The LPGA willl require all players to speak English starting in 2009. Players that have been LPGA members for two years will face a suspension if they cannot pass an oral evaluation of English skills. For all new players, the rule will be effective immediately. The LPGA Tour held a mandatory meeting last Wednesday with South Koreans to inform them of the new policy.

Currently, there are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea. Alot of the Korean players feel as though they are being targeted but Galloway said the LPGA is a “global tour and is not targeting any specific player or country.”

Tournament Director, Kate Peters of the LPGA State Farm Classic says, “This is an American Tour, it is important for sponsors to be able to interact with players and have a positive experience.”

I know that if i were to go to France, i would study enough of their language to be able to communicate, or Italy or Peru. Not saying you need to be like a pro english teacher or Italian teacher but know enough. I think it shows you have respect for others languages and want to communicate. Not only that but it gives you another language to speak!

My final thought on this topic…break out the books and get learning!

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A tournament that appeared to be anybody’s ball game for most of a sunny, warm and humid afternoon in the Garden State turned into a three-way playoff. Two great putts extended the festivities to a second extra hole.

Vijay Singh won The Barclays in a playoff coming back from an eight-shot deficit after the first round. Singh shot a first-round 70, putting him at T25 and eight strokes back of Hunter Mahan. This ties the largest comeback for Vijay in his career. In his victory at the the 2004 Shell Houston Open, Vijay was 2 over after 18 holes, eight shots back of first-round leader Rod Pampling.

As luck would have it, Sergio Garcia didn’t win The Barclays for the third time in his career. But he approached that playoff with Kevin Sutherland and the eventual champ, Vijay Singh, with the mixture of determination and gracious good humor that marked his youth and endeared the Spaniard to fans worldwide.

When Garcia made a 25-footer for birdie on the first extra hole, he pumped both fists in the air, turned toward the CBS broadcast tower, tapped his chest over his heart and blew a kiss to his European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo. And when Singh answered with his own birdie putt from 24, Garcia grinned, saluted by raising his fist and then high-fived the big Fijian.

Garcia closed with a 70 that included a stellar chip from the gnarly rough beside the 17th green in regulation that produced a 5-inch tap-in to get back into the tie with Sutherland at 8 under that Singh would join later. But it was his putter that kept Garcia in the game — and the man who entered the week ranked 173rd in putting average led the field in that category and tied for second in putts per round and also moved 10 spots up the standings to No. 2 behind Singh with 104,375 points entering this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

I must say, i am disappointed that Padraig Harrington did not make the cut. I was enjoying following him.

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Kenny Perry’s eyesight is back to normal two weeks after a scratched and infected cornea knocked him out of the PGA Championship. The 48-year-old Perry withdrew at Oakland Hills because of the eye problems - caused by a warped contact - after a first-round 79. “This is my third pair of contact lenses in my left eye, third one of the week, and it feels real good and I’m seeing pretty good out of it,” Perry said. “I’m excited and it doesn’t hurt. I don’t have any pain. My vision is good again.”

However, he was still a bit fuzzy on the retooled FedEx Cup points picture on the eve of The Barclays, the PGA Tour playoff opener at Ridgewood Country Club. He didn’t need great sight to see that A.W. Tillinghast-designed Ridgewood is a long and demanding layout at 7,319 yards and a par of 71. The tree-lined course’s three par 5s measure 588, 626 and 594 yards and there are four par 4s over 465 yards. The event is at Ridgewood after 41 seasons at Westchester Country Club. Steve Stricker won the playoff opener last year at Westchester, making birdie on four of the last five holes to beat K.J. Choi by two strokes. Next year, the tournament will shift to Liberty National in Jersey City.
With top-seeded Tiger Woods sidelined by a knee injury, Perry is effectively the leader with 99,500 points. Phil Mickelson is second at 99,250, followed by British Open and PGA Championship winner Padraig Harrington at 99,000. Lee Janzen, the last of the 144 qualifiers, has 92,070 points - only 7,430 behind Perry. Last year in the inaugural playoffs, the gap between No. 1 and No. 144 was 15,300 points. The winner Sunday will get 11,000 points - 2,000 more than a year ago - and US$1.26 million from the $7 million purse. Calgary’s Stephen Ames (No. 30), Mike Weir (No. 43) of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Jon Mills (No. 137) of Oshawa, Ont., are all in the field. The top 120 players after The Barclays will be eligible for the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. The field will then be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship in St. Louis and to 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

 Bob Tway withdrew Wednesday to caddie for son Kevin at the U.S. Amateur. Kevin Tway, a freshman at Oklahoma State, won his first-round match Wednesday at Pinehurst. … Ridgewood also was the site of the 1935 Ryder Cup, 1974 U.S. Amateur (Jerry Pate), 1990 U.S. Senior Open (Lee Trevino) and 2001 Senior PGA (Tom Watson).

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