Shane Bacon golf mailbag: Why haven't we gotten behind Lydia Ko?
We are in the closing stretches of the 2015 PGA Tour season, one for the ages when you think about the majors and the names who broke out, and one we will look back on as the year when things in men's golf changed. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were far from the headlines, as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler had breakout years and were part of a group of 20-somethings who are taking over golf.
But one name who will fall through the cracks in this conversation, as it always seems to happen in sports, is the one who was the most impressive. Lydia Ko, who is still just 18, won her first major championship on Sunday, becoming the youngest to do so in the modern era of golf and finishing it off with a jaw-dropping 63.
The story is everything you would think the mainstream media would want -- a teenage superstar winning a major in record-setting fashion, the face of women's golf emerging as not only a threat to win each week but now adding a major to her trophy case.
So why don't people seem to care? Why isn't it a talking point on sports shows? Why are people ignoring this incredible accomplishment in an era where youth is everything in our world?
I asked people on Twitter this question Monday. They mentioned the start of the NFL season (OK, fine), the fact that the event was played overseas (still not totally buying that, but I get the time difference), and even gave predictably disappointing answers like she's not American or the fact that it's "women's golf."
To me, none of these answers is acceptable. Who cares if Ko isn't American?! Rory McIlroy isn't American, and when he wins we put him on the cover of our sports magazines and compare his stats to those of Tiger and Jack. When Jason Day won at Whistling Straits, we anointed him one of the new Big Three and discussed whether he might sneak off with Player of the Year honors ahead of Spieth, especially if he closes things out well in the playoffs.
To me, not being an American shouldn't be an issue in 2015. We love athletes who can do amazing things. Usain Bolt catches our attention. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic capture the national media in a U.S. Open final, and Ko is winning major championships at age 18.
She's already the greatest teenage golfer, male or female, in the history of golf, and now she's winning the biggest of the big with final rounds that match what Johnny Miller did at Oakmont back in 1973.
We as golf fans, and sports fans, need to do better on this front. Ko is making history. It's our responsibility to start paying attention.
With that, mailbag time. Here we go.
@shanebacon If you’re Juli Inkster, what do you do with Paula Creamer on Day 1?
— T2Va (@T2Va) September 14, 2015
Bacon: T2Va is, of course, talking about the Solheim Cup, which kicks off this Friday in Germany, with our good pal Juli Inkster trying to bring the Cup back to the United States for the first time since 2009.
Inkster, who picked Paula Creamer for the Solheim Cup despite Creamer carding only one LPGA win since her 2010 U.S. Women's Open title, didn't shock the world by going with her former Solheim teammate. But Creamer's play of late suggests this is a more surprising choice than the one of Phil Mickelson by Jay Haas for the Presidents Cup.
Paula Creamer has been slumping, but that didn't keep her off the Solheim Cup roster.
Creamer has struggled mightily with her game since a T-6 at the Arkansas Championship in June, missing her last four cuts and missing them all by a mile. She is 25-over in her last eight competitive rounds, including a second-round 79 at the Women's British, a second-round 81 at the Canadian Women's Open and a second-round 78 at the Evian last weekend.
Any time a captain's pick is struggling, it puts even more pressure on decisions regarding when and how to use that player. So Inkster could be in a tough spot, but it's worth noting a few positives about Creamer. No player on the team, not even Cristie Kerr, has more points in this event than her. Considering Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson have won just 3.5 points combined in their careers at the Solheim and that Inkster knows the way Creamer plays in this event, I would assume she will send her out in the first matches just to see what she's got.
If Creamer struggles early, I could see Inkster going away from her and sending out some players who are simply playing better golf, but if the experiment works early and Creamer snags a full point with whoever her partner is, I would assume she will play in almost every match and continue her great success at this event.
The problem is, Creamer is coming in with virtually no form at all and is playing on arguably the biggest stage the LPGA has all year. This could end up adding more pressure on her, which can't be what she wants right now with a swing she can't trust.
This is exactly why I'm glad I don't have to make these types of decisions. Inkster has to pick a lineup that gives her country the best chance to win a Cup, and I still struggle to decide which milk I like best in my coffee. Two different worlds.
@shanebacon with womens golf having so many international stars should solheim be USA vs world to involve all of top players and exposure?
— Ryan (@spartygrad) September 15, 2015
Bacon: I've always thought it should expand because so many big names aren't included in the Solheim Cup just because they aren't from the respective areas.
Why not make it North America versus the world? That way you give the American team a bigger pool to pick from, and you also include names like Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu and Lydia Ko.
The Solheim Cup is one of my favorite weeks of the entire year in golf, but I think it would make it even a bigger event if we had some of the faces that contend, and win, majors involved (four of the five majors winners this year alone won't be at the Solheim Cup).
@shanebacon @foxsports If you could pick all 12 players for the U.S. Presidents Cup team right now, who would they be?
— Adam Sarson (@Adam_Sarson) September 16, 2015
Bacon: I've already expressed my thoughts on the Phil Mickelson pick and how I don't totally hate it, but if I were captain and I could pick all 12 names for the Presidents Cup?
I guess I'd go with something like this:
It isn't that different from the current team (with Furyk and Bill Haas not being on it) and includes a little young blood that will most likely be a part of these teams for years to come, with Mickelson being there to chaperone the rookies.
Speaking of Koepka, I was a guest on the "NoLayingUp" podcast this week, but unfortunately Soly forgot to record my voice, so that 60 minutes or so of golf chatter will be lost forever.
That said, I snagged a couple of the podcast questions we were asked on Twitter to answer over here since I did answer a few on the pod and you will never hear them #blamenolayingup.
Bacon: The Duke just outside of St. Andrews. It's so tough that there was a rumor that prior to the 2005 British Open, four big-named pros did a six-hole exhibition out there and none of them made a birdie.
@NoLayingUp @shanebacon hardest course you have ever played?
— Eric Tomko (@erictomko) September 15, 2015
Concession outside of Tampa and Wolf Creek outside of Las Vegas are also at least in the conversation. Oh, and Royal Dornoch . . . I played it in about 40-mph winds . . . it's beautiful and historic, but in those winds, it's damn near impossible.
Bacon: Phil, no doubt about it. You'd get some sort of game, it would be extremely entertaining if he were down to yuck it up, and I bet you'd hear between 40 and 60 stories that you couldn't repeat.
@NoLayingUp @shanebacon what current tour pro would you most like to have a round of 18 with?
— Colton Davis (@Colton45) September 15, 2015
It's Mickelson by a long shot, and I'm not even sure of a second choice.
Bacon: I have to go "Tin Cup" as my favorite movie, if I'm being honest with myself. I know it has so many insane parts in it (I even went on a mini-Twitter rant earlier this week about all the ridiculous golf-related errors in the movie), but I think from start to finish, "Tin Cup" is incredibly entertaining and the characters are easy to fall in love with.
@NoLayingUp @shanebacon What's your favorite golf movie and golf book?
— Caddyshack (@WehbyJammin) September 15, 2015
As for my favorite golf book, it's hard for me not to say Tom Coyne's "A Course Called Ireland." The story, the writing, the idea . . . all of it is just amazing. I could go with one of the classics, but in terms of golf book I tend to suggest to people, Coyne walking Ireland is near the top of my list.
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