otherwise. A very unexpected sequence for sure.
wall: Golf is an individual sport. Yes, they are on the same team. But everyone has to pull their weight. Wolfe wasn’t and Brooks called him out. I’m going to stick with what Jack says and choose to believe it’s his way of getting Wolf to refocus. It ended up having the opposite effect and becoming a headliner. Wolf got a fat check when he signed with LIV, so I’m not sure he lost sleep over Brooks’ comments.
Cameron Smith won the LIV Golf event in London on Sunday, which means he will head into his defense of the Open Championship a week from now after his win. If you were to take one LIV player to win the Open Championship, is he the guy for you?
Birhau: I think Cam Smith is in a really good place to get into Hoylack, so I would say the answer to this is yes. After winning The Open last year, he won his second LIV event two months later, but was then drowsy to finish 2022 and start 2023. He’s only had one top-20 in a span of five starts, and wasn’t particularly impressive at the Masters. But in his last six matches at LIV since Augusta, he’s finished no worse than 12th, and has been top 10 at both the PGA and US Open. I also think, for a guy like Cam, who’s in his prime, he’d have no problem motivating them for the majors, especially since the LIV fields aren’t as good as the PGA Tour stops. However, Dustin Johnson has quietly finished out of the top 10 in each of his last two Open Championship appearances, and he could be at the finish line as well as two weeks from now.
Hersh: no. If I’m taking a LIV man, it’s Brooks and it really isn’t a hard decision for me to make.
wall: I’d love to see brilliant Cam Smith try to make a comeback at the World Open, but I think the only answer here is Brooks Koepka. Again, he is a man on a mission in the majors. It would be crazy to pick anyone else on LIV’s roster right now.