Tag: Hinako Shibuno

Notable players missing from this week’s CME Group Tour Championship field

There’s still plenty of talk about who didn’t make the field in Naples, Florida.

NAPLES, Fla. — While nine players are making their debut at this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, there’s still plenty of talk about who didn’t make the field.

Throughout the season, players earn points toward the Race to CME Globe, which is used not only to determine the field at Tiburon Golf Club but also to determine what kind of status – if any – players have for the next season.

The top 60 players and ties after The Annika driven by Gainbridge event qualified for the Tour Championship, which features a $7 million purse and $2 million payout to the winner.

HOW TO WATCH: 2023 CME Group Tour Championship

Here’s a list of notable names whose seasons have ended early:

Hinako Shibuno still smiling as she leads Women’s Scottish Open

The 24-year-old from Japan famously earned the nickname “the Smiling Cinderella.”

Golfers can often display the kind of inscrutable countenance that would make the fizzog of the Sphinx of Giza look positively animated.

Not so, Hinako Shibuno. With a constant, glowing beam you tend to get with a LED bulb, the 24-year-old from Japan famously earned the nickname “the Smiling Cinderella” during her giggling, grinning march to glory in the AIG Women’s Open at Woburn in 2019.

Here at the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, Shibuno was still smiling. She had every reason to be, of course. A delightfully assembled 8-under 64 on a largely bright and increasingly breezy Ayrshire day thrust her into a two-shot lead over Madelene Sagstrom. Local tour rookie Louise Duncan, meanwhile, was the pick of the Scots on one-under after a spirited late rally.

Shibuno’s smile may remain but it seems the twinkling moniker has gone. “Nobody calls me the Smiling Cinderella anymore,” said Shibuno with something of a wistful, well, smile.

Presumably, the fickle fans in Japan, who tend to shower successful female golfers with the adulation you would get during a ticker-tape parade, have focussed their affections on someone else. Shibuno has not won since that wonder of Woburn while a niggling finger injury has hindered her progress. Living with the expectation that comes with being a major champion in her golf-mad homeland adds another layer of professional pressure.

The Smiling Cinderella may be no more but there is a new nickname. “Lydia Ko called me the Assassin once which I like better than Smiling Cinderella,” added Shibuno. She certainly had her sights fixed on Dundonald yesterday.

Before the wind started to really get going, Shibuno made hay while the sun keeked through some light clouds. Starting on the 10th, Shibuno made an early statement of intent with a birdie on her first hole then bolstered her assault with four birdies on the spin from the 13th. “I surprised myself with four in a row,” she said of that profitable push. Shibuno then finished with a flourish, picking up birdies at three of her last four holes to streak away from the field.

Shibuno missed the halfway cut in last year’s championship here. “The course looked different this time, a little wider,” she noted. It’s amazing what eight birdies can do to the outlook eh?

The sprightly standard Shibuno set was going to be a hard act to follow. Sagstrom gave it a good go and the Swedish Solheim Cup player got herself motoring with three birdies in a row from her 10th tee start. It was an impressive round of poise and patience for a 30-year-old who has taken time to figure out the quirks, curiosities and occasional absurdities of the links game. The fact she has finished fourth and second in the last two AIG Women’s Opens at Muirfield and Carnoustie shows that she is finally getting to grips with it.

“As an amateur, I hated coming to Scotland,” she said of her initial relationship with golf by the seaside. “But my caddie is Irish and over the last couple of years we’ve been really working on it. I’m much more creative on the course and he has helped me see different shots. It’s a journey.”

On the home front, meanwhile, Duncan harnessed the growing gusts to fine effect and was justifiably chipper with her battling 71. The 23-year-old from West Kilbride, who made her professional debut in this event last summer, made an early stumble with a bogey on the first but she remained resolute. “A year ago, I may have squirmed at that, but I managed to hold it together,” said the former Women’s Amateur champion.

Duncan’s finish underlined her sense of purpose. She cracked a 3-iron into 10 feet on the 15th to set up a birdie and, despite a bogey on 16, a brace of sturdy birdies to finish at 17 and 18 stirred the local galleries and a strong contingent of watching family members.

“It wasn’t easy out there, the greens were faster than the practice days and the wind was brutal,” added Duncan of the exacting nature of the test.

Gemma Dryburgh, the Scottish No 1, ignited her day by holing a greenside bunker shot for birdie on the 15th to dip under par. A couple of loose drives at 17 and 18, though, brought her back down to earth and the 30-year-old had to settle for a one-over 73 after a bogey, bogey finish.

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Hinako Shibuno, golf’s ‘Smiling Cinderella,’ opens with sparkling 65 at Muirfield on historic day at AIG Women’s British Open

Hinako Shibuno enjoyed a fairytale start at the AIG Women’s British Open, shooting a 65 at historic Muirfield.

Hinako Shibuno, a player known as the Smiling Cinderella, enjoyed a fairytale start at the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open. The Japanese superstar birdied the first three holes en route to a 6-under 65 at historic Muirfield, where the best female professionals are competing for the first time.

Shibuno told media after the round that her goal for the week was to be friends with the wind. The 2019 Women’s Open champion won her major at Woburn, a parkland course in England, in her first time competing outside of her native Japan. The next year Shibuno got her first taste of Scottish links golf in back-to-back weeks.

“Two years ago, when we were playing at the Royal Troon,” she said, “the wind completely overtook my shots. I wasn’t thinking about how to use this to my advantage. However, this tournament I could adapt my style to the elements. I imagined my swing, if the wind was coming from the right, I could play by feel how far from the pin I needed to aim for.”

Shibuno, 23, holds a one-shot lead over American Jessica Korda, who has borrowed clothes all week thanks to lost luggage. Korda, one of the best players on tour without a major title, finished a career-best runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho earlier this year at the Chevron Championship.

Even Shibuno said she was slightly “frightened” by how well she played in the opening round, give her recent form. She has three missed cuts and a withdrawal in her last four starts on the LPGA. Shibuno credited Thursday’s fine performance to her caddie, who suggested a slight adjustment in her balance on the greens.

2022 AIG Women's Open
Catriona Matthew, Louise Duncan and Sophia Schubert interact on the 18th green following their round during Day One of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 04, 2022 in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

Louise Duncan, the 22-year-old Scot who finished 10th last year at Carnoustie and made her professional debut last week at the Trust Golf Scottish Open, carded a 67 to share third with Mexico’s Gaby Lopez.

“Sounds weird but I breathed quite well today,” said Duncan, who has learned new techniques from her caddie and coach Dean Robertson, a former DP World Tour winner.

“Just try to keep it relaxed. I get a bit uptight. Because I want to hold it so badly.”

Duncan teed off in the first group with fellow Scot Catriona Matthew, who hit the historic first tee shot at 6:30 a.m.

Muirfield has played hosted to 16 men’s British Opens, and a young Matthew picked up trash and worked as a walking scorer at several of the championships near her North Berwick home growing up.

Unfortunately, double-bogeys on Nos. 1 and 10 kept the local legend from getting in the mix after an opening 76.

“It was out there I think for the taking this morning,” said Matthew. “Even though it was wet for our first few, the wind is certainly less than it’s been the last two days.”

The top three players in the world were grouped together and had mixed results: Jin Young Ko (76), Minjee Lee (68) and Nelly Korda (70).

Canada’s Brooke Henderson, winner of the recent Amundi Evian Championship, bogeyed the last hole to shoot 70. Earlier in the week she called Muirfield her favorite links course yet.

“I was so soaked after my warmup,” said Henderson, “but was really happy when the sun came out and definitely made a difference in the temperature, too. Very windy and the scores are showing that it’s tough.”

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Meet each of the 46 players who earned LPGA cards at Q-Series for 2022

Get to know the players who earned status for 2022.

A total of 29 players earned LPGA status for the first time following an eight-round grind at Q-Series over the last two weeks. Winner Na Rin An was among them, carding Sunday’s lowest-round, 6-under 66, to finish at 33 under.

In all, 46 players left Dothan, Alabama with LPGA status. Among the high-ranking elites was a major winner in Hinako Shibuno and a hotshot from Thailand, Atthaya Thitikul, who dominated in Europe this season, and a couple of sisters from Taiwan. A total of four amateurs earned LPGA status for 2022, should they accept.

Here’s a closer look at the 46 who earned their LPGA cards for 2022.

Japan’s Hinako Shibuno’s Olympic hopes sunk after a watery 10 on No. 17 at KPMG Women’s PGA

Hinako Shibuno missed making Japan’s Olympic team after disaster struck on the 17th hole at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Hinako Shibuno, the player known as the Smiling Cinderella who won the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open, came into the KPMG Women’s PGA ranked No. 31 in the world, the fourth-highest ranked Japanese player behind Nasa Hataoka (11), Mone Inami (25) and Ayaka Furue (28).

A strong finish at the year’s third major could’ve vaulted Shibuno into that second spot. Countries can send up to two players when ranked outside the top 15.

After Shibuno’s caddie tested positive for COVID-19 in a pre-travel test on Friday, she picked up a local looper for the third round. Her manager and trainer were unable to accompany her on the course on Saturday due to COVID protocols.

On the par-3 17th, Shibuno, doing her own yardages due to the language barrier, grossly miscalculated and hit four shots into the water, recording a 10 with a one-putt. She finished with a 76 and broke down in a heap of sobs after the round, knowing that her Olympic chances were somewhere at the bottom of that penalty area.

“I was very devastated,” Shibuno toId Japanese reporters after the round. “I did not realize my miscalculation from the drop area until I got on the green, but I am proud of myself that I could re-focus from 18th until the end.”

Shibuno had to get tested for COVID-19 before every round and on Sunday, only had time for a 30-minute warm-up before heading to the tee.

She came back with a flourish, recording four birdies in the first six holes and was proud to get revenge on the 17th with a par. Shibuno shot 67 on Sunday to finish in 40th place. She remained No. 31 in the Rolex Rankings, four places behind Inami. Furue sits at No. 29.

“When the Olympics had been postponed,” said Shibuno, “my goal changed to playing the LPGA tour rather than the Olympics.

“I am still very disappointed not to play there, but I did my best and I wish Nasa, and Mr. Matsuyama and Hoshino all the best and looking forward to watching them on TV.”

Shibuno turned down the LPGA exemption that came with winning a major in 2019. After the KPMG, she headed back to Japan for three tournaments on the JLPGA and will then travel to Scotland for the AIG Women’s British Open.

In November, she’ll head to Alabama to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail for LPGA Q-Series in an effort to earn her card for a second time.

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Hinako Shibuno plays on at KPMG Women’s PGA after caddie returns positive COVID test

Hinako Shibuno heads into the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA with a different caddie after Keisuke Fujino returned a positive COVID-19 test

Hinako Shibuno heads into the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA with a different caddie after Keisuke Fujino returned a positive COVID-19 test. Fujino took the test in preparation for the trip back to Japan.

“He does not have any symptoms and has taken a PCR test, which was negative,” Shibuno said in a statement. “I do not have any symptoms and will play today under the LPGA’s guidelines. I will do my best and focus on my game, even with this difficult situation.”

Shibuno, the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open champion, made the cut on the number at 2 over after rounds of 76-70 at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course. She now has Yusuf Wazeeruddin on her bag for Round 3.

The PGA of America said in a statement that per championship protocols, if a caddie tests positive, his/her player may continue to play under the direction of the LPGA’s medical director with daily testing.

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U.S. Women’s Open: No shortage of mud balls at soggy Cypress Creek, where a ‘Cinderella’ still leads

There were no shortage of mud balls on a soggy Saturday at Cypress Creek, where a ‘Cinderella’ still leads the U.S. Women’s Open.

HOUSTON – The USGA has never played the ball up. Not once in 125 years. And that wasn’t going to change for the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open, no matter how much mud caked on golf balls at soggy Champions Golf Club.

2020 is an extraordinary year by every measure. But still not crazy enough to play lift, clean and place at a USGA major.

“There were about 18 of them,” said Amy Olson, when asked about her mud ball count. “I mean, at one point I laughed and it was like, is it going to be in a divot or a mud ball, because it was one or the other pretty much all day. So I’m really hoping that we either do lift, clean and place or it’s so wet tomorrow that the water just pulls the mud off, I don’t know.”

Olson trails Japan’s Hinako Shibuno by a single stroke heading into the final round of the 75thU.S. Women’s Open. The Smiling Cinderella led by three heading into the weekend but saw that advantage shrink considerably after a 3-over 74 at Cypress Creek.

“I myself was very nervous,” she admitted.

U.S. Women’s Open: Leaderboard | Photos

Shibuno shocked the golf world last year when she won the AIG Women’s British Open. While she’s still not yet a member of the LPGA (she declined membership), Shibuno has the chance to join Se Ri Pak and In Gee Chun as the only players in history to win majors as their first two LPGA titles.

A bogey on the 18th, however, brought a host of big names back into the mix for Sunday. Six players have come from as far back as five strokes to win this championship.

The group at 1 over includes current No. 1 Jin Young Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn,  Sei Young Kim, and Cristie Kerr.

Ji Yeong Kim2 teed off in the last group on No. 10 on Saturday and managed to play her way into the penultimate group on Sunday off the first hole thanks to a bogey-free 67.  The 24-year-old Korean LPGA player is making her USWO debut this week. Kim2’s 67 was the best score of the day by three shots. South Korea’s Hae Ran Ryu was the only other player (70) to break par.

“I really didn’t expect to be performing so well,” said Kim2 through an interpreter, “and I’m just glad to be here.”

A late-round double-bogey moved Moriya Jutanugarn down to a share of third, three strokes back. Moriya played alongside her younger sister, 2018 USWO champion Ariya, in the third round.

“Every time after I hit my tee shot,” said Ariya, “I look back, she like 30 behind, but she hit closer. And then when I hit on the green, she make the putt and I miss the putt. So it’s kind of made me feel like I have to work on a lot of things, I have to improve my game after I play with her.”

Only three players managed to stay under par through three rounds. Former No. 1 Lydia Ko is among those at even par, along with young rookie hotshot Yealimi Noh, who played the final group last week at the LPGA stop in Dallas, Megan Khang and Texas amateur Kaitlyn Papp.

“I was talking to (caddie) Les (Luark),” said Ko, “and we had some (mud) on one shot on No. 2 and it’s like, ‘Do I need to aim like on the next tee box for it to like move?’ Because it’s really hard … it’s not like there’s an exact science – or maybe there is, I just don’t know that I guess equation on how to factor mud balls.”

Inbee Park said she hit 3-wood seven or eight times into the greens, and nearly every single shot she dealt with a muddy ball.

The USGA moved tee times up for Sunday with more rain in the forecast. The final group goes off at 9:35 a.m. local time. Kerr, the 2007 champion, felt the course played fair on Saturday despite the conditions.

“Doubt USGA will play it up,” she said, “but they should consider it. It’s pretty muddy out there.”

Cypress Creek played to a 74.697 scoring average in the third round, more than a full stroke higher than Friday’s round.

Stacy Lewis’ bid to win a major in her hometown seemingly went up in smoke when she triple-bogeyed the par-4 14th after finding the hazard. A 6-over 77 dropped her to eight back of the lead.

Shibuno said she needed time to adjust to the overnight celebrity status she enjoyed after that first major championship victory. From the outside, at least, she looks comfortable being back in control at a major.

“Just recently I was able to get rid of my shell, so to speak,” she said, “so that I can be myself again.”

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Hinako Shibuno, Japan’s ‘Smiling Cinderella,’ commands three-shot lead at U.S. Women’s Open

The woman known as the “Smiling Cinderella” once again finds herself atop the board at a major, this time in her U.S. Women’s Open debut.

HOUSTON – Even with a mask on in her native Japan, Hinako Shibuno can’t go far without getting recognized. Her life quite literally changed overnight in the summer of 2019 when she won the AIG Women’s British Open while competing in her first LPGA major. It was, in fact, her first time playing anywhere outside of Japan, and she captured the hearts of British fans with her captivating smile and refreshingly quick pace-of-play.

“I turned from a normal person to a celebrity overnight,” said Shibuno, through an interpreter, of how life changed after that maiden victory.

The woman known as the “Smiling Cinderella” once again finds herself atop the board at a major, this time in her U.S. Women’s Open debut. The 22-year-old carded a 4-under 67 over the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club to move to 7-under 135 and take a three-shot lead over amateur Linn Grant of Sweden.

There are actually two amateurs in the top three in Texas, including Longhorn standout Kaitlyn Papp, who is among a trio at 3 under, four shots back. Papp birdied three of her last five holes take a share of third with Amy Olson and Megan Khang, two American LPGA vets still trying to win for the first time.

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While the board is peppered with names who’ve never hoisted a trophy at this level, three former No. 1s lurk five shots back: Cristie Kerr (69), Stacy Lewis (68) and Ariya Jutanugarn (70).

Lewis, of course, is a member at Champions and is sleeping in her own bed this week about 40 minutes away. The two-time major champion looks and sounds especially relaxed playing a hometown major.

“I just know how hard these golf courses play,” said Lewis of keeping her patience early on. “I know that you can’t make big numbers. That’s really what I’ve avoided so far this week is the big numbers.”

Going home at night to spend time with daughter Chesnee and husband Gerrod Chadwell also helps to take her mind off what’s at stake this week.

“I go home and I’m thinking about Christmas presents I need to buy for which people and what deliveries came today,” she said.

“It just has a different feel for me this year. Doesn’t necessarily feel like a U.S. Open.”

USWO: Leaderboard | Photos

Kerr’s ascent up the board comes as surprise given how uncertain it looked at the start of the week that she would even play. A golf cart accident last Friday at the LPGA stop in Dallas left the 20-time winner battered and bruised. The 2007 USWO champ fought through to a 69 on Friday at Cypress Creek and sits in a prime position to contend for a third major.

The Jutanugarn sisters ­– Ariya and Moriya – find themselves in a share of sixth. The Thai stars missed an LPGA stop in Florida last month after testing positive for COVID-19. The Jutanugarns are two of seven sets of sisters to have competed in the same U.S. Women’s Open.

Ariya won the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open. No sister act has ever pulled off a double-win.

With the 2021 Olympics coming to Japan, a second major title for Shibuno would rocket her fame into another stratosphere. Because she didn’t take up LPGA membership last summer, she’s had to rely on sponsor exemptions to get into regular-season events this year. She missed the cut at the Women’s British and finished outside the top 50 in her other two major starts.

Earlier this year, Shibuno indicated that she had planned to go to LPGA Q-School this fall until it was canceled due to COVID-19. She decided that she wanted to compete in the U.S. after she competed alongside So Yeon Ryu and Nasa Hataoka at the Japan Women’s Open Championship last October.

“I realized that they were on totally different levels with me,” she said. “That incident made me want to go to the U.S. and compete in more high-level tournaments.”

A victory this week would give Shibuno another chance to take up membership.

When asked if she would join, she smiled and said, “By all means, yes.”

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Top 10 LPGA moments in 2019: Storied career ends and a real-life Cinderella emerges

The LPGA is full of fairy-tale moments. Some are on the grandest stages involving the game’s biggest stars and some come out of nowhere.

There’s never a shortage of fairy tale moments on the LPGA. Some of them happen on the grandest of stages from the game’s biggest stars. Others come hurtling out of nowhere.

Breaking a record held by 15-time major champion Tiger Woods usually fast-tracks a player to this type of year-end list. There were grab-a-tissue moments and “are you kidding me?!” putts. A real-life Cinderella who just couldn’t stop smiling and a one-time villain who flipped the script on how she’ll be remembered in this game with one sensational Sunday.

So here they are, the top 10 moments on the LPGA in 2019:

Related: 10 best LPGA players of the decade

10. Dream team

Teammates Cydney Clanton (right) and Jasmine Suwannapura celebrate on the 18th green after winning the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

A caddie brought Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura together for the inaugural Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, but Clanton believes it was more of a divine plan. One year ago, Clanton missed out on her full card by $8. After a closing 59, the Auburn grad had a two-year exemption and a spot in the Evian Championship and AIG Women’s British Open. Suwannapura’s invitation proved life-changing for her partner, who’d spent most of the year on the Symetra Tour.

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