Tag: A Lim Kim

Meet the top 10 players in contention at the Chevron Championship and what they’re saying about a potential jump in a new pond

Will the winner jump or not?

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Angel Yin remembers vividly a practice round she had with Cristie Kerr several years ago at an LPGA Drive On event in Georgia.

“She was walking after she hit a tee shot off a practice round, and she was like, ‘I’m four days away from people knowing I’m back,'” said Yin.

“That’s the confidence. Every day I tell myself that: ‘Just channel your Cristie Kerr.'”

Yin hasn’t yet won on the LPGA and co-leads the 2023 Chevron Championship with Allisen Corpuz, another American player looking for her first LPGA victory at the year’s first major. The third-round leaderboard at the Club at Carlton Woods is littered with players looking for a break-through week – whether that’s a first-time LPGA victory or a maiden major win.

Only a trio in a share of sixth know what it’s like to win a major – Nelly Korda, Hyo Joo Kim and A Lim Kim, who won her first major down the road in Houston at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open at Champion Golf Club.

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Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 players at the Chevron, and what some are saying about the champion’s leap:

Haley Moore is one of 40 first-time competitors at Olympic for U.S. Women’s Open

SAN FRANCISCO – Only five players have won the U.S. Women’s Open in their first attempt. Patty Berg (1946) was the first to do it and 2021 champion A Lim Kim was the last. In between, there was Kathy Cornelius (1956), Birdie Kim (2005) and In Gee …

SAN FRANCISCO — Only five players have won the U.S. Women’s Open in their first attempt. Patty Berg (1946) was the first to do it and 2021 champion A Lim Kim was the last. In between, there was Kathy Cornelius (1956), Birdie Kim (2005) and In Gee Chun (2015).

When A Lim Kim won last December in frigid Houston, she wore a mask inside the ropes. On Monday in sunny San Francisco, it was lovely to see her smile as she talked about last year’s break-through victory.

“Frankly, let me be honest with you,” Kim said through an interpreter, “I think I was lucky.”

There are 40 players in this week’s field who are playing in their first U.S. Women’s Open. Inbee Park, a two-time USWO winner, made her debut as an amateur in 2004 and missed the cut. The LPGA Hall of Famer was reminded of that first time this week when she played a practice round at The Olympic Club with a young Japanese player.

U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN: Tee times | TV, streaming information

“She just looked nothing to be scared of on this golf course and just bombing the balls,” said Park. “I kind of envy that, and I don’t think I’ll be able to ever do that again.”

Back then, Park continued, she’d go into shock after a bogey. The world came to an end after a double. Needless to say, much has changed.

LPGA rookie Haley Moore is among the dozens of first-timers this week. Moore first tried to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 and basically every year since.

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This year Moore advanced through a 36-hole qualifier at Brentwood Country Club, birdieing three of her last five holes to finish at even-par 144.

“Toughest part is I think,” said Moore, “is going to be your patience and your mental game. … It’s not always perfect out here.”

First-time U.S. Women’s Open competitors

Amari Avery, Addie Baggarly, Jensen Castle, Matilda Castren, Claire Choi, Abbey Daniel, Leigha Devine, Nicole Garcia, Ingrid Gutierrez, Haylee Hartford, Jo Hua Hung, Tsubasa Kajitani, Gurleen Kaur, Hikari Kawamitsu, Chihiro Kogure, Chloe Kovelesky, Aline Krauter, Jaclyn LaHa, Alyssa Lamoureux, Karolin Lampert, Da Yeon Lee, Amanda Linnér, Emily Mahar, Isabella McCauley, Kim Metraux, Momoka Miyake, Haley Moore, Minori Nagano, Natsumi Nakanishi, Noemie Pare, Bohyun Park, Maria Parra, Ana Pelaez Trivino, Aneka Seumanutafa, Alexandra Swayne, Elizabeth Szokol, Tsai-Ching Tseng, Karoline Tuttle, Monica Vaughn, Ruoning Yin.

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LPGA commissioner Mike Whan pushing to retroactively award CME points to non-members who win

Starting in 2021, CME points will be used to determine a player’s LPGA status for the next season rather than the money list.

NAPLES, Fla. – CME points will mean a lot more starting in 2020. LPGA commissioner Mike Whan announced that starting in 2021, CME points will be used to determine a player’s status for the next season rather than the money list.

“There’s a couple of benefits to that,” said Whan. “I know the PGA Tour went to that a few years ago, and we were tracking both their change and our sort of pseudo-change over the last few years. One of the benefits is while money can be pretty staggeringly different, we didn’t want a second-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open to be more important than finishing in the top-five all year long.”

Whan told Golf Channel that he’s going to make a push in the offseason to allow non-members who win and then take up membership to have their CME points retroactively rewarded.

Going forward, that would given players like Sophia Popov and A Lim Kim, two players who were non-members when they won majors this season, a spot in this week’s CME Group Tour Championship field.

“I do think that’s something I’d like to see changed for the offseason,” said Whan.

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Brittany Lincicome isn’t so sure about that change, calling it a “sticky situation.”

“If you’re a non-member, I don’t feel like you should get the same amount of perks,” she said.

Brittany Altomare said she teeters back and forth on retroactive points for non-members, but she definitely likes the change from the money list to CME points.

“I think it rewards more consistent play,” she said, “and I think the better you do out here, the points reflect that, where I don’t think the money list does.”

Azahara Munoz likes the idea of both changes, saying that one high finish at the right time (like the U.S. Women’s Open) can make a player’s entire year. The points approach, she said, is more fair.

And given how few non-members win in any given season, she has no problem with awarding retroactive points.

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How much money each player won at the U.S. Women’s Open

Here is a look at what the top players took home from the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open.

Here is a look at what the top players took home from the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open.