LPGA Tour Notebook: Recovering Wie not sure when to play Michelle Wie has played every LPGA major the last two years, but her next start is up in the air. Greg Nared, her agent at the William Morris Agency, said the 17-year-old from Honolulu was starting to chip and putt after injuring her right wrist during a fall last month. Doctors at the time set the recovery at about two months. Wie turned down an invitation to play next week outside Phoenix, and Nared said he was not sure whether she would be play the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which starts April 29 in California. Wie finished one shot out of a playoff at the Nabisco last year. "We'll see where it goes," Nared said. "If she can hit balls next week, we'll take it from there." The Safeway International was moved back one week in the schedule to allow it go back-to-back with the Kraft Nabisco, and that made it more appealing to Wie, who is in her senior year of high school. That she has turned down the invitation raises speculation that she won't return from injury at a major championship. FIRST FIRST-TIME WINNER: Meaghan Francella became the 2007 season's first first-time winner at the recent MasterCard Classic, where she outlasted defending champion Annika Sorenstam in sudden death. Francella, who fired all rounds in the 60s, got a $180,000 paycheck and a Rolex watch for her victory. Francella, who only competed in three LPGA Tour events in 2006 as a non-exempt member, finished fifth on the 2006 Duramed Futures Tour money list to earn exempt status for the 2007 LPGA season. Her victory jumped her up 253 spots in the Rolex Women's Rankings to 77th place. GETTING THE POINT: Stacy Prammanasudh's tie for third at the MasterCard Classic was her third consecutive top-10 finish this season, and she leads the ADT Points list with 268,937 points. Meaghan Francella is second with 196,037 points, while Paula Creamer sits in third with 187,142 points. Jee Young Lee is in fourth with 126,383 points, while Annika Sorenstam is fifth with 109,852 points. ACES IN THE PLACE: Rookie In-Kyung Kim carded her first LPGA Tour hole-in-one during the final round of the MasterCard Classic with a 5-iron on the 180-yard seventh hole. And in Saturday's second round, Leta Lindley got recorded her fourth career LPGA Tour hole-in-one on the 14th hole from 148 yards with her 8-iron. THE FIRST LADY: LPGA pioneer Famer Peggy Kirk Bell was recently named the pient of the 2007 PGA First Lady of Golf Award. Bell, who is also a member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Hall of Fame, will be honored at a ceremony in conjunction with the 68th Senior PGA Championship on May 23 at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. Bell, 85, is the owner of Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, both in Southern Pines, N.C. The PGA First Lady of Golf Award was inaugurated in 1998 and is presented to a woman who has made significant contributions to the promotion of the game of golf. SPONSORSHIP DEALS: LPGA Golf clothier LIJA has signed endorsement agreements with LPGA Tour players Ashley Hoagland, LeAnna Wicks and Maru Martinez. They join two-time LPGA Tour champion Christina Kim in the LIJA stable, and will wear the LIJA golf clothing line during the 2007 season. SEE YOU AT SYBASE: With her wire-to-wire, 12-stroke win at the 2007 UCF Invitational on March 5-6, Duke University sophomore Amanda Blumenherst earned a spot in the Sybase Classic, which will be played May 17-20 at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. The UCF Invitational title marks the fifth collegiate victory for Blumenherst. As a freshman in 2006, she was named the ACC Player and Freshman of the Year. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |