By SEAN MARTIN
Assistant EditorRANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – It didn’t take long for the LPGA to make major changes in its drug testing procedures: The tour has already fired its first collection agency.
The LPGA announced Wednesday that the National Center for Drug Free Sport would administer tests through the end of 2009. Drug Free Sport helped the LPGA develop its program, but another company, Comprehensive Drug Testing, won a bidding process in October to be the tour’s testing agency. Comprehensive Drug Testing ran into problems while collecting samples at the Fields Open and was dismissed by the tour.
“The recent change to Drug Free Sport was made in the best interests of the LPGA, our members and the future of the LPGA’s drug-testing program,” said Jill Pilgrim, LPGA general counsel and drug-testing program administrator.
Some players had to wait nearly three hours to be tested at the Fields because only one collector was on hand at the start of testing. The LPGA announced after the tournament that it was a trial run, leading some players to speculate that something else had gone awry in the process.
“It takes a lot of initiative on the LPGA’s (part),” Natalie Gulbis said. “They’re not messing around to give a company like that one shot. Something happened, we’ve got another one now.”
Drug Free Sport vice president Christopher Guinty said his company will err on the side of overstaffing events to ensure players don’t have to deal with delays similar to those at the Fields.
“Our goal is to get everyone out as soon as possible,” Guinty said. “Really the only thing that holds it up is the urination process, and the biology of it.”
• • •
TOUGH DEFENSE: Defending champion Morgan Pressel isn’t coming into her first title defense on a high note. She missed the cut last week at the Safeway International and has one top-10 finish in four starts this year.
She wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence at her pre-tournament press conference.
“My game is OK,” she said. “I’ve been working on it. I think I’ve played pretty well the past couple of days. I got a little sick last week, but hopefully this week I’ll play a bit better; actually, a lot better.”
Pressel has been working on her putting with two-time PGA champion Dave Stockton, who was regarded as one of the game’s best putters in his heyday.
She’s hoping that will soon help her to LPGA victory No. 2, though she'll never have to worry about that “best player to never win a major” tag.
“It’s ... exciting because I have jumped in that lake last year and I want to do it again,” Pressel said. “(Cristie Kerr) said, ‘You killed them both in the beginning, you won and you won a major at the same time, made it easy.’ I never really thought about that.”
• • •
MAJOR FAMILY: The Kraft Nabisco Championship could be called the women’s version of the Masters, considering the tournaments’ proximity on the calendar and consistent host courses.
Like Augusta National, Mission Hills Country Club’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course underwent some tweaks in the time between tournaments.
As if she needs any more help, Lorena Ochoa may be one of the biggest beneficiaries from the changes.
Ochoa made triple bogey on the par-3 17th in the third round last year after hitting her tee shot into thick rough behind the back left portion of the green. That area will be now be a closely mown chipping area because players were having trouble holding the green to that hole location protected by a bunker.
• All bunkers have been reshaped to their original design, with some increasing more than 50 percent in size. Many bunkers have been shallowed out, removing the steep grass faces and some narrow fingers. More than 1,000 tons of sand – a mix of desert brown and white – were added.
“The bunkers are a little bit easier to get out of,” Pressel said, “but ... the sand is new and it’s very heavy.”
Both changes make the traps more visible players, but also cause the ball to sit down more in the sand.
“If you look at tapes or pictures from last year, no matter where you stand, you couldn’t see any sand,” Mission Hills director of golf course operations David Johnson said. “Now when you stand on the tee box or the fairway, you see all the sand framing the greens or framing the fairways. It really stands out. Whether it’s going to impacts the way they play, ... or it intimidates them or not, we won’t know until after the tournament.”
• Five trees were removed from the right side of the green on the par-5 11th. To compensate, a new greenside bunker was added to that side.
• The fairway bunker to the right of the 18th fairway has been moved closer to the fairway and divided into two bunkers with higher lips, meaning players may not be able to hit hybrids and long irons for their lay-up shot anymore.
• The tree to the right side of the 16th fairway has been thinned out because of recent windy conditions. That hole played as the most difficult last year, partly because that tree blocks out players who hit their tee shot right.
“So maybe I have a chance this year,” said Suzann Pettersen, who in 2007 made double bogey on No. 16 while losing a four-shot lead with four holes to play.
• • •
Sean Martin is a
Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail
smartin@golfweek.com.
Posted: 4/2/2008
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