Webb struggling with swing change

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- What in the world is wrong with Karrie Webb? This probably has been the No. 1 question of the LPGA season this year.

Even though she won the Wegmans Rochester International Sunday -- erasing Mi-Hyun Kim's five-shot lead entering the final round -- Webb still doesn't look as if she is capable of giving Annika Sorenstam a run for her money.

Last Wednesday night Webb's caddie, Mike Patterson, told a group of fellow bagtoters that his boss was in some kind of funk. Even after Thursday's nine-birdie 64, Webb didn't sound totally confident about her game. "I didn't have a good practice day yesterday," Webb said on Thursday, "but having won here [in 1999] helps. I do have a positive feeling here, and with the crowds out there, it was fun to be out there."

THE SHAG BAG It was weird to see Se Ri Pak, who finished third in Rochester, wearing a plain, white, logoless hat. Her sponsorship deal with Samsung had ended and I expected the IMG machine to have another suitor already in line. ... Kristal Parker-Manzo finished fourth, but it wasn't her best showing of the week. Last Tuesday the former UCLA standout teamed with her mother and caddie Joe Bonica to win the annual caddie bowling tournament at Clover Lanes. ... We have a new way to tell Aree and Naree Wongluekiet apart: Naree doesn't wear braces anymore. The 16-year-old made the cut in Rochester and finished T-29, while her sister took the weekend off. ... Val Skinner hosts the third annual LIFE Event Monday at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. The pro-am raises money for breast-cancer research and will honor Missy Kaye-Farr, whose sister Heather died from the disease and who herself is a survivor. ... It took her 18 years, but Lori West won an golf tournament -- the senior event in Des Moines, Iowa, two weekends ago. West beat Jan Stephenson, Patty Sheehan and Elaine Crosby by birdieing the first playoff hole. ... Congratulations to Suzy Whaley on becoming the first woman to compete in the PGA of America Club Professional Championship, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., last week. Alas Whaley, who played on the LPGA Tour in the early '90s and is the head pro of Blue Fox Run Golf Club, in Avon, Conn., missed the cut. ... Whatever happened to Kris Monaghan?

Webb, whose best finish this season had been a tie for fourth, admits that her troubles are a result of a major swing change. Much like Tiger Woods and Sorenstam, Webb is trying to get the club more in front of her. The transformation has been rough and has left her confused; it also has caused her slight left-to-right draw to turn into one too many duck hooks.

"It's too complicated to explain," Webb said. "I don't even know some days. It's stuff that I haven't worked on before, that's the toughest thing. My body is taking longer to learn and get used to new things."

What's amazing is that Webb has maintained a positive attitude -- but even that has drawn criticism. Because of her success (26 wins in six years), some players thought her struggles this season were due to complacency.

"I have some perspective that I have had a pretty good six years so far," Webb said. "I don't have much to complain about. I don't want to get too hard on myself. I'm working on a few things, and I haven't been doing them as quickly as I would like. I think that's the most frustrating part."

Like a true champion, Webb turned it on late in her rounds this past weekend. Even though she birdied two of the final three holes on Sunday, the key to her victory came the day before when she birdied the last three holes to remain within striking distance of Kim.

"This really came out of the blue," Webb said. "I don't know, I never thought I didn't have a chance of winning, but somehow I thought I could make up three shots with five holes to go. Historically, on this course I have played the last holes."

Good timing

During her first five years on tour, Webb was regarded as a fast starter, winning a majority of her tournaments early in the season (16 of her 26 wins have come before the month of May). But in the last two campaigns, she has not won before Memorial Day. It took her 10 starts in 2001 to get her first win, and the Wegmans Rochester International was her 10th appearance of 2002.

Just like last season, Webb's game is rounding into shape just in time for the U.S. Women's Open. "I still have work to do," said Webb, who hopes to three-peat at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan. over Fourth of July weekend. "Friday and Saturday I had little patches of brilliance and then did not play so good. Thursday and Sunday is what I'm working toward."

Head games

Tied on the final hole Sunday, Webb might have gotten Kim's head with some old-fashioned gamesmanship. Webb elected to finish out after leaving her 30-foot birdie putt short. The maneuver was much like a football team calling timeout to freeze the kicker. Kim had to stare at her 12-footer, which would have saved par and forced a playoff, a little longer than she would have liked.

"If you have a chance to take the upper hand in something, I take it," Webb said. "I never want to sit on a 4-footer."

Mum's the word

During her time on tour, Kim has always come into the post-round interview room accompanied by a translator. The truth is that she actually speaks English better than any of the other Koreans on tour, including Se Ri Pak.

Webb spilled this secret to the Rochester media Saturday evening. "I saw her speaking to someone and I was surprised it was her," Webb said. "She can speak [English] pretty well, she just doesn't."

On Sunday, after some prompting from the LPGA, Kim conducted the interview sans interpreter and did a terrific job.

Worth the wait

Last Tuesday at nearby Webster Golf Club, the longest playoff (time-wise) in golf history finally ended. A four-way playoff -- which started on June 10 at Blue Heron Pines Golf Club in Egg Harbor, N.J. -- for the first alternate spot for the upcoming U.S. Women's Open had been whittled down to Jean Bartholomew and Susie Parry after one hole. But the pair, having already played 37 holes on the day, halved the next seven holes. Darkness set in and play was called.

The match was postponed eight days and rescheduled for the Rochester area, and the stakes had gone up in the meantime. "On the first hole they told us that the winner was in the Open because Annika had won in Evian," Bartholomew said. "I was already nervous, so that made things even more interesting."

Bartholomew needed only three shots to wrap up the spot. After watching Bartholomew hit her approach to within three feet on the par-5, Parry played Ping-Pong on the green before conceding when she made a 7.

Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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