The 9th Tee Podcast

Ben and Kent dive into the Poppie's Pond of content from the ANA Inspiration. They discuss Mirim Lee's THREE chip ins on Sunday to get into a playoff. They break down the playoff, then delve into Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson's performances. They consider who will walk away from losing the major in a better mindset, how the wall next to Poppie's Pond made golf into bumper cars on the 72nd hole, and the strong performance from a couple future LPGA Tour players in Rose Zhang and Gabriela Ruffels. They wrap up the show discussing Kent's picks of the week, and discuss the Cambia Portland Classic next week.

It's going to be a scorcher in Rancho Mirage! Ben and Kent talk about the triple digit weather and caddies in carts at the Dinah Shore Course, the return of Sung Hyun Park (8:20), and run through Ben's players to watch this week. Kent runs through three players without majors who have a strong opportunity to win their first one (31:02). They then discuss how a victory this week would put Stacy Lewis on Hall of Fame watch (39:46). Kent and Ben throw on their commissioner's hats in discussing the Sophia Popov situation (46:00). As always, Ben leaves room for a hot take at the end. 

Ben and Kent recap Austin Ernst’s victory at the Walmart NWA Championship, her first in 145 starts. They talk about how difficult it is to go low in a 54-hole event, how the 14th hole swung the one on one duel to Ernst from Nordqvist (8:05). Sei Young Kim on Vare Trophy alert as she looks for her first major victory in two weeks (17:20), chasing Annika Sorenstam’s Vare Trophy scoring record of 68.7 (22:27). They look at rookies Esther Lee and Yealimi Noh’s T15 performances and what they did before their rookie seasons (24:11). They go over Kent’s Bets of the Week (29:06), before a brief discussion of how difficult it is to manage the LPGA Tour’s truncated schedule post COVID-19 (34:14).

Ben and Kent dive into the historic upset that was Sophia Popov, at 304th in the Rolex Women's World Rankings, winning the AIG Women's Open. They talk about Popov's incredible road to the AIG Women's Open off the top, the testament to the strength of the game that a player that deep in the rankings could win (11:40), Catriona Matthew's early run (18:45), the Olympics positioning for Inbee Park and Jasmine Suwannapura (23:05), and Danielle Kang's Sunday charge and how difficult it is to stay in contention week over week (33:15). Ben analyzes Kent's bets on The Paisley Par, and how Sophia Popov's odds were a reminder of the value out there (36:05). They briefly preview the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship (40:44) as well. 

Ben and Kent preview the first major of the 2020 LPGA Tour season. They discuss the dominance of Danielle Kang so far (5:40), the fact that with less travel there's less opportunity for the best players on international tours to showcase their skills (12:20), the return of Inbee Park to the Tour (22:30), Georgia Hall's Rose Ladies Series performances and aiming to win her homeland's major again (28:00), Lexi Thompson's 352 week reign in the top 10 in the world in jeopardy (31:24), Brooke Henderson returning to play (33:47), and Ariya Jutanugarn trying to return to the winner's circle for the first time since 2018 (36:31). 

Kent Paisley and Ben Harpring are launching the 9th Tee Podcast, talking the storylines of the LPGA Tour during the 2020 season. They explain the name of the podcast, why there is so little sports coverage in women's sports. They delve into moments on the LPGA Tour they felt were under covered, and what to expect going forward on the podcast.