Friday, December 06, 2019
LPGA in Naples at Tiburon
As best as I
can figure, the streets of Smiths Falls, Ontario, must be pretty well
deserted this week. I have met several people on the Gold Course at
Tiburon from Smiths Falls. But there have been folks from Ottawa,
Oshawa, Toronto, Burlington, Belleville, and even Kincardine
wandering the fairways in support of Canada's Brooke Henderson. Many
of that group winter here in South West Florida. Some come several
hundred miles in support of our young golfer.
Mind you
there is another Canadian in the field this week, Alena Sharp. Sharp
completed the tournament with a four round total of 283. She pocketed
$ 30 000 for her efforts, and planned to head to Arizona after the
tourney. She appeared exhausted, glad to be finished, when I spoke
with her after the 18th hole. She even admitted that she
had been so busy, that she did not realize that her Hamilton Tiger
Cats were gearing up to play that night in the Grey Cup. Pretty
focused on the job at hand, I would say. She gave out golf balls, and
her glove to lucky fans in autograph alley.
But with her
blazing finish in the second round, after stumbling out of the gate
with a double bogey, Henderson has yet again captured the imagination
of the nation. She carded two birdies on the front nine, then five
more on the back nine to finish at nine under par after two rounds.
Brooke has
taken up residence in this area, at least on a part-time basis. She
has purchased a home at Miromar Lakes, not far from the campus of
Florida Gulf Coast University. And it is just down the road from the
Hertz Arena, where the Everblades play. βI went to an Everblades
game last year,β she told me, after playing a practice round. I
have no doubt she focused on the goaltenders, a position she played
before hanging up her blades for her golf career.
Brooke
carded a sparkling 67 on the final round to finish the tourney at
273. It gave her a 5th pace finish, and put $ 176 570
(American bills) in her bank account. She was just three strokes
behind the winner, Sei Young Kim. Kim's purse for winning? One and a
half million bucks. She drained a 25 foot putt on the final hole, and
did not realize that she had one when the ball hit the bottom of the
cup.
Henderson
was pleased with her result. βIt was a good round. Got off to a
pretty good start. Front nine things were looking good. Would have
liked to get a few more on the back. But over all, really happy.
Really happy with how 2019 went. I am looking forward to the off
season, hopefully get a little better, and be ready for 2020.β
The Korda
sisters finished the tournament in great shape, winning $ 350 000.
They grew up in Florida, with tennis being their first game. Her
father, Petr, was a fine player, and won the Australian Open several
years ago. Her brother also is an accomplished tennis player, as was
her mother, Regina Rajchrtova. But the girls put their rackets away,
and picked up a set of clubs. They are both very tall, and
consistently outdrive most of the other girls on the tour.
Incidentally, they make up one of the three sister duos to win on the
PGA Tour. The others are the Jutanugarn and the Sorenstam sisters.
The Canadian
contingent who followed Brooke far outnumbered all of the other
groups walking the course. There is a wonderful rhythm to the game,
captivating audiences: relaxing around a green, listening to the
smack of an iron playing in to that green, watching the players
strolling in to the green to evaluate chances for a putt.
The Winnipeg
Blue Bombers bested the Tiger Cats on a cold day in Calgary to win
the Grey Cup. It was carried on ESPN2 here in Fort Myers, and a fine
group of our friends lamented the loss. Mind you, the ladies in our
group were most pleased with the performance of Keith Urban at
half time. Fortunately, no wardrobe dysfunctions!!
We head
north in a couple of days to join you for the brunt of the Canadian
winter. A hip replacement in early December will hopefully be a
temporary sideline for this scribe. I will be a good boy, and work
hard on my rehabilitation. But I will also watch the sports world
carefully, and report on it. Far more entertaining than the political
arena.
James Hurst
November 25,
2019
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:56 AM 
