Dottie Pepper Q&A ( 9-13)
Couples Was The Show ( 14)
Yes, Aaron Baddeley answers to the
nickname “Badds.” And, yes, Badds did,
indeed, deliver the goods Sunday in the
Northern Trust Open at historic Riviera
Country Club to conquer a sporty field that
included nine of the top 15 players in the
Official World Golf Ranking.
It will surprise more than a few to be
reminded that Baddeley still hasn’t turned
30 even though it has been years since his
name has surfaced on any of those “young
gun” lists that pop up in golf, oh, about
every five minutes. It will surprise no one
that the power crowd in Los Angeles badly
wanted their adopted matinee idol, Fred
Couples, to win in their vanity-driven town
and prove that 51 really is the new 35.
Alas and a lack. Couples, playing in the
final threesome, stumbled to a Sunday 73
and tied for seventh.
Meanwhile in India, an Indian, SSP
Chowrasia, won the Avantha Masters
when an Englishman, Robert Coles,
melted down on the 72nd hole. Rudyard
Kipling might not have liked this outcome.
But the locals were dancing in the streets
of New Delhi.
Finally, in Thailand golf has a new
“rock star.” At least that’s what runner-up Michelle Wie called winner Yani Tseng
after the LPGA’s season opener. It was
the sizzling Tseng’s fourth victory in four
starts this year.
Yanni, the instrumental musician, was
new age. Yani, the fundamental technician,
is the new rage.
