LPGA Hall of Famer Beth Daniel is working as an on-course commentator this week for Golf Channel, maintaining the ties to this event she forged a quarter century ago. Daniel won the 1983 McDonald’s Kid Classic at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, Pa. and the McDonald’s Championship at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del. eight years later. Her only major championship among her 33 wins as a player came at the 1990 LPGA Championship, which was being played at Bethesda, (Md.) Country Club at the time.

Daniel did some TV work in the 1990s while recuperating from shoulder surgery, before returning last year to work CBS Sports as well as Golf Channel. She’s worked in the anchor booth as well as on course and says the two roles require different approaches. “On course my focus is mostly on the group I’m going to be with (Lorena Ochoa, Yani Tseng and Laura Diaz on Sunday),” Daniel says. “My focus is more on they’re golf games, what they’re doing when they’re on the golf course, and how the golf course is set up. “When you’re in the booth your preparation is different, because you have to prepare for everything; you have to prepare for the entire field. “(Today) I’m preparing for what I’m going to see on the golf course and what I can expect, from a player’s perspective.” As a former player, Daniel is expert at helping television viewers understand the players’ mindset. And if a competitor makes a questionable strategic decision, she is not hesitant to point it out. “I’m not going to say ‘That’s just terrible,’” she says, “but I will say if she hits 3-wood off the tee it takes this out of play, if she hits driver it does this. I think it’s your obligation, if you’re going to be critical of someone to explain why you’re being critical and why the other option might be the better option.”

Daniel and her colleague Kay Cockerill, also a former Tour player, are adept at noticing minute changes in a player’s swing or stroke. Cockerill, for instance, pointed out excessive head movement in Lorena Ochoa’s putting stroke during Saturday’s third round that led to her missing a crucial put. “We look for that with Annika too,” Daniel says. “It’s unbelievable when she keeps her head still (during putts) versus when she moves her head.” As tightly bunched as the leaders are early in the final round, a lot of attention is being focused on Ochoa and Sorenstam. Daniel says it’s the strength of their mental games that has enabled the pair to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. “Annika Sorenstam may go down in history as being known as the best in terms of mental preparation” Daniel says, “and mental capabilities when she’s under the heat. But it’s keeping everything the same, not changing or trying so much harder because it is a major. Being able to let yourself play under that kind of pressure.”