Golf Tidbits: Youth is served on the LPGA Tour

Golf Betting Lines

07/03/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unlike on the PGA Tour, where it seems every winner is in his late 20s or 30s, the LPGA Tour seems to be getting younger and younger every year. Currently, the average age of the top-20 players in the women's world rankings is 26.5.

OK, so that isn't that young, but remove the three Hall-Of-Famers -- Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Juli Inkster -- and the average of the remaining 17 plummets to 24.1 years old.

The top-20 has five 30-somethings and one 40-something to go along with 11 20-somethings and three teenagers.

Not only have the youngsters climbed their way in the world top-20, they been racking up wins, including in major events. The 20-somethings have combined to win four of the last seven major championship titles. The other three went to two 19-year-olds and an 18-year-old.

The change really started after the 2006 season, when the youngest major champion was a then-28-year-old Se Ri Pak. In the seven majors played since Pak won the '06 LPGA Championship, the oldest winner was a then 29-year-old Cristie Kerr at the '07 U.S. Open.

Morgan Pressel, at the tender age of 18, won the Kraft Nabisco to Open 2007, while 19-year-olds Yani Tseng and Inbee Park have won the last two majors. Pressel was the youngest women's major champion ever, Tseng was the second youngest winner, and Park was the youngest to claim the U.S. Women's Open.

So what precipitated this shift? Nothing more than a passing of the torch, really. Sorenstam has announced her retirement as of the end of this season. Prior to that, Rosie Jones and Beth Daniel stepped away from the game, and Meg Mallon has begun to cut back on her schedule.

Established stars like Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb and Kerr have taken over as (sorry, ladies) the old guard. The new guard includes 19-year-olds like Tseng, Inbee Park and Angela Park, the reigning Rookie of the Year.

Not to mention, the much-hyped Michelle Wie is still only 18 and has been competing in LPGA Tour events since 2003.

And if you think the pipeline of young talent is drying up, think again. Eighteen-year-old Vicky Hurst is tearing up the Duramed Futures Tour, the LPGA's junior circuit, with three wins this season, including each of her last two starts.

DRUG TESTING

A new era in golf started this week as drug testing commenced on both the PGA and European Tours. Some players are not happy with it, but it's just a sign of the times. World No. 7 Steve Stricker summed up his feelings with these two quotes.

"I think it's necessary, just to keep us up with the other sports in the world. It is what it is, and I think it should be part of our game."

"All we have to test is one guy. Because we can't beat him (Tiger Woods), anyway."

ODDS AND ENDS

- Stacy Lewis, another part of the LPGA's youth movement, showed off her game last week at the U.S. Women's Open. The 23-year-old was playing her first professional event some five years after having back surgery to help correct her scoliosis. Kudos to her for battling back from the surgery and kudos to the University of Arkansas, which let her redshirt and keep her scholarship while she recovered from the surgery. Lewis won this week's event, the NW Arkansas Championship, last year, but the win was not official since the event was shortened to 18 holes by rain.

- We already know Tiger Woods will miss the Ryder Cup this year, but will European stalwart Colin Montgomerie be absent as well? Like Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald, Montgomerie is on the outside looking in right now on the points list. Monty even admits he'd take the other two, "Right now, you would have to pick Harrington can Donald ahead of me, if it were picked tomorrow."

- Kenny Perry has nearly secured his spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team despite skipping the U.S. Open. Well, Perry is also skipping the British Open, meaning he will have played just one of the four majors this year - the PGA Championship - prior to competing in the Ryder Cup.