Tag: Highland Meadows Golf Club

Sophia Popov, the first woman to win a major at Royal Troon, reminisces on a Cinderella run that began in Ohio

With the men’s British Open at Royal Troon this week, Popov DVR’d the action.

Four years ago, Sophia Popov tied for ninth at the Dana Open (then the Marathon LPGA Classic) and kickstarted a chain of events that changed her life. The top-10 finish in Sylvania, Ohio, qualified her for the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon, where she shocked the world by becoming the first woman to hoist a major championship trophy at the historic club.

Popov, who didn’t even have LPGA status at the time, was ranked 304th in the world when she took the title in the midst of a global pandemic.

At this week’s Dana Open, 31-year-old Popov, now an LPGA mom, opened with a 1-under 70 at Highland Meadows Golf Club to trail co-leaders Paula Reto and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap by four.

With the men’s British Open back at Royal Troon, Popov DVR’d the action and looked forward to watching what she missed Thursday afternoon with her feet up in Ohio.

“When I had my membership induction and they gave me my locker, it was all pretty real at that point,” said Popov of making history at Troon. “Just to see that I’m the only woman in the lockerroom, it’s very, very cool. I think that’s why that place will always have a special place in my heart. No one can ever take that away.”

Sophia Popov
Sophia Popov holds up the trophy after winning the 2020 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon. (R&A via Getty Images)

With no grandstands and no fans to wave to as Popov came up the 18th fairway at Royal Troon with a three-shot lead, she turned to her caddie, then boyfriend now husband Maximilian Mehles, and told him that the calming seaside views reminded her of a scene from “Lord of the Rings.”

The fact that Popov got into the event at all was the longest of long shots. In July 2020, the former USC player traveled to Toledo to caddie for good friend Anne van Dam at the Inverness Club in the tour’s first event back after the pandemic started.

Popov got into the next week’s field, the Marathon, because the tour filled out the field with Symetra Tour players after COVID-19 kept many international players from coming over. She and van Dam shared a pull cart that week because caddies weren’t mandatory.

“I kind of felt like back in the junior days or a college event,” she recalled. “I enjoyed it so much. I honestly didn’t even know it was a qualifier at the time.”

The winner of this week’s Dana Open will qualify for the AIG Women’s British Open at St. Andrews, Aug. 22-25. In addition, the top 25 players not already exempt from the 2024 LPGA Race to CME Globe Points List as of Monday will get into the field.

As a past champion, Popov will be able to compete in the British Open until the age of 60.

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.

Nasa Hataoka maintains lead at Marathon LPGA Classic with second-round 69

After 13 holes, Nasa Hataoka was 2 over in her Friday round but then she caught fire, making four birdies in a row.

Nasa Hataoka opened her week at the Marathon LPGA Classic with a blistering 61, and after posting a 2-under 69 on Friday, she takes a two-shot lead into the weekend at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio.

It was slow going in her second round. She bogeyed her opening hole, and when she later bogeyed the 13th, she found herself 2 over for the day. But she got things going with four straight birdies on Nos. 14, 15, 16 and 17 before closing with a par.

Hataoka is the winner of three events on the LPGA, most recently the 2019 Kia Classic. In June, Hataoka lost in a playoff to Yuka Saso at the Olympic Club in the U.S. Women’s Open.

Mina Harigae shot her second-straight 5-under 66 and moved to solo second at 10 under. Alison Lee and Elizabeth Szokol also shot 66s and were tied for third at 9 under. Esther Henseleit had the best score Friday with a 7-under 64 and was tied for fifth with Jennifer Kupcho, Gerina Piller, Chella Choi and Lauren Stephenson.

Among those who missed the cut were Sophia Popov. A year ago she used a pull cart and finished in a tie for ninth in this event as a member of the Symetra Tour. That got her into the AIG Women’s Open, which she won as the 304th-ranked player in the world.

Amateurs Rachel Heck and Kennedy Swann, who battled for the NCAA title in Arizona in May, also missed the cut.

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