Lorena Ochoa had a mini-meltdown today on the 17th hole of the Nabiso Championship and ended up with a quadruple bogey on the hole, and she’s now 5 shots back of the leader, Se Ri Pak. Ochoa hit a loose tee shot on the 17th tee and ended up in some very tall grass and she tried to hit a flop shot, the club slid underneath the ball, never touching it. Ouch. That’s not that hard to do actually, but I am surprised she tried the flop shot and not the explosion shot that probably would have worked better.

Pak shot a 2-under 70, and is tied with Suzann Pettersen, but Paula Creamer is only 1 back heading into Sunday’s final round. Ochoa’s not out of it, but it’s going to take a mistake-free round of 66 or better to have a chance. There’s not question Pak has the experience to put this away, but with Creamer riding her rear bumper, it’s going to be a tough win.

Only the first-round is complete, but the Korean’s have started strong for the first women’s major of the year. Shi Hyun Ahn leads Lorean Ochoa by one stroke anad 4 others by two heading into tomorrow’s second round. Defending champion Karrie Webb is part of that pack that’s two back so look for her to be around come Sunday.

And what about Annika? She shot 75 and is 7 back, and while she’s not out of the tournament, she’ll have to shoot 64 or 65 tomorrow to have any chance at all of making a run over the weekend. Two years ago, I’d have said she’ll definitely be around on Sunday, but I just don’t see it happening this year. Of course, the leaders could falter over the next couple of days, but that’s not like Annika to depend on the failure of others to succeed.

It’s good see that Christina Kim is only 4 back of the leaders. I’d like to see her return to the form of a couple of years ago. Same with Laura Diaz; she had her baby last year and is trying to get her golf legs back, and the last couple of tournaments she’s played very well.

I know I’ve said that Annika Sorenstam still has the drive, motivation, and game to be the best in the world for another couple of years for sure. But from reading Annika’s comments lately about her excitement about life after golf (and specifically about her golf academy), I’m becoming less convinced. And that’s not a bad thing at all. Annika needs to do what’s best for her and if her post-golf life is calling, then she should pursue it.

And it would be easy to say that the influx of younger players might be pushing her harder towards retirement, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. I think the timing of the tour getting younger is key, but not the players themselves, simply because she can whip them all if push comes to shove, most of the time. However, because the LPGA tour is the healthiest its been in many years, she knows she walk away knowing the LPGA will continue to thrive.

Two years ago it was easy to assume that Michelle Wie was going to be the next big thing on the LPGA and she would overshadow everyone, including Sorenstam. But now, I think everyone realizes Wie has a lot of maturing to do and tons of confidence to get back before she can be considered a legitimate threat any longer.

I think there’s too much being made about Sergio Garcia spitting in the cup after his retrieving his ball in last week’s CA Championship at Doral. Yes, it was “conduct unbecoming” for sure, but everyone once in a while it’s good see a professional golfer lose his cool, and I don’t think it’s going to create a problem for golf clubs around the country with guys spitting in cups.

The hype has already started for the women’s first major of the year, the Nabisco Championship, and Karrie Webb is the media darling this week and has been picked by numerous experts to repeat as champion. And she might, but Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa might have something to say about it. I personally feel that Sorenstam is going to come out with serious focus this week and send a message to the rest of the tour that she’s still a force to be reckoned with. However, Ochoa isn’t going to concede anyone anything either. Should make for an interesting tournament.

Oddly, there were plenty of “experts” who weren’t convinced Lorena Ochoa would be a factor in last week’s Safeway International in Arizona. Well, look again because Ochoa continues to prove her naysayers wrong, and this time she did it in fashion when she birdied 4 of the last 5 holes to win by two over Suzann Pettersen.

Petterson played extremely well on Sunday and put pressure on Ochoa early in the round, but Lorena answered when it really mattered, and that was coming down the stretch. I still think Ochoa doesn’t get the credit she deserves from the mainstream media (read U.S.) and quite frankly, it’s partly because she’s not Caucasian (blonde, blue-eyed).

If Natalie Gulbis or Morgan Pressel goes on a tear similar to Ocho’s, they’ll get the keys to every city the LPGA visits, make all the talk shows, and sign new endorsement contracts. Sadly, because Ochoa comes from Mexico (of all places!), and even fraternizes with the maintenance crew, she’ll never get the acknowledgment and recognition she deserves.

It wasn’t the most convincing win of Tiger’s career, that’s for sure, but he was the last man standing at the WGC – CA Championship at Doral. And you have to give a lot of credit to Brett Wetterich for hanging tough with Woods the entire back nine. Woods reminded me today of football teams that play just well enough to win when they don’t have their best stuff, but manage to just hang in long enough to pull it together.

And how does this win bode for Tiger’s confidence going into Augusta? I’d say that he’s got some work to do yet, especially with the flat stick, and of course, his driver. I also think Tiger saw a different Wetterich today than the guy that teamed with him on the Ryder Cup team last year. Wetterich gives the appearance of someone that walked off the World’s Longest Hitter tour, but the man has game and his short-iron play was outstanding today.

Oddly, the tour heads now to Houston, the week before the Masters. What? Somehow, not all is right with the world.

Watching Tiger play has always been exciting because you never really know how he’s going to perform. When he’s on like he was at the Open Championship last year, then it’s like watching a surgeon perform; very calculating and awesome. Other times, he’s one bad swing away from a train wreck (last week’s 43 is a good example). And other times, he’s just slightly off, but seems further away than he really is, like today. His driving was average, but his approach shots were mostly stellar, and his putter was hot and cold most of the day. And yet, he’s leading by 4, and seemingly on his way to another WGC win.

And speaking of stellar, Lorena Ochoa was indeed stellar with her approach shots today but she couldn’t make a putt all day, and that allowed Suzann Pettersen and Jeong Jang to close the gap to 4 shots going into tomorrow’s final round. At one point, I thought Pettersen was going to steamroll by Ochoa because she was making everything in sight and closing fast, but she hit a couple of approach shots that ballooned and left her with awkward chips and putts. Tomorrow’s final round is wide open, in spite of Ochoa’s lead I believe.

Was watching the CA Championship on the Golf Channel this evening and I was just wondering if the famed “Blue Monster” is actually a tough enough course for these guys. Yes, 18 can be a tough hole, especially on Sunday coming in, but in general it’s a flat course and though it has lots of bunkers, they are manicured quite nicely and the players are not having too many problems getting out of them.

If the World Golf Championships is associated with a tournament and golf course, it should be near the cream of the crop in toughness. Yeah, I know, Doral was chosen because of all the reshuffling of tournaments that came about due to the FedEx Cup, and not necessarily because it was a top-caliber test.

And it reality, I don’t see the WGC events lasting much longer anyway, as they are just not generating the type of numbers that the “suits” in PGA Central like to see. And because this is a limited-field event, it doesn’t give guys on the Masters bubble a chance to finally qualify for Augusta.

The LPGA released its list of banned substances today that it will begin testing for in 2008. The list includes beta-blockers, anabolic steroids, stimulants, and other items not yet identified. I’m still not convinced (though I could be wrong) that even if golfers (male or female) were taking any type of performance-enhancing drugs, it would hurt them more than it would help them.

Golf requires far more control of your subtle reflexes than any other sport I can think of, and while a performance-enhancing drug may give that extra edge when it comes to clubhead speed and more distance, I have to believe you’d sacrifice control and more importantly touch and feel with shots that require anything less than 100%.

And the professional golf communities are very small and it wouldn’t take long for someone to notice that player A is suddenly bulking up and he/she hasn’t been spending much time in the training room. On an unrelated note about the LPGA though, If I were commish, I’d be more adamant about policing the amount of time it takes for players to hit their shots. Yes, it’s improved the last couple of years, but I still think there’s room for more improvement. The act of having their caddies line up all their full shots wastes an incredible amount of time per round, and more importantly, these are professionals, not weekend hacks. If they can’t line up their own shots by now…

Okay, I’m just kidding about the title of this musing. Or am I? Okay, I am. But, is it me, or am I the only one on this planet that doesn’t understand the love fest between Woods and Federer? I think it’s great that Tiger respects Federer for his accomplishments on the tennis circuit, but I don’t understand the media comparing their accomplishments as if they were on the same plane. Not even close in my book.

When Woods wins a golf tournament, he has to be the entire field over four days. And while tennis is more physically demanding, the eventual winner only plays half the number of players entered in the tournament. Not a bad gig if you can get it. But in any case, I wish they would get over each other, or at least keep their relationship more discreet.