Kerr's major achievement a TV casualty

Cristie Kerr's 12-stroke victory in the LPGA Championship yesterday should have been a major victory for her tour, but it wasn't. Unable to land a television deal for the tournament with one of the major networks, the LPGA Tour blew a major opportunity to promote its product to a larger American audience at a time when it finally had something to brag about.

Oldgolfdawg suspects many TV viewers watching the LPGA Championship on the Golf Channel switched to CBS' coverage of the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship when it became apparent that Kerr was going to keep pulling away from the field. Sadly for the LPGA Tour, the opportunity to watch the most dominate victory in golf since Tiger Woods' 15-shot victory in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach couldn't compete with the demolition derby going on in the Travelers Championship.

Normally the excuse for not watching LPGA Tour events is that no Americans are in the hunt. That wasn't the case yesterday. With a closing round of 6-under-par 66, Kerr finished at 19-under 269 after leading all four rounds. Her dominating performance gave her a second major title and left her in position to become the first American woman ranked No. 1 since the current ranking system was introduced in 2006. But that still didn't stop Oldgolfdawg from switching channels and watching the final twosome of Justin Rose and Ben Curtis implode in the final round to open the door for a three-way playoff between Corey Pavin, Scott Verplank and Bubba Watson in the Travelers.

It seems like the LPGA Tour just can't catch a break, even when an American grabs the spotlight. By winning the $337,500 purse at the $2.25 million tournament, Kerr was projected by the LPGA to overtake Japan's Ai Miyazato when the world rankings are released today. Kerr is the first American to win the LPGA Championship since Juli Inkster in 2000. Americans have won only four of the past 14 majors, with Kerr winning two of them. Americans also have won only six of the past 34 LPGA Tour events, with Kerr winning three times.

Kerr's margin of victory beat the previous LPGA Championship record by one stroke set by Betsy King in 1992. Among all LPGA majors, the 12-stroke advantage is tied for second on the list with Babe Zaharias' victory at the 1954 U.S. Open. Louise Suggs holds the record with a 14-stroke victory at the 1949 U.S. Women's Open.

The best thing that could happen to the LPGA Tour now would be for Kerr to follow up her dominating victory up with a win in the U.S. Women's Open at Oakmont Country Club in two weeks when it will be televised by ESPN and NBC. A victory at Oakmont by Kerr would solidify her grip on the No. 1 ranking and draw attention to a tour that has been going through a changing of the guard. In April, Lorena Ochoa followed Annika Sorenstam into retirement, leaving a vacuum at the top. Today, Kerr will become the third player at No. 1 in the past three weeks. Miyazato supplanted Jiyai Shin last week by winning the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her fourth victory of the year.

Kerr, 32, has been the most consistent American player for several years, staying in the top 10 for the past 323 weeks and making 74 consecutive cuts dating to May 2007. After finishing second on the money list in 2009, she accelerated her off-season conditioning routine with an eye toward a run at the top ranking.

She came into the LPGA Championship as the only American player with a victory on the tour in 2010, her 13th LPGA title coming earlier in the month at the State Farm Classic. And yet, for all her consistency, Kerr was seldom the first American mentioned in the conversation about the No. 1 spot. That burden usually fell on Michelle Wie, who finished in a tie for 19th yesterday.

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Watson, a four-time runner-up, secured his first PGA Tour victory with a par on the second playoff hole at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., after Pavin was eliminated on the first playoff hole and Verplank bogeyed the second. Watson, who trailed by six shots entering the final round, had a tough time hiding his emotions after his hard-fought victory.

After he watched his 3-footer for par roll into the cup on the second playoff hole, Watson removed his visor, hugged his wife, Angie, who had quickly joined him on the green, and began to cry.

"I just want to thank my mom and dad," Watson said, his voice breaking, during an television interview moments after his victory. "Without them, I'm nothing. My dad is battling cancer right now. Dad, I'm praying for you. I love you."

He then turned and walked away from CBS announcer David Feherty. The moment possessed such honest emotion that it rendered normally wisecracking Feherty momentarily speechless. After a brief pause, Feherty responded, "The rest of us will, too. Congratulations on your first win."

A victory by Watson seemed unlikely at the start of the day when Rose, coming off a victory in the Memorial three weeks ago, carried a three-shot lead into the final 18 holes. But Rose fell apart, shooting a 5-over 75. Curtis, the Ostrander native who bogeyed just two holes in the tournament coming into yesterday, hit his tee-shot on 12 out of bounds to the left, and made double bogey from there. Both he and Rose bogeyed 16 to drop out of contention. Curtis finished with a 73 and in a tie for 13th after missing two short birdie putts early in the final round that would have given him a tie for the lead.

Information from GolfObserver.com, LPGA.com, Golf.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.