Tag: Dana Open

Linn Grant wins 2023 Dana Open for first LPGA victory

Grant started the final round with a six-shot lead.

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Linn Grant was on 59 Watch during Saturday’s third round of the LPGA’a Dana Open. While she fell short on becoming the second-ever LPGA golfer to do that, she did post an impressive 9-under 62, hitting 17 of 18 greens and needing just 27 putts to take a six-shot lead after 54 holes at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio.

That 62 matches the low score on the LPGA in 2023 but five-time winner on the Ladies European Tour was aiming higher, trying to become the sixth Rolex First-Time Winner on the LPGA.

Missy Farr-Kaye, Grant’s college coach at Arizona State, was certainly enjoying what she was watching and even texted the CBS broadcast booth to say that Linn “loves to win”.

Consider Grant now a winner on the LPGA.

The last two U.S. Women’s Open champs – Allisen Corpuz and Minjee Lee – tried to give chase during the final round but they were too far back to make a serious dent in Grant’s lead.

Corpuz birdied Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18 to get to 18 under and cut the lead to two just as Grant was teeing off on the 17th hole.

Grant, who opened with seven consecutive pars, made several par-saving putts on the back nine and closed with a statement birdie on the par-5 18th to seal the win in her 15th LPGA start. A final-round 68 got her to 21 under, three clear of the field.

“I feel like I was so blank today. I just really tried to kind of be in the moment without losing — I was playing well, but I was also scrambling a bit at the end there. So my plan was just try to keep it together without thinking too much about what could happen.”

2023 Dana Open
Linn Grant imitates a selfie as she poses with the trophy after winning the 2023 Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. (Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Corpuz was second at 18 under. Lindy Duncan was solo third at 15 under. Xiyu Lin and Stephanie Kyriacou tied for fourth at 14 under. Maria Fassi was sixth, her best finish since a tie for 15th back in February. Defending Dana Open champion Gaby Lopez finished 12 under, tied for sixth alongside Jaravee Boonchat, Aditi Ashok and Minjee Lee.

Mia Hammond, a 15-year-old amateur who made the cut after opening 68-68, shot 70-72 over the weekend and tied for 21st.

Grant earned $262,500 for the win, which now elevates her into a different conversation: making the European Solheim Cup team.

“It was a big goal coming into this year. Obviously, since I played well on the LET last year, I knew if I just continued to play my game I would be there in September. And I guess it’s even more clear now.”

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Annie Park leads, Rose Zhang misses first cut as pro at LPGA’s Dana Open

Zhang’s first three starts as a pro: Win, T-8 and T-9.

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Rose Zhang’s professional career got off to a fast start, winning the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in her first event. Three weeks later, the former Stanford star tied for eighth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. And last week at Pebble Beach, Zhang finished T-9 at the U.S. Women’s Open.

However, Zhang has now missed her first cut as a professional after rounds of 66-77 at the Dana Open at Highlands Meadow Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio.

“I will say that I’m a little more fatigued than I would like to be. I caught a cold, so my voice is not exactly the most normal right now. I will say that I had a nine-hour delay going from Phoenix, connecting flight to here. To Detroit actually. So it was a bit of a travel mess. I came in Tuesday morning at 3 a.m., so the practice rounds and the pro-am was a little bit shaky for me. I’m glad that I played a solid round, and hopefully, I can rest a little bit more,” Zhang said after her 5-under opening round.

Her tiredness caught up with her Friday, as she totaled six bogeys and no birdies for a Day 2 6-over 77.

Atop the leaderboard is Annie Park, who’s opened the tournament with rounds of 68-63 and leads at 11 under. U.S. Women’s Open champ Allisen Corpuz is tied for second at 9 under with 18-hole leader Linn Grant, who shot a second-round 69, and Jaravee Boonchant, who also shot a Friday 69.

This 15-year-old Monday qualifier made the cut in her first LPGA start

“I mean, it’s my first tournament, it’s the best experience, I’m just excited to be here.”

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On Monday, Mia Hammond was playing in a Monday qualifier, trying to get into her first LPGA event. By day’s end, she won that Monday qualifier and has plans for Thursday and Friday.

Come Friday afternoon, her weekend was booked: playing in the 2023 Dana Open.

Hammond shot consecutive rounds of 68 at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, to make the cut in her first LPGA start. The 15-year-old, who is not in the field at next week’s U.S. Girls’ Junior in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will play the weekend in a professional event instead.

“It’s so amazing, it’s honestly a dream come true,” Hammond said. “I’ve put in a lot of work over the winter and beginning of the season this year, and it’s so great to see it finally pay off. I had a few rough tournaments here and there so just so relieving.”

Not only will she make the cut, she walked off the course inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

A reminder: Hammond is 15, Monday qualified and is making her first professional start. Not bad.

“I would say for now I’m going to set a goal as top 20,” she said of her goals this weekend. “If it happens to be better than that, then that’s great. I’m just here for the experience more than anything else. Playing on the LPGA Tour is a dream of mine in the future. So just getting a feel for what it’s actually like to be out here is more important to me.”

Hammond has hit 28-of-36 greens and also missed only six of the 28 fairways. She’s averaging 265 yards off the tee.

Now, it’s time to prepare for the weekend.

“I’m just going to take it all in,” Hammond said. “Spend time with the people that are here, make the best of it. I mean, it’s my first tournament, it’s the best experience, I’m just excited to be here.”

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Linn Grant tied for lead, Rose Zhang only two shots back at LPGA’s Dana Open

Rose Zhang is lurking … again.

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Seeing Linn Grant at the top of a leaderboard should come as no surprise.

The 24-year-old from Sweden has hardly competed in the United States since earning her LPGA card in 2021 because of COVID-19 vaccination travel restrictions. She managed to keep her card by competing in events only held outside the U.S., recording four top-eight finishes in the span of six events.

In her latest starts this year, both at majors, she placed T-20 at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and T-53 at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. Now, she’s leading the way at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, for the 2023 Dana Open.

Grant opened with a 7-under 64 Thursday morning and is tied with Jaravee Boonchant for the lead after the opening round.

“I think coming off last week, playing at Pebble, it was a challenge,” Grant said. “I felt last week that I really hit the ball well and I was putting well. Obviously coming here, you know, easier conditions. That kind of just suited my mindset for the day. I just got on a roll.”

Ariya Jutanugarn and Emily Kristine Peterson each sit at 6 under, but guess who’s at 5 under?

That’s right, it’s Rose Zhang. The 20-year-old star is making her fourth professional start and coming off a T-9 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open, her worst finish thus far. A reminder, Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open in her debut and placed T-8 at the KPMG Women’s PGA.

This despite an arduous trek from the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

“I will say that I’m a little more fatigued than I would like to be. I caught a cold, so my voice is not exactly the most normal right now,” she said. “I will say that I had a nine-hour delay going from Phoenix, connecting flight to here. To Detroit actually. So it was a bit of a travel mess. I came in Tuesday morning at 3 a.m., so the practice rounds and the pro-am was a little bit shaky for me. I’m glad that I played a solid round, and hopefully I can rest a little bit more.”

Zhang is T-4, along with Bailey Tardy, Aditi Ashok and Linnea Johansson.

Late birdie tear lifts Mexico’s Gaby Lopez to third LPGA title at Dana Open

Gaby Lopez rehearsed hoisting a trophy the night before while emptying the dishwasher.

Gaby Lopez birdied the last three holes to finish the Dana Open in a fiery flourish. The 28-year-old Mexican got up and down from a greenside bunker with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to close with a 63 and earn her third career LPGA title.

Actually, she had rehearsed for this very moment the night before while emptying the dishwasher at the home of her host family. There was a vase on the rack that looked similar to this week’s trophy, and after someone suggested that she practice, Lopez hoisted it high.

“That’s when the mind gets really, really interesting,” said Lopez. “When you see yourself a little bit where you want to be and you see yourself ahead, it doesn’t come as a surprise as much probably.

“So, yeah, the power of mind is pretty much everything in this game.”

2022 Dana Open
Gaby Lopez kisses the trophy after winning the 2022 Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Lopez, who last won on the LPGA in 2020, was bogey-free on a damp Sunday at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, to finish at 18 under for the tournament and hold off a host of hungry players including 19-year-old Lucy Li, Megan Khang and defending champion Nasa Hataoka. Lopez birdied the last three holes on Saturday, too, to shoot 66 and head into the final round four strokes back.

Lopez has battled two injuries this season and hadn’t cracked the top 10 since the first tournament of the year when she finished solo third at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

“Honestly, I was very surprised how the year has been,” she said, “because I have hit it the best I’ve ever hit it in my life through this year, but I just couldn’t connect it.

“I was struggling sometimes on my driver and sometimes on my putting and sometimes on my iron shots, but I felt that I was hitting it really, really close the last couple months, and I was very, very frustrated that I couldn’t connect it.”

Lopez has worked with Steven Yellin and the Fluid Motion Factor for eight years, and said Yellin came to Sylvania for three days this week. Together they worked to reset the mind. The goal, she said, was to create more quiet space during the round and “get rid of all the drama.”

Yellin often talks to Lopez about “staying on the couch,” and she explained the meaning of the mantra after the win.

“Well, he has to tell you better than I can tell you,” she said, “but basically if you stay on the couch and you don’t get ahead of yourself, then everything comes to you and you don’t have to chase anything.

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“So it’s pretty much letting everything come, staying comfortable, sitting instead of going and rushing everything.”

Lopez and World Golf Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa are the only Mexicans to win on the LPGA. The former Arkansas standout has now crossed the $3 million mark in career earnings. She earned $262,500 for her Dana Open victory.

Li found herself leading an LPGA event for the first time this week and closed with a 70 while playing in the final group. The former prodigy had already shored up LPGA status for the 2023 season thanks to two victories on the Epson Tour and played her way into the Dana by finishing in the top 10 at last week’s CP Women’s Open in Canada. The LPGA recently changed the rules to allow non-members to earn a spot in the next week’s event.

Li’s T-4 finish in Sylvania also earned her a spot in next week’s field at the new Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.

2022 Dana Open
Gaby Lopez and Megan Khang embrace on the 18th green after their final round at the 2022 Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Khang, who has yet to win on the LPGA in seven seasons, posted her best finish of the season, a solo second, thanks to a final-round 64 that included a 29 on the front nine.

“A lot of mixed feelings,” said Khang, “but I gave myself chances, and just going to take what I learned from this week and carry on for my career.”

Sarah Schmelzel finished in the top 10 for a second straight week, shooting 65-66 over the weekend to finish at 15 under alongside rookie Ruoning Yin and Li.

Lexi Thompson entered the final round one stroke back but closed with a 2-over 73 in which she made bogeys on Nos. 15-17 before closing with her first birdie of the day on the par-5 18th. The American star has yet to win on the LPGA since 2019. No other player in the top 40 shot over par on Sunday.

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Lucy Li takes share of fourth at LPGA’s Dana Open, plays her way into next event in Cincinnati thanks to rule change

Lucy Li didn’t win this week in Ohio, but she did play her way into another event LPGA event.

Lucy Li didn’t win in Ohio, but she did play her way into another LPGA event three and a half hours south in Cincinnati.

Li, 19, held the lead at an LPGA event for the first time over the weekend at the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio, and played in the last group at Highland Meadows Golf Club. A closing 70 dropped her into a share of fourth, three strokes back of winner Gaby Lopez.

“It was exciting,” said Li. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, which was good.”

The former prodigy made headlines in 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2 when she became the youngest to ever qualify for a U.S. Women’s Open at age 11. A two-time winner on the Epson Tour this season, Li leads the developmental circuit in scoring, money and is second in greens in regulation. She has already shored up LPGA status for the 2023 season.

The LPGA recently changed a rule to now allow non-members who finish in the top 10 in designated events to tee it up the next week. The PGA Tour has a similar rule.

Previously, the LPGA only held two spots for top-10 finishers who were members.

Li competed in last week’s CP Women’s Open in Canada on a sponsor exemption, and her top-10 performance there got her into the field at the Dana Open. She played only one practice round at Highland Meadows before getting right into the mix.

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She’ll next head to Cincy for the inaugural Kroger Queen City Championship. After that, she’s in the field in Portland on a sponsor exemption.

“There is lots of lessons to be learned,” said Li, “but today I hit it good and I just couldn’t get a lot of the putts to fall honestly.

“Like, I mean, I hit it close, but my putts, they were breaking a lot. So that’s just how it goes sometimes.”

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19-year-old Lucy Li fist pumps her way to 54-hole lead at Dana Open

Li has won twice on the Epson Tour this year and locked up her 2023 LPGA card.

Lucy Li wouldn’t be the youngest player to ever win on the LPGA, but if she goes on to win the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, it’d be one of the great accomplishments in the tour’s history.

Li birdied the 17th hole Saturday to regain the solo lead over Lexi Thompson and will enter the final round one ahead of the woman who owns the honor of the second-youngest player to win on the LPGA. Thompson won the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic when she was 16 years, 7 months and 8 days old.

Lydia Ko is the youngest player to win, as she won the 2012 Canadian Women’s Open at 15 years, 4 months and 3 days.

The 19-year-old used a second-round 7-under 64 to jump to the top of the leaderboard and followed it up with a Saturday 67. She was 2 over through seven holes but cashed in six birdies in her last 11.

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She has won twice on the Epson Tour this year and locked up her 2023 LPGA card.

Ko had the round of the day, using seven birdies and an eagle to shoot a 7-under 64 and sits 11 under for the event and tied for fourth. She’s tied with six others at that mark including Sei Young Kim, Leona Maguire and Nasa Hataoka.

Dana Open: Leaderboard

Brooke Henderson is 10 under, tied for 11th through three rounds, while Madelene Sagstrom is 9 under, T-16.

Lucy Li, 19, leads Dana Open, eyes first LPGA victory

The 19-year-old has her sights set on her biggest accomplishment to date.

She has two wins on the Epson Tour this year, which locked up her 2023 LPGA card.

Now Lucy Li has her sights set on her biggest accomplishment to date.

Li, 19, shot a 7-under 64 Friday at Highland Meadows Golf Club to get to 10 under and a two-shot lead after 36 holes in Sylvania, Ohio, the Dana Open.

She burst onto the golf scene in 2014 when she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 11. She turned professional at age 17, and has played the last three seasons on the Epson Tour.

Carlota Ciganda and Ruoning Yin each fired 69s and are tied for second at 8 under, two shots back.

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A year ago, the tournament known as the Marathon LPGA Classic was shortened to 54 holes to due heavy rain which made the course unplayable. Nasa Hataoka was up six shots after three rounds and was named the winner. On Friday, Hataoka shot a 66 and is in a five-way tie for fourth along with Lexi Thompson.

Two new moms were playing this week. Azahara Munoz shot a 69 to make the cut on the number at 1 under. Paula Creamer also shot a Friday 69 but it wasn’t enough to overcome her first-round 77. She finished 4 over.

Paula Creamer and Azahara Munoz return to the LPGA as new moms at Dana Open

“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.”

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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Meet 14-year-old Gianna Clemente, who has Monday-qualified for the last two LPGA events

It’s Gianna Clemente’s second time in as many weeks to Monday qualify.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Lexi Thompson signed a glove for Gianna Clemente not far from where the 14-year-old stood on the first tee at Highland Meadows Golf Club on Tuesday giving an interview. From ages 5 to 10, Clemente and her family made the three-hour trek from Warren, Ohio, to Sylvania to watch what’s now known as the Dana Open.

“A lot of people still think I have the attitude of Lexi,” said Clemente, “really feisty, really serious at times. I literally wanted to watch Lexi for 18 holes, that was me as a kid.”

Clemente, a high school freshman who was runner-up at the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior, played in her first LPGA Monday Qualifier last week in Canada and earned a spot in the CP Women’s Open field for her first LPGA start. Incredibly, she Monday-qualified again for this week’s Dana Open, bouncing back from a late double with two birdies to shoot 3-under 69 and win the qualifier.

“I saw Lexi in the locker room in Canada,” said Clemente, “and I was just way too scared to go up and say hi.”

She played a practice round with Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis and Cristie Kerr and hit balls next to World No. 1 Jin Young Ko. (“I was like oh, oh my goodness.”) Clemente shot 69-74 to miss the cut in Ottawa.

“Just seeing everybody inside the ropes, Nelly and Lexi, all the big names you see on TV,” she said. “To be inside the ropes and playing, that was surreal.”

Mostly though, Clemente seems relatively at ease in the professional environment. Certainly when it comes to the media.

“I’ve always loved the cameras and attention,” she said.

Clemente was given an exemption to compete in the Monday qualifier for next week’s new Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, as well. Amateurs must apply for an exemption to participate in LPGA local qualifiers.

Patrick Clemente, a former collegiate player at Youngstown State, gave his daughter her first set of plastic clubs when she was 18 months old. She played in her first tournament at age 5. The Clementes live on a golf course, Avalon Lakes, in Warren.

“At about 9, 10 as crazy as that sounds,” said Patrick, “you could see this is what she wanted to do.”

Gianna has done online schooling since the fourth grade, and at age 11, she became the third-youngest player to qualify for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly. Only Lucy Li (10 years, 10 months, 4 days) and Latanna Stone (10 years, 11 months and 2 days) were younger.

Patrick, VP of sales for a manufacturing company, is on the bag most weeks. Both father and daughter typically have homework left to do once they leave the course.

“We’re seeing a little bit of overdue marks on my assignments right now,” said Gianna. “It’s OK. I’m going to do it later when I get back to the hotel.”

Next month, Gianna heads to the Amundi Evian Juniors Cup in France. She’ll also try to defend her title at AJGA’s Ping Invitational at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

As for turning professional early, Gianna said she can’t yet talk to college coaches but isn’t ruling anything out.

“For now, I do want to go to college,” she said. “But we’ll see what happens. I still have a lot of time.”

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