Category: LPGA Tour

Albane Valenzuela opts to leave Stanford golf to live out LPGA dream

Stanford senior Albane Valenzuela will head straight to the LPGA rather than finish out the spring with the Cardinal.

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Albane Valenzuela dreams of returning to the Olympics in 2020. It’s her ultimate goal, and therefore a major reason why she decided to forgo her final semester at Stanford to give herself the best chance of getting to Tokyo.

The qualification period for the Olympics ends June 29, 2020. Valenzuela hopes her new LPGA status helps her make the field of 60 players. She represented Switzerland in Rio de Janeiro before starting at Stanford in 2016 and tied for 21st.

“I think it would complete a great circle,” said Valenzuela of the possibility of returning to the Olympics on the heels of graduating from Stanford with a degree in political science.

Valenzuela told her coaches and teammates earlier this week of her decision to quit college golf. She was one of two Stanford seniors to earn LPGA status for the 2020 season at the recent Q-Series. While Valenzuela tied for sixth, teammate Andrea Lee took a share of 30th. Lee, who was recently the top-ranked amateur in the world, has yet to announce her decision.

Stanford is currently ranked fifth by Golfweek.

A two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur finalist, Valenzuela is currently No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. She has made the cut in numerous LPGA majors, recently earning low-amateur honors at the Evian Championship.

“My decision does not come from a place that I wanted to stop college golf,” said Valenzuela. “It was more about me and my aspirations as a professional golfer. My dream of going back to the Olympics.”

As a junior, Valenzuela was named the Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year, the first in program history.

Of the five college players who teed it up at Q-Series, Valenzuela is the fourth to turn professional. She joins USC’s Jennifer Chang, Frida Kinhult of Florida State and Florida’s Sierra Brooks.

Last year the LPGA introduced the option to defer LPGA status to June so that players could participate in the postseason and still keep their cards. Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi were the first to choose that route. So far, no one has followed suit.

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Brittany Lincicome set to return to competition next week at Pebble Beach

After giving birth to daughter Emery Reign Gouws in July, Brittany Lincicome will return to competition at Pebble Beach next week.

On maternity leave, Brittany Lincicome normally plays golf on Fridays. That is, until she received word that she’s in the field at the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational.

Now she’s out on a Monday afternoon, sharpening her game for her first competitive round since giving birth to daughter Emery Reign Gouws in July.

“It has moments of brilliance and moments of ‘Oh my gosh,’” said Lincicome of her current form. She last competed on the LPGA at the Pure Silk Championship in late May.

Lincicome said she’s five to seven yards shorter these days but can’t tell if that’s simply because she’s playing against friends at the club rather an adrenaline-fueled tour event. She’s relieved to have longtime caddie Missy Pederson back on the bag at Pebble.

The pro-am event, held Nov. 21-24, features players from the PGA, LPGA, Champions and Korn Ferry tours compete against each other from different tee boxes for a purse of $300,000. The full field has not yet been released.

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“When I heard there was a cut for this one,” said Lincicome, “I instantly got more nervous.”

Lincicome considered playing in mini-tour events against the men, which she has done in the past, to gear up for her return to the LPGA at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in January. Pebble, however, presented the best kind of tune-up.

“I miss the competition part of it and that feeling of being in contention on Sunday,” said Lincicome, a two-time major winner with eight career victories.

One thing Lincicome will have to work on for the 2020 season is figuring out how to pack for the tour with a baby in tow. For an overnight outing in Orlando, Florida, last month, Lincicome and her mother loaded up roughly 17 bags for the short drive.

Emery won’t make the trip to Asia next spring, but Lincicome is already thinking about the West Coast swing. If Emery is on the road, at least one of Lincicome’s parents will be there to help.

“I’m sure I’ll be able to squeeze some naps in there,” said Lincicome, laughing.

Naps have long been a crucial part of her winning formula.

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