Tag: LPGA Tour

Danielle Kang goes for three-peat in Scotland, where safety restrictions are tight

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.”

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Golfweek Rewind: August 10 – 14

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Danielle Kang wins again in Toledo as good friend Lydia Ko suffers 18th-hole collapse

Kang’s closing par for a 68 clinched the $255,000 prize. She’s the first player to win back-to-back events since Shanshan Feng in 2017.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Danielle Kang won for a second time in as many weeks, but the lingering talk about the Marathon LPGA Classic centered around the stunning way a once-dominant Lydia Ko managed to lose the tournament.

A woman with one of the most enviable short games in golf misjudged one shot after another on the par-5 18thafter her second shot settled on a cart path behind the green. After Ko took what felt like an eternity to play her third shot, the rest of the collapse happened in short order. A failed bump into the bank for her fourth rolled back into a greenside bunker. Her fifth from a good lie settled 10 feet from the hole. She two-putted for double-bogey, a gut punch felt all the way down in New Zealand.

Ko was commenting on the weather when she arrived at the flash area to talk to reporters. She was calm, cool and gracious.

“When you look back afterwards you are like, maybe I should have done this, maybe I should have done that,” said Ko. “But, I mean, what can you do?”

As Ko talked, her good friend Kang was gathering on the putting green at Highland Meadows, preparing to give her second victory speech this month. Ohio has been good to her.

“I mean, there are really no words, to be honest,” said Kang of what happened to Ko on the 18th. “As a competitor, friend, I mean, she’ll bounce back and she’s a great player and she’s proven to be one of the best players in the world.”

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Kang, 27, entered the final round four strokes back of Ko and after three-putting the 12th, she turned to her caddie, Oliver Brett, and said “Man, that’s too costly.”

Brett responded by telling her that she was five shots back of Ko with six to play.

“I like that,” Kang replied.

Brett laid out the challenge plainly to Kang and she responded, making two consecutive birdies. When she stood on the 18th tee, Kang trailed Ko by a single shot.

What happened next left everyone’s head spinning in absolute shock, though such drama certainly would’ve played out better with a packed grandstand. Only volunteers, officials and media rimmed the final green.

“It’s like putting a big musical together and all the stars of the show are here,” said longtime tournament director Judd Silverman, “but there’s nobody in the theater to watch.”

Ko’s double-bogey dropped her into a share of second with Jodi Ewart Shadoff at 14 under. Kang’s closing par for a 68 clinched the $255,000 first-place prize. She’s the first player to win back-to-back events since Shanshan Feng won the TOTO Japan Classic and the Blue Bay LPGA in the fall of 2017.

Marathon LPGA Classic scores | LPGA schedule

Jin Young Ko, the current No. 1 has yet to compete on the LPGA in 2020. She isn’t signed up for the next two events in Scotland either. Because of changes to the Rolex Rankings due to COVID-19, the LPGA can’t project whether or not Kang will move up to No. 1 after this victory. She moved to No. 2 after clinching last week’s title at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness.

“I think a big part of how I’ve approached the golf game is I’m really not focused on a lot of other things other than just getting better at things I want to get better at,” said Kang. We always have room to improve, and that’s the beauty of golf.

“At the same time, I’m able to tell myself I did a good job with certain things and positive reinforcements to myself so I’m not too critical. That’s something that I think I’ve changed in how I approach my own game.”

Now a five-time winner on the LPGA, Kang made herself at home for her fortnight in Toledo and credited Amy Yang, who stayed in the room across from her at the hotel, for making enough food to share every night.

“I ate out one time,” she said, “and it was McDonald’s.”

Few distractions off the course, and a growing confidence in what she’d worked on with Butch Harmon in Las Vegas during the LPGA’s 166-day break, left her focused on one thing: learning golf courses.

Kang proved a quick study, and now she’ll head to Scotland for two weeks where she’ll try to tame a style of play that hasn’t suited her in the past.

“I’m really excited to go to Scotland actually,” she said. “Links golf hasn’t been my forte, but I’ve kind of proven that what I worked on with different parts of my game. Inverness and Highland Meadows have been two different golf courses completely, and I was able to play well on both of them.”

Ko gets on tonight’s charter flight to Scotland with plenty to think about, though if her post-round interview is any indication, she won’t let Sunday’s catastrophe linger.

“I think there are so many positives from the week,” said Ko, “and I feel overall like more confident in my game. I think that’s really the goal I had coming into this stretch after quarantine.

“Obviously, I would’ve loved to be the one holding the trophy, but I think if somebody said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be second at Marathon coming into the stretch I would’ve been, OK, cool.’ I would take that.”

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Fassi, Pagdanganan, Stackhouse and others could qualify for AIG Women’s British

There are 10 spots available for Royal Troon. The top 10 players not otherwise qualified will punch their tickets.

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Back-to-back eagles from Bianca Pagdanganan on Friday vaulted her up the leaderboard at the Marathon LPGA Championship and put her squarely in position to qualify for the year’s first major, the newly renamed AIG Women’s Open (formerly known as the Women’s British) Aug. 20-23 at Royal Troon.

The last two holes at Highland Meadows Golf Club are par 5s and the long-hitting Pagdanganan made 10-foot eagle putts on both holes to card a 67 and vault into the top 10. (Pagdanganan started her round on the 10th hole.)

“That’s so cool,” said the Arizona grad, who is making her second start as an LPGA rookie. “That’s also the first time it’s ever happened to me, back to back eagle. I was like, Oh, that’s pretty rare. Of course, I just like had to keep my cool throughout the round. Couldn’t just let that take over. I was able to calm myself down and just hold on to that.”

There are 10 spots available for Royal Troon. The top 10 players not otherwise qualified will punch their tickets. On Saturday, Mariah Stackhouse put herself in strong position after posting an early 65.

In the case of a tie, there are a series of tiebreakers in place to determine the final qualifier. Any unused spots will be allocated at the next week’s qualifier at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.

Because there are no local qualifiers taking place this year for the Women’s Open due to COVID-19, the number of spots available out of Marathon has doubled from five to 10.

The qualifying leaderboard through two rounds of the Marathon LPGA Classic

  • Maria Fassi, 1, 133
  • Bianca Pagdanganan, T2, 136
  • Sophia Popov, T2, 136
  • Matilda Castren, T4, 137
  • Paula Reto, T4, 137
  • Patty Tavatanakit, T4, 137
  • Lindy Duncan, T7, 138
  • Andrea Lee, T7, 138
  • Elizabeth Szokol, T7, 138
  • Emma Talley, T7, 138
  • Kelly Tan, T7, 138

 

LPGA’s Kris Tamulis fighting through elbow injuries, happy to have caddie back

Tamulis hadn’t played any golf in months; she’d torn the tendon completely off the bone in both of her elbows.

Kris Tamulis’ return to the LPGA Tour didn’t go quite as smoothly as she would’ve liked as she tied for 40th in the Drive On Championship in Toledo, Ohio.

Tamulis hadn’t been playing after she tore tendons in both elbows, and also had to carry her own bag when her caddie wasn’t cleared from coronavirus testing. That included a second round in a pouring rain Saturday.

“My caddie didn’t take his COVID test in time,” Tamulis said Monday. ‘There was nobody else that could’ve done it. That was definitely a first for me, and then not having played since Dallas (last October).”

Tamulis hadn’t played any golf in months, but it wasn’t all due to the halt of the tour — and much of the sports world — from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She’d torn the tendon completely off the bone in both of her elbows.

Tamulis, 39, said it was due to wear and tear.

“I’m an aging repetitive athlete,” she said, referring to the thousands of times her body has swung a golf club in her life.

Her husband, Jeremy Maddox, is a physical therapist, so that was a help in figuring out ways to address the injuries. But nothing seemed to work.

“You don’t realize how much you use your arms until something hurts,” said Tamulis, who had pain doing such simple things as pulling off a pillowcase. “I really struggled with it most of the winter.”

Tamulis has been using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments and blood flow restrictive training, which involves a machine with a cuff that goes over whatever arm she is working on. She posted a video on her Instagram of curling a can of corn, saying “Who knew a can of corn could be so heavy!!!”

So understandably, Tamulis didn’t arrive in Toledo last week feeling too confident about her game.

“I came in with very low expectations,” she said. “It’s not usually the way I prepare. But it’s not like I forgot how to play golf.”

During the time off during the pandemic, Tamulis, who lives in the Tampa area, also remembered something else she loves to do — fish. Her Instagram feed is filled with photos of Tamulis and her husband on their boat and with their catches.

“I grew up fishing with my dad,” she said. “My husband loves to fish. That’s what we like to do together. Living where we do in Florida, it’s just such a big part of our lives. I don’t think there’s any place better than being on a boat.”

And that includes golf. Tamulis, who made her tour debut out of Florida State in 2005, admitted that while there are elements of playing professional golf she enjoys, there are parts she didn’t miss.

“I just miss my friends,” Tamulis said. “I don’t miss the grind of trying to make a cut or being disappointed in a shot or feeling like you’ve never done enough.”

Yet Tamulis has an LPGA Tour victory and career earnings of more than $1.8 million.

“That’s been my job, my whole career,” she said. “I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make it a career.”

Tamulis was tied for 14th after the first round last Friday, but when the rain moved in, she was trying to balance carrying her bag, her umbrella, and keeping her clubs dry, already without the second set of eyes and advice caddie Louis Paolini brings.

“I was completely unprepared,” said Tamulis, who followed a 1-under 71 with a 7-over 79.

When she was warming up on the range Sunday, the rain was coming down again.

“I don’t like playing in the rain,” she said. “That’s why I don’t play in the Scottish and the British (Opens). I want to enjoy the golf instead of beating myself up.”

The rain cleared for the final six holes, and Tamulis finished off another 71 to win $4,293. She’ll play in the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, this week. Now she’s more used to the coronavirus protocols, which she said pretty much have mirrored the PGA Tour’s, including an at-home test before leaving for a tournament site, daily temperature checks, and another test on site. The good news is that Paolini has returned.

“We were able to play two weeks in a row and test our COVID protocols, which were fairly extensive,” she said.

Perrine Delacour WDs from Marathon Classic after caddie tests positive for COVID-19

Perrine Delacour withdrew from the Marathon Classic after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19.

TOLEDO, Ohio – The LPGA has announced that Perrine Delacour withdrew from the Marathon Classic after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19. That brings the LPGA’s total positive case to four, with two players and two caddies missing action since the tour began testing.

Delacour is the first player forced to withdraw due to a caddie’s results. The 26-year-old Frenchwoman will now begin a 14-day quarantine. Both she and her caddie have been working with the LPGA and local health officials on contact tracing.

“After learning that my caddie tested positive today, despite not having any symptoms, I have withdrawn from this week’s event in order to self-isolate following CDC and LPGA guidelines,” said Delacour in a statement. “I feel perfectly normal and I wanted to do the right thing. I am looking forward to being back competing as soon as it is safe to do so.”

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Full pre-tournament testing results for the Marathon LPGA Classic will be available later this week. As the Marathon field wasn’t full, Delacour will not be replaced.

In all, a total of 466 pre-travel and onsite COVID-19 saliva tests were given to players and caddies before last week’s LPGA Drive On Championship began on July 31. Three tests came back positive: Marina Alex, Gaby Lopez and one caddie.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan was asked to assess the tour’s COVID-19 situation thus far, especially in the context of how other sports are faring.

“I never feel like you win in this process,” said Whan, “but you’re right, we’ve probably had closer to 1,000 tests all in, and certainly the numbers are low, but geez, we’re a long way from claiming victory.”

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Golfweek Rewind: August 3 – 7

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Michelle Wie West named assistant captain for 2021 Solheim Cup

2021 Solheim Cup captain, Pat Hurst, has selected Michelle Wie West to be an assistant captain for the event. Wie West, 30, recently gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Makenna, and has taken time off from competing on the LPGA Tour. Wie West has not competed in an LPGA event since the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she missed the cut. Having competed in five previous Solheim Cups, she hopes to help other players feel comfortable in the event. She has helped the U.S. Team win in 2009, 2015, and 2017. Wie West joins Angela Stanford as an assistant captain on Hurst’s squad. The 2021 Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 4-6 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

2021 Solheim Cup captain, Pat Hurst, has selected Michelle Wie West to be an assistant captain for the event. Wie West, 30, recently gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Makenna, and has taken time off from competing on the LPGA Tour. Wie West has not competed in an LPGA event since the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she missed the cut. Having competed in five previous Solheim Cups, she hopes to help other players feel comfortable in the event. She has helped the U.S. Team win in 2009, 2015, and 2017. Wie West joins Angela Stanford as an assistant captain on Hurst’s squad. The 2021 Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 4-6 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

What did these rookies do over the LPGA break? They graduated from Stanford

LPGA rookies used their downtime wisely to finish up degrees from the Pac-12 school.

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When Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela tee it up next week at the Drive On LPGA Championship, they’ll probably feel a little lighter than usual. In many ways, the LPGA restart will feel like the first day of school for the two LPGA rookies. Except that school is in the rearview mirror for these two. Over the COVID-19 break, Lee and Valenzuela became Stanford graduates.

“My mom bought this (graduation) cap off Amazon for $20,” said Lee, from her home in Hermosa Beach, California.

It was always going to be a tall task – juggling the beginning of an LPGA career with college courses. Never mind that it’s Stanford.

Andrea Lee celebrates her Stanford degree at home in Hermosa Beach, California. (Photo courtesy Andrea Lee)

Now, however, they can return to their new jobs free from homework assignments and make-up tests.

“It was definitely bittersweet,” said Lee of the June 14 online graduation. Both players snapped photos at the beach. Lee in California and Valenzuela in the Bahamas, where her family now resides.

Lee, a record nine-time winner at Stanford who took the McCormack Medal last year as the world’s leading amateur, said a few family members came over the day before for Korean barbecue and a Stanford-themed cake. On graduation day, she and her parents watched a 30-minute virtual ceremony. It wasn’t anything like she had pictured four years ago.

“Graduation happened and I cried,” she said. “My four years are over. Probably some of the best years of my life, and it just had a sad ending to it.”

Both Lee and Valenzuela earned LPGA status at Q-Series last November and decided to forgo their final semester of college to turn professional. They couldn’t know then that a global pandemic would wipe out spring college golf too.

The lockdown in the Bahamas was so strict, Valenzuela said, that there were times she literally could not step foot on the golf course outside her house.

“You could risk a fine of $20,000,” she said, “or five years in jail.”

When things did open up Valenzuela, a two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur finalist, got to work on her game. She also enjoyed games of squash with her brother and a growing passion for yoga.

The 2016 Olympian took three classes in her final quarter, including one on sleep.

Even after Valenzuela’s classes her over, she still found herself stressing out the next day.

“Am I really done?” she asked. “It doesn’t feel real when you’re online.”

The same goes for graduating several time zones away from campus. The teammates hope they can celebrate together sometime later this year.

For now, it will be a reunion of sorts at the Inverness Club, where 135 LPGA pros, including 15 rookies, will gather together to compete for the first time since mid-February. Lee competed twice on the LPGA before coronavirus halted play, taking a share of 62nd at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Valenzuela will make her fourth LPGA start of the year next Friday. Both players are in the Marathon Classic as well, which takes place down the road from Inverness the following week.

“There’s no reshuffle for the rest of the year,” said Lee. “The only way to improve your status is to win. That’s definitely a goal of mine.”

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Andrea Lee Interview

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols chats with LPGA rookie Andrea Lee about what she did during quarantine, how Juli Inkster has been a mentor at Stanford, and what her hopes for the season are.

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols chats with LPGA rookie Andrea Lee about what she did during quarantine, how Juli Inkster has been a mentor at Stanford, and what her hopes for the season are.