Stock Watch: What the heck is up with Yani Tseng?

If there’s one thing professional golf and the stock market have in common, it’s that both are nearly impossible to predict. Just when you think you have a particular golfer pegged as a strong “buy,” they fall off the face of the earth and quickly become a “sell” (we’re looking at you, Yani Tseng).

With that in mind, we offer you our weekly “Stock watch,” a look back at the best and the worst from the last week in golf.

Stock rising

Fred Couples / Stock symbol (BOOM) — Fred Couples hasn’t played in the British Open since 2006, but with his win on Sunday at the Senior British Open, he booked a place in next year’s field at Muirfield. Couples now has two senior major wins in the last two years.

George Peper (RICH) — George Peper is about to become a very rich man. The American golf writer is selling his home that’s right across the street from the Old Course at St. Andrews for $ 2.3 million this week. Not bad, right? Even better is the fact that he reportedly paid $ 65,000 for the place back in 1983. That’s what you call making a profit.

Chris Paisley (ALBA) — The Brit captured his first Challenge Tour win (the European Tour’s version of the Web.com), which is a pretty big deal for an up-and-coming golfer plying his trade on the mini-tour circuit. But the real reason he’s on here is for the finish he produced during the third round, going 4-under over his final three holes and with an albatross on the par-5 16th.

John Daly (HEH) — Playing consistent golf will make you do crazy things … like hit golf balls off a tee that’s located in David Feherty’s mouth. You have to love John Daly and the fact that he pulls this off without batting an eyelash. Does he deserve a spot on the “Rising stock” list? No doubt about it.

Stock falling

Yani Tseng (SOS) — Yani Tseng used to be the Apple of professional golf. Insanely consistent and always on the rise, many wondered if she was on the verge of another special season after opening with three wins and six top-15 finishes in her first nine stars. Since then, however, she’s resembled pretty much every stock on the Greek Stock Exchange. In other words, she’s been struggling mightily with her game over the last couple of months. How bad has she been of late? Her 1-under 71 during the second round of the Evian Masters broke a streak of 12 straight rounds over par (she was 37-over during the stretch). Don’t sell your Yani stock just yet; but now would probably be a good time to consider calling your broker to discuss your options.

Phil Mickelson (ZZZZ) — He’s still a popular pick during the majors, but after hearing Mickelson talk about how he’s been lethargic and lacking focus recently, this probably wouldn’t be the best time to buy into him being a contender at the PGA Championship.

Robert Karlsson (YIPS) — Remember how fans at the Players Championship gave Kevin Na hell for not “pulling the trigger”? Well, Robert Karlsson may have Na beat, after he contracted a case of the full-swing yips. What exactly defines a case of the full-swing yips? According to GolfTalkCentral, “Karlsson is having trouble pulling the trigger. He gets into his pre-shot routine, stands over the ball and … waits. If there’s a reason for this, he doesn’t know what it is.” That. Sounds. Awful. No word yet if he’s going to be ready to tee it up at the PGA.

Robert Rappleye (WTH) — Don’t even think about having a discussion with Robert Rappleye about slow play. The Vice Principal at a school in California got into an argument with another golfer over slow play, and reportedly used a golf club to get his point across. I guess that’s one way to speed things up on the course.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports