Some of the biggest names in the women’s game headed home early at Baltusrol.
SPRINGFIELD, New Jersey — Some of the biggest names in the women’s game headed home early at Baltusrol. Nelly Korda and Atthaya Thitikul missed the cut by a mile in the first women’s major held over the Lower Course since 1961.
“You hit it a little sideways off the tee and that’s what happens on a golf course like this,” said Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, who will play the weekend.
“It’s that chipping out and having to constantly be getting up and down from 100 yards, it’s exhausting.”
Lexi Thompson looked poised to miss the weekend as she was outside the top 100 early on Friday, but then came roaring back with four consecutive birdies near the end of her round to sneak in at 4 over. Given how little both Thompson and Korda have played this season, Lewis said she wouldn’t have put any money on them.
Korda took a month off with an injury, and Thompson has played in only five previous LPGA events this season, including the Hanwha International Crown.
“That’s going to be my encouraging words that come later this fall,” said Lewis, “that they play some more tournaments heading into Solheim.”
“I was thinking too much in my 20s. Once I reached my 30s, I was like, ‘stop thinking and just play golf.'”
A sneeze nearly ended Jodi Ewart Shadoff’s career. It sounds rather silly now, but in January 2021, an under-the-weather Ewart Shadoff sneezed, and an hour later, she couldn’t walk. The American Lung Association reports that sneezes can travel up to 100 mph, and the force behind Ewart Shadoff’s sneeze resulted in a herniated disc.
The Englishwoman missed two months of tournaments that season, and as a veteran of back ailments, didn’t know if she could battle through another one.
“The game that I loved for 25 plus years, I was starting to resent because I was in so much pain,” said Ewart Shadoff. “I just didn’t know if I could keep going.”
It was her team, Ewart Shadoff said, that pushed her through one of the most trying seasons of her career and last Sunday, it all paid off. Ewart Shadoff, 34, won in her 246th start on the LPGA, one of three players over the age of 30 to break through for their first LPGA title this season, joining South Africans Paula Reto (32) and Ashleigh Buhai (33).
“I keep telling people I wake up in the morning and think ‘Oh, that was a weird dream,’” said Ewart Shadoff of her wire-to-wire victory at the LPGA Mediheal Championship.
“Then ‘Oh wow, it’s real. That actually happened.’ ”
Im beyond proud of @Jodi_Ewart winning on the @LPGA for the first time. From the countless hours of practicing, to the close calls. She’s missed weddings and funerals. Injuries so bad I’ve had to help her step into her clothes. 11 years later, you’re a champion, Jodi. I love you.
In all, six players over the age of 30 have won this season, putting the average age of winners on at 26.52. Eun-Hee Ji (36), Lizette Salas (32) and Marina Alex (31) round out the veteran group. On a tour full of prodigies, these women give inspiration to those taking the long route.
“I’ll play this game until I’m 50, I love it so much,” said Paula Reto, who won for the first time in her 157th start last August at the CP Women’s Open. The Purdue grad contended last week at the Mediheal as well, until two late bogeys dropped her into a share of third.
Reto said she overwhelmed herself in those early years on tour, trying to do too much at once. If she could go back, she’d tell herself to focus on the small things and get those right.
“I was thinking too much in my 20s,” she said. “Once I reached my 30s, I was like stop thinking and just play golf.”
Disappointed with her putting so far this season, which is normally a strength, Reto hired Abimbola Olakanye in Canada to help give her more confirmation on the greens. Becoming a better green reader, she said, is one of her offseason goals.
“I feel like I’m going to peak more,” Reto said.
Buhai didn’t finish with her press obligations at Muirfield until 10:30 p.m. in Scotland after her playoff victory at the AIG Women’s British Open. The R&A kept the players lounge open late for Buhai and her pals to celebrate.
“We ended up not catching our flight on the Monday back to the States,” she said with a laugh.
Buhai was a star in her home country before she could drive, winning the 2004 South African Open at age 14, a title she has claimed three times, and leading her country to the World Amateur Team Championship title on home soil in 2006, before turning professional the following year.
But despite that early success, it took 221 starts over the span of a dozen years for Buhai to win on the LPGA. That she triumphed at historic Muirfield, following in the footsteps of South Africa’s Gary Player and Ernie Els, made it all the more special.
“Obviously there was so much, I wouldn’t say pressure, but expectation from a young Ashleigh to come out the blocks and carry on winning,” she said, “ but it’s hard out here and it’s gotten harder every year.”
Player, who won at Muirfield in 1959, sent along four key notes to Buhai during the championship: You’re going to hit bad shots, just let them be; stay patient; think win; and keep your head still on your putts.
“It’s easy to just back down when you’re in that moment,” said Buhai, who clinched victory with a sensational bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole.
The major title brings with it a five-year exemption, and Buhai said it couldn’t have come at a better time in her life. She and husband David, who caddies on tour for Jeong-eun Lee6, want to start a family at some point, and the assurance that a major title brings opens up their options.
“Financially, it has taken so much pressure off of me,” said Buhai.
Playing the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next year has been high on her list as well as another British Open at St. Andrews (2024) and another Olympics (2024).
The five-year exemption and $1,095,000 paycheck from the Open means that Buhai could stop for and unpaid maternity leave and not worry so much about finances and her status on tour upon return. And if she decided after she did come back that she didn’t want to carry on competing, she’d leave the game a major champion.
“Now, I have the flexibility,” she said, which is priceless.
Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa celebrates after her putt shot on the 18th hole in the third Play Off for winning the AIG Women’s Open with his husband during Day Four of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 07, 2022 in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
For the past several years, Ewart Shadoff has watched friends compete in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions near her home in Orlando and wished she could be there. Not long after she signed her scorecard last Sunday, Ewart Shadoff realized that she’d have a spot in the field next January at Lake Nona.
Her next goal: win a major.
“Now that I know that I can win under that kind of pressure, and that kind of nerves,” she said, “I feel much more comfortable moving forward.”
Ewart got her American driver’s license shortly before graduating from New Mexico in 2010 and struck out for Iowa for her first Epson Tour tournament the same day she got a car.
With a dead GPS and printed-out directions that took her the most direct route rather than the highways, Ewart Shadoff got her first speeding ticket in Kansas.
If she could turn back the clock, would she tell that 22-year-old with big dreams?
“I would say, stay very patient,” she said. “Don’t give up hope and just fight through all the adversity. You’ll get there eventually, and you’ll become stronger because of it.”
Here are 10 teams to watch this week at the LPGA’s 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
The 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational will feature a wonderful blend of past and present. While sisters Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson are two the biggest names on the current tour, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb are two of the biggest names of all time. They’ll all be in action in the same field this Wednesday-Saturday at the LPGA’s only team event.
This year, 72 two-person teams will vie for a purse of $2.5 million at Midland Country Club in Michigan. The victory will be considered an official LPGA title.
Here are 10 teams to keep an eye on this week, with Rolex Ranking in parenthesis:
CLIFTON, N.J. — The LPGA’s Cognizant Founders Cup begins Thursday at Upper Montclair Country Club and local native Marina Alex, just days removed from the biggest win of her professional career, is set to be one of the headliners in an elite field.
Yes, it’s a big golf week for North Jersey. Here’s everything you need to know about the Founders Cup.
The details
The Founders Cup was started in 2011 to honor the 13 founding members of the LPGA Tour. It’s a 72-hole stroke play event that awards a $3 million purse ($450,000 to the winner), the largest prize in women’s golf outside of a major or a season-ending event.
The event was played in Arizona for its first decade, last October it moved to North Jersey for the first time and was contested at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell.
This week, just seven months after World No. 1 Jin Young Ko won with a score of 18-under-par, she’ll be among the favorites to win as the LPGA Tour returns to Upper Montclair for the first time since 2009.
Happy homecoming for Alex
Marina Alex, the former Wayne Hills star, will be playing close to home and the timing couldn’t be better. Less than two weeks ago, Alex picked up the most impressive win of her professional career.
It was Alex’s second win on the LPGA Tour and her first since 2018. The win moved her up 33 spots to No. 28 in the world.
Alex said recent work with Claude Harmon III has helped her feel re-inspired coming out to the West Coast.
“It’s been tough,” said Alex. “We’re all getting older. I’m getting older. There are so many amazing players out here. The competition is really, really difficult. So I just didn’t know if my mind and body were going to put me back in a position that I was going to be able to do it again.”
Alex, the first player from Vanderbilt to win on the LPGA, said she tried to stay away from leaderboards, noting that she doesn’t typically respond well when she goes “leaderboard crazy.”
“It can just create extra pressure that I don’t need,” said Alex, “whether it’s to make a birdie or to conserve a lead. It’s just – it doesn’t help my performance, so I kind of have to be really disciplined to just take a deep breath and do me.
“If it’s good enough to win, it’s good enough to win. If someone outplays me, that’s okay, but I don’t want to outplay myself. That’s the mistake I have made in the past.”
Tournament details
Course: Upper Montclair Country Club, Clifton
Opened in 1928 and designed by legendary architect A.W. Tillinghast, the course was renovated in the 1950s by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. The tournament course will feature a composite from the 27 holes at the facility which has the rare distinction of hosting the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Champions Tour in its long history.
Par: 36-36—72
Yardage: 6,536
Field: The 144-players competing this week will include most of the top 100 in the world, including Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson.
Defending champion: Jin Young Ko, who shot 18-under at Mountain Ridge in October of 2021
Marina Alex won for the second time on the LPGA and first in three years at the Palos Verdes Championship.
Marina Alex wasn’t sure if winning on the LPGA would ever happen again for her. The 31-year-old’s lone LPGA title came in 2018 at the Cambia Portland Classic.
Since then, it’s been a battle physically, with a back injury keeping Alex away from competition for seven months in 2020.
“I’m kind of not really there with processing what we down today,” said Alex after a hard-fought win at the inaugural Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America.
Alex closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 10 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of World No. Jin Young Ko, who also shot 66 and was in the clubhouse for some time at 9 under, the number to chase.
Lydia Ko needed to hole out her final approach for eagle on the 72nd hole to force a playoff. Her second shot landed 5 feet short of the hole. She missed the birdie putt right and walked away shaking her head.
When Ko, playing in the final group alongside Hannah Green, made the turn she held a share of lead with Alex, Jin Young Ko and Megan Khang.
A series of poor tee shots from Lydia Ko, however, kept her from making enough of a run. The tour’s physio came out help stretch out her body as she played down the stretch. When asked by Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz if she was concerned about her back going forward, Ko said she hoped not.
“It’s that time of the month,” she explained. “I know the ladies watching are probably like, yeah, I got you. So, when that happens my back gets really tight and I’m all twisted. It’s not the first time that (the LPGA physio) Chris has seen me twisted. I felt a lot better after he came.”
Australia’s Green held a three-stroke lead after two rounds, but shot 72-72 over the weekend to finish tied for fifth on the heels of a runner-up at the DIO Implant L.A. Open. Green heads back to Australia for several weeks before getting into the heart of the LPGA’s major season.
“I feel like I played good and I played bad this week,” said Green. “Like this weekend obviously shooting over par is not ideal, but the more you put yourself in those conditions the more you get used to it, and hopefully can excel that one week.”
Alex, who also played in the final group of the LPGA Drive On Championship, said recent work with Claude Harmon III has helped her feel re-inspired coming out to the West Coast.
“It’s been tough,” said Alex. “We’re all getting older. I’m getting older. There are so many amazing players out here. The competition is really, really difficult. So I just didn’t know if my mind and body were going to put me back in a position that I was going to be able to do it again.”
Alex, the first player from Vanderbilt to win on the LPGA, said she tried to stay away from leaderboards, noting that she doesn’t typically respond well when she goes “leaderboard crazy.”
“It can just create extra pressure that I don’t need,” said Alex, “whether it’s to make a birdie or to conserve a lead. It’s just – it doesn’t help my performance, so I kind of have to be really disciplined to just take a deep breath and do me.
“If it’s good enough to win, it’s good enough to win. If someone outplays me, that’s okay, but I don’t want to outplay myself. That’s the mistake I have made in the past.”
Los Angles native Andrea Lee, playing on a sponsor exemption, tied for fifth to secure strong status for the rest of the season. Lee won at Palos Verdes while at Stanford and has been an honorary member of the club since age 15.
The former top-ranked amateur had her instructor Jim Gormley, the club’s director of golf, on her bag for the final round. Lee birdied Nos. 16 and 17 for a late push up the board.
“Jim knows this place like the back of his hand obviously,” said Lee. “There were some reads out there yesterday that I felt like I just couldn’t get down, so asked him to be on the bag today, and he definitely helped out there.
“These greens are really tricky to read, and you got to make putts if you want to be in contention out here.”
Leona Maguire and Marina Alex are happy there aren’t many fans this week at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
Not because they don’t enjoy playing in front of them. But that’s part of the reason there aren’t many scoreboards at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, with only club members and guests allowed to attend.
That’s allowed them to stay focused on what’s in front of them. Saturday will be a chance for Maguire’s first LPGA victory and Alex’s second.
“No scoreboards out here, which is not a bad thing,” Maguire said. “I kind of feel like we’re going back to what it was like in college. College there was no leaderboards. Never knew where I was. I’m not going to look at a leaderboard tomorrow. Just going to try and post a number.”
Leona Maguire of Ireland hits from the 16th tee during the second round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club on February 04, 2022, in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
“There is really no indication out there of what’s going on, which I don’t really mind,” Alex said. “I got made fun of for Portland (when she won in 2018), but I truly didn’t check a leaderboard when I played that last day at all. Maybe that’s helping me just not really paying attention to that and just going out there and doing my business.”
Last April, Maguire finished tied for second in the Lotte Championship seven shots behind Lydia Ko and had the 36-hole lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic before tying for second behind Nelly Korda. Maguire made more of an impact in September’s Solheim Cup, going 4-0-1.
So she’s been a hot pick to breakthrough.
Friday, the 27-year-old put herself in position to do so entering the final round with a 7-under 65, tying the low score of the day, to get to 13 under.
Maguire birdied the par-5 18th to increase her lead, before Alex, who finished on the front nine, birdied the final two holes to catch her.
“My wedges have been really dialed in,” Maguire said. “Just staying really patient. I think that’s been the theme of the last two weeks in general with the wind we’ve been getting.
“Taking your chance where you get them, taking the pars on the tougher holes playing into the wind. Sort of coming down the stretch 14, 15, 16, were a grind back into the wind, but felt like I had put myself in a good position early on to sort of relax on the last few holes.”
Alex was tied for the first-round lead with Nasa Hataoka and had a late tee time versus an early one in the first round.
“A little tired,” she said. “It’s a long day. Just up all day and just the rounds are a little bit on the longer side because long walks between, so I’m a little worn out right now.
“I was kind of losing a little steam, but happy to finish birdie-birdie. I kind of like feel like I blacked out a little bit out there toward the end because I was so tired and I was like, ‘All right, we’re almost done.'”
Alex, who played on the Solheim Cup team in 2019, knows of Maguire’s performance last September.
“She’s a fiery girl, great competitor,” Alex said. “It was fun watching her play Solheim, so I’m excited.”
Marina Alex plays in the second round of the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in Fort Myers on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. She is tied for the lead at -13 under.
Veteran Stacy Lewis shot a 5-under 67 earlier in the day to move into the lead at 9 under and goes into the final round tied for third with Brittany Altomare and Linnea Johansson. Lexi Thompson, Jeongeun Lee6, Patty Tavatanakit are tied for sixth, but five back.
“I had a few shots I would like to hit over again, but got off to a really good start this morning,” Lewis said. “I birdied 8 and 9 (Thursday) finishing out my round, and just kind of kept that momentum going. Made some birdies early. Got tough there on the back nine with the wind kind of playing I think some of the hardest holes on the golf course with the most amount of wind we had today, but just really, really happy with the way I played.”
Lewis, 36, a former World No. 1 who has 13 wins but one since 2017, is happy to be back in contention. She tied for eighth last week.
“Seeing your name on a leaderboard, being in those last couple groups, I told my caddie last week, ‘Wow, it’s been a while since we’ve been in this those last few groups,'” she said. “It’s where you want to be. You want to give yourself a chance to win on Sunday but Saturday this week, and that’s been my goal from Day 1, just giving myself opportunities to win.”
Stacy Lewis plays in the second round of the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in Fort Myers on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. She finished 9 under.
That’s been what Maguire has been doing, too, and Thompson wouldn’t be surprised to see her hoist the winner’s trophy Saturday.
“I’ve played with her quite a bit, even in junior golf, and we all know the talent she has,” said Thompson, who played with Maguire the past two days. “She played an amazing round of golf today again in the wind. It’s definitely fun to watch, feeding off each other, making birdies on the out there.
“So we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Maguire is ready for it to bring her first title, but OK if it doesn’t.
She felt like last year she may have been pressing too much when she got into contention.
“I think last year maybe I tried to chase things a little bit too much, put a bit too much pressure on myself, tried to force things a little bit,” she said.
Maguire said she’s drawing from Lydia Ko, who has rebuilt her game after bursting onto the tour with 14 victories in her first four years and got the victory last week in Boca Raton.
“Lydia (Ko) said last week, ‘If you knock on the door enough times eventually it’ll open,'” Maguire said. “I’m adopting that same mentality, putting myself in these positions. Put a lot of work in over the offseason too, and it’s nice that it’s paying off this early in the season.
“If it does, great. If not, no big deal. We still got a long year ahead of us.”
Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/
LPGA Drive On Championship final-round pairings
Saturday
No. 1 Tee
7:40 a.m. — Annie Park, Levittown, N.Y. (-1); Alison Lee, Los Angeles (-1)
With one video, the app creates a 3D model with six different angles of your swing.
Jeehae Lee used to play on the LPGA. Now, she’s bringing incredible technology to your cell phone.
Co-founder of Sportsbox AI, Lee’s company wants to bring information to the everyday golfer that’s usually only available to teachers across the game.
Sportsbox AI is a 3D Motion Analysis studio in your back pocket. With one video of your golf swing, the app creates a 3D model not only from the angle at which you shot the video but a total of six different views.
Here’s just some of the data it provides: Shoulder rotation, side bend, pelvis turn and hand path.
All this information is useful for determining where golfers needs to improve. If they want more speed, increase rotation. If they’re slicing the golf ball, look at the hand path.
Nelly Korda, World No. 2, has one of the best golf swings on the planet. Here is a video of her swing, along with the accompanying 3D model.
Three of the top 10 players in the world aren’t in the top 50 on the leaderboard in Fort Myers.
The wind seemed to kick up early in the afternoon at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
And kicked some of the best LPGA players down the leaderboard.
World No. 2 Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, and Brooke Henderson — three of the top 10 players in the world — aren’t in the top 50 in the field after the first round of the tournament at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.
Nasa Hataoka and Marina Alex both shot 7-under 65s in the return Thursday of the LPGA to Fort Myers for the first time in 47 years.
The majority near the top of the leaderboard played in the morning wave in the 120-player field before winds seemed to both strengthen and change directions.
Nelly’s older sister Jessica withdrew after six holes, saying on social media she suffered a sprained rib and had tried to play through it.
“I am getting the treatment I need and hope to be back for the California stretch,” she said in the post.
Hataoka, one of five in of the top 10 in the world playing this week, birdied Nos. 17 and 18 to close her first nine, then shot a 4-under 32 on the back. She had just one bogey.
“I was able to bring the front nine momentum to the back nine,” she said. “Especially on this condition I was chatting Greg, my caddie, and we were able to manage really well.”
Alex birdied Nos. 9-13 and closed with another on No. 18 in a bogey-free round.
“The final stretch of holes are kind of tough. 14, 15, 16 — 17 was definitely a birdie putt out there, but 14, 15, 16 were tough holes,” she said. “Luckily 18 playing downwind made it pretty reachable to get to like the approach there.”
Linnea Johansson of Sweden and Ireland’s Leona Maguire both had 6-under 66s and are tied for third, along with 2021 Rookie of the Year Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and South Korea’s Yaeeun Hong who had the best rounds of the afternoon wave.
Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand hits from the 9th tee during the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club on February 03, 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
“It was playing tough, windy, firm, and fast,” said Tavatanakit, who birdied three of her first six holes. “Where you are on the green or positioning yourself was really important in the afternoon. I felt like I was solid enough to get myself good looks.”
Madelene Sagstrom, who won the last women’s professional event played in Fort Myers, the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial on the now-Epson Tour at Cypress Lake Country Club in 2016, had a 65 in the afternoon, and so did England’s Charley Hull and Bronte Law. They are tied for fifth with Caroline Masson and Jeongeun Lee6.
“I think it firmed up a little bit,” Sagstrom said of the afternoon. “The greens are phenomenal, so I think they probably — I mean, it’s tricky. Like the end stretch here on back nine is really tricky.
“I know the wind has been keeping up all day, so I think maybe just a bit of firmness. Other than that, I think it’s been quite similar for everyone today.”
Most of the players were in Boca Raton last week, when wind and chilly temperatures dominated the weekend. Alex shot 77-72 in her last two rounds and dropped into a tie for 34th.
“I was thankful for those rounds,” Alex said. “I mean, when you asked me in the moment I was probably really pissed and furious because I was having a good start and then I kind of just fizzled out there, but it definitely helped coming into today just being a little bit more prepared, so that was good.”
Thursday, Nelly Korda birdied No. 17 to finish at even par. Henderson birdied No. 18 to get to 1 under after starting her round with a double-bogey. Saso had a stretch on the back nine of back-to-back bogeys followed by a quadruple-bogey on No. 16 and shot a 5-over 77.
Stephanie Meadow had the first hole-in-one of the season, on No. 14. A total of $20,000 will be donated by CME Group to St. Jude.
“I had perfect number, little 6-iron,” said Meadow, who happens to be sponsored by CME Group. “It was a little bit windy, and, I don’t know, stripped it right at it. Wind never touched it and just rolled right up there into the hole.
“It’s been a while since the I had a hole-in-one and first one in LPGA career, in a tournament, so, yeah, it’s very nice.”
Golf evened the score two holes later.
“You know, you get good luck, you make a hole-in-one, and then two holes later I pull a 7-iron, hits a sprinkler two yards left of the green and ricochets 30 yards left into a hazard,” she said. “So I got some awesome luck and then some really crappy luck. So, yeah, wasn’t super happy after that.”
With just two rounds remaining instead of three, the players near the top were happy to have that type of a first round.
“Fifty-four-hole events are always kind of important to have a good start because you have that one less day to possibly make up ground if you’re a little bit behind,” Alex said. “So I’ve had some good success in 54-hole events in the past. I’m excited for the next two days, and just see what happens. I mean, I played a really great round of golf today, so I have to anticipate there might be a little bit of some up and downs along the way.
“But that doesn’t mean can’t have a great week out here.”
Inbee Park opened a huge lead on a day when there were 11 eagles at the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.
Inbee Park shot a second straight 69 and her third round in the 60s this week to race out to a five-shot lead heading into the final round of the Kia Classic.
Park, who has 20 wins in her LPGA career, had four birdies and a bogey on Saturday at the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.
Mel Reid, Minjee Lee and Mi Jung Hur are all at 7 under, five back.
Madelene Sagstrom doubled the first hole on Saturday but then ripped off birdies on seven of her next eight holes, made the turn with a 31 and went on to post the best round of the week so far with a 64. She definitely found something after posting scores of 72 and 74 the first two days. Sagstrom is in a three-way tie in 5th with World No. 1 Jin Young Ko and Lexi Thompson.
The tour conducted 233 pre-travel tests of players and caddies prior to them departing for this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship.
The LPGA has released an update on its COVID-19 testing results following its initial three weeks of testing.
The tour conducted 233 pre-travel tests of players and caddies prior to them departing for this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship. Tour player Marina Alex, who is asymptomatic, tested positive during this phase as did one caddie. The caddie was only scheduled to work Drive On and did not travel to the event. Alex is expected to return to competition at next week’s Marathon Classic after a 10-day quarantine.
“At the advice of my primary care physician, I have remained in isolation while continuing a testing regiment which has successfully provided three negative tests in the last seven days,” said Alex in a statement on twitter. “I have exhausted every resource possible to be able to compete at Inverness, however due to current CDC guidelines and the current protocols the LPGA has put in place for our safety my official clearance date does not allow me to compete this week.”
The LPGA further tested 233 players and caddies on-site in Toledo this week. Mexico’s Gaby Lopez tested positive and two tests are still pending after their initial results were inconclusive. The tour did not reveal any more information about whose results are pending or their status for Friday’s opening round, but anticipates getting results prior to the start of the first round.
Lopez has withdrawn from the event and is self-isolating.
Last week on the Symetra Tour, 205 players and caddies were tested prior to traveling to the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan. Fatima Fernandez Cano tested positive and withdrew from the event. She has since recovered and been cleared to play.
The Drive On Championship kicks off at 7 a.m. on Friday at historic Inverness Club.
