Since the world's best golfer, Tiger Woods, is more like Pussycat Woods these days, do we know for certain who has assumed the title of the world's most dominating golfer?
It's not Rory McIlroy, who gave golf fans palpitations in June by winning the U.S. Open by eight strokes, but then fell in love with a tennis player and saw his golf game level out to mediocre. It's not Luke Donald, who is ranked No. 1 in the world but hasn't won a major title in 10 years as a pro.
Here's a suggestion: The world's most dominating golfer is a young lady from Taiwan by the name of Yani Tseng. The 22-year-old is clearly the best woman golfer in the world. Dominating? Most definitely.
This year Tseng won two majors, seven other titles and posted earnings on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association tour of $2.3 million - a full $1 million more than the runner-up, Cristie Kerr of the United States. Her stroke average of 69.6 was almost one full stroke better than anyone else, a huge difference in a statistical category usually separated by tenths, or hundredths of a stroke.
At 22, her five major titles make her the youngest golfer, male or female, to reach that total. Woods may never tie or exceed Jack Nicklaus's 18 majors, but Tseng has a great chance to surpass the 15 won by Patty Berg, the women's leader.
Asians are dominating the world of women's golf, with media attention in the United States on the wane as a result. Americans Kerr, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Michelle Wie and the teenage sensation Lexi Thompson play secondary roles in the play-for-pay game. Can anyone recall the last time an American was the No. 1 woman in the world of golf? Before Tseng, Lorena Ochoa of Mexico was No. 1 and for a decade before that, Annika Sorenstam was the queen of global golf.
Tseng has won five of 11 tournament starts since the middle of June, and is the clear-cut favourite every time she tees it up. And she is great for the game; she always has a big smile on her face, her English has improved enough for her to comfortably conduct interviews with European and American media, and she cheerfully interacts with fans.
If you get a chance to see Tseng and the world's best female golfers in action, don't turn it down. Yani and the rest will be competing at the CN Canadian Open at the Vancouver Golf Club next August and you read it here first: She will be the favourite to win.
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Norman Chad, on Twitter.com: "Best I can tell, the New York Jets going to a hurry-up offence makes as much sense as Pee-wee Herman driving twice as fast to get to a singles bar."
Comedy writer Jerry Perisho: "A 100-year-old man completed the Toronto Marathon. Experts credit the amazing power of the tantalizing female running shorts he followed for 26.2 miles."
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Steve Rushin at si.com: "Indira Gandhi said you can't shake hands with a clenched fist, but that's what the handshake often is in sports, a screw-you posing as a howdy-do."
A Globe and Mail editorial on fighting in hockey: "There will always be rock 'em in hockey, but the NHL needs to realize that the sock 'em is on its way out."
Fox's Tim McCarver, after Cardinals reliever Marc Rzepczynski needed just seven pitches to record two rally-killing strikeouts in Game 1 of the World Series: "It's a five-letter word: S-T-R-I-K-E."
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Those three football players suspended by top-ranked LSU had tested positive for synthetic marijuana, two sources told ESPN.com. In other words, the Tigers are 0-3 on artificial grass this season."
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Perry again: "Singer Paul Simon, in case you missed it, turned 70 last week. Suddenly he can't remember where Joe DiMaggio went."
Steve Simmons of Sun Media: "The last thing anybody thought when the Blue Jays traded Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel to St. Louis: 'Well, that puts them in the World Series.'"
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle on post-game rituals in sports: "Hockey: After playoff games, teams line up and players seem to be shaking hands, although actually they are giving back teeth they've acquired during the game. The coaches shake hands with one another and exchange a few words in Canadian."
Care to comment? E-mail brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca
