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McDonald's set up like major
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 03:15 PM
WILMINGTON, Del. -- On Sunday LPGA Championship sponsor McDonald's introduced the newest item on its menu -- the McMajor Meltdown. This innovative entrée involved cooking the world's best players on one of the toughest courses, where they grow cabbage and bake the greens. The result is a major championship. In recent history, there hasn't been much difference between the setups of majors and, say, the Rail Charity Classic, where the slogan is "there is no jail at the Rail" and the winning score is two under to the fifth power. Last year at the du Maurier Classic Karrie Webb shot 11 under to win. Earlier this year, she also had her way with the Mission Hills course at the Nabisco, shooting 14 under just one year after Dottie Pepper shot a record 19 under. And at the other two major championships last year, Juli Inkster scored more than the New York Giants football team. In both victories, the U.S. Open and the LPGA Championship, Inkster threw for more than 300 yards, rushed for another 200 yards, scored two touchdowns and, instead of kicking the extra points, she converted two two-point conversions to finish 16 under.
"I think a major should be a tough test," said Betsy Rawls, the McDonald's tournament director and LPGA Hall of Famer. "I thought the winning score might be around eight under. I knew we weren't going to have another 16 under." On Sunday, with the rough crawling over their ankles and the greens faster than Moira Dunn's practice routine, Inkster and friends found not just birdies scarce, but pars rare as well. Of the final top 10, no one was able to break par on the final nine holes at DuPont Country Club. Inkster would hold on to defeat Stefania Croce in a playoff, but not before she posted a smooth 39 on the homestretch. Inkster wasn't the only victim: Wendy Ward, Nancy Scranton, Laura Davies and the tour's hottest player, Webb, all had a chance to win but lost to the course. But isn't this what a major championship is all about? Davies thinks so. "The course was playing unbelievably tough, but fair. This was fun, and this is what a major championships should be," Davies said. "I just wasn't up for the challenge." First-round leader Jane Geddes, who has two major championships on her résumé, agrees with Davies' evaluation. "I don't think the course was unfair," said Geddes, whose first career victory came at the U.S. Open in 1986. "We were just not as prepared for this as we should be because we seldom play courses set up like this." And if you need a final exclamation to the point, just ask the exhausted champ. Inkster says she loves the challenge and nobody ever said it had to be easy. "I won on two different golf courses," Inkster admitted. "Last year there was no rough, the greens were soft and holding, and there was a very little wind. This was like winning on a U.S. Open course." Hopefully, this year's U.S. Open, to be played at the Medalist Club, in Gurnee, Ill., July 20-23, will look like the McDonald's LPGA Championship. Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, caddies for Sara Sanders on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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