The LPGA Tour debuts in the U.S. in two weeks, and so will Annika Sorenstam. As reported on Wedensday, Annika will play the SBS Open at Turtle Bay February 14-16. It will be the Swedish superstar's first visit to Hawaii in six years. Annika also announced she's planning to enter 18 to 20 tournaments this year as she ramps up in an attempt to regain her No. 1 ranking, currently held by Lorena Ochoa (Annika is fourth).

In the meanwhile, Annika is devoting herself to working on charitable causes in Florida. As Annika posted on her blog yesterday, she traveled to Tampa this past weekend to participate in Derek Jeter's Celebrity Golf Classic. "Derek is a great person and we had fun meeting the celebrities in attendance," she writes (stars included Morgan Freeman and Michael Jordan).  "We even hit the dance floor with them on Monday night!"

She also spent time at her golf academy in Kissimmee Wednesday with her younger guests. Today, she's playing a round with a special one. Molly Escordi of GrosseIle, Mich. is 14 years old, plays on the high school golf team -- and suffers from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she's fulfilling her dream  to play a round with Annika (who is also a national spokeswoman for the foundation).

"I look forward to an inspiring day," notes Annika. If her health is as strong as her spirit, I look forward to an inspiring season by Annika as well.

I can't practice without my iPod anymore. And I'm seeing more golfers listen to music as they warm up for a big round or practice for two-plus hours. But I've always wondered what everyone else listens to. While I like Latin music and mainstream hip hop, I feel like the best players probably listen to something that actually helps their rhythm. I'll be the first to say that listening to Flo Rida demean women isn't exactly beneficial, but it sure does make my practice sessions more bearable.

It seems like PGATour.com also wonders what the players listen to. They recently asked Ian Poulter, the snazzy Englishman with a fine fashion sense, what tunes gets him pumped. He said the following 10 songs does the trick. "I like hitting balls to the first song on my list," Poulter said. "It gets me focused. And No. 10 is the tune I like to putt to. It gets my heart rate down so I'm ready to tee off."

Surprisingly enough, these are the same songs I listen to.  Now I can legitimize the reasons I listen to 50 Cent (above) and Kanye on the range. It's a good day.

Photo by Getty Images.

Last Friday at the PGA Merchandise Show, Susan Reed and I were ball-fitted. Not club-fitted, but ball-fitted. Bridgestone Golf, as part of its "Bridgestone Golf Challenge," tested us to suggest what kind of ball we'd most benefit from using. After reassuring us that they recommend another company's balls 35 percent of the time, Susan and I jumped at the chance to get fitted.

Susan went first and hit three shots with the Titleist ProV1, a high compression ball, and three shots with the Bridgestone e5+, a low compression ball. Her results were astounding. By simply hitting a different ball, Susan, who swung with an average speed of 75 MPH, increased her carry distance by a whopping 20 yards. How? Her launch angle increased from 15.5 degrees with the ProV1 to 20 degrees with the e5+.

I went next and hit three shots with the Bridgestone B330, a high compression ball, and three shots with the Bridgestone e5+. My average swing speed was 90 MPH with the B330 and 85 MPH with the e5+, but my carry distance increased by five yards with the e5+.

By swapping  a high compression ball with  a lower compression ball, Susan and I gained a significant amount of carry distance. With our slower swing speeds, it was harder for us to compress a firm, high compression ball like the ProV1 or the B330. But softer, low compression balls, such as Callaway's HX Pearl, Srixon's TriSpeed, Titleist's NXT and Bridgestone's e5+ compressed more and responded better to our slower swing speeds. Plus, the more we compressed the ball, the more likely we were to induce backspin rather than sidespin on it, producing straighter shots. Think about how difficult it'd be to hit a marble straight: it's so hard you'd have to hit it precisely head-on to induce backspin. A slight in-to-out or out-to-in path, however, would make the marble fly to the right or left.

Here's the best news of the day: Low compression balls are usually less expensive than their high compression counterparts. Those Bridgestone e5+ balls Susan and I should play from now on cost just 25 bucks a dozen. I guess the saying holds true: just as you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, don't judge a ball by its price tag.

Ah, the PGA Merchandise Show. For 55 years, this trade show has showcased the latest and greatest that golf has to offer, featuring more than 500,000-square-feet of toys and gizmos. I tell everyone it's my personal playground.

While some golf gadgets are genius, others are, to say it nicely, bizarre. So I've created a list of products that are great and others that are, um. Not. So. Great. I call it Thanks...But No Thanks.

Thanks...
Shaft Skinz: You may have seen plastic sheets on Fore Inventors Only. Blow-dry them onto your shafts to spruce up your clubs in under 10 minutes. With more than 75 designs and colors, you're bound to find some you like. And don't worry, they're easy to take off.

Stackable Luggage: Club Glove is coming out with a line of stackable luggage (meaning you can pull three or four bags with just one hand) that have internal bags and compartments, making organization and travel easy. So go ahead and pack those cute shoes "just in case."

My Sports Alarm Clock: The only way to turn off this golf ball-shaped alarm clock is by throwing it. Now you can finally get back at that annoying buzzer!

Chill Cooling Sport Towel: Pull this cotton towel, made primarily with water and alcohol, out of its bag and it'll stay cool for three hours. Need I say more?

Club Count Technology: Though it has never happened to me, my sister has lost way too many golf clubs. I should get her this Cleveland Bag, which has a system of built-in electronic sensors that know how many clubs are in your bag. It chirps and lights up when you don't put a club back in your bag, which means my chirping days are over. Score.

K-Vest: This training device deserves a full article, but I'm so excited about it I won't be able to sleep right if I don't include it on my list. It works best if you have your teacher (or anyone else you trust) put it on you and calibrate it to recognize your correct swing positions. Afterward, swing normally. If you nail those correct swing positions you're rewarded with music. It's instant audio feedback you can rock to all day.

Daphne's Headcovers: Okay, so these have been around for 25 years. But every time I see the cute headcovers in pro shops the selection is severely limited. So I got excited when I found out I can order any (or all) of their headcovers online. Now comes the hard part: should I order the Maltese headcover, or the camel? Or the deer, the peacock, the rose, the clown fish or the pig? Or the trash can?

Never Bend Putter Grips: Slip these on your putter (above, right) and you'll never have to bend down to grab your ball. The suction cup attached to the end of this grip does all the work for you.

...But No Thanks
Green Novelties Putters: Want to learn the definition of sleazy? Check out these putters (left), which feature stickers of women in bathing suits saying things like, "Hit it...hard!" and "Wanna Play?!" The company claims the "sexy adult golfing girl putters will improve any golfer?s game." Yeah. Enough said.

The Caesar Dimpleless Golf Ball: I thought dimples were sorta essential to the golf ball. Was I wrong? Could someone really think dimples were aesthetic and nothing more? Apparently Cayman Golf, a Georgia-based company, did. They created Caesar, golf's first-ever dimpleless golf ball (left). The company claims that even golfers with incorrect swing paths cannot impart sidespin on the Caesar, meaning players will never hook or slice it. Sure they won't; without dimples the ball will never travel far in the air, whether it be left, right or straight.

Ashdon Golf Putter: The putter (right), which just came on the market, is hideous. But I didn't judge it by its appearance, so I tried it out (even though it's important to like the way your putter looks). Putting with it didn't convince me. So I asked Ashley, the daughter of the man who invented this putter, what it was all about. The first thing she said? It's the only putter that's toe is connected to the heel. Um, I think the toe of every putter face is connected to the heel. The second thing? That Rankmark rated it the number one putter in the country. She then gave me a printed version of an e-mail Rankmark sent to Ashdon Golf that listed the top nine putters, showing Ashdon was listed first above Odyssey, Nike and others. The only problem? The list is in alphabetical order.

Granted, I've only hit the tip of the iceberg here. I'll post more info about the latest trends (hint: colors are going to be huge) and how golf will be more women-friendly this year than ever before. 

I never pass up a chance to talk with a woman golfer who is doing new, exciting things in the field. Recently I had a fascinating conversation with Cindy Reid (in picture above), a well-known golf instructor who has ranked among GFW's Top 50 Instructors for years. She used to be Director of Golf at TPC at Sawgrass in Florida, but if you want to book a lesson with her now, you'll have to book a plane ticket first. In what she calls a personal "reinvention," Reid, 45, has relocated  to Mission Hills Golf Club, the mega golf complex in Shenzhuan, China. In what must be a first for an American female golfer in Asia, Cindy has started her own school, the Mission Hills Golf Academy by Cindy Reid. It's quite an adventure, but I'll let Cindy tell you about it in her own words. Here's our long-distance interview.

How did you get from TPC Sawgrass to China? That's a big move.
I've known the people at Mission Hills for years. A while ago I said, It's time to go to the next chapter in life with golf instruction, and I've always wanted to do something in Asia.

Tell me about Mission Hills Golf Club. I hear it's crazy big.
Mission Hills has 12 golf courses, 3,000 caddies who live on campus, four spas that are outstanding, more than 10,000 members and 7,000 people on staff. It's huge. The clubhouse is 60,000 square feet and four stories. It's the biggest clubhouse in the world.

And you know the Chu family, which developed Mission Hills...
The chairman is David Chu, he's the father. He has several kids, and all of them work for Mission Hills. They do everything. His 32-year-old son, Tenniel Chu, runs the golf courses. He used to be at TPC Sawgrass. His father sent him to the U.S. to pursue a career in golf course operations, and that's how I met him. Carol Chu is pretty powerful. She plays golf; I'm friends with her. She's a great lady, beautiful and smart. She does a lot for the company.

Your golf academy sounds amazing.
It's 28,000 square feet. It has eight state-of-the-art hitting bays, a full-size gym, and club-fitting. My goal is to hire 200 instructors, and I'm training and certifying Chinese instructors as well as those from the U.S. I've taken all my knowledge from 17 years of teaching at Sawgrass and brought it here. I want to leave a legacy behind in China as far as golf instruction.

Can you describe your clientele?
It ranges from brand-new golfers to experienced golfers to professional golfers on the Asian Tour. I cannot begin to tell you how many new golfers who are wealthy are getting into the game. If they want a club, we let them know what they need and they buy it. A lot of women are playing golf out there -- a lot more than I thought there would be. And they're beginning to become a lot more like the men -- they're taking time for themselves. They're a lot more Western than people think. The women are definitely coming out of the woodwork as far as taking golf lessons, especially when they see a woman is teaching. And these women have careers. I've got a couple who have done really well in real estate in Hong Kong, a lot of wives who are married to wealthy men, and a lot of young girls. They're going to be so good. Four of them could be pros right now, and they're 12, 13 years old. There is so much going on here, I can't even believe it. There's so much going on with golf and how it's grown and how Westernized it's become.

That must be very rewarding for you, especially when it comes to working with the locals.
Yes, they're happy we're here. And we've changed a lot of people's lives by giving them an opportunity to become the person they've wanted to be in regards to making  more money and being in an environment that they're happy in.

Do you consider this a "reinvention" of yourself?
Yeah, I probably consider it a reinvention. A little bit. I'm a very optimistic individual. I've traveled all over the world, and I don't find that culture shock. The hardest thing here is the language barrier. Because if you need someone to do something in the business part of the academy, they're like, "what?" And you have to explain it for at least 25 minutes. But I have several translators, and I'm taking lessons. Mandarin is a very hard language, but I use it every day. I'm learning golf instruction right now, and in five months I'll probably be able to say 35 words. So I can't quite put a sentence together, but I will.

How do you say "swing" in Mandarin?
Swing. But you'd be amazed -- so many people speak English over here. My clientele speaks English. I have two or three clients who don't, and when my translators aren't available, i do a lot of sign language type things.

What are your long-range goals?
My goal is to have two more academies like Mission Hills in other parts of China. And to be back in the U.S. in about 15 years. This was a huge step for me, but it was also time. I got to bring my expertise and knowledge to a culture that knows almost nothing about golf. I'm so excited I did this.

Thanks Cindy. We'll be visiting you soon! Stina Sternberg visited Mission Hills in August -- you can read more in Stina's blog post from China.

Looking ahead to the new LPGA season, we've looked to the blogosphere and enlisted the perspective of today's guest blogger, GolfGal:

Finally, the 2008 LPGA season is here!  I am so looking forward to it because I believe it is going to be one of the most exciting years in ladies professional golf in a very long time.  The caliber of players has never been stronger, the ambition never higher, the competition never tougher.

2008 will be a year of very tight leaderboards.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we see more playoffs than ever before.  So many of these players aren't only hungry to be No. 1, they're ready.

This is not to take away anything from Lorena Ochoa, who no doubt  will be favored heading into most 2008 events. Although she's No. 1 today, Lorena is no shoe-in for 2008. Lorena is an amazing golfer, but she is not the "Tigress" of the LPGA (yet).

No, that title still belongs to Annika Sorenstam. Although Lorena has beaten her out of the  No. 1 ranking the last two years, you can't discount Annika's record and her ability to bounce back?she's done it before and I believe she can do it again.

Just take a look at the past 10 years of earnings in the LPGA.  Although I wasn?t quite the fan then as I am now, I wouldn?t be surprised if years ago they said Annika was finished after being beaten by Karrie Webb two years in a row in 1999 and 2000. And then look what happened!  Five years of domination...

Also, after Annika defended her title at the Dubai Ladies Masters in December, she stated so emphatically that she's after that No. 1 position and said she was willing to do whatever it takes to win it, even if it meant putting her personal life on hold. 

And what of the LPGA's young guns, who have both the physical and mental game to challenge Lorena and Annika for that top spot? Let's take a look:

Suzann Petterson: Second behind Lorena in world rankings, with five wins (one of which was a major) and 11 top-ten finishes in 2007, she is ready for prime time. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so intense on the golf course.  She's a joy to watch and an inspiration to many with her comeback after her serious back injury in 2005.

Paula Creamer: Third in the world, with four wins under her belt, including two victories and 13 top-ten finishes in 2007.  The only thing Paula needs now is a major, and I have no doubt she'll see one this year.

Morgan Pressel: She finished in the top 10 eight times in 2007.  And although she's only won one tournament since turning professional in 2005, she picked a good one: The Kraft Nabisco Championship.  Not only is she the youngest player to win a major. she holds the record for youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Open (in 2001, at 12 years of age).

Cristie Kerr:  She finally dropped the dubious title of "Best Player Never to win a Major" by winning the 2007 U.S. Women's Open.  Although I don't see Cristie taking top honors this year in the LPGA world rankings, she'll give the other players a run for their money on more than a few Sundays.

Natalie Gulbis: The darling of The Golf Channel finally put her naysayers in their place by winning the Evian Masters, as well as earning four top-10 finishes in 2007. Natalie may not be quite there yet, but she has the game and the drive to move up the rankings this year.  I wouldn't be surprised to see her grab at least two or three wins,  maybe even a major title, in 2008.

In addition, there are many international up-and-comers to watch, including Mi Hyun Kim, who finished fourth on the money list, and Seon Hwa Lee, who won the HSBC World Match Play Championship and wrapped up her year with six consecutive top-11 finishes in her last six events. Finally, one would be wise not to overlook World Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak? with a win and eight top-ten finishes in 2007,  she's not done yet!

Yes, the fight for No. 1 on the LPGA this year will be fierce, and I can't wait to watch it unfold.  One thing of which we can be sure: whereas the PGA will be a race for second place behind Tiger Woods in 2008 (ho hum), the LPGA will be a thrilling fight for the top spot on the money list every week.  That's enough to get me to sign up for satellite service just to watch them.  I don't want to miss a single minute!

In an effort to rebrand itself, Lily's of Beverly Hills (LBH) is debuting a new logo, as well as a revamped collection, at this week's 2008 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.  I met with James Sowins, LBH's VP and Creative Director, at their new press office in Venice, Calif. last week to learn more about the recent changes at this 35-year-old company.

I discovered that LBH has a lot in common with Venice. Venice has a number of hip galleries, trendy boutiques and of-the-moment cafes but retains its Bohemian character (it was once  home to Beat poets and artists). Venice manages to be fashionable without being pretentious. Sowins hopes to accomplish the same at LBH, trying to infuse its lines with fashionable style without losing its loyal audience or golf integrity. "It's bringing a new feminine, modern edge to the brand, " he said. "Women's golf apparel has always been an afterthought to men's, so our goal was to service the market with fashionable clothes that fit the lifestyle and taste level of today's woman."

From what I've seen so far, LBH is succeeding,  offering better fabrics and fit with trendy designs. Here are a few catalog images from the Summer/Fall '08 line.

Sowins' other innovation includes collaborating with Neil Kirk, an extremely talented fashion and celebrity photographer, on the company's new catalog and ad campaign. The changes have brought about a whole new feel to the company, and customers are sure to take notice. This is a brand I aim to keep my eye on at the show this week.

Golf Channel announcer Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks Wednesday in response to a "lynching" comment she made last Friday regarding Tiger Woods. So what exactly did she say? Watch for yourself on this MSNBC clip. (Golf Channel yanked the YouTube clip I posted yesterday.)

What's your opinion of this situation? Post your comment on our forum.

Sunday's four-hole playoff at the Mercedes-Benz Championship wasn't the only thing that spruced up the PGA Tour's season-opener; several fashion choices also caught our eyes. The winner at Kapalua, Daniel Chopra (left image), wore white from head to toe ("I wore all black yesterday, so I thought I'd balance it out, ying and yang") and Hunter Mahan (right) paired a white belt with two-tone golf shoes. According to Marty Hackel, Mr. Fashion for Golf Digest, Mahan's decision was a fashion forward, not out of fashion. "White belts are perfectly fine," Hackel said, "with the right ensemble."
Check out Larry Dorman?s chronicles of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

The Irish Independent: Dr. Conor O'Brien, Ireland's leading expert on drugs in sports, has an interesting take on how cocaine can help a golfer's game; especially a female golfer: "It can improve your performance by improving your body's fat percentage," O'Brien said. "This would be especially true of women drug-abusers, given that 25 per cent of any woman's body is fat. So having a higher, lean-body mass to fat content will give them an advantage. Cocaine is banned under WADA rules as a stimulant."
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The Age: The carpet python that received emergency surgery after eating four golf balls has been dubbed Augusta. Augusta thought the balls were eggs, and its near-fatal mistake could mean good fortune for Augusta's rescuers: the balls will be auctioned on eBay, with the proceeds benefiting Australia's Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary's new community wildlife hospital.
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The Virginia Pilot: Crystal Timpanaro, of Emerson, N.J., is suing Owl's Creek GC in Virginia Beach for $1 million for faulty course design. While watching her boyfriend play on the 16th tee, a golfer on the course's 17th tee shanked a drive and hit her in the left temple and eye.
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Scotsman: A former Scottish Lothian coal mine is being transformed into two championship golf courses using a new technique that combines screened colliery shale with high-quality compost. The development, scheduled to open in 2010, will be named after the Scottish-born golf course designer Donald Ross and will include hotels, leisure and retail developments and 2000 new homes.
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