Tag: ANA Inspiration

At last! Sunday at the ANA poised to deliver long-awaited star-studded showdown

Nelly Korda, Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson are all in contention at the ANA Inspiration entering the final round.

As LPGA stars cranked up the heat midway through the second round of the ANA Inspiration, technical difficulties brought the desert party to a screeching halt. Golf Channel viewers were suddenly forced to watch reruns of the second round.

Nancy Lopez spoke for all of us when she tweeted: “Ridiculous!”

Mercifully, live golf came back after 20-plus minutes, and when the dust settled in the desert, the board at the ANA was a commissioner’s dream. Three of the most popular players in the women’s game are duking it out at the top: Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson.

“I think this is exactly what everyone has been waiting to see,” said Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples.

No doubt.

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

The first major of the year delivered an unforgettable Cinderella Story with Sophia Popov’s unlikely victory at Royal Troon. (Regrettably, she wasn’t invited this week.)

Now the storylines shift from longshot to long-awaited, with co-leader Nelly Korda looking to break through for her first major title. She’ll be in a comfortable pairing alongside Brooke Henderson, a friend since junior golf. The winningest Canadian golfer won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship four years ago, and most would’ve predicted that she’d have a second by now.

Lurking two shots back in the penultimate group is Lexi Thompson, the 2014 ANA winner who still seeks vindication from that four-stroke penalty fiasco in 2017 at Dinah’s Place. As 1976 winner Judy Rankin says, “it’s like she owns this course.”

With brother Curtis leading on the Korn Ferry Tour, it could be a sensational Sunday for the Thompson crew.

Lexi recently went back to her childhood swing instructor, Jim McLean, and they spent time looking at old swing footage – the library goes back to around age 11. Thompson decided to stop fighting how she’s always naturally played: aim it up the right and draw it back.

Lexi Thompson during the third round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Golf Club. (Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

“Basically what I saw is a lot of people always notice my foot movement and how I get off the ground,” Thompson, “and when I was little it might have been even more than it is now. There was no restriction, I just hit it hard and got off the ground and I knew it was going up the right and turning back … that confidence is what I’ve kind of changed.”

Korda will have dinner with her parents on Saturday night, as they always do, and she predicted that they’ll talk about everything but golf.

While her father, Petr, owns a Grand Slam tennis title, winning the big ones is no one-size-fits-all proposition, she said. They’ll remind her to take deep breaths and use her sun umbrella to stay out of the heat.

“Honestly, it’s just about experience and going through it yourself,” she said.

Karrie Webb owns the largest come-from-behind victory at the ANA. She holed out for eagle on the 72nd hole in 2006 and ultimately won in a playoff against Lorena Ochoa. Webb started the day seven back.

Among the notable chasers this year are No. 2 Danielle Kang, a two-time winner since the tour restarted its season. She trails by five. Stacy Lewis, the 2011 champion who recently won in Scotland, sits four back alongside 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Rose Zhang.

Katherine Kirk and Mirim Lee, two veterans looking for their first major title, are two back.

The only thing that seems certain about Sunday at the Dinah’s Place is that the giant blue wall that’s on the back of the island green on No. 18 will most assuredly be a factor. The forward tee is traditionally used in the final round, and with this year’s structure taking up a tremendous amount of space, players will bomb it at the wall like a backboard and hope for the best.

“Hopefully it doesn’t affect tomorrow’s outcome,” said Stacy Lewis.

One can only hope.

[lawrence-related id=778065739,778065581,778065539,778065528]

ANA Inspiration: Canada’s Brooke Henderson is red hot

Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda share the lead at 12 under headed into the final round of the LPGA’s ANA Inspiration at Dinah Shore.

For much of the day Saturday at the ANA Inspiration, it was impossible not to expect Canadian flags to start waving from homes at Mission Hills Country Club or to hear the cheers of “Brooke! Brooke! Brooke!”

But the irony of Canadian star Brooke Henderson’s run up the leaderboard at the ANA Inspiration, a tournament where she is wildly popular, is that no spectators were on the golf course and most if not all of the Canadian snowbirds who live in the desert and root for Henderson aren’t present to support their favorite golfer this year.

“It’s definitely really noticeable,” Henderson said after a 7-under 65 that gave her a share of the 54-hole lead in the LPGA major championship. “But the thing about this place is there’s so much tradition and history here, it’s really special. Even without the fans that we miss a lot, it’s still a great place to be.”

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

Whether the Canadian fans are back in their home country avoiding the 100-degree temperatures of a desert summer or stuck at home in the desert not able to be on the spectator-less course, they certainly were cheering for Henderson’s best run at the ANA title.

A quick start featuring an eagle on the par-5 second hole and four more birdies on the front nine allowed Henderson to reach 12-under 204. She is tied with Nelly Korda entering the final round of the 49th tournament on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

Korda, who held sole possession of the lead after the first and second rounds, stumbled early Saturday with a double bogey on the par-4 sixth hole but rallied on the back nine for a 71 to maintain a share of the lead.

Korda and Henderson will tee off with Katherine Kirk on Sunday in the chase for the major title. Kirk is one of three players at 10-under par, having shot 67 on a hot but windless day at Mission Hills on Saturday. Also at 10 under are 2014 ANA Inspiration winner Lexi Thompson, who shot 69 on Saturday, and South Korea’s Mirim Lee, who shot a 71 while looking for her first major win.

Brooke Henderson during the third round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Scoring pace slows down

After two days of relatively low scoring on the Shore course with Korda reaching 11 under through 36 holes, the players chasing Korda continued to make birdies and eagles early in the third round.

Korda let those players see the top of the leaderboard when she bogeyed the par-3 fifth hole, then dumped her second shot in the lake in front of the green on the par-4 sixth hole on the way to a double bogey. That dropped Korda back to 9 under, while Henderson was completing a 6-under 30 on the front nine to take the lead.

“I actually missed a short birdie putt on 1, so I was a little bit upset about that,” Henderson said. “I thought I could have a nice eagle opportunity on 2 if I hit a good drive and second, which I was able to do. I just had about maybe 12, 15 feet for eagle and was able to make it.”

Henderson followed that with four more birdies on the front nine, including a birdie on the par-5 ninth just as Korda was making her double bogey.

“You always have to take some time to cool down and process everything, but there’s still so much time, or so much golf to be played,” Korda said of rebounding from the double bogey. “So I mean, I was just thinking one shot at a time.”

While other players slowed down the scoring barrage on the back nine – Henderson had two birdies but one bogey on the closing nine – Korda moved back up the leader board with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th holes.

Lee grabbed a share of the lead with Henderson on the back nine, but consecutive bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes dropped her back. Thompson reached 11 under through the front nine, but bogeyed the 10th hole. She then made eight consecutive pars, including a scrambling par at the 13th and a par on the 18th hole where she was one of the few golfers to reach the island green in two from the 525-yard tees for the day.

Nelly Korda during the third round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Beating the desert heat

Korda’s back-nine run came as the temperature in the desert was hitting its highest point of the day, creeping over 100 degrees. But Korda said she didn’t mind the heat too much.

“I’ve been actually very impressed with myself. I’m drinking a lot of water out here. Mixing a little Gatorade in it, though,” she said.

Like Lee and Kirk, Korda will be looking for her first major championship Sunday, while Henderson and Thompson will each be trying for a second major title. Thompson is looking for a second win at Mission Hills.

“There are some leaderboards out there on the back, and I did take a quick glance a few times,” said Kirk after her 67. “But this golf course is not easy, and you have to hit fairways to have a chance, really, of making any birdies. That was the quickest way to get me back into the game plan and focus was to realize, hey, I’ve got tough shots ahead of me. I’ve got to go hit good shots and forget about the leaderboard and just go play golf.”

All the contenders will finish the tournament on the 18th hole without the event’s typical closing atmosphere, though there will still be a leap into Poppie’s Pond by the winner.

“It’s probably most noticeable walking up 18, having the fans there for high-fives and their support coming down the stretch,” Henderson said. “Like you said, it’s still a great place, and it’s still a lot of fun to be here.”

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at Sun.@Larry_Bohannan. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Desert Sun.

[lawrence-related id=778065715,778065690,778065581]

U.S. Women’s Amateur champ Rose Zhang trails by 4 at the ANA Inspiration

U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Rose Zhang is in contention at the ANA Inspiration through 54 holes. Fellow amateur Gabriela Ruffels is too.

Rose Zhang’s Saturday started out fairly slow. She wasn’t hitting the ball exactly where she wanted to, that is, until the fourth hole.

“I had 150 left and I didn’t even see it go in,” said Zhang of her hole-out on the par 4 for eagle. The shot shifted the momentum of Zhang’s day.

A third-round 68 moved Zhang, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, into a share of seventh at 8 under, four shots back of leaders Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda.

A record-tying five amateurs made the cut this week. Gabriela Ruffels, the 2019 Women’s Amateur champ who lost to Zhang in the finals this year, shot 71 despite carding two double-bogeys on the day. The USC senior is tied for 14th.

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

Michelle Wie (2004) and Caroline Keggi (1988) hold the record of best finish by an amateur: fourth place.

Zhang, 17, qualified for this event two years ago by winning ANA Junior Inspiration. She tied for 60th in the major that year.

After winning the U.S. Amateur in early August, the Stanford commit triumphed by six at the AJGA Rolex Girls’ Invitational two weeks later.

Tonight she plans to do some homework and watch YouTube.

“Yeah, since I’m still a senior in high school and I’m still taking online classes, I’m going to have to catch up on a lot of work,” said Zhang of what comes next.

For Ruffels, this is somewhat of a home tournament given that she lives 20 minutes away. The members at her local course, Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells, are cheering her on from afar.

Gabriela Ruffels during the third round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Golf Club. (Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

“Kind of struggled in the middle,” said Ruffels of those doubles, “but I knew if I could stay steady and finish strong, I’d be doing OK. It’s just fun to be out here. I’m having so much fun.”

Ruffels, 20, had a comfortable pairing on Saturday playing alongside fellow Aussie Katherine Kirk.

“She’s got a ton of talent and she’s a sweet kid, too,” said Kirk.

“Nice to play with a young gun and to see that she has a lovely personality, too.”

Stanford’s Lei Ye dropped into a share of 62nd after a 76. Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio (75) sits at T-68 while Olivia Mehaffey (77) is in 74th.

[lawrence-related id=778065690,778065606,778065622,778065539]

A desert miracle? No need for a coronavirus asterisk for the ANA Inspiration

There are a few things missing this week at the ANA Inspiration, but it doesn’t make the event any less special.

RANCHO MIRAGE, California — Unless you are on the grounds of Mission Hills Country Club this week, it is almost impossible to understand the Herculean efforts it has taken to play the ANA Inspiration this week in Rancho Mirage.

With Riverside County being more restrictive than other LPGA event sites in the last two months, the tour and tournament operator IMG have made many adjustments to play a tournament with no fans in a COVID-19 world. Some changes that you might never think of include just where people are allowed to be at various areas of the golf course and clubhouse. In some cases, tournament officials have needed to adjust day to day this week.

The hard work put in to meet local and state restrictions is certainly appreciated by the LPGA players, who most often use the word grateful to describe their emotions about playing golf and being at Mission Hills for the 49th consecutive year.

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some things missing this week that every fan would notice if the fans were allowed on the course. For instance:

Lexi Thompson tees off in front of a sparse gallery of volunteers and media during the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, September 12, 2020. (Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Past champions

What is the ANA Inspiration without three-time winner Amy Alcott running around the course? The past champions dinner has been a highlight over the last decade, and players such as Kathy Whitworth, Patty Sheehan, Betsy King, Nancy Lopez and others tend to hang around the tournament for a few days, giving the major an elite feel.

Standard bearers

These are usually junior golfers from the area, or sometimes Marines from Twentynine Palms, who carry a sign with the names of the players and the player’s current score in each group. You don’t realize they aren’t here until, well, they aren’t here, and you can’t readily see who the players are you are watching.

The fans

Okay, players do like to be in their own little world on the golf course, and sometimes we overestimate what the cheering of fans does and doesn’t do for players. But as past ANA Inspiration champion Lexi Thompson said this week, the lack of fans at the ANA Inspiration is different.

“It’s a lot different, I will say that, especially in tournaments like this where it’s known for the fans and the fan base here,” Thompson said. “I definitely thrive off it because I love people watching and just hearing the cheers and just seeing people root for us. The fans make the game, and I think we absolutely love that.”

The group of Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Mirim Lee walk on the fourth hole during the third round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration. (Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

No asterisk needed this year

With none of those things part of the tournament this week, the tournament still plays on. And the golf itself has been major championship caliber through three rounds. Concerns that the coronavirus pandemic would cause players to be rusty, that golf course changes would make conditions too difficult and that the lack of atmosphere would hurt the players as they search for competitive juices have all been dispelled.

From tee to green, this has been the ANA Inspiration, a major championship like most of the major championships played at Mission Hills the previous 48 years.

So there is no need to use an asterisk for the 2020 event or the winner. True, there is no defending champion, and a few of the top players in the world aren’t in the field this week. But those things have happened in the past, too.

It probably will never be truly known how close the tournament came to not being played this year. Already this week, health officials from the county have made modifications like changing the routing for people getting into and out of the clubhouse. And perhaps some things that were agreed to weren’t executed exactly the same way they were supposed to happen to comply with county and state restrictions.

But the desert has its LPGA major played in 2020, and that’s important not just for the players who have a chance to make a check this week but for the psyche of the desert and its golf fans. As difficult as it has been to get the tournament played, the event has been played.

The credit there goes to the LPGA, IMG and the officials at Mission Hills Country Club. They felt that playing the event was important enough to put in the additional work, spend countless hours on the telephone and rewrite plans to make sure everything was in order for the tournament to happen.

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter @Larry_Bohannan. 

[lawrence-related id=778065581,778065622,778065400,778065467,778065367,778065363]

Gabriela Ruffels headlines record-tying five amateurs who made the cut at ANA

Gabriela Ruffels and Rose Zhang are excelling and leading the pack of amateurs at the ANA Inspiration.

Gabriela Ruffels was 6 years old when Karrie Webb jumped into Michael Paterson’s arms after holing out for eagle from 116 yards on the 18th hole to get into a playoff against Lorena Ochoa and ultimately win the 2006 ANA Inspiration.

Ruffels, who didn’t start playing golf seriously until age 15, has learned all about that memorable finish this week at Mission Hills with Paterson on the bag.

“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from him,” said Ruffels, a USC senior who has proven to be a terrific student.

A second-round 68 moved Ruffels into a share of seventh at 5-under 139 in her ANA debut, six shots behind leader Nelly Korda. There are six amateurs in the field this week and Rose Zhang, the junior player who beat Ruffels in the U.S. Women’s Amateur final last month, is tied for 17th at 4 under.

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

Golf Australia’s Stacey Peters connected Ruffels to Paterson, who typically works for So Yeon Ryu, the 2017 ANA champ who isn’t in the field. Ruffels played a practice round alongside Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 KPMG champion, and Su Oh.

Like the Kordas, both of Ruffels’ parents, Ray Ruffels and Anna-Maria Fernandez, were professional tennis players. While Sebastian Korda recently competed in the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Ruffels’ brother Ryan plays on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“My dad knows Petr (Korda) through tennis,” said Ruffels. “It’s always fun for them to catch up when we’re playing the same tournament. My brother is pretty good friends with Nelly.”

Amateur Gabriela Ruffels on the 18th hole during the second round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration on the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Ruffels, still being fairly new to golf, took notes on where the Kordas dropped balls during practice and generally went about their business more professionally.

The 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champ said the pressure of defending her title helped prepare her for being in the top 10 of a major championship, cameras and all.

She also has the unusual added advantage of sleeping in her own bed at a major. Ruffels lives 20 minutes away in Indian Wells, California, and frequently plays in 100-plus temperatures.

“It’s so cool to be able to stay at home and come back and see my dog,” said Ruffels, who has an Australian Shepherd named Rio.

Stanford’s Lei Ye carded a third-round 69 to easily make the weekend at 1 under. Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio (1 over) and Olivia Mehaffey (4 over) of Arizona State brought the total to five amateurs making the cut, tying the record set in 2013.

[lawrence-related id=778064715,778060034,777996796,777996423]

ANA Inspiration: Smoky skies, low scores and a wall of strategy and confusion

There are plenty of interesting storylines at the LPGA’s ANA Inspiration at Dinah Shore: the heat, the smoke and the big, blue wall on 18.

The second day at the ANA Inspiration began with a smoky haze which lingered and kept the temperatures lower than predicted, although it did eventually reach 100 degrees.

Also lower than predicted? The scores. Nelly Korda is 11 under through two rounds. Mirim Lee is 9 under. Either one would’ve led the tournament through 36 holes last year. In 2019 only nine golfers shot better than 2 under through 36 holes. This year, there is a whopping 30 golfers at 3 under or better entering Saturday.

The course is getting harder, physically harder that is, so that makes it more difficult to control the ball. We’ll see what that means for the weekend.

Here were other sights and sounds and smells from Day Two at the LPGA major championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage:

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

Wall of confusion

The tees were moved way up on the 18th hole Friday, making the par-5 hole only 485 yards, so many golfers were going for the island green in two. That led to several balls winding up against the blue wall that has replaced the grandstands to the left of the 18th green as players use it as a safety net and backstop much like they used to with the stands. The wall has been nicknamed The Great Wall of Dinah around the grounds.

The end result, though, was a lot of confusion about how to gain relief from the wall, which is closer to the green than the grandstands were. Almost every other group had to call for the rules official to assist with the drop. Some dropped it near where they were against the wall, some were told they had to drop it in an area behind the green no closer to the hole.

Poor Amy Olson, along with a rules official, measured the distance from her ball to the cup, then walked off the distance from the cup to the back-of-the-green drop area, then went back to where her ball was. Then, Olson pointed at the ground. The whole ordeal took about 12-15 minutes, and she finally chose/had to drop at the back of the green. Then, after all that, she chipped up and two putted for a par.

The point is there seemed to be more confusion than normal this year. I would suggest a rules official just stationed back there to help move the operation along, instead of having to call one every time a question arose.

The blue wall behind the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration during a Golf Channel broadcast. (Beth Ann Nichols/Golfweek)

Bank shot

The only person I saw reach the green in two shots was Nasa Hataoka, whose second shot actually hit the wall in the air and bounced off of it onto the edge of the green. The golf gods were on her side, but like the golf gods often do, they left her side quickly. She four-putted for bogey.

The reward part of the risk-reward shot just didn’t seem to be there on this day. No one in the field recorded an eagle on 18.

The sound of no hands clapping: One of the more comical side effects about not having fans is the very official announcement of the players’ names on their opening tee shot resulting in absolutely no applause.

“Now on the tee, 2018 ANA Inspiration champion, from Bollnas, Sweden, Pernilla Lindberg.” And then no applause. Followed by a sheepish wave from the player.

Usually, anyone around gives a polite clap just so it’s not dead silence. The walking scorer, the opposing caddie, the person dishing out water and Gatorade, perhaps even a nearby media member like myself, joins in with some clapping and light whistling to try to match the gravitas of the players’ name announcement.

Smoking section

As the first groups teed off around 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning, the sun rising in the east was an eerie glowing orange perfect sphere as it shone through a layer of smoke. Winds shifted overnight, and smoke from the nearby El Dorado fire hung over the Coachella Valley. The smoky smell faded quickly, but a haze remained throughout Friday.

Positive attitude

In Gee Chun, who is tied for fourth at 6 under, was asked what is there to work on going into Saturday’s round. Her response? “I heard the temperature is going up tomorrow, so try drinking a lot of water and trying to enjoy the nature sounds out there.”

I like that In Gee. I, too, promise to take some time Saturday to listen to the nature sounds. Until then.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

[lawrence-related id=778065539,778065528,778065400,778065467]

Nelly Korda’s putter saves her second round as she holds on to ANA Inspiration lead

Nelly Korda remains atop the leaderboard after the second round of the ANA Inspiration thanks to some nice putting.

RANCHO MIRAGE, California — It was the birdies that Nelly Korda made Thursday that pushed her to the early lead in the ANA Inspiration. It was the pars she made Friday that helped her keep that lead.

With five birdies in her second round but a handful of clutch par-saving putts, Korda managed a second-round 67 at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to extend her overnight lead to three shots midway through the second round in the major championship in Rancho Mirage.

“The thing out here is you hit a solid putt and it keeps on going,” Korda said of her battles on the Mission Hills Country Club greens Friday. “You think it’s going to stop, and it just keeps on releasing, so then you’re like, this is a good putt, this could possibly go in, and then it releases five to six feet because that’s just how it is out here. I had a lot of five- and six-footers for par today.”

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

A pair of back-to-back par saves from medium distance, a 15-footer at the par-5 second hole and a 25-footer on the par-4 third hole, allowed Korda to keep her momentum and her lead over Mirim Lee.

Lee fired a 6-under 66 and is in second place at 8 under midway through the second round, one shot ahead of Nanna Koerstz Madsen at 7 under. Madsen shot 69 in the morning wave of tee times that saw all those players finish with the temperature still under 100 degrees.

The afternoon wave of golfers who could put some pressure on Korda includes world No. 2 Danielle Kang, who starts the afternoon at 4-under par, and Canadian Brooke Henderson, also at 4 under after the opening round.

Unlike her reputation as a long hitter who can dominate par-5s on a golf course, Korda made three of her five birdies on par-3s in the second round. She was just 1 under on the four par-5s, that coming with a birdie on the ninth hole, her final hole of the day.

“I’ve been hitting it really good off the tee. Even off the fairway, I mean, I’m not missing it by much,” Korda said. “Like, occasionally, because it’s so grainy out here, you catch it a little fat or you don’t catch it so clean, but honestly I’ve just been playing really solid golf.”

Starting her round on the 10th hole, Korda made four pars before a birdie on the par-3 14th, then added a birdie on the par-3 17th. A five-foot par putt on the 18th was an omen of things to come for Korda.

Nelly Korda on the seventh hole during the second round of the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. (Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Front-nine struggles still produce the lead

After a birdie on the first hole, Korda missed her only fairway of the day to the left of the par-5 second hole. Her second shot with a hybrid out of the tough Bermuda rough was wild and missed the fairway well to the right, and she was still short of the green on her third shot. She stubbed a chip onto the green, but made the 15-foot putt for par.

“Honestly on 2, I didn’t even hit my drive that bad, I just may have tugged a little, and I was in a spot where I was about to drop, but if I dropped I would have been in thick rough,” Korda said. “So I just took the chance. I’ve been hitting my 4-hybrid out right a lot recently, and I hit this thing probably like 30 yards out right. Near dead over there. So honestly, I was super happy with rolling that putt in. I was like, just get me off this hole.”

On the third, Korda hit her approach shot fat and short of the green, chipped up to 25 feet and seemed in danger of making her first bogey of the round, but the putt dropped.

Korda capped her round with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes after barely keeping a short par putt inside the cup on the seventh.

“The putts were definitely rolling out a little more for sure, but I think when it came to fairways they weren’t rolling out as much,” Korda said of the course. “I think in the morning it was a little softer and dewy. You had longer clubs in I would say.”

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at Sun.@Larry_Bohannan. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Desert Sun.

[lawrence-related id=778065367,778065400,778065528]

No grandstands on the island 18th at Dinah’s place, but there is a giant wall

Instead of stands packed with fans, there is a big, blue wall on the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration.

As Sei Young Kim prepared to play her second shot on the par-5 18th on Friday, caddie Paul Fusco told Golf Channel reporter Jerry Foltz that she was hitting a cut 5-wood and that “it’s too much club.” Long is preferred on the closing hole of the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, even though it’s an island green. Not for members of course. They’d be in the water.

But at the 49th ANA Inspiration, there’s a giant blue wall directly behind the green, serving as a backstop for those who want to attack on their second shots. Kim’s ball nailed the wall and dropped down safely on the grass. She got up and down for birdie and marched on to a 70.

Why is there a wall on the 18th?

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

For years now, there has been a grandstand behind the 18th green. But with no VIPS to put in the seats this year, many assumed the closing hole would go back to its natural state – the ultimate risk/reward challenge. After all, that’s the way LPGA hopefuls see it in the first stage of Qualifying School every summer.

Brittany Lincicome hit the hybrid of her life into the green in 2009 to win this tournament for the first time and tweeted two words about the presence of the blue wall: Thank God.

Leader Nelly Korda said good friend Megan Khang threw a ball under the wall during a practice round and watched it roll through the mesh and into the water.

The blue wall behind the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration during a Golf Channel broadcast. (Beth Ann Nichols/Golfweek)

“Honestly, I wish they didn’t have that wall there because I think it would play really cool as like an island green,” said Korda, “but as well, it’s like really close to the green this year. Like usually the palm trees, if you’re like left side, you have to play around them or they come in play, but this year it’s very close to the green.”

The LPGA typically uses the forward tee on the 18th hole twice a week – Friday and Sunday – from 510 yards to 487.

Cristie Kerr said she’s “pretty indifferent” about the wall. Madelene Sagstrom tried to picture how the hole would play without grandstands ahead of the tournament. That turned out to be unnecessary, of course, and she’s happy about it.

“It surprised me a little bit,” said Sagstrom, “but it looks good for the sponsors and stuff to have their logos on there, so I’m happy it’s there for both the sponsors and my own going-into sake.”

The LPGA didn’t want to comment on the wall, except to say that it’s no different than the hospitality structure. Except that it is different in that there aren’t any seats. It’s also worth noting that the lettering on the wall isn’t that big either. The scoreboard, which typically sits off the island, is now adjacent to the wall behind the green.

An aerial view of the blue wall behind the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration during a Golf Channel broadcast. (Beth Ann Nichols/Golfweek)

There’s a second a blue wall down the left-hand side of the green along Dinah’s Walk of Champions, where there’s typically a grandstand packed with fans.

“If you go way, way back,” said Judy Rankin, “(the 18th) was not reachable. There was only a couple of people who ever tried to go for it in two.”

There was no grandstand back then either. With no fans and a forward tee, new drama on the 18th in 2020 was ripe for the taking. There has been a playoff at the ANA on the 18th hole in three of the past five years.

“I believe these players are talented enough and have enough course management skill to have dealt with the hole without that wall,” said Rankin. “How can you play a dangerous shot to a green that is surrounded by water and manufacture making only 50 percent of that danger in play?

“Keep the green reasonably playable and let them handle it.”

[lawrence-related id=778065400,778065467,778065368,778065367,778065363]

ANA notes: Jenny Shin withdraws with rib injury; Brittany Lincicome looks for No. 3

During the first round of the ANA Inspiration, Jenny Shin withdrew due to a rib injury.

The ANA Inspiration lost its first player during the tournament Thursday when Jenny Shin withdrew after completing six holes of the event in the morning. Shin later posted on Instagram that a rib injury knocked her out of the event.

“I am extremely disappointed with how things turned out, this tournament being one of my favorite events, I felt well prepared for this major and envisioned to pan out much different,” she posted.

The tournament lost one player before play began when Charley Hull withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Below are other news items from the first round of the ANA Inspiration.

Looking for three

Eight women have won the ANA Inspiration at least twice, with Amy Alcott, Annika Sorenstam and Betsy King all winning it three times. But with Juli Inkster and Karrie Webb not in the field this week, the only golfer in the field with multiple wins in the major championship is Brittany Lincicome, the 2009 and 2015 winner. Those two wins give Lincicome plenty of confidence as the tournament is played this week.

Brittany Lincicome reacts to her putt on the seventh hole during round one of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho, Mirage, Calif., on September 10, 2020.
Brittany Lincicome reacts to her putt on the seventh hole during round one of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho, Mirage, Calif., on September 10, 2020.

“It’s huge. Like I said, just driving in to Mission Hills and being here and just seeing the mountains and the flowers and how green it is, I really thought it was going to be burned out, honestly, but it’s so beautiful,” Lincicome said. “They’ve done such a great job to keep it so well maintained for us. I think having won twice obviously gives me a huge advantage and just can reflect on all my good shots from the previous years, and hopefully that’ll help me.”

Lincicome fired a 3-under 68 on Thursday.

Q-school to major

Kelly Tan might not be a familiar name for every LPGA fan, but she has made a big run from last year, when she had no LPGA status and was playing in the LPGA’s Q-Series for qualifying. Thursday, she took the tournament lead in the ANA Inspiration for awhile with a 4-under 68 playing in the first group of the morning.

“Just to be honest in general, just very grateful to be playing golf right now,” the 26-year-old Malaysian golfer said. “You know, I just told myself that I’ll take what it gives me this year and try to play hard and see where that puts me. I didn’t really have too much expectation on how many events I was going to get in, but I knew if I played well, I would play my way into the ANA and major championships like this.”

Enjoying the takeout

Lydia Ko enjoys the ANA Inspiration and won the tournament in 2016. But there is another reason she likes coming to Rancho Mirage each year. Ko loves Shabu Shabu Zen in Rancho Mirage, which serves Japanese hot pot meals among other things. Ko thought she might have to miss out on the treat this year, but it turns out she still had the meal.

“(Ko’s mother) has been cooking amazing Korean food, so I’m very grateful that she can travel with me on the road,” Ko said. “I was actually talking about the Shabu Shabu in my press conference a few days ago, and then Miho, (Suma) the owner there, she got me Shabu Shabu last night delivered to my place, so maybe that was the key to playing solid today (a 3-under 69). I was so gutted that I wouldn’t be able to go, so she brought the restaurant to me pretty much.”

[lawrence-related id=778065368,778065367,778065363,778065241,778065191]

Lexi Thompson, 2 back, looms large at ANA Inspiration

Lexi Thompson changed her swing up

Lexi Thompson looked like she might sprint away from the field early on at the ANA Inspiration. From her command with the putter to the way she muscled the ball out of the Bermuda rough, Thompson tackled September desert golf in a way few can.

Two stunning shots into the water – on the sixth and the 18th, however, derailed the momentum. She finished with back-to-back birdies for a 2-under 70, two back of a star-studded leaderboard at Mission Hills that includes No. 2 Danielle Kang and Brooke Henderson.

There have been plenty of changes for Thompson in recent weeks. A new caddie in John Killeen. Changes to her putting grip and stance and, as Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz reported, a return to her old coach, Jim McLean. This is Thompson’s first event back since a missed cut at the AIG Women’s British Open and a rules controversy in which she was ultimately cleared from the R&A.

LEADERBOARD: ANA Inspiration

“The claw worked great for about a four-week stretch last year, and kind of just fizzled out,” said Thompson, who now has her left index finger over her right hand. “But that’s golf. Sometimes you just need a little bit of a change, and then I changed to the SIK putter so that’s in the bag this week. A few changes out there, but it’s for the better.”

McLean said Thompson came out for a three-hour lesson. The pair hadn’t worked together in years. She was worried about losing the ball to the right, he said, and essentially couldn’t feel her swing.

“Just coming to see me,” said McLean, “she felt comfortable.”

 

They looked at some old swing footage he had catalogued and came up with a plan. McLean strengthened her grip a bit. They focused on hitting the center of the club face. She had a move ahead of the golf ball, he said.

“These are minor things,” said McLean, “but as you know, when you tune up a Ferrari, it’s just a little bit of this and that. You’ve got to test the right points.”

Thompson won the ANA six years ago and lost a heartbreaker in 2017 after she received a four-stroke penalty mid-round on Sunday. She has five top-7 finishes at the event in the last six years.

Asked after the round if she thinks back on the near-misses or has any regrets, Thompson said no.

“I’m here today,” she said. “That’s all that matters.”

[lawrence-related id=778065367,778065363,778065241,778065052,778055720]