Tag: Megha Ganne

Megha Ganne used to sneak onto Liberty National until she got caught. Now she’s an official ambassador and playing the Mizuho Americas Open on a sponsor exemption

This week Ganne reconnected with a security guard that once caught her sneaking onto Liberty National.

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – Just a couple days removed from playing in the final group at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club, teenage amateur Megha Ganne snuck onto Liberty National after dark with her younger sister and a couple of friends to play the 14th hole.

“We see this cart rushing towards us and we are like, ‘Oh, no, this is not good,’ because we had never seen a cart before,” recalled Ganne.

“A very angry security guard comes out and says like, ‘You guys know there are cameras out here, right? You can’t be out here.’ Very serious. And then he kind of gets closer and he’s like, ‘I feel like I saw you on TV like yesterday.’ ”

That security guard was Joe Cieri, now the director of operations at Liberty National. Cieri was on hand Wednesday at the Mizuho Americas Open for Ganne’s pre-tournament press conference. It was during that presser that the Stanford freshman announced a new partnership with Liberty National, sporting the course’s logo on her bag. Now she can legally play anytime she wants.

“To have this golf course I looked out of my backyard every day and know I have playing rights and practice privileges here,” said Ganne, “just so lucky to be a part of this golf course in some way.”

Ganne spent the first 14 years of her life in Port Liberte and had a view of the 14th hole from her bedroom window. That summer evening in 2021 wasn’t the first time Ganne had snuck onto Liberty National, but it was the first time she got caught. Cieri, a retired Springfield cop, and Ganne became fast friends.

“I was not as mean as she said I was,” said Cieri, laughing. “I think I joked and said ‘Listen, you guys won’t get in trouble as long as somebody makes par on the hole. And then I saw her swing and hit the ball … and I was like, wait a second.”

Ganne, who is playing this week on a sponsor exemption, followed in the footsteps of Stanford teammates Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck in signing with Excel Sports Management for NIL representation. On Tuesday, Delta announced Zhang, Michelle Wie West, Ganne and Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn as brand ambassadors. This marks the first time the airline has sponsored LPGA players on a national level. Ganne also has NIL partnerships with TaylorMade and Ralph Lauren.

“It was just such a quick turn of golfers being allowed to have NIL,” said Ganne, “I took it slowly and saw what Rose and my other teammate, Rachel, did, and I had them as examples and people to lean on.”

Ganne, who now resides in nearby Holmdel, New Jersey, still has people approach her to talk about that special week at Olympic. She’s a different player now than she was then, having learned how to work the ball both ways and fine-tune her course management.

But that mega-watt smile and sparkling personality remain.

“The biggest thing on the golf course is my optimism and positivity,” said Ganne. “I feel like I had that for the last few years and that’s something I always try to maintain because I think it gives me a really big edge.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=1373]

ANNIKA Award: First spring watch list for 2022-23 women’s college golf Player of the Year

Check out who’s in the running for women’s college golfer of the year.

With every passing week, the women’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The ANNIKA Award announced Thursday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best women’s college golfers this season. Rose Zhang, who captured the award as a freshman last season, is again having a stellar sophomore campaign, but there are plenty of others who are trying to claim the crown.

The ANNIKA Award honors the player of the year in college women’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual

Stanford women’s team wins battle of titans at Jackson T. Stephens Cup, easily topping Wake Forest

Stanford sent a strong message to the team that figures to be its biggest challenger for national supremacy.

In a much-anticipated showdown between the country’s top two women’s teams, Stanford sent a strong message to the team that figures to be its biggest challenger for national supremacy by soundly defeating Wake Forest, 4-1, at the second annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup.

Stanford freshman Megha Ganne fired a loud opening salvo at Seminole Golf Club with a 1-up victory over Wake Forest senior Rachel Kuehn, who claimed medalist honors in the stroke play competition with a 10-under score. Ganne was 3 up through 13 holes, but Kuehn flashed her All-America form by winning the next three holes to tie the match. Ganne made par to win No. 17 and both golfers birdied No. 18 to clinch Stanford’s first point of the day.

After dropping the first two holes of the day, junior Rachel Heck rallied for a 3 and 1 win over Wake Forest sophomore Carolina Lopez-Chacarra with wins on holes No. 12, No. 14 and No. 17.

In a battle of Curtis Cup teammates, Rose Zhang defeated Emilia Migliaccio, 3 and 2 to put the second point on the board for the Cardinal. After Migliaccio won the first hole, Zhang tied the match on No. 2 and never trailed again. The match was tied through eight, before Zhang’s win at No. 9 sent her to the back nine, 1 up. Zhang went 2 up at No. 10 and 3 up at No. 13, winning 3 and 2.

Brooke Seay never trailed in her match against Lauren Walsh. Seay took a 1 up lead at No. 9, went 2 up with a win at No. 10 and held on for the 1 up victory.

Mimi Rhodes defeated Sadie Englemann, 2 and 1 for Wake Forest’s lone point of the match.

The Cardinal returns to action next weekend (Oct. 21-23) for the Stanford Intercollegiate, hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, at Stanford Golf Course.

For the full leaderboard from the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, click here to see the post from our partners at AmateurGolf.com.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

U.S. Women’s Amateur: 13-year-old Alice Ziyi Zhao, the second-youngest player in the field, shares co-medalist honors at Chambers Bay

Match play begins Wednesday.

Alice Ziyi Zhao is unlike many 13 year olds.

Others are salvaging the final days of their summers, spending time at the pool or doing whatever to distract themselves of the impending return to school this fall. Zhao, however, is dominating one of the premier women’s amateur golf events in the world.

Zhao earned co-medalist honors at the 122nd U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington. After 36 holes of stroke play, Zhao sat at 10-under 136, tied with Latanna Stone and Laney Frye. The trio will occupy the top three seeds when match play begins Wednesday with the round of 64.

Stone earned the first seed for match play after firing a 8-under 65, a new women’s competitive record at Chambers Bay.

“Just like yesterday, everything was working well,” Stone said. “I was hitting the ball great and putted really well. Putting kind of saved me a little bit today. But it’s just fairways and greens and keeping it simple. I’m really pumped for match play. I think I can play really aggressive – even more aggressive than I did in stroke play. Yeah, I’m excited.”

Zhao, who shot 6-under 67 in the opening round, was 4 under on Tuesday. Frye was consistent, shooting two rounds of 5-under 68.

Stone will be the top-seeded player in match play, with Zhao earning the second seed and Frye the third.

“I had a couple of mistakes, but otherwise I played pretty solid today,” Zhao, from China, said. “I think I missed two short birdie putts. I really like match play, so hopefully I can put together another couple good rounds.”

Defending champion Jensen Castle, who will be a senior at Kentucky, shot 4-under 69 in the second round to finish in a tie for 14th after stroke play. Rachel Heck, the top-ranked player in the field, finished tied for 46th at 2 over. Megha Ganne, an incoming freshman at Stanford, is in a tie for fourth at 7 under.

Stroke play isn’t quite over yet, however. There was an 8-for-4 playoff to determine the final match play spots that began on the par-4 10th hole. Jieni Li, Jennifer Rosenberg and Camryn Carreon all made par to qualify. Alice Hodge was eliminated with a double bogey, and Victoria Zheng, Julia Misemer, Emma Abramson and Anika Dy made bogey to move on to the second playoff hole.

Playing the par-3 17th, all but Abramson made par, and the playoff was suspended due to darkness. It will resume at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday with Zheng, Misemer and Dy playing the par-5 18th hole to determine who earns the final match play spot.

[vertical-gallery id=778289004]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Best of 2021: The year’s top amateur golf stories (including a Heck of a run)

Our partners from AmateurGolf.com offered up their best moments of the year.

(Editor’s note: For the final few days of 2021, we’ve been offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including the likes of travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and equipment. Here’s what we’ve already counted down. But when it came to the top amateur moments of the year, we brought in our friends from AmateurGolf.com to help with the list. The outstanding site is a partner on the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com player rankings for men, women, and mid-amateurs.)

After the game shut down along with the world around it in 2020, golf came back with a roar in 2021, with amateurs offering some indelible moments that will surely stand the test of time.

Who will ever forget Megha Ganne’s memorable run at the U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club? Stanford’s Rachel Heck announced her presence on the collegiate scene by winning six consecutive tournaments as a freshman, including the NCAA individual championship. Gene Elliott won senior majors on two continents, Cinderella found her slipper in a castle at the Westchester Country Club while Michael Thorbjornsen and Matt Parziale staged a duel for the ages in the finals of the Massachusetts State Amateur.

Here are the top five moments of the amateur golf year (see the bottom of the list for a link to AmateurGolf.com’s full top 20 moments):

AJGA Rolex Junior Players of the Year Megha Ganne, Nicholas Dunlap have wise words from the top level of junior golf

A couple of the nation’s top juniors have wise words about setting goals and cherishing the moment.

For the past few years, there’s been one particular end-of-season memory that has stuck with Megha Ganne. It’s the exclamation point on the AJGA competition calendar: the Rolex Tournament of Champions. The co-ed season ender includes a rite of passage for the top male and female junior players in the country. Each gets the floor at the season-ending banquet to give the player-of-the-year speech.

Ganne listened to Yealimi Noh, the now 20-year-old LPGA player with a Solheim Cup appearance under her belt, give it in 2018. Future Stanford teammates Rachel Heck (2017) and Rose Zhang did it (2019, 2020), too. Now the torch is passed to Ganne, who will duck stand-and-deliver duties this year because of lingering COVID-19 regulations forcing the banquet to remain virtual, but the point is the same.

“Honestly they’re all really moving to show how hard they worked over the years,” Ganne said of listening to those speeches.

The Rolex Player of the Year Award has a long, distinguished history of past champions, including Ariya Jutanugarn, Paula Creamer and Inbee Park on the women’s side and Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on the men’s side.

“It’s the biggest honor you can get playing junior golf events and AJGAs,” Ganne said. “It’s a great goal to keep in mind through those winters and practice sessions and to be considered for the award and receive it, it’s the best feeling.”

Megha Ganne
Megha Ganne reacts to a putt on the sixth hole with her caddie Michael Finn during the third round at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, June 5, 2021. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/USGA)

Ganne, of Holmdel, New Jersey, ended 2021 with appearances on four national teams (the Met Golf Association’s Carey Cup, the Junior Ryder Cup, the Junior Solheim Cup, and as a non-playing alternate on the Curtis Cup), a feat unheard of for a 17-year-old. Then again, Ganne did a lot of things unheard of for a player her age over the past year. Contending at the U.S. Women’s Open in June, where she ultimately finished T-14 (and as the low amateur) is at the top of that list.

One thing still on the bucket list? Win an AJGA invitational – the series of tournaments that feature the organizations’ deepest fields.

“I’m very good at coming in top 3 but not quite winning them,” Ganne joked, referencing top-3 finishes at the AJGA Girls Championship, Rolex Tournament of Champions, and twice at the ANNIKA Invitational, “so I’d like to do that. Hopefully at (the Rolex Tournament of Champions) or maybe I’ll play another one early next year.”

For all Ganne accomplished in 2021, two learning curves stood out specifically. One was to cherish the parts of amateur and junior golf – like the team competitions – where she was able to cultivate friendships. It has her looking forward to a college career at Stanford that will begin in 2022.

The other? Don’t expect to play as well as you can every time you tee it up.

“It’s just really hard to play your best in every single event, even if you feel like you have to because it’s this event or that event,” she said. “You can’t expect yourself to bring your absolute A-game each time and that’s completely normal and something I have to get used to.  Because it can be really hard when you want to play well in a certain event and you don’t.”

Nicholas Dunlap knows that battle, too – though he came out on the right side of many of his big goals in 2021. Dunlap set out to win both the U.S. Junior Amateur and the Rolex Player of the Year Award, and he checked both boxes.

“It’s unreal to have my name on a trophy like that, on an award like that,” he said. “It never goes away and that feeling is never going to go away.”

Dunlap, of Huntsville, Alabama, spent a brief amount of time early in the year deciding whether he wanted to begin transitioning to more amateur events or continue to compete in junior events. Setting those specific goals helped convince him to keep teeing it up in junior ones. He felt he needed to learn to win at the first level before moving on to the next.

“I didn’t really feel like I accomplished what I wanted to in junior golf,” he said.

Each tournament week was preparation for winning the U.S. Junior, a grueling week of two rounds of stroke play followed by six rounds of match play if you’re going to cart off a trophy, as Dunlap did. Leading up to that event, he won the Dustin Johnson World Junior and the Polo Golf Association Junior Classic.

2021 U.S. Junior
Nicholas Dunlap and the trophy after winning during the final match at the 2021 U.S. Junior at The Country Club of North in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Saturday, July 24, 2021. (Chris Keane/USGA)

“Every time you win, it doesn’t matter if it’s the club championship or if it’s your little local tournament or if it’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world,” he said. “It helps your confidence because tournament golf is hard. It’s hard to compete and it’s hard to win. So any time something like that happens, it makes you feel good about yourself and gives you a little bit of confidence.”

It would be the ultimate boost of confidence to have his name on both the U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur trophy at once. He’s already checked the first box, so why not check the second in 2022?

“I think it’s something that not many people can say they’ve done, I, fortunately, have the chance to do that.”

Wise words from the nation’s top juniors.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

19-year-old Yuka Saso wins U.S. Women’s Open in a playoff

One result of Yuka Saso winning in a playoff at The Olympic Club? “She just put the Philippines on the radar.”

SAN FRANCISCO – History was not on Lexi Thompson’s side.

No third-round leader has ever gone on to win a U.S. Open trophy at The Olympic Club. The American star began the day with a one-shot cushion and walked off the eighth green with a commanding five-shot lead, seemingly poised for a career-defining moment. She instead went from coronation to collapse, after a back-nine 41 that included a 10-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that came up shockingly short.

In 1959, Billy Casper erased a seven-shot deficit on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer and then beat him in a playoff. Thompson didn’t even make it into the playoff. That stage belonged to Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka, two players who poured in birdies on the closing holes to extend the action for fans who packed the natural amphitheater that surrounds the 18th green.

U.S. Women’s Open: Scores | Photos | Money list

As Thompson tried to collect herself in the scoring area, Saso and Hataoka commenced a two-hole aggregate playoff on the Lake Course that extended into sudden death. Saso, a woman who looked buried after back-to-back double-bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, came roaring back to life, capping the historic championship with 8-foot birdie putt right in the heart.

She became the first player from the Philippines – male or female – to win a major. Consider that only three years ago Saso waited in line for Thompson’s autograph at the ANA Inspiration. She had played in the AJGA ANA Junior event the week prior.

“My dream was to be World No. 1 and win a U.S. Women’s Open,” said Saso. “But I wasn’t thinking that I would really hold this trophy this week.”

Saso likely hasn’t heard of Casper but she certainly knows the name Rory McIlroy. The powerful teen obsessed over McIlory’s swing growing up (and even now) and was pumped to see her hero send out an encouraging note on Instagram before her round.

“Rory mentioned me on Instagram, and saying ‘get that trophy’ and I did,’ ” she said, “so thank you Rory.”

McIlroy later Tweeted that “everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now.”

Remarkably, Saso ties Inbee Park as the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 19 years, 11 months and 7 days. The two-time Japan LPGA winner accepted LPGA membership after the round, which now comes with a five-year exemption for winning a major.

Yuka Saso
Yuka Saso hoists the trophy in front of a group of fans after she won the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Saso joins Webb Simpson (2012), Lee Janzen (1998), Scott Simpson (1987), Billy Casper (1966) and Jack Fleck (1955) as U.S. Open champions at Olympic.

Thompson joins Ben Hogan, Tom Watson and Palmer as popular players who came up short here. She took only three questions in the flash area after composing herself.

“Yeah, of course it’s tough,” she said. “I really didn’t feel like I hit any bad golf shots. That’s what this golf course can do to you, and that’s what I’ve said all week.”

Only four players had ever finished under par in five U.S. Opens at Olympic. This week, five players finished in the red as the women etched the next chapter in the storied club’s history.

Hataoka stormed into the playoff after making birdies on three of the last six holes to shoot 68. Saso birdied the back-to-back par 5s, Nos. 16 and 17, to finish knotted with the Japanese star at 4-under 280. Thompson’s 75, which included bogeys on the last two holes, left her one back.

Saso credited her caddie, Lionel Matichuk, for helping to keep her in it mentally after a rough start, saying “there’s many more holes to go.” Then there was the banana she ate after the two-hole playoff that helped settle her stomach before sudden death.

“I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now,” she said, “but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me. I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”

Saso turned professional in 2019 after earning her JLPGA card and started working out of Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki’s practice facility. She came into this week No. 40 in the Rolex Rankings.

Yuka Saso
Yuka Saso looks over her putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Bianca Pagdanganan, a rookie on the LPGA and longtime friend of Saso’s, didn’t qualify for the Women’s Open but came out to watch on Sunday. She was updating friends back home with Instagram videos as her hands shook.

The pair led the Philippines to gold at the Asian Games in 2018. Pagdanganan remembers hearing a roar while she was in the scoring tent when Saso eagled the final hole to take the individual gold medal.

Pagdanganan said Saso, who has a Filipina mother and a Japanese father, looks very serious on the course but that she’s known for  her humor – “a lot of dad jokes.” Australia’s Hannah Green was out with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the cheerful Saso.

“She’s just a fun person to be around,” said Green, who played against Saso as an amateur in Asia.

Nearby Daly City has the highest concentration of Filipinos in the United States, and Saso could feel their support as she strode into history. Basketball is the most popular sport back home in the Philippines, Pagdanganan said, and golf remains too expensive for many to pick up.

Even so, she sees Saso’s comeback victory as a great source of inspiration for many young girls.

“She just put the Philippines on the radar,” said Pagdanganan. “It just takes one person.”

[vertical-gallery id=778107647]

Megha Ganne’s ready to spring into action after winter indoors

Megha Ganne, a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalist, is becoming a major player in women’s junior and amateur golf.

[jwplayer veYws7IG]

Katie Rudolph remembers the first time she saw her prized pupil, Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey, swing a golf club at a driving range at age 8.

“She was striping 7-irons,” recalls Rudolph, a First Tee coach and chief operating officer of The First Tee of Metropolitan New York. “I stopped dead in my tracks and said, ‘Who is this kid?’ Everything was perfect in her swing.”

Ever since, Rudolph has been the only instructor for Ganne. The 16-year-old has progressed to become a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt finalist, having lost a heartbreaker (in 19 holes) in the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, shot a tournament-record 62 at the Girls Junior PGA Championship, scored an invitation to the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur (since postponed) and received a sponsor’s exemption into the ShopRite LPGA Classic scheduled for late May.

From Weequahic Park Golf Club, home base for First Tee Newark, Ganne hits balls out of an indoor studio into snowbanks during the winter. Up until a couple of years ago, she viewed growing up in the Northeast as a disadvantage.

“I used it as an excuse for why I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be,” she said.

And now? She realizes she’s continued to make steady progress all year long.

“I think the difference is I don’t see my results while I’m making a swing change in real-time because I hit into a net,” she said. “When you hit a bad shot, you’re less inclined to go back to what was working. Since you don’t see the results, you trust it more than if you did.”

And just as Rudolph fondly remembers her first time seeing Ganne swing a club, Ganne hasn’t forgotten her first experience at First Tee with Rudolph.

“You told me we were playing for $1 million,” Ganne reminded Rudolph. “That continued and now Katie owes me $34 million.”

Rudolph sheepishly grinned and replied, “I have every intention of paying you back. Just as soon as I win the lottery.”

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Megha Ganne chipping drill

Katie Rudolph from the First Tee – Metropolitan New York, teaches us a chipping drill with U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinalist, Megha Ganne.

Katie Rudolph from the First Tee – Metropolitan New York, teaches us a chipping drill with U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinalist, Megha Ganne.