Tag: Holly Clyburn

Jodi Ewart Shadoff holds share of lead at LPGA Drive On with a fellow English pro on the bag

Jodi Ewart Shadoff holds a share of the lead at the LPGA Drive On Championship with a fellow English pro on the bag.

TOLEDO, Ohio – It’s safe to say that Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Holly Clyburn make a good team. They never lost when paired together for England four years ago at the UL International Crown. They practice together in Orlando, mostly at ChampionsGate where both take lessons from David Leadbetter.

Now, with the Symetra Tour off this week, Clyburn is toting the bag for her friend of 17 years. Ewart Shadoff currently holds a share of the lead at 5-under 139 along with Solheim Cup teammate Celine Boutier and Danielle Kang on a rainy day at Inverness Club. Ewart Shadoff said her regular caddie will meet up with her in Scotland.

Leaderboard: LPGA Drive On Championship

“I think we got the best end of the draw by the looks of it,” said Ewart Shadoff. It sprinkled a bit on Ewart Shadoff and Boutier on the front nine and started coming down with authority on their last five holes. Kang teed off around the same time her closest competitors were finishing up.

Tee shots will held at a premium this afternoon.

“The rough is pretty bad with the rain on it right now, even just the semi cut,” said Ewart Shadoff. “You have to club up at least one. So it’s going to be interesting how it plays this afternoon, I think.”

Jodi Ewart Shadoff and her caddy, fellow professional Holly Clyburn, read a putt on the 9th hole during the first round of the LPGA Drive Championship at Inverness Club. (Photo: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports)

With the 2021 Solheim Cup being held next year at Inverness, a leaderboard peppered with American and European players gives everyone somewhat of a taste of what’s to come.

Boutier, a 26-year-old Frenchwoman who went 4-0 in her Solheim Cup debut last fall at Gleneagles, won two tournaments in Texas during the LPGA’s extended break. She tried to stay within driving distance of her Dallas home. Boutier won both the Texas Women’s Open as well as the Kathy Whitworth Paris Championship, a Women’s All-Pro Tour event. The competitions helped keep her motivated during the LPGA’s five-month break.

“You know when you don’t have tournaments for three months,” she said, “sometimes you don’t even want to go to the course.”

Ewart Shadoff, 32 first qualified for the LPGA in 2011 and is still looking for her first tour title. Boutier broke through on the LPGA last February at the ISPS Handa Vic Open. Boutier played four times on the LPGA before the tour was suspended and recorded three top 10s. Ewart Shadoff played twice, finishing tied for 19th and tied for 10th.

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Anna Nordqvist, Holly Clyburn win pro events as most of golf world is on hold

With most of the golf world on hold, two LPGA pros won two different events in Arizona and Florida.

Two-time major champion Anna Nordqvist added a most unlikely trophy to her resume at an unprecedented time.

Nordqvist defeated Lisa Pettersson on the second playoff hole at the Cactus Tour’s Moon Valley, Arizona, stop. While all of golf’s major tours have gone dark through April, the two Swedes finished the 54-hole event knotted at 15-under 201.

LPGA players Mina Harigae (67), Sarah Burnham (67) and Amy Olson (70) rounded out the top five.

Two local camera crews were out shooting the event’s final round. Even Vegas got in on the action, putting Nordqvist at 14/1 odds. Pettersson, a Symetra Tour player, recorded an albatross on the 10th hole en route to a closing 65.

Cactus Tour owner Mike Brown knew that his decision to host the event in the midst of a global pandemic would be controversial. He recently added several tournaments to his schedule, including this one, after the LPGA and Symetra Tour were forced to cancel their West Coast events in March and April over coronavirus concerns. Brown had a field of 27 players and a purse of $9,500. Several players backed out due to pressure from sponsors who did not want them to compete.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the feedback from the girls,” said Brown, “which is all I care about.”

He said that parents of junior players, even pre-teens, were calling to ask if their kids could play. He had five amateurs in the field.

To those who question his decision to bring players together, Brown acknowledged the potential the seriousness of the virus, but pointed out that 100 other guests were out playing Moon Valley Country Club on a sunny Friday and that his players practiced social distancing. As long as the golf courses are open and players sign up, Brown plans to continue holding events. Next week’s is scheduled for Sundance Golf Club in Buckeye, Arizona.

“Who knows, maybe this will get me a sponsor like Purell?” he joked.

Haley Moore, a rookie on the LPGA, tripled her first hole of the opening round and ultimately finished seventh after back-to-back 68s. Moore’s mom took to Facebook on Thursday evening to say that she would no longer tolerate people reaching out to the family, specifically Haley, to request that she withdraw from the event. In Michele’s mind, it was another form of bullying.

“I mean, everyone has their own opinions,” said Haley. “I know some of them think this is all wrong.”

But the Moores met as a family and felt that it was safe to compete. Haley intends to play in several more Cactus Tour events before heading back to California in early April.

“It’s her rookie year and she’s absolutely devastated,” said Michele of the number of LPGA events that have been canceled. Earlier on Friday, the LPGA announced that three more events had been postponed. The tour hasn’t held an event since mid-February. So far, Moore has competed in one LPGA event, the ISPS Handa Vic Open, where she missed the cut.

Clyburn wins Florida event

Nordqvist wasn’t the only female professional to take home a trophy this week. England’s Holly Clyburn won on the Eggland’s Best Tour in Lake Mary, Florida, collecting a $2,000 check.

Clyburn, who was a rookie on the LPGA in 2016, was the only player who finished under par for the tournament at 2 under.

“I have to admit, it was weird,” said Clyburn of playing in a tournament during such an unusual time. She took her towel everywhere, using it to pull the flagstick for other players. Everyone went about their business a bit slower, she said, with caution.

Back home in England, Clyburn said her grandfather has isolated himself as well as her short-game coach. She took a big leap last fall in moving her life entirely over to the U.S., thinking she could invest in herself and earn the money that money back on the Symetra Tour this year.

Clyburn tries to look at the positives, knowing this uncertainty can’t last forever. The financial component, however, can’t be ignored.

“Now, I am really worried,” she said. “I am being very careful of how I do things. … You just never know when your next paycheck is going to be.”

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