All Yani Tseng wanted to do was let the waves of applause wash over her, sign a few autographs and collect her trophy for winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
No such luck. As she sat inside the scorers’ tent signing her scorecard, LPGA officials stood sentry, glancing anxiously at their watches. A volunteer in the scoring tent stuck her head outside to say, “We’re going as fast as we can.”
As soon as Tseng stepped outside, she was whisked to the 18th green and led to the water as if she were CBS’ mule.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“No time to dillydally,” someone said under her breath.
“Don’t sign anything,” ordered another.
The final-round coverage would not be complete without Tseng’s splashdown in Poppy’s Pond, and the top of the hour, when the tournament faded to black, was fast approaching.
For all involved, it was the most nerve-racking few minutes of the day. Tseng, who won her second major championship, by one stroke over Suzann Pettersen, made it into the pond on time but came up sputtering.
“I was trying to get out,” she said later, “because I don’t know how to swim.”
The first golfer to go for a swim after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship was Amy Alcott in 1988, and it has become a tradition, like drivers guzzling milk after winning the Indianapolis 500.
Alcott’s dip was spontaneous, a joyful reaction to ending a year-and-a-half-long drought. But in recent years, the spontaneity has been wrung from the act, reducing what was intended as a celebration into just another event staged for television.
Worse, it has become, for some of the golfers, another source of anxiety in what is already a stressful week. Tseng mentioned in her news conference on Sunday that she was a bundle of nerves on Saturday night, and one of her concerns was how to jump in the water if she won.
And it is not just their own leaps that golfers have to worry about. Karen Stupples, the third-round leader, was asked if her three-year-old son knew how to swim, a nod to the fact it has become de rigueur for golfers’ families to accompany them into the water.
“He can’t swim, no,” Stupples said, adding: “So then you kind of have to think, if I win, do I take him in or do I not take him in? Oh, dear. Let’s not think about that till it happens.”
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS