Brittany Lincicome plans to return to the LPGA not far from her St. Petersburg, Florida, home.
Brittany Lincicome figures she’s thrown out the first pitch five times over the course of her LPGA career. In previous years, she’d go out to the mound at a baseball rehab facility to get in some practice, but given that she recently gave birth to her second child, she instead settled for a few warm-up tosses with the Tampa Bay Rays mascot before heading onto the field.
“The people here could care less if I bounce it or throw it in the stands,” said Lincicome. “But my friends are sending me memes of people who have done a bad job in the past.”
Leave it to good friends to bring the heat.
Lincicome, 36, threw it a little low on Sunday afternoon to open up play against the Rangers, but she’ll take it. The two-time major champion played baseball with the boys from ages 8-12 and then played softball her freshman year of high school. She could throw it far but ran slow. Her nickname back then was “turtle,” she said with a laugh.
Meanwhile, earlier today at the @RaysBaseball game, @Brittany1golf threw out the first pitch! Brittany played baseball as a kid and softball in high school. Said her nickname was “Turtle” because of her lack of speed🐢🤣 pic.twitter.com/C3DuSpdIIs
Lincicome’s whole family came out to the Rays game, including baby Sophia, born early August. Lincicome stopped playing in late June after the KPMG Women’s PGA, and plans to return to the tour not far from her St. Petersburg, Florida, home at the Pelican Women’s Championship Nov. 10-13 in Belleair.
Lincicome gave birth to her first child, Emery, in July 2019.
“Obviously, it’s going be very challenging with two,” said Lincicome, “but we’re going to play as long as I can. I don’t have any intention of retiring.”
Brittany Lincicome and her daughter Sophia at a Tampa Bay Rays game.
Lincicome typically travels with her parents, longtime owners of a local daycare. She said Emery will likely go to the LPGA’s daycare while Sophia rides around in a stroller for a bit to watch her play.
As for practice, Lincicome typically plays on Fridays and said she usually cards four to six birdies before she gets back to the clubhouse after 14 holes.
“Probably should throw in one more day,” said the eight-time winner.
Using a new left-hand low putting grip, Brooke Henderson earned her 11th LPGA victory.
Brooke Henderson took the clubhouse lead at 12 under Sunday after making a birdie on the 18th hole. A few minutes later, Lindsey Weaver-Wright joined her at 12 under after also making a birdie at the last, and that forced a playoff at the LPGA ShopRite Classic.
Golf fans watching on TV had to then scramble to a livestream after CBS cut out of its live TV coverage to pick up the final round of the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open.
On the first playoff hole, Henderson, showing she’s more comfortable with a new left-hand low putting grip, drained a six-footer to close out her 11th LPGA win with an eagle on the 18th hole.
Henderson made the grip change in the days leading up to the U.S. Women’s Open, where she finished tied for 15th at Pine Needles.
Seven days later, she capped off her week with a bogey-free, final-round 64 at Seaview Golf Club in Galloway, New Jersey. Henderson had five birdies and an eagle in regulation. Weaver-Wright, seeking her first LPGA win, had four birdies in her last six holes to force the extra golf session.
It’s Henderson’s 11th LPGA win and first since the 2021 Hugel-Air Premia LA Open. She now has at least one win in seven of her eight seasons on the LPGA.
The $262,500 first-place check pushes her career LPGA earnings over $9 million.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff eagled the 18th hole to get to 11 under and claim solo second. Lydia Ko and Albane Valenzuela tied for fourth at 10 under.
Brittany Lincicome, who is about six months pregnant, was in contention for most of the week but bogeys on Nos. 14 and 17 on Sunday damaged her chances. She finished tied for sixth at 9 under along with Alex Marina and Nasa Hataoka.
The defending champion of the ShopRite, Celine Boutier, finished tied for ninth at 8 under.
Next week, it’s the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Michigan, which will serve as the final tune-up for the third major on the LPGA’s 2022 schedule, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
“My husband and I both know that God has plan for us,” she said. “There’s a reason why it happened, even though we don’t see it now.”
Brittany Lincicome was getting ready to put daughter Emery down for a nap when she picked up the phone. They’d been at a neighbor’s pool party with the family dog Dexter. On Monday, she’ll fly to Las Vegas for the LPGA’s match play event at Shadow Creek, ready to get back to work.
Lincicome was supposed to be at the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill this week. Last Monday, her bags were packed, and her parents were set to drive her to the airport after a routine doctor’s visit at the 12-week mark of her pregnancy. The day prior, Lincicome had experienced light bleeding. She talked to her doctor and friends and everyone assured her it was probably fine.
The next morning, she began to have cramps every three minutes. Her husband, Dewald Gouws, decided to take off work to head to the appointment with her. They took two cars, with her parents following along for the airport run.
Lincicome, 35, had a miscarriage halfway to the door of her doctor’s office. Gouws ultimately rushed her to the emergency room to stop the bleeding. A heartbroken Lincicome posted about the loss on Instagram.
“My husband and I both know that God has plan for us,” she said. “There’s a reason why it happened, even though we don’t see it now.”
Lincicome was grateful that it didn’t happen when she was competing in Thailand and Singapore or on the long flight home. But then she also began to wonder if those trips had somehow caused the loss.
“I thought originally it was my fault,” she said. “Maybe the long flight did something. My doctor said, ‘There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent this. This is just your body saying something was wrong.’ ”
Lincicome wants to share her story in the hope that other women who have experienced such loss can take encouragement from the fact that they are not alone. That it wasn’t her fault, and it’s not theirs either.
Lincicome and Gouws first started trying to get pregnant after she won in the Bahamas in January 2018. She got the good news at her beloved ANA Inspiration, where she’s won twice. When the couple went in for their eight-week appointment in late April, the doctor delivered devastating news. There was no heartbeat.
The next morning at 5 a.m., Lincicome went in for surgery.
“It’s a thing you can bundle it all up and depression can hit you quickly,” she said of losing a child, “and you don’t know what’s happening.”
She’s grateful to have a strong and supportive husband and friends on tour and in her community who have checked in often and delivered meals. When Lincicome pulled out of Kingsmill, it brought Moriya Jutanugarn, a late entry into the tournament who was at the bottom of the alternate list, into the field. Jutanugarn held a share of the lead going into Sunday’s final round.
Lincicome loves match play because she can be more aggressive. She’s only played 13 holes in a cart since leaving the hospital, but said that physically, she thinks she’ll be fine, as long as she doesn’t push it.
“I feel like I just want to get back to normal again,” she said, “get back to my normal routine.”
Brittany Lincicome planned to be in Dallas this week, playing the LPGA’s Volunteers of America Classic. A positive COVID test changed that.
Brittany Lincicome and her husband were decorating their Christmas tree on Monday morning when she picked up the phone. As daughter Emery was already taste-testing the ornaments, she noted that decorations might need to stay on the top half of the tree this year.
Lincicome, 35, planned to be in Dallas this week, teeing it up in the Volunteers of America Classic and staying at the home of good friend Brittany Lang. Their young daughters were supposed to have a week-long playdate.
But, 2020 had other plans.
Lincicome took the LPGA’s pre-tournament test last Monday and the results, which she received on Wednesday, came back negative. But when her husband, Dewald Gouws began to lose his sense of taste and smell, the couple decided to get tested again on Thanksgiving morning. Lincicome’s second test came back positive, while Gouws’ test was negative.
They quarantined at the house for the rest of Thanksgiving and took another test on Friday. Once again, Lincicome’s results were positive; Gouws was still negative.
It wasn’t until Lincicome went to change Emery’s diaper that she realized that her sense of smell had vanished. She tried smelling vinegar, too.
Nothing.
“It kind of feels like allergies,” said Lincicome of her mild symptoms.
The two-time major winner is grateful that her 88-year-old grandmother told them not to come for their annual Thanksgiving trip to West Virginia. And while it’s tough to miss out on any LPGA event, the tour’s doctor said she should be cleared to fly to Texas for the final major of the year on Sunday.
As the family continues to quarantine at home, Lincicome wears a mask and avoids cuddles.
She plans to fly solo to Houston for next week’s U.S. Women’s Open, where she’ll learn the two courses at Champions Golf Club in three days. Lincicome has only once gone early to a USWO venue – the 2010 championship at Oakmont – and decided that the extra prep work only added more pressure. It’s the caddies, she said, who will have the real challenge.
“I’d probably rather see (a course) completely blind,” she said, “than see it too many times.”
Seven players and caddies tested positive ahead of the LPGA’s last event near Clearwater, Florida, the Pelican Women’s Championship, including Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn. Both are listed in this week’s field in Texas.
Since the LPGA and Symetra Tour started testing players in July, tour officials say that approximately 6,200 tests had been administered through the Pelican tournament, with 27 of those coming back positive. Of those 27 positive tests, 18 came during pre-tournament testing (before players left for the tournament).
In addition to pre-testing, players and caddies are also being tested on-site at the Volunteers of American Classic.
Brittany Lincicome took a share of the lead during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Fifteen-month-old Emery Reign ran around a golf course for the first time last Saturday. Lincicome missed the cut at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and drove 80 miles northwest to Aronimink Golf Club for an early practice round.
“She found it so fascinating to put the ball in the hole,” gushed her mother, Brittany Lincicome.
Emery Reign went home after that perfect round. She’s back in Florida with her father Dewald Gouws. Brittany FaceTimed with Emery on the way to the course. She was napping by the time Lincicome teed off.
Good vibes from that precious practice round continued into Thursday, where Lincicome opened with a 3-under 67 to take a share of the lead with Malaysia’s Kelly Tan.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays a shot from a bunker on the 13th hole during the first round of the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club (Photo by Andy Lyons/PGA of America via Getty Images)
Only a dozen players broke par on a cool and windy day. Inbee Park, who shot even par, predicted it would be the easiest day of the week. Lydia Ko, Danielle Kang, Carlota Ciganda and Gaby Lopez are among the six players who shot 2 under.
Lexi Thompson, Georgia Hall, Charley Hull and Hinako Shibuno are among those who are three shots back. Only one group was left on the course when play was suspended at 6:59 p.m. ET due to darkness.
Tan, opened the ANA Inspiration with a 68 and tied for 18th last week at the ShopRite, is still searching for her first victory on the LPGA. The 26-year-old, ranked 189th in the world, takes inspiration from recent first-time winners Sophia Popov and Mel Reid.
“Winning golf tournaments out here is life-changing,” said Tan. “Yeah, it’s very emotional even when I watched them win.”
Brittany Lincicome and daughter Brittany pose on the 17th hole at Aronimink (Photo courtesy of Brittany Lincicome)
For Lincicome, something clicked on Friday on the Jersey Shore. She got out of her own way on on Friday and went on a birdie barrage, playing more aggressively. She missed the cut by one but felt like she’d rediscovered a mindset she first learned with Vision54.
“Each week it’s just kind of been let’s make the cut, let’s make the cut,” said Lincicome, “and that’s not a way an eight-time winner should play golf.”
Lincicome, 35, was diagnosed with “Mommy Thumb” early in the season but now she’s not really sure what’s going on. She has seen a number of doctors throughout the course of the year and considered surgery until she tried a brace that keeps her left thumb from bending back too far.
“I hit some balls recently and it actually didn’t hurt too bad,” she said, “but I could feel if I had to play 18 holes without it, it would be like on fire by the end of the round, so we’re just going to wear it.”
On her last hole of the day, the par-5 ninth, Lincicome switched to a cross-handed grip and watched her ball drop after circling ’round the cup.
Lincicome never considered walking away from the game after giving birth to Emery last July. That being said, winning a tournament as a mom would be the “icing” on her career.
Stacy Lewis won for the first time as a mom in August at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open. Chesnee was home with her dad, Gerrod Chadwell, watching “Peppa Pig” on her iPad during most of mom’s round. They had a nice celebration when she returned.
Lincicome said her husband the TV on Thursday afternoon and showed Emery her mom in action.
Whoever jumps into Poppie’s Pond at the 49th edition of the ANA will relish the chance in the oppressive desert heat.
Sometimes when Brittany Lincicome makes her way down the Walk of Champions at the ANA Inspiration, she’ll glance down at the plaques below. Her name is listed twice there (2009, 2015). Sometimes she’ll look over at the 18th green and strategize her next shot. Sometimes she’ll look up and high-five the fans who are leaning over the railing.
The walk will be eerily quiet this year with no spectators on property. Lincicome joked that she might high-five the air on her walk by Poppie’s Pond.
“With fans there’s so much more adrenaline,” said Lincicome, “and you just feed off of their energy and smiles and support.”
The LPGA will have staged five tournaments, including a major, without fans before the tour gets to the Coachella Valley. But silence at the ANA, often referred to as the Masters of the LPGA because of its history on the same course and longstanding tradition, will be the strangest feeling yet.
Three years ago, the excitement at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course was palpable after Lexi Thompson received a four-stroke penalty on the back nine of the final round. Fans willed her around the course, chanting “Le-xi! Le-xi!” as she came to the final hole needing eagle to win the championship.
The atmosphere was even more spine-tingling in the playoff. And when it was over, as a defeated Thompson collapsed in her mother’s arms, a crowd of kids lined up outside the autograph tent to meet America’s best player.
None of that will happen this year. High-octane drama isn’t the same without people there to share it.
But in this COVID-19 era, the next-best things are often better than expected, certainly more appreciated.
Whoever jumps into Poppie’s Pond at the 49th edition of the ANA will relish the chance and happily slip on that white robe in the oppressive desert heat, because by today’s standards, it’s somewhat of a miracle that it’s happening at all.
Jin Young Ko jumps into Poppie’s Pond after winning the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (Photo: Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)
“It would still be sweet,” said Stacy Lewis, the 2011 champion, “doesn’t matter how many people are there.”
Lewis played the ANA as an amateur in 2007, finishing tied for fifth, and came back that summer to play in LPGA Q-School and described it as a totally different course.
Mission Hills also put in $3 million worth of changes over the summer. For starters, they’ve pulled out 100 large eucalyptus trees and trimmed all the remaining trees.
“Aesthetically the course is going to appear to be much more open to them than what it has in the past,” said Mission Hills general manager Michael Walker.
But while recovery shots might look more appealing, pulling them off might be a different story. The additional sunlight pouring through means the rough will be much thicker and deeper than in the past. And it will grow fast in the summer heat.
The club also has expanded some of the runoff areas in key locations: two par 3s (14th and 17th) and the par-5 18th. Balls that miss those greens are now more susceptible to rolling off into trouble.
Plus, the warm-weather Bermuda grass will present a completely different feel than the over-seeded rye that players see in the spring.
“I think it’s really going to start to favor the pickers verses the gougers,” Walker said.
Every bunker on the course has had work done, and five fairway bunkers were added.
And then there’s the heat. Temperatures in mid-September range somewhere between 90 and 105 degrees. Caddies will not be wearing the traditional white jumpsuits but instead have bibs.
The quiet will be noticeable with the lack of bodies. Players are allowed two preregistered guests on property, and surely there will be residents who live along the course watching from their patios. There are usually around 600 volunteers during tournament week, but with no pro-am and no spectators, that number is down to 150 this year.
While there won’t be any seats around the first tee or the 17th or 18th greens, there will be scaffolding and signage. That’s of particular interest for those who like to go for the green in two on the closing hole: There will still be something there to stop the ball.
As for scoreboards, there will be an electronic one on 18.
With so many events on the LPGA’s schedule falling off in 2020, the major championships became more paramount than ever. The added cost of COVID-19 protocols combined with a loss of revenue in ticket sales, pro-ams and corporate hospitality created an impossible situation for many.
“It was never a doubt that we were going to play this event,” said ANA executive director Teo Sodeman.
Lincicome got a quick mommy moment in with her now one-year-old daughter Emery at Pinnacle Country Club, just north of Fayetteville.
Brittany Lincicome got a little extra inspiration at the turn during Friday’s opening round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, presented by P&G.
After an even 36 on the front, Lincicome got a quick mommy moment in with her now one-year-old daughter Emery at Pinnacle Country Club, just north of Fayetteville.
She stopped and tickled Emery, who was waiting between holes with caretakers. The move worked as Lincicome went out and finished with a 1-under par 35 on the back nine. A trio is in the lead at 7 under.
Brittany Lincicome and Annika Sorenstam will be part of a Twitter Multicast featuring nine different coverage streams from Colonial.
As the PGA Tour gets back to business this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, two women who know what it’s like to compete on that stage will take part in bringing the action to fans.
Brittany Lincicome and Annika Sorenstam will be part of a first-of-its-kind Twitter Multicast that features nine different streams of coverage from the grounds at Colonial. Fans can listen to Lincicome and Sorenstam call the action and talk about their experiences playing against the men from 1-2:30 p.m. ET.
Sorenstam played at Colonial in 2003, and Lincicome became the sixth woman to compete in a PGA Tour event at the 2018 Barbasol Championship.
Mock-up of how the PGA Tour live feed will look tomorrow featuring Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lincicome (PGA Tour).
With no fans on site, the Tour is offering a new way for fans to engage by delivering nine different versions of the same video stream. Other guest commentators include Darius Rucker, Eddie Pepperell, David Leadbetter and Paige Spiranac.
Lincicome joined Golfweek on Instagram Live on Wednesday to chat about her experience competing against the men, the LPGA’s potential restart and her ongoing thumb injury.
“I’m super nervous, super excited,” Lincicome said of the broadcast. I originally thought it was live on TV and I was going to be shot-calling and all that good stuff. Come to find out it’s a Twitter live thing it’s a little less intense.”
Lincicome said she called fellow major winners Karen Stupples and Michelle Wie for broadcast tips. Wie, of course, competed on the PGA Tour on several occasions and has amped up her broadcast experience while at first out with an injury and then on maternity leave.
“I play with the guys around town all the time and I love it, but never obviously in a tournament,” said Lincicome. “That first tee shot (at Barbasol) was not fun. It was awful. My knees were shaking so bad. Once I was off the tee and I didn’t top it, I felt like some relief was kind of taken off of my shoulders.”
Lincicome and Sorenstam will cover all four featured groups during the livecast window, featuring the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Phil Mickelson.
Their stream will also be available on the LPGA’s twitter handle as well as the players’ personal handles.
LPGA star Brittany Lincicome should be competing at the ANA Inspiration. Instead, she’s at home with her daughter riding out COVID-19.
The“Stuck at Home With”series profiles players, caddies and staff in the women’s game who are making the most of an unprecedented break in tour life due to the coronavirus pandemic. New stories will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Bugs Bunny was on the TV when Brittany Lincicome answered the phone. These days she’d rather watch baby Emery’s shows than the news anyway.
“It’s always so negative,” she said.
This week, Lincicome should be at her favorite stop on the LPGA. If she ever moved away from her native Florida, it would be to Rancho Mirage, California, where the ANA Inspiration is held every spring. Lincicome dug out one of her champion robes from the closet and put it on at the request of an art-seeking writer. All week memories have been popping up on her phone in the time-hop app. The championships dinner would’ve been Monday night. Lincicome, of course, is a two-time winner.
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Round 1 would’ve started today.
Lincicome hasn’t had much time to think about what an ANA Inspiration in September might be like. If the championship is held without fans, she said LPGA photographer Gabe Roux might have to get a shot of her air high-fiving her way past the grandstand on the 18th green, as she did during a playoff against Stacy Lewis in 2015.
“Would our parents be able to go?” she wondered.
Just the thought of daughter, Emery, being able to come greet her on the 18th there – she’ll be walking by September – makes her heart flutter. If she won for a third time, maybe she’d wade into Poppie’s Pond, like Pat Hurst, with Emery in her arms.
Brittany Lincicome poses with daughter Emery in her ANA Inspiration robe. (Brittany Lincicome)
The coronavirus has given Lincicome, 34, the gift of added time with her first-born. Emery sat down in the family pool for the first time a couple of weeks ago wearing her tiny pink sunglasses and bucket hat. Lincicome is rather amazed by the fact that she never tries to take either of them off.
To save money, and perhaps kill time, Lincicome and her sister-in-law, Bianka, started making baby food at home. They’re pureeing everything from pears to squash.
“Come to find out it’s more expensive to make it than it is just to buy it,” she said.
Bianka has been staying with Lincicome and her husband, Dewald Gouws, for over a month now with travel back home to South Africa becoming more complicated due to the pandemic.
Lincicome has a cast on her arm for the next two weeks. She thought it was a case of Mommy Thumb, but is now unsure after her doctor said that usually a cortisone shot clears it up. She has seen two different specialists so far and was scheduled to see a third in Phoenix before the LPGA was postponed.
“I can play,” she said, “it just hurts like crazy.”
Not long ago, Lincicome went to nine different grocery stores in the span of one day looking for supplies for herself and her parents, who run a daycare. She worries about her how the coronavirus would impact her father, who has asthma and tree allergies.
With the meat department shelves so bare these days, the couple spend even more time on the water in Lincicome’s 24-foot Sheaffer boat, christened “Taking Relief” by a Twitter follower.
“When I was having it built years and years ago, I would go over every now and again,” said Lincicome, of the facility near the Tampa airport. “You could watch the process when it came out of the mold.”
These days they’ve been catching tripletail, red grouper, hog fish and a good deal of snapper. Fishing for supper is an ideal way to practice social distancing.
Brittany Lincicome holds the ANA Inspiration trophy after winning the tournament in a three hole playoff at Mission Hills CC – Dinah Shore Tournament Course. (Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports)
There are days Lincicome wonders if the LPGA will play at all in 2020. While she’s soaking up every second at home with Emery and her husband, she’s eager to get back to work. The next event on the LPGA schedule is about 40 minutes from her house in Belleair, Florida. At this point though, it’s hard to believe that the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship will take place in mid-May.
At the beginning of the year, Lincicome promised her husband that she wouldn’t play more than two weeks in a row with Emery on the road. That might prove difficult in the back half of 2020 with events piled on top of each other.
In an ideal world, Lincicome said, she’d like to have her second child in the fall of 2021.
Does her husband know about this plan?
“I’m not getting any younger,” she said, laughing, “so he’s got to get on board.”
After taking maternity leave in 2019, Lincicome wants to get back inside the ropes as much as possible before taking another family leave.
But for now, she’s doing her part to flatten the coronavirus curve, enjoying all the little things at home that travel takes away.
She certainly has the perfect robe for it.
This is the third in the Golfweek “Stuck at home with” series. Click here to read more.
Brittany Lincicome talks about the LPGA amid the coronavirus pandemic and how LPGA players balance life as a mom and professional athlete.
Welcome to episode 39 of Forward Press, the weekly Golfweek podcast.
In this week’s episode of the Forward Press, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with Brittany Lincicome about the LPGA amid the coronavirus pandemic, her love of fishing and how other players on the LPGA Tour balance life as mothers and professional athletes.
In each episode of Forward Press, you’ll get insight and commentary on all that is golf from David Dusek, Steve DiMeglio, Beth Ann Nichols, Eamon Lynch and Adam Schupak, as well as special guests throughout the industry.
