Tag: ISPS Handa Australian Open

One love: Australian Open board stacked with players giving back

File this under things we love this Valentine’s Day: ISPS Handa Australian Open co-leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff has double the reason to smile each time she makes a birdie. The European Solheim Cup player has pledged to donate $100 for every birdie …

File this under things we love this Valentine’s Day: ISPS Handa Australian Open co-leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff has double the reason to smile each time she makes a birdie. The European Solheim Cup player has pledged to donate $100 for every birdie that she makes this week to the Adelaide Koala Rescue, and her sponsor, Radar Tires, is matching.

Ewart Shadoff has carded 12 birdies through two rounds at Royal Adelaide and is knotted atop the board with LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park at 10 under. The Englishwoman is looking for her first LPGA title. She has twice finished runner-up on the LPGA, including the 2017 AIG Women’s British Open.

SCORES: ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open leaderboard

The Aussie Open leaderboard is actually stacked with women who are playing for a bigger cause. So Yeon Ryu, who lost in a playoff last week at the Vic Open, pledged to donate half of her winnings during the Down Under swing to wildfire relief efforts. Ryu is currently tied for eighth, four strokes back.

After Aussie Sarah Kemp posted on Twitter that she planned to donate $40 for every birdie during the Australia Open to the Australian Red Cross, Marina Alex pledged to do the same. Kemp said her parents almost lost their home several months ago. Fortunately, only their back fence was burned.

Nelly Korda pledged to donate $150 for every birdie and $300 for every eagle that she made in the first three events of the season. The 2019 Australian Open winner is six shots back of the leaders.

Mel Reid pledged to donate $25 per birdie and $75 for every eagle she made in Australia. On Friday, she aced the 12th hole to go along with three birdies.

Tiffany Joh missed the cut at Royal Adelaide, but still scored a win for the South Australia Bushfire Appeal, which is raising funds for people impacted by bushfires in Cudlee Creek and on Kangaroo Island. Joh pledged $20 for every birdie and $50 for every eagle she made Down Under and encouraged her supporters to do the same. She made seven birdies at the Aussie Open.

“Thank you everyone who followed and pledged this Australia Swing!” wrote Joh on Instagram. “You guys are the Vegemite on my toast.”

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Coronavirus cancelations make it tougher for some LPGA players to reach their goals

After the LPGA canceled three events on its Asia swing due to the threat of coronavirus, some golfers’ 2020 seasons begame more difficult.

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The LPGA canceled its Asian swing due to the coronavirus, eliminating a tough decision for a player like Inbee Park, who was already weighing her options. Park, who got her season started much earlier than usual, said she respects the tour’s decision. She’s making her fourth start in 2020 at this week’s ISPS Handa Australian Open.

Thailand and Singapore are limited-field events with guaranteed paychecks. It’s tough to miss out on playing opportunities – three in all – but there’s more on the line than money. Park is trying to play her way into the 2020 Olympics and figures she might need to win twice before the June 29 cutoff to make that happen. Other players are trying to play their way into the ANA Inspiration and U.S. Women’s Open.

A maximum of four South Korean players can qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Hyo-Joo Kim would be the first alternate and Park the second.

The top four South Koreans who would currently qualify are Jin Young Ko (No. 1), Sung Hyun Park (No. 2), Sei Young Kim (No. 6) and Jeong Eun Lee6 (No. 9). Inbee is now 17th in the Rolex Rankings.

The 2016 gold-medal winner twice won the HSBC Women’s Champions (2015 and 2017) in Singapore and captured the Honda LPGA Thailand in 2013.

After this week’s event, she’ll have to wait one month until the Volvik Founders Cup March 19-22 in Phoenix to get another chance.

“I mean, it’s not going to be an easy task,” said Park of making the South Korean team. “I’m going to say it’s probably tougher than getting a medal in the Olympics to make the team.”

For years people have speculated about Park’s retirement. The 31-year-old said she doesn’t mind the talk because it’s always on her mind as well.

Not because she doesn’t like golf. No, it’s the lifestyle that gets the LPGA Hall of Famer down these days.

Simple every-day things like going to the store to buy groceries can get complicated.

“On the road another week after week after week,” she said, “and you go back home and you have a couple of weeks off, but I can’t even go to the grocery and buy things because I know it’s all going to go to waste after a week. I’m like, should I go the grocery or should I just get a delivery? I just hate that kind of life.”

But the winning part, that never gets old.

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