FanHouse Natalie Gulbis

It's golf's offseason, which doesn't really mean much for fans and players alike except there aren't any majors, and the competition dwindles. It also gives media and players a chance to reflect on the bigger picture. Players evaluate their years and see what could be improved, promising to work on that before next year rolls out. Media has the opportunity to hand out awards, evaluate certain tours and find flaws in those tours.

That is where this concept came up, about the LPGA and their struggle to gain identity. You could argue that women's golf is the second most important female sport, behind tennis, but it still seems that women's golf has struggled this decade to resonate with sports fans, even some golf fans. Annika Sorenstam had moments where she became a story bigger than golf, but most of that dealt with a missed cut and a skirt, the latter being more of a Fred Funk prank than anything.

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- Women's golf keeps waiting for The Big Moment and ...

Hello? Are you still there? Did I lose you already, with those first two words? Women's golf?

Did you see what happened Thursday in the first round of the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament?

Just kidding. No one saw. No one is watching. That's not new. The most amazing and interesting thing about the game has nothing to do with actual golf. Instead, it's how this entire sport in unraveling. Right now. On the first day of its most important event.

The LPGA tour commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, didn't even come to the tournament. Reports surfaced on Thursday that Bivens has accepted a buyout to step down. This after players drafted a letter demanding she resign.

I was all set to climb up on my soap box and wax practical about the state of the LPGA Tour. The news that Natalie Gulbis and Michelle Wie failed to qualify for next month's U.S. Women's Open got me sufficiently worked up; it was the latest example of a tour desperately seeking respectability finding new and inventive ways to guarantee that it didn't happen.

Except that, unlike last year's English-only debacle, this has nothing to do with inane LPGA rules and more to do with Gulbis and Wie -- despite their popularity -- not earning their way into the field. (In fact, as was pointed out in the comments, the USGA sets the rules for the U.S. Open.)

In an effort to keep our golf visitors well informed on what is going on around the Internet, Range Balls is our weekly link dump. Every Tuesday during golf season, we will toss out some of the most interesting things we came across. If you have a tip, e-mail us at fanhousegolf@gmail.com. Enjoy the links.

-- In a lengthy piece about "The Haney Project," Charles Barkley admits that he "felt bad, to be honest with you, that I didn't improve more for (Hank Haney)." If anyone watched the television show, they know how much the two worked together, but from this video at the Regions Charity Classic, it sure shows the nasty truth -- swing coaches aren't miracle workers. [The Sports Network]

In an effort to keep our golf visitors well informed on what is going on around the Internet, Range Balls is our weekly link dump. Every Tuesday during golf season, we will toss out some of the most interesting things we came across. If you have a tip, e-mail us at fanhousegolf@gmail.com. Enjoy the links.

--World Golf Tour is searching for a Video Blogger they can send to Bethpage Black this year for the U.S. Open. All you have to do is film a 1-2 minute video and submit it to YouTube with a code, and you're in. The deadline to submit your video is May 11, so get to shooting. [World Golf Tour]

--The PGA Tour, like everyone, is struggling to get sponsors. I guess that explains why they might be going after alcohol sponsors in the near future. You're telling me the Bud Light Lime Open doesn't rub you the right way? [Waggle Room]

--I guess at this point we can't continue to dog the new fashions of the PGA Tour, we just have to embrace them. The WSJ takes on golf fashion, with an appearance by fellow golf blogger and buddy the Golf Girl. [Wall Street Journal]

--Natalie Gulbis was on the Price Is Right. I'm not really sure why either, but there is visual evidence. [Twitter]

--Cash at BCC gives us the final installment of the Big Break interviews. This time, Caroline Larsson stops by to talk about anything and everything golf related. [Bushwood Country Club]

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will be bringing you the top five names in golf and why they are important this week. Did Barack Obama play 18 holes with Tiger Woods? Did a certain player do something off the course that made him or her a hot topic? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a new weekly ranking feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Danny Lee -- He is only 18, but Lee has made some waves in his amateur career and just this week decided to turn pro, after using his Masters invitation from his U.S. Amateur win. If you don't think he's ready for the PGA Tour, you're very wrong. Earlier this year, Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic, a European Tour event that has such esteemed former champions as Adam Scott, Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Mr. Woods. Lee was the youngest winner ever on the European Tour, and will be in the field at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his first tournament as a pro.

This weekend, Shane Bacon will be out at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International caddying for one of the pros on the LPGA Tour. You can follow him daily with his Caddie Tales.

If you had a big tournament coming up and were going to go out searching for a non-caddie to caddie for you, picking yours truly probably wouldn't be the worst idea. At least that's what I told LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg.

I have played a lot of tournaments with buddies, bosses and even my dad on the bag. Since I was a 14-year-old heading to Wichita Falls, Okla. for the Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament, caddying was something I was immersed in.

'HouseCast is FanHouse's audio podcast. Watch out. You might just get what you're after.

Welcome to FanHouse's inaugural version of " 'HouseCast". It's our awesome podcast featuring funky tunes, hot sports topics and the super-svelte voices of Will Brinson, Michael David Smith and Ryan Wilson. Do we bring the thunder? Well, of course. Hear us talk about the NFL Combine, Roy Williams v. Coach K in the "Great Swear Word War", the return of Tiger Woods, and whether Shane Bacon can beat Natalie Gulbis in golf.

Listen to the audio after the jump, or right-click here to download the MP3.

I have thought long and hard over Annika Sorenstam's decision to retire.

A fellow Wildcat and absolute menace to the LPGA society, Sorenstam has decided at the ripe age of 38 she was going to cash in her putter for Pampers and become a mother and a family lady. That sounds wonderful.

What I don't get is the fact that in what is sure to be the toughest economic time the LPGA has ever seen, the biggest draw in the sport is hanging up her spikes when she is still really dominant.

Annika is playing in her last official tournament as a professional this week at the Dubai Ladies Masters and lo and behold, is leading the damn thing. A two-under 70 to open and a six-under 66 that included four birdies, one eagle and no bogeys has her a shot clear of Nikki Garrett and Maria Verchenova.

I know what the pro-retire fans will say. She's leaving in her prime. She is going out on her own terms. This is a fairytale ending. Maybe you're right. I just don't see why getting out of the game when you can still dominate makes any sense.