Both Spanish women have Olympic experience, but this will be a first for the men.
Spain is sending four golfers to Paris to the 2024 Olympics, and all four played for the same college: Arizona State.
Jon Rahm and David Puig, who both play on LIV Golf, are the Spanish duo in the 60-man field for the men’s competition. Rahm played for the Sun Devils from 2012 to 2016; Puig was there from 2019 to 2022.
“I’m really looking forward to sharing the week with David,” he said Sunday in London. “It’s going to be fantastic, and hopefully one of us can leave with the gold.”
It’ll be the first Olympics for each. Rahm was set to compete three years ago in Tokyo but a positive COVID test kept him on the sidelines.
“Hard to position myself on where the magnitude of something like that may be, but to be able to say that you have a gold medal or an Olympic medal for that matter is something that a very small group of people in all human history can say,” he said. “I don’t think it might have the recognition it could have yet, but in the future this may be one of those things that means a lot more than we’re aware of right now. Just to be able to add to a Spanish medal count would be absolutely amazing.”
Arizona State’s Jon Rahm at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (The Arizona Republic)
Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz will represent Spain on the women’s side, which also has 60 players. Ciganda was at ASU from 2008 to 2011; Munoz was there from 2005 to 2008. She won the NCAA individual title in 2008. Ciganda helped ASU win the NCAA team title in 2009.
Munoz and Ciganda are heading to their third Olympics. Munoz finished 21st in the 2016 Games in Brazil and 50th in 2021. Ciganda finished 39th in 2016 and 29th in 2021.
ASU has five former women golfers in all heading to France. Joining Munoz and Ciganda will be Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling and Sweden’s Linn Grant.
“It’s fantastic. We’re so excited (to see the five Sun Devils alums competing in the Olympics),” ASU women’s coach Missy Farr-Kaye told cronkitenews.com. “It’s amazing, and it really speaks to the level of our Olympic teams and how well (they do) across the board.”
Stay up late or wake up early 🤔☕️
It's almost go time in Paris for @OlympicGolf! Look out for our three #SunDevil4Life in the opening two rounds 🔱 🇪🇸🇹🇼
The men’s competition is Aug. 1-4, while the women will be Aug. 7-10 and Le Golf National, which hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup. The events will be 72 holes of stroke play, with the top three finishers winning gold, silver and bronze medals.
Live final round coverage will start on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET and Golf Channel will come on at 6 p.m. ET.
GILBERT, Ariz. — A variety of LPGA golfers with local ties have been making noise this week at the inaugural Ford Championship in this Phoenix suburb.
On a breezy Saturday, former Arizona State golfer Carlota Ciganda made her move up the leaderboard at Seville Golf and Country Club with a 6-under 66 a round that included two eagles and nearly a third, as her chip on the par-5 18th just missed.
“Very happy with the 6 under,” she said. “The wind is really strong. Lots of side winds, and it’s just, yeah, it’s just hard. I think if you can hit greens it’s good shots. There are some holes that are playing downhill and you can take advantage, as well as the par 5s.”
Sitting at 15 under, Ciganda already has a number in mind for Sunday, a day that is expected to be 20 degrees cooler than Saturday with a 60 percent chance of rain.
“I think you still need to get to probably 21-, 22-under to win,” she said. “Try to get to that number and hopefully that’s enough.”
Ciganda has two LPGA wins but none since 2016. Local product Sarah Schmelzel, meanwhile, is seeking her first LPGA win.
She opened with a 68, followed that up with 63 and is hanging around the top of the leaderboard after a Saturday 70. She had three back-nine birdies and just missed another on 18 that would’ve given her the solo 54-hole lead.
“Today was tough,” she told Golf Channel after her round. “It was almost like the weather was a like a bit of a distraction. It was tough out there. It was a grind to just shoot under par this afternoon.”
So far this season, Schmelzel has a T-8, a solo second and a T-8 in her last three starts. And as for making the Phoenix area this week the time and place for her first LPGA win?
“It’s definitely something I have thought about since I was a little kid,” she admitted. “It’s something that’s in the back of my mind, but I gotta stay in the present and if it works out, it works out.”
The third member of the three-way tie for the lead is Hyo Joo Kim, who birdied three of her first four holes but then stalled, stringing together 14 straight pars to shoot a 3-under 69. Kim has a major among her six wins. A win this week would give her a fourth straight season with a victory.
Two are tied for fourth, a shot back: Maja Stark, who had one of the day’s better rounds with a 6-under 66, and Yuka Saso, who overcame a four-putt double bogey on the 15th hole with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to get to 14 under.
On a day when the winds gusted up to 35 miles per hour, Mi Hyang Lee produced the best round, an 8-under 64, which put her into a 10-way tie for sixth at 13 under, two shots back. That huge cluster of golfers at 13 under includes Lexi Thompson, Sei Young Kim, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko.
Hira Naveed shot 7-under 65, the second-best score on Saturday. She’s tied for 16th at 12 under with Ayaka Furue and Lilia Vu.
Despite the heavy wind, only 11 of the 75 golfers who made the cut posted over-par scores, including Peiyun Chien, who shot 65 on Friday and 76 on Saturday.
There are 34 golfers at double-digits under par through 54 holes.
In anticipation of weather Sunday, the LPGA announced that for the final round, golfers will go off split tees in groups of three. The first group will start at 9:08 a.m. local time (12:08 p.m. ET) and leaders will tee off at 11:20 a.m. local time (2:20 p.m. ET).
Live final round coverage will start on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET and Golf Channel will come on at 6 p.m. ET.
“That doesn’t happen” for LPGA players to get free courtesy vehicles.
GILBERT, Ariz. — The LPGA is no stranger to the state of Arizona. Over the last 75 or so years, the tour has visited the state close to 70 times.
This year, the tour is in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert for the inaugural Ford Championship presented by KCC. Nine of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings are here as are all five tournament champs so far in 2024.
The Thunderbirds, the civic organization that runs the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open, joined as a founding partner about a month ago and kicked in some extra funds, raising the total purse to $2.25 million, with the winner getting an oversized check for $337,500.
Just a few weeks before that, Ford came on as title sponsor, and that provided an unusual perk for the LPGA players.
“Shoutout to Ford for supplying every single player with a Ford vehicle this week,” said 2024 tournament director Emily Podzielinski. “We had pretty much every player take us up on that offer, which is great.
“That doesn’t happen, ever on the tour, for the players that every single person gets the opportunity to receive that.”
There were several vehicles for players to choose from.
“Some players wanted to drive trucks. Some of the Texans love driving the trucks,” said Podzielinski.
After two rounds, players said they were enjoying the set up of the golf course, too.
Ayaka Furue of Japan putts on the sixth green during the first round of the 2024 Ford Championship at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Arizona. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Azahara Munoz, who played her college golf at nearby Arizona State, opened her week 64-68. Is there anything in particular she likes about Seville Golf and Country Club, a Gary Panks-design that opened in 2002?
“Everything, I guess,” she said. “It’s good. It sets up good. Gives you really good lines off the tee. The greens are firm, which is nice but it’s kind of forgiving, too, so you can be aggressive and make lots of birdies.”
Wide fairways, firm and fast greens and plenty of sunshine have generated low scores. The 36-hole cut came in at 5 under, tying the LPGA mark, which was last achieved in 2019.
There’s already been a 61 (Hannah Green), three 63s (Pajaree Anannarukarn, Sarah Schmelzel and Yuka Saso) and a slew of 64s by Munoz, Carlota Ciganda, Isi Gabsa, My Hyang Lee, Gabi Ruffels, Lydia Ko, Lilia Vu and Frida Kinhult.
Celine Boutier of France won the LPGA’s Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain in nearby Gold Canyon a year ago in what turned out to be a one-year stint.
“I love coming to Arizona. I think the golf courses here are so nice, and especially this time of the year they’re always pristine condition,” she said. “Obviously a little bit sad not to be playing Superstition Mountain again but I think it’s still a great track here. Be a good test to shoot some low scores.”
After shooting 65-69 over the first two days, Boutier confirmed her initial impressions.
“It’s been good. I feel like this course is very scorable, so you get a lot of birdie chances. The par 5s are pretty reachable, so I think it’s a scorable course.”
Nelly Korda, one of the longer hitters on tour, returned to No. 1 in the world after winning last week.
“The par 3s are pretty tough out here, but all the par 5s are pretty gettable,” she said. Korda had an eagle and seven birdies with just two pars on the course’s four par 5s over her first 45 holes.
The LPGA held one-off events at the Legacy (2000), Papago (2009) and at Superstition (2023). Will Seville be a one-and-done as well, or will the tour return in 2025?
“I think we’re going to get through this one and all I know is it’s amazing having Ford on board, Ford Motor Company as the title partner,” Podzielinski said. “We want to be here in the Valley for a really long time and so we’re going to build a community-sustainable event and we’re excited to do that. This one came really really quickly and we’re happy with it. The club’s been great, the community’s been great but a lot of things have to fall into place before we start planning for 2025.”
The last mom to win on the LPGA was Stacy Lewis at the 2020 Scottish Open.
GILBERT, Ariz. — The last mom to win on the LPGA was Stacy Lewis at the 2020 Scottish Open. This week, there are 10 mothers teeing it up in the Ford Championship, the seventh tournament on the LPGA’s 2024 schedule.
That includes Lindsey Weaver-Wright, who played high school golf in Cave Creek, Arizona, and completed her college career at the University of Arizona.
Weaver-Wright is playing in her first LPGA event since she became a mom to son Crew on Dec. 17. She opened her week with a bogey-free, 4-under 68 at Seville Golf and Country Club, which is hosting the inaugural Ford Championship
“I didn’t really know what to expect, so I just went into the whole week with very little expectation,” she said. “Got a lot going on in my mind right now. Yeah, Crew was just, it’s so funny just getting his texts from daycare, updates after the round. I just love it. My husband is updating me and he gets all the notifications, too.”
Weaver-Wright trails co-leader Azahara Munoz of Spain, one of three to shoot an 8-under 64 on Thursday, along with Gabi Ruffels and Isi Gabsa.
Other moms playing this week include Sophia Popov and Caroline Masson, who played as a parent for the first time a week ago as well as Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Mel Reid and Hee Young Park.
Gabi Ruffels’ game is rounding into form in her 26th start in the big leagues.
GILBERT, Ariz. — She missed out on a playoff five days ago by a stroke. She posted her career-low round on the LPGA on Thursday.
Gabi Ruffels’ game is rounding into form in her 26th start in the big leagues.
Ruffels shot an 8-under 64 at Seville Golf and Country Club, host venue for the inaugural Ford Championship, and was tied for the lead for most of the day in the first round on a sunny day in the Phoenix suburbs. She was in a three-way tie for the lead till some in the afternoon wave went low, making it a five-way tie, but then Pajaree Anannarukarn, who finished on No. 9 buy making four-footer for birdie and the day’s lone 63.
Her bogey-free round featured a first-round high of nine birdies, including fives straight on Nos. 5 through 9 to cap her round. She hit 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens.
As for Ruffels, she rebounded nicely from her lone bogey on No. 7 with three straight birdies on Nos. 8 through 10. Her eagle came on the par-5 fifth hole.
“I wish I knew, because I would want to take it every week with me,” the Aussie said when asked about how she’s maintaining momentum. “Just having that confidence knowing that I played well last week and everything in my game felt really well and then just doing the same things, not thinking too much about it and riding with the confidence.”
The 2019 U.S. Amateur champ shot a 65 last Saturday near Los Angeles but a closing 70 kept her one shot shy of a playoff with Nelly Korda and Ryann O’Toole. Korda, in the field this week and back in the No. 1 spot in the world rankings, won the event on the first playoff hole.
The West Coast swing seems to be suiting Ruffels just fine this season.
“My parents live in Palm Springs and I spend a lot of time there. It’s very similar climate-wise and the feel, that dry weather,” she said. “I’ve played probably a lot of my golf in the past five or six years in Palm Springs, so, yeah, I love Phoenix. Kind of the same feel and feels like home I guess.”
Ruffels has another professional win in Arizona. It came 11 months ago on the Epson Tour at Longbow Golf Club in neighboring Mesa.
Azahara Munoz of Spain, who played collegiately at nearby Arizona State, was the first in with a 64. She also eagled the fifth hole.
“It’s been a while,” she said of her low round. “I’ve had a few 5, 6 under, but not 8 under, which is really, really nice. Yeah, makes me happy to know that I can still do it.”
Germany’s Isi Gabsa later made it a three-way tie for the lead when she posted 64, including four straight birdies on Nos.14-18.
The afternoon wave produced two more 64s from another former Sun Devil, Carlota Ciganda, as well as world No. 2 Lilia Vu, who also had a nine-birdie, bogey-free round.
There are two golfers tied for seventh at 7 under – Celine Boutier and Hyo Joo Kim – and then swath of 11 golfers tied for ninth at 6 under. Add ’em up and that’s 19 golfers within two shots of the lead after 18 holes.
May the journeys of those who triumphed in 2023 be a source of inspiration to those on the verge of calling it quits.
Lindy Duncan, the 208th-ranked player in the world, considered 2023 to be a make-or-break year. She began the season with no status, and told herself, I’m either going to get better at golf, or I’m going to do something else.
Last November at The Annika, the penultimate event of the LPGA season, Duncan emerged from the scoring tent on Sunday in a jolly good mood. She’d finished the season 92nd on the CME points list, her card secured for another year.
“I feel like I’m playing some of the best that I’ve played,” she said, “ever.”
While Duncan wasn’t in the headlines this season, her comeback story is one of many. Lilia Vu thought about going to law school not long ago, after a 2019 rookie season on the LPGA left her feeling “destroyed.” Vu’s mother convinced her to keep going.
“I just remember being miserable,” said Vu. “This is like the dream, everything we ever worked for was to be out here, and I was just not in the right mindset for it.”
Lilia Vu celebrates on the 18th green after winning the 2023 AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Ruoning Yin missed the cut in seven of her first nine starts as a rookie last year. She, too, called home and told her mom she wanted to quit. She was hitting it poorly, which led her to practice even harder, ballooning from 100 balls per range session to 500.
Now she was fed up and in pain.
“My mom told me, if you cannot swing just don’t swing,” recalled Yin, “just do your putting drills, practice putting and chipping – you’ll be fine. No matter what, we still love you.”
Coming back from maternity leave proved more stressful than Azahara Munoz imagined. The battle to keep her tour card made her feel like throwing up all week at The Annika. Munoz came into the event 100th on the CME points list. The top 100 keep full status for 2024. Munoz said she was so stressed out she didn’t even want to tee it up.
“I was like, if this is how stressful it is, I don’t know if I want to play golf,” she said. “It’s no fun at all.”
Azahara Munoz of Spain plays a shot on the 16th hole during the final round of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican on Nov. 12, 2023, in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Munoz ultimately played well enough to contend that event, vaulting up to 64th on the points list after taking a share of second at Pelican Golf Club.
Players in all stages of life and career face turning points, and there were stories of triumph around every corner this season.
Alison Lee has been open about her rock bottom. After her parents convinced her in 2019 to give it one more try, Lee Monday-qualified to get into an early-season event in 2020 and knew that if she played well, she’d move up the priority list on the next reshuffle and get into more fields.
But then she had a panic attack on the drive to the golf course.
“Every mile I got closer to the course,” Lee wrote on lpga.com, “the more anxiety overcame my body. I couldn’t breathe, and I could hardly see with all the tears streaming down my face. The feelings became so overwhelming that I began to look at the concrete barrier on the interstate and considered crashing my car into it, because I would rather have been in the hospital than have to tee off and compete. In that moment, anywhere else besides the golf course felt safe.”
The pressure to win on the LPGA took Lee to a dark place.
In 2023, Lee came closer than ever to finally achieving that lifelong goal. And while she didn’t get there, finishing runner-up in her last three events left her feeling rejuvenated. All signs point to Lee’s best golf being ahead of her.
“All the dreams I had when I turned pro nine years ago, I haven’t been able to accomplish any of them,” said Lee.
“If my career starts now at the age of 28, of course I want to keep going. I still have a lot of goals I want to achieve that 19-year-old Alison, when she turned pro, all the things she wanted to accomplish.”
Alison Lee of the United States plays her shot from the third tee during the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 18, 2023, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Duncan, 32, was the NGCA National Player of the Year as a junior at Duke. She was a first-team All-American all four seasons and earned LPGA status soon after graduation.
If Duncan could go back 10 years and give her younger self some advice, she’d say to find joy in the pursuit rather than the destination.
“And she wouldn’t understand it,” Duncan said with a laugh.
Duncan still gets a mighty thrill from competition. She loves traveling to Asia for tournaments. She’s hitting it farther than ever and feels healthy enough to keep up the grind.
When Duncan started 2023 with no status and no sponsors, she thought about what her next chapter might look like, should the season not go as planned. While she didn’t get far enough in that thought exercise to have the details planned out, she came to this conclusion: “I’m going to be OK.”
Lindy Duncan of the United States hits her tee shot on the 10th hole during the second round of the TOTO Japan Classic at the Taiheiyo Club’s Minori Course on November 3, 2023, in Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan. (Photo by Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)
That gave her the peace and the clarity to put it all on the line once more.
Comebacks come in all shapes and sizes, but the feelings of joy and satisfaction are universal.
May the journeys of those who triumphed in 2023 be a source of inspiration to those on the verge of calling it quits.
Just think, Lilia Vu could be nearly done with law school by now.
The penultimate event of the year on the LPGA is layered with interest.
The penultimate event of the year on the LPGA is layered with interest as some players fight for spots in the lucrative CME Group Tour Championship while others fight for their jobs.
There’s great emphasis on the 60th spot of the CME points list, the cutoff point for the season-ending event with the $7 million purse. What’s even more impactful for many players, however, is the 100th spot. The top 100 players on the points list maintain full cards for the 2024 season. The top 80 receive the best status available.
Midway leader Emily Kristine Pedersen holds a two-stroke lead at The Annika driven by Gainbridge after rounds of 63-65 put her at 12 under at Pelican Golf Club. Pedersen entered the week 80th on the CME list and is projected to move to 34th should she triumph for the first time on the LPGA. While winning will require a good bit of work, Pedersen is in fine shape to jump into the top 60.
Emily Kristine Pedersen plays her shot from the third tee during the second round of the 2023 Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. (Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
The Dane had plenty of memorable moments at the Solheim Cup in Spain this year, including an ace, and carried that fire into the regular season.
“I think I haven’t really been good at cheering on myself in normal tournaments,” she said. “I’m kind of like getting annoyed about the bad things, but when the good things happen I take it for granted a little bit.
“So I have been trying to pat myself on the back a little bit more when I’m doing something good, and that’s definitely something I’m taken from the Solheim.”
Minami Katsu, who currently sits in second, also hopes to vault into the top 60. Currently 78th on the points list, she’s projected to move to No. 49 should she remain in that position.
Meanwhile, Muni He, who is rocketing up the board, is in a fight for full status. Players who finish 81st to 100th on the CME list fall into Category 11 on the LPGA priority list, which is used to fill fields. He started the week 113th and is tied for fourth after two days at The Annika. He is currently projected to move up to 92nd on the money list.
Those who fall between Nos. 101 to 125 on the list will be in Category 16 next season. Some players who finish outside the top 100 will go to Q-Series later this year to improve their status. The top 45 finishers from Q-Series fall in Categories 14 and 15 and are listed in the order they finish.
Here are five notables currently battling for full status:
“You feel stronger, I think, as a mom. I definitely want to play well for her, not only for myself.”
SYLVANIA, Ohio – Paula Creamer feels like a rookie all over again. Only this time, she’s a rookie mom, competing for the first time on the LPGA this week since giving birth to daughter Hilton Rose in January. Creamer is one of two LPGA players coming back from maternity leave at the Dana Open as Spain’s Azahara Munoz returns with son Lucas, who was born in late February.
“I just feel very in control of my golf game, very motivated,” said Creamer. “It’s a different mindset than I think what I’ve had in the past, and I truly believe that is also because of Hilton. Just you feel stronger I think as a mom. I definitely want to play well for her, not only for myself.”
Creamer, a 10-time winner tour who last competed at the 2021 Amundi Evian, won the 2008 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club on the strength of an opening 60, the lowest round of her career.
The 36-year-old thought about coming back earlier to the tour, but decided it was too early for Hilton to travel – and she wasn’t going without her.
Creamer, who like Munoz had a C-section, said she got back to practicing a bit later than she had planned. She mostly stuck to walks around the neighborhood for several months until early March.
“Picking up the club was probably the easiest part of it,” said Creamer. “The mental side of it took me a little bit, but I was able to — we live so close to the driving range and practice area where I could bounce back home. It’s only 20 yards from where I live, so I was able to check in and out.
“At the same time, I had to tell myself, she’s safe, she’s good, she’s fine, go and do my job.”
Munoz didn’t miss a workout until the day she had Lucas, texting her trainer to let her know that she wasn’t feeling so great. Staying active until her son’s birth, she believes, helped her to bounce back quickly after taking off the initial six weeks.
Munoz’s husband Tim Vickers, a wealth advisor at FineMark, is in town this week and the couple is taking advantage of the LPGA’s Smuckers Child Development Center.
“Yesterday, walking in I was a bit – like you know when your heart is a bit tight,” said Munoz, “but as soon as I was there and they are so good, they grab the back and he’s mine. He’s good. I’m good.”
Munoz battled anxiety, fatigue and hair loss before being diagnosed several years ago with Hashimoto’s disease, a thyroid problem that robbed her of precious energy.
“Like at the bottom of it, I remember we got a new puppy and I was so tired,” said Munoz. “Like I can’t even walk the puppy. Then I start thinking, what’s wrong with me? Why don’t I want to do things? So it’s never been that bad anymore, so now I’m feeling like pretty fantastic.”
The tiredness is still there, but thanks to medication, she’s feeling quite strong for a new mom now working from the road.
Both Creamer and Munoz will be tuned in Wednesday night to watch Serena Williams’ final U.S. Open run with a new appreciation.
“I did see a quote that she did, ‘I’m going to from good mom to great mom,’ ” said Munoz. “It kind of hurts because it’s true. The other day traveling I’m like, ‘Oh, God, I’m putting my baby through so much.’ You know, it also has the positives. There are things that my baby is going to experience other babies are never going to experience. I really want to travel at least for a few years with him and see how it is.”
Creamer got goosebumps on Monday night watching Williams’ daughter take pictures of her mom walking onto the tennis court. She’d love for Hilton to one day do the same watching her.
“It would be very easy to step away from the game right now and be content with my career,” said Creamer, “but I definitely want to do a lot more.”
Azahara Munoz and Lydia Ko ended last week’s Marathon Classic in unfortunate fashion, but they’re back in the mix this week in Scotland.
Golf is an incredibly difficult game, but it’s a lot easier when you’re playing from the fairway.
Just ask Azahara Munoz.
The Spaniard was precise off the tee and followed suit on the greens during Saturday’s third round of the Ladies Scottish Open, making her way around Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, at 2-under 69 to claim the 54-hole lead at 7 under. Americans Stacy Lewis and Jennifer Song are one and two shots back, respectively. Lydia Ko and Cheyenne Knight are T-4 at 4 under.
“Today I think I literally hit every fairway, lots of greens,” said Munoz of her round. “Maybe I could’ve made a few more putts today but still made some nice ones, some nice par saves. The pins were so tricky, a couple holes into the wind were playing really long and overall I kept managing myself well like the last couple days.”
Last week Munoz was disqualified from the Marathon LPGA Classic, the tour’s second event back after an extended break due to the coronavirus pandemic, after failing to sign her scorecard after the final round. The 32-year-old got right back on track during Thursday’s opening round, making an eagle on the first hole of the Ladies Scottish Open while playing in the first group.
On Sunday she’ll be in the final group looking for her second LPGA win.
“Yeah, I’m enjoying being out there so much. I don’t know, I think this break was really good for me,” said Munoz of the time off. “I just came back and I just want to play golf. I just want to enjoy myself. I’m going to do my best, so at the end of the day, wherever that puts me, it puts me. But in the past, I think I always get a little upset if things don’t work out or whatever, but I always give my hundred percent. As long as I do that, that’s all I can do.”
Ko had a heartbreaking finish of her own last week at the Marathon LPGA Classic, making double bogey on the final hole to lose to Danielle Kang by one. Six days later in Scotland, Ko fired off the low round of the day, a bogey-free 4-under 67 to get right back in the mix.
“Almost having a tournament right after makes you focus on what’s right there in front of you and I think maybe less think about what happened at Marathon,” said Ko. “Obviously I would have loved to have had one more higher finish in the end. There’s a lot about what happened to me on the last hole. But you have to talk about what amazing golf Danielle played. I just think it really wasn’t meant to be.”
She continued: “I was joking, I haven’t been in this position in a while, so it was just nice to be back in contention and just feeling those kind of different nerves and that excitement, but just having this tournament right after, it made me focus on just this week, and obviously links golf is a little bit different, so I’ve just been focusing on what’s happening right now and not get too carried away about what happened, because most of it was some of the best golf that I played in a long time.”
Bogey-free golf is a great round anywhere, let alone at a professional tournament across the pond. Just how good was Ko’s 4 under? Only 18 players of the 70 remaining were under par on Saturday.
“It’s nice, no matter where you play, to have a bogey-free round like that. I think when I was out of position, I was able to make up-and-down,” said Ko of her performance. “Sometimes you have to get lucky having a good lie in the bunker or just off the greens, as well, but I feel like overall, I stayed believing in my game and being aggressive when I needed to and then being a little bit safer when it was a tough pin position, as well.”
“I think you kind of have to manage that really well, and that will give me a good lesson for next week at the British Open.”
Azahara Munoz was disqualified last week for failing to sign her scorecard after, but she opened the Ladies Scottish open with an eagle.
What’s the best way to put a DQ behind you? Go out and eagle the first hole of the next tournament. Azahara Munoz, playing in the first group of the Aberdeen Standard Investment Ladies Scottish Open, knocked one in from 148 yards out on the first hole to kickstart a 3-under 68 at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.
It was the perfect antidote to the disqualification news that Munoz suffered at last week’s Marathon LPGA Classic after the Spaniard failed to sign her scorecard after Sunday’s round.
“You know, instantly I knew I had not signed it,” said Munoz. “You know, when you know you haven’t done it … I did beat myself up a lot because I just can’t believe I did it. It’s the first thing I always do, I sign the scorecard. I had a total brain fart. My husband was there, he said, it doesn’t matter, it’s not going to change our life.”
And, as Munoz pointed out, better last week than next week at the AIG Women’s British Open.
Scoring at the Scottish Open has been altered due to COVID-19 restrictions. Players typically keep track of another player’s score on the top line of a scorecard and tally their own at the bottom. This week it’s the opposite. Scorecards are not exchanged at the end of the round. Players instead sign their own scorecard and then a tournament official signs as the marker.
“I think it’s very safe,” said Munoz, “but you know, in Scotland, they are being very safe here and that’s why they are doing so good. They barely have any cases and they want to keep it that way.”
