Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

4/29/2011 at 3:26pm

The only tournament Rebsamen Park Golf Course might be able to have this weekend would be a fishing tournament. "You can scoop fish out with a bucket over by Holes 12 and 13, you don't have to go into the river to fish," one observer noted.

An overabundance of rainwater mixed with the rising Arkansas River has put the front nine of Rebsamen championship course underwater. The course will be open on Saturday, but only for play on the back nine with restrictions on three holes, according to a club spokesman.

The shorter West course will be open for play and is completely playable. Carts will be available for both the nine holes open on the Championship course as well as the West nine. The driving range was temporarily closed Friday at midday so that the practice balls could be retrieved from the muck, but it was due to open back up late Friday.

"If we don't get anymore rain, we should be able to open back up the front nine next week," the course official said.

While the back nine is deemed playable, holes No. 13, 14 and 17 will be played from shorter, temporary tee markers.

The incessant rain, followed by two-plus days of sunshine, has brought out the green color of the lesser-lying public courses. War Memorial is shaping up nicely and will probably see a surge in business over the weekend thanks to the water covering its fellow city course in Riverdale.

LEWIS CONTENDS AGAIN, WHILE SENG SUFFERS: Before the last round of the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship, third-round leader Yani Tseng was considered unbeatable. She was the hottest golfer on the LPGA Tour with three major championships.

Stacy Lewis, the University of Arkansas All-American and former NCAA Champion, had been deemed the "next big thing" for the LPGA but had yet to win a professional tournament, much less a major.

Lewis and Tseng were paired in the final two rounds at the Kraft Nabisco, and most observers figured Tseng would duplicate her near-perfect Saturday round with a winning march to the championship.

Something happened on the way to Tseng's fourth major. Lewis stepped up early and convinced Yani that she wasn't going away, and then made big putt after big putt. Seng uncharacteristically dropped a couple of strokes on the greens down the stretch, and Lewis went on to win her first major.

Flash forward to this week, where the two are in the field for the Avnet LPGA Classic, being contested at the Robert Trent Jones Trail Magnolia Grove course in Mobile, Ala.

Lewis was in contention again after round one at 4-under, one shot behind the leader, Song-Hee Kim, and was two shots backs of the leaders after a 1-under 71 second round Friday.

And Tseng? The No. 1 ranked woman in the world may have had one of her worst opening rounds since turning pro, shooting a 5-over 77. Her even-par round on Friday left her behind 90 golfers. Lewis and Tseng weren't in the same pairing for Thursday and Friday, but one has to feel that last-round collapse the last time out was on the Taiwan-native's mind.

So much for invincibility, especially in golf. Look no further than Tiger Woods for other examples. In Tseng's case, she lost something over those final holes of the Kraft Nabisco with Lewis, whereas Lewis may find herself in contention often now thanks to that dramatic Sunday in Southern California in early April.

NOLA A NO-NO FOR DALY: The PGA Tour stop in New Orleans has been good to a trio of Arkansas pros over the years. Stan Lee and Ken Duke each have had a shot at winning the tournament before finishing second in the Crescent City's event, which has moved around in recent years from Lakewood across the river from New Orleans to Jack Nicklaus' English Turn to, now, the TPC New Orleans in Avondale. It's now known as the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and drew would-be world No. 1 Luke Donald (the Brit needs just to win to ascend to the top of the rankings).

John Daly didn't have such a good tournament this year, although he did fight back Friday morning to shoot 2-under 70 after Thursday's opening round 81, which featured a total collapse down the stretch: double-triple-double over 15-16-17, with a bogey on 18 to boot.

Bryce Molder, the Conway product, has been struggling of late and shot a first-round 76, 4-over par, on Thursday. He was still on the course as of this writing Friday, 6-over for the tournament and assuredly headed out before the final two rounds. He's missed the cut the past two years in New Orleans.

Former Razorback Tag Ridings was 1-under for the tournament and still on the course Friday afternoon and likely to make the cut.

PAPPAS IN POSITION: Former Razorback golfer Brenden Pappas has spent some time on the PGA Tour, but losing his card forced him to work he way back by playing this season on the Nationwide circuit. He stands second in total winnings on the Nationwide Tour with nearly $117,000, including a win in the rain-shortened Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open in Colombia.

The top 25 finishers on the Nationwide moneylist automatically gain PGA Tour privileges for the next season.

Little Rock's Ron Whittaker is No. 22 on the Nationwide moneylist with almost $29,000 earned in four tournaments. Scott Gardiner, who calls Farmington home when he's not touring, is No. 50 on the list with $14,238 in earnings. Henderson State product Ken Duke, who lost his PGA card two years ago and as struggled for several months to regain the form of 2007-2008, is ranked 56th on the tour's moneylist with $13,620.

Duke will be playing host to his annual charity golf scramble at Maumelle Country Club on Monday.

Tagged: Ken Duke, Bryce Molder, Brenden Pappas, John Daly, LPGA, Rebsamen Golf Course, Stacy Lewis, Tag Ridings