- The golfing world has another sad goodbye this week as Frank Hannigan, the former director of the USGA, passed away at the age of 82. Hannigan also was a commentator for ABC, and never shied away from his opinion. Hannigan was both the USGA's biggest critic and its biggest supporter, and he will certainly be missed.
- The LPGA announced another new golf tournament with the launch of the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in Hainan Island, China. The event will mark two tournaments in China (though the Chinese will tell you it's three, counting Taiwan), and eight on the full season schedule in Asia. While many will criticize the LPGA and the Asian players in particular as harmful to the game, you can not deny that Asia has been a huge money grab for the once struggling LPGA Tour. While growth of the tour domestically should remain a top priority for Commissioner Mike Whan, he has to be proud of the growth he has overseen and the market that is being built in Asia.
- 2014 has gone from bad to worse for Rolex #2 Suzann Pettersen, who withdrew from the start of the Kia Classic with back pain. This, coupled with her withdraw earlier this year with an elbow injury, and relatively poor performances this season, has caused Pettersen to move further away from Inbee Park and her pursuit of number one. This was supposed to be Pettersen's season to finally move to the top spot, but the beginning of this season has not helped her cause.
- R&A chief executive and IGF president Peter Dawson seemed rather unimpressed with the state of the course building in Rio, where golf will be held in the Olympics for the first time since 1906. While Dawson stopped short of saying that the course would not be ready in time, he did mention that the construction is behind schedule. This is somewhat predictable, as Rio is building everything from scratch (as opposed to Tokyo, which has much of its infrastructure in place), so let's hope they pick up the pace and present a pristine golf course. I, for one, am incredibly excited about the return of golf to the Olympics, and I'd hate to see that get off to a rocky start.
- Peter Dawson also suggested that the R&A will vote to allow female members among their ranks for the first time. On the backs of that announcement, Muirfield, which received a lot of criticism last summer when it hosted the Open Championship, will vote among its members over whether or not to allow female members. It seems rather odd that we are having this conversation in 2014, but when it comes to an old sport like golf, old ideas remain. I fully support the R&A's decision, as it is about time women start holding places of power within the sport of golf. I would like to see Muirfield allow female members, but honestly, they have the right to decide whatever they choose. They're a club, and as a club, they have the right to accept or refuse any membership on any basis. I just hope they understand that the rest of the world has the right to criticize them, as well.
- Would you like to buy Ben Hogan's golf clubs from the 1953 season? They are currently on the auction block, with the most recent bid being $7, 320. The reserve had yet to be met. Expect these to easily go beyond $10,000
LATE NIGHT EDIT: Congratulations to Hideki Matsuyama, who graduated from Tohoku Fukushi University earlier this week.
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