Stacy Lewis called out her playing competitors for their pace of play at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
Stacy Lewis has never shied away from the issue of slow play. Last year during the Evian Championship, she took to Twitter to call out the near six-hour rounds in France.
This weekend in Scotland Lewis got more specific, calling out her playing competitors for their pace of play at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
“I think the biggest challenge for me tomorrow is staying in what I’m doing,” Lewis, “and the pace of play is dreadfully slow, and that doesn’t play into my favor. People I’m playing with are pretty slow.”
I will never understand 5 hours and 50 minutes to play a round of golf! It’s not fun for us as players, can’t be fun to watch!
Lewis was paired with Jennifer Song and Azahara Munoz in the third round and is back with them again in Round 4. The former No. 1 entered the final round alone in second at 6 under, trailing leader Munoz by one shot. Song began Sunday two back at 5 under.
“I had to really kind of stop watching at some points and just kind of go into your own world and think about something else, sing yourself a song or do something,” said Lewis. “You really kind of get out of rhythm and it’s hard to keep things going.”
Lewis, 35, is searching for her first victory since giving birth to daughter Chesnee. A 12-time winner on the LPGA, Lewis last won at the 2017 Cambia Portland Classic, when she donated the entire check to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in her hometown of Houston.
Speaking of Houston, a strong finish in Scotland boosts Lewis’ chances of getting into this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club. She is not currently exempt.
Munoz, the 2012 Sybase Match Play champion, has yet to win a stroke-play title on the LPGA. Song is searching for her first LPGA victory. In 2009, Song won both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.
Azahara Munoz and Lydia Ko ended last week’s Marathon Classic in unfortunate fashion, but they’re back in the mix this week in Scotland.
Golf is an incredibly difficult game, but it’s a lot easier when you’re playing from the fairway.
Just ask Azahara Munoz.
The Spaniard was precise off the tee and followed suit on the greens during Saturday’s third round of the Ladies Scottish Open, making her way around Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, at 2-under 69 to claim the 54-hole lead at 7 under. Americans Stacy Lewis and Jennifer Song are one and two shots back, respectively. Lydia Ko and Cheyenne Knight are T-4 at 4 under.
“Today I think I literally hit every fairway, lots of greens,” said Munoz of her round. “Maybe I could’ve made a few more putts today but still made some nice ones, some nice par saves. The pins were so tricky, a couple holes into the wind were playing really long and overall I kept managing myself well like the last couple days.”
Last week Munoz was disqualified from the Marathon LPGA Classic, the tour’s second event back after an extended break due to the coronavirus pandemic, after failing to sign her scorecard after the final round. The 32-year-old got right back on track during Thursday’s opening round, making an eagle on the first hole of the Ladies Scottish Open while playing in the first group.
On Sunday she’ll be in the final group looking for her second LPGA win.
“Yeah, I’m enjoying being out there so much. I don’t know, I think this break was really good for me,” said Munoz of the time off. “I just came back and I just want to play golf. I just want to enjoy myself. I’m going to do my best, so at the end of the day, wherever that puts me, it puts me. But in the past, I think I always get a little upset if things don’t work out or whatever, but I always give my hundred percent. As long as I do that, that’s all I can do.”
Ko had a heartbreaking finish of her own last week at the Marathon LPGA Classic, making double bogey on the final hole to lose to Danielle Kang by one. Six days later in Scotland, Ko fired off the low round of the day, a bogey-free 4-under 67 to get right back in the mix.
“Almost having a tournament right after makes you focus on what’s right there in front of you and I think maybe less think about what happened at Marathon,” said Ko. “Obviously I would have loved to have had one more higher finish in the end. There’s a lot about what happened to me on the last hole. But you have to talk about what amazing golf Danielle played. I just think it really wasn’t meant to be.”
She continued: “I was joking, I haven’t been in this position in a while, so it was just nice to be back in contention and just feeling those kind of different nerves and that excitement, but just having this tournament right after, it made me focus on just this week, and obviously links golf is a little bit different, so I’ve just been focusing on what’s happening right now and not get too carried away about what happened, because most of it was some of the best golf that I played in a long time.”
Bogey-free golf is a great round anywhere, let alone at a professional tournament across the pond. Just how good was Ko’s 4 under? Only 18 players of the 70 remaining were under par on Saturday.
“It’s nice, no matter where you play, to have a bogey-free round like that. I think when I was out of position, I was able to make up-and-down,” said Ko of her performance. “Sometimes you have to get lucky having a good lie in the bunker or just off the greens, as well, but I feel like overall, I stayed believing in my game and being aggressive when I needed to and then being a little bit safer when it was a tough pin position, as well.”
“I think you kind of have to manage that really well, and that will give me a good lesson for next week at the British Open.”
Azahara Munoz was disqualified last week for failing to sign her scorecard after, but she opened the Ladies Scottish open with an eagle.
What’s the best way to put a DQ behind you? Go out and eagle the first hole of the next tournament. Azahara Munoz, playing in the first group of the Aberdeen Standard Investment Ladies Scottish Open, knocked one in from 148 yards out on the first hole to kickstart a 3-under 68 at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.
It was the perfect antidote to the disqualification news that Munoz suffered at last week’s Marathon LPGA Classic after the Spaniard failed to sign her scorecard after Sunday’s round.
“You know, instantly I knew I had not signed it,” said Munoz. “You know, when you know you haven’t done it … I did beat myself up a lot because I just can’t believe I did it. It’s the first thing I always do, I sign the scorecard. I had a total brain fart. My husband was there, he said, it doesn’t matter, it’s not going to change our life.”
And, as Munoz pointed out, better last week than next week at the AIG Women’s British Open.
Scoring at the Scottish Open has been altered due to COVID-19 restrictions. Players typically keep track of another player’s score on the top line of a scorecard and tally their own at the bottom. This week it’s the opposite. Scorecards are not exchanged at the end of the round. Players instead sign their own scorecard and then a tournament official signs as the marker.
“I think it’s very safe,” said Munoz, “but you know, in Scotland, they are being very safe here and that’s why they are doing so good. They barely have any cases and they want to keep it that way.”
A raging wildfire came barreling toward Hull last week at Wentworth during the Rose Ladies Series finale.
Charley Hull found herself doing laps around the hotel room in Edinburgh. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, she said, players must sign up well in advance, to reserve a time to work out in the gym this week during the Aberdeen Stanford Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
“That’s one thing I like doing a lot,” said Hull. “Makes me feel a lot fresher, but it’s hard because there’s loads of people in the field this week and there’s probably only 16 spots a day for the gym, so it’s a bit crazy.”
So much of 2020 has been upended due to the coronavirus pandemic that players have learned to expect the unexpected. Nothing, however, could’ve prepared Hull for the raging wildfire that came barreling toward her last week at Wentworth during the Rose Ladies Series finale.
“We got caught off on the middle of the eighth fairway and it was behind the ninth green,” said Hull of the flames that broke out over Chobham Common in Surrey.
“It was really terrible and bad behind the 10th tee box. Saw a lot. And seeing this whole like 30-foot tree burning and within like seconds about 30 yards of land just on fire, it was really bad, sad.”
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No one ran around screaming and yelling, she said. It was a shocked but orderly exit from the golf course.
Organizers of the Rose Series couldn’t find a time to reschedule the final round so they reverted back to 36-hole scores. Hull competed in all eight events in the series and won the Order of Merit, which offered a prize of 20,000 pounds. She also competed against the men in several Clutch Pro Tour events during the LPGA’s 166-day break in competition
“I won’t feel too nervous on the first tee tomorrow,” said Hull of her first round back on the LPGA.
Georgia Hall, the 2018 AIG Women’s British Open winner, swings away. (Photo by Paul Severn/Getty Images)
Georgia Hall, the 2018 AIG Women’s British Open winner, was halfway down the seventh hole at Wentworth when she spotted the smoke rolling in.
“Wherever you looked, it was so orange and there was like black ashes just floating all around us,” she said, “which was very strange, and then obviously we had to evacuate. So it was a shame that we couldn’t finish.
“But I think it was about 20 yards from the actual ninth or 10th tee box, which they got extremely close. It was massive. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Charley Hull had a raging wildfire come barreling toward her last week at Wentworth during the Rose Ladies Series finale. (Photo by Paul Severn/Getty Images)
Hall won back-to-back events on the Rose series and said the one-day events boosted her confidence going into this week.
“It’s easy to practice as much as possible,” she said, “but until you have a card in your hand, you can’t really tell how good your game; especially mentally, as well.”
Kang has three wins in her last seven starts on the LPGA and three other top-3 finishes. Her scoring average in those seven starts: 68.22
Danielle Kang boarded the LPGA’s charter flight after back-to-back victories in Toledo, Ohio, and headed to Scotland in search of a three-peat. Ariya Jutanugarn, who happens to make her return to competition this week at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, was the last player to win three consecutive starts on the LPGA in 2016.
The overseas bubble is considerably tighter in Scotland than it was in Toledo. Players are staying 45 minutes away from North Berwick’s Renaissance Club at a Marriott property in Edinburgh. Players and caddies were tested for COVID-19 before getting on the charter and again before they were allowed to go to the golf course. There’s no going out for food or even a run this week. Kang, who currently ranks No. 2 in the world, appreciates the strict procedures that are in place.
“Yes, it’s definitely exceeded my expectations,” she said. “We are really strict in how we are moving about. No one has any intent on breaking any rules, but it’s more so the safety for us and safety for people in the country … I wasn’t really that nervous coming over here. I just thought it was interesting, you know, being able to fly international because there have been so many talks about not being able to fly from country to country. I felt excited more than anything to come here.
“Only thing I can do is look outside the window of a car and see Edinburgh. I can’t go anywhere, although the fact that I get to play golf, that’s what I’m the most happy about and the safety protocols on the way we walk from the car park to the golf course to how spread out everything is and dining and you have to wear masks. We have to have the temperature checks at the hotel, leaving the hotel, at the golf course, sanitizing everything before … even with dining with the take-out food and spaced seating, outside and inside, it’s pretty great actually.”
European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew lives in North Berwick and while she’s able to stay home this week, it’s certainly not business as usual for the rest of the family.
Danielle Kang from Las Vegas, Nevada talks with her caddie, Oliver Brett, about a long putt from just off the green on the 17th hole during the final round of the Marathon LPGA Classic golf tournament at Highlands Meadows Golf Club. Kang is looking for a three-peat this week in Scotland. (Photo by Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports)
“Even our dog’s been thrown out,” she said. “The kids and the dog are all with my mum.”
There are 144 players in the field at Renaissance, including seven Scots: Carly Booth, Gemma Dryburgh, Kylie Henry, Kelsey MacDonald, Alison Muirhead, Michele Thomson and Matthew.
Dryburgh, who won twice on the Rose Ladies Series before posting a career-best finish at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness — a tie for sixth — will hit the first tee shot at 6:30 a.m. local time on Thursday. Sadly, no fans will be onsite to see it.
“Yeah, so I’d say to be honest, I’m not a morning person,” Dryburgh admitted. “So I think tomorrow works out, I’m going to have to wake up at half-past three because it’s a 45-minute drive and I have to stretch and all that and eat breakfast. It’s going to be an early, middle-of-the-night start. Once I’m up and on the course, I’m sure I’ll be fine, and I think take advantage of the hopefully calm conditions that early in the morning.”
Kang has three wins in her last seven starts on the LPGA along with three additional top-3 finishes. Her scoring average in those seven starts: 68.22
Such consistently stellar play, however, doesn’t mean that she’s cruising in Scotland. Quite the contrary. She’s already grinding, noting that the Renaissance will test every part of her game.
“This might sound very generic,” said Kang, “but acceptance, to be honest, is going to be toughest for me … I don’t really have control over that here, and I think that’s going to be the toughest for me, where if I hit a great shot and I end up in a place that I don’t want to be, I just have to let it go and work it out from the shot that has been given, and that is something that’s going to be a challenge, definitely, that I’m going to face.”
