Tag: Mirim Lee

Will a true island green create more drama at the ANA Inspiration? That’s up for debate.

Judy Rankin, lead analyst for Golf Channel this week, likes seeing the most iconic hole on the LPGA return to its original form.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The ANA Inspiration celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, and the 18th green has gone retro. No grandstand. No Great Wall of Dinah. Just an island of drama.

Or will it be?

“I honestly find it a bit boring,” said Madelene Sagstrom, who believes not many will go for the green in two, even with a forward tee. Tournament officials typically move the tee up on two days during the ANA Inspiration.

Mel Reid will likely go for it with a 5-iron in hand because she’s that kind of aggressive player, but she too believes fewer players will take on the risk with greens as firm as they are and the grass mowed down in the back and nothing there to stop it. Not to mention the yellow hazard stakes.

For years there has been typically a grandstand behind the green for VIP hospitality. With no fans at last September’s ANA, organizers opted to instead put up a giant blue wall – closer than the grandstands usually sit – with ANA scripted in small letters across the top. As far as billboards go, it wasn’t exactly effective.

Not surprisingly, the wall came into play in a big way when Mirim Lee rocketed a 5-wood at it, banking on the wall to stop her ball from going in the water. It worked, and Lee proceeded to chip for eagle to make her way into a playoff against Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda that Lee quickly won. Henderson’s second shot in regulation got stuck under the wall and her sister/caddie Brittany crawled inside the blue mesh to retrieve it.

The blue wall behind the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration during a Golf Channel broadcast. (Beth Ann Nichols/Golfweek)

“The amount of time the boys hit it into grandstands and get away with shots and bounce onto greens,” said Reid, “and then they just made a big fuss because we didn’t have any crowds. I mean, it’s been like that for years. I don’t think they needed to change it, but I get why they have because it does look a little bit stupid with no crowd, but it’s tough.”

Stacy Lewis, a past champion of this event, appreciates that the hole now plays as it was originally designed. (It’s also played this way during the first stage of LPGA Q-School.) Lewis never goes for this green in two though, so nothing really changes for her.

“I hit 5-iron yesterday, landed in the middle of the green and went over in the water,” said Ryann O’Toole.

The same thing happened to Jennifer Kupcho with a 4-iron.

Nelly Korda hit a 6-iron just short and it rolled into the middle of the green. Her 5-iron went over the green. Korda said she was undecided on whether or not she likes the change.

Last year, Lexi Thompson had a 7-iron in from the forward tee to a back pin. That’s the shortest she has seen it play. This morning, Thompson hit a 4-iron that worked out quite nicely. If it’s more than a 6-iron though, Thompson said she likely won’t go for it in competition.

“It would have to be a perfect number honestly, with any club, to get the full max height to be able to stop it,” said Thompson. “But it’s good, it’s a major. It should be challenging and require more thought.”

Mirim Lee
Mirim Lee hits her third shot onto the 18th green during the second round of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California on Sept. 11, 2020. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Brooke Henderson said it’s no longer an automatic green light with 3-wood in hand, but if she has hybrid or 7-wood in, she’ll definitely going for it.

If Maria Fassi finds the fairway, she’ll likely go for it. From the back tee on Monday, she hit 5-iron with a helping wind onto the green. On Tuesday, she hit 7-iron from the forward tee.

“It makes you think a little bit more,” said Fassi. “It demands a better golf shot as well. I think it’s fun.”

Yani Tseng, the 2010 ANA winner, believes the raw island green makes for a great finish: “This is real golf.”

To ensure more drama over the weekend, Katherine Kirk believes softening the green more is the answer.

Sue Witters, LPGA vice president of rules and competition, said they’ve already started adding water to the greens after Monday played particularly firm.

“The greens got firm on us yesterday,” Witters said on Tuesday.

With temperatures expected to reach 99 degrees over the weekend, players expect the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to get more baked out as the week goes on.

World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin, lead analyst for Golf Channel this week, likes to see the most iconic hole on the LPGA return to its original form. This is how the closing par 5 played when she won in 1976.

“You have find a way to reward a shot that’s well-struck,” said Rankin, of making sure that the green is receptive throughout the week.

[vertical-gallery id=778095892]

Dramatic ANA Inspiration finish without fanfare feels hollow, but is very 2020

Mirim Lee sank a tricky 6-footer to win her first major title, but when the ball went in the hole the normal roar was replaced with silence

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Mirim Lee stood over a tricky 6-foot putt to win a major championship.

If she made it, she would win a dramatic three-way playoff to capture the 2020 ANA Inspiration, her first major victory. She stood over it, analyzed the break, hit the putt and it went right in the middle of the cup.

And then silence.

Everything about this year’s ANA Inspiration has been different and weird. Playing in September, no fans, 100-degree heat, but nothing was more strange than watching a player make a clutch putt to win a major and have there be no noise when the ball went in the cup.

SCORES: ANA Inspiration

Because of safety measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, no fans were allowed at the course this week. It was the correct decision, but also, it was a bummer. That’s because this finish was full of drama and deserved some fanfare.

There were about 100 people watching the climactic playoff hole, but they either didn’t understand that Lee had just won, or didn’t know if they were supposed to cheer.

And, Lee herself also didn’t let out a roar, or raise her arms to the heavens or anything. She made the putt, pulled her ball out of the cup, smiled and looked around. Finally, Nelly Korda offered her a congratulatory hug, which she accepted. That’s when some applause finally trickled in from the volunteers, workers and other players who were watching.

The post-victory ceremony also was muted.

Under normal circumstances, it involves an interview with the player, a trophy presentation, a photo shoot, and then the famous signature leap into Poppie’s Pond in front of thousands of fans roaring and clamoring to take video of it.

Mirim Lee celebrates winning the 2020 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Golf Club. (Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

On Sunday, almost none of that happened. There was a quick interview inaudible to the people in attendance. There was no trophy presentation per se. LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, tournament director Teo Sodeman and Shigeru Hattori, the senior VP of ANA, each stood six feet apart to the left of the trophy. Then they sort of pointed at it and told Lee to grab it. She grabbed it, first trying to lift it by the handles, and then holding onto the base. She held it up and smiled, turning in all directions not knowing which photographers and video cameras were most important.

Then Lee placed the trophy back on the pedestal and did the customary emptying of her pockets as she readied for her leap into Poppie’s Pond.

She was nervous. Some golfers plan, maybe even test out, some leaps at home on the off chance they one day win the ANA Inspiration. It was clear Lee had not thought that far ahead.

She tepidly walked toward the pond, hesitantly approached the edge and daintily dropped in. The word “leap” is kind to describe her effort. On the other hand, her caddie Matt Gelczis channeled Greg Louganis and flew into the lake with a dive. Then he threw his hat in celebration as Lee smiled and again swam around a little before finding the cameras and waving.

She got out, put on the winner’s robe, took a few set up photos and that was it.

Lee’s win was amazing. A chip-in eagle on the 18th hole in regulation to force a playoff, which she won with a birdie. Wow!

In any of the other 48 versions of this tournament, she would have been showered with applause and hugs and doused with water by her friends on tour. But this wasn’t like the other 48. Let’s face it, this is 2020. And nothing goes the way you want it to in 2020.

It deserved so much more fanfare. But as we learned Sunday, you can’t have fanfare without fans.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

[lawrence-related id=778065857,778065752,778065733,778065739]

Opinion: Great Wall of Dinah overshadows dramatic ANA Inspiration finish

The LPGA had a dreamy finish in store for the ANA Inspiration, but it all came to a crashing, truly comical halt at Mission Hills.

It seemed almost destined to happen.

Build an eyesore of a wall on an island green and balls will bounce. Bogeys will turn into birdies. Even an eagle! It’s the same for everyone, of course. But the LPGA had a dreamy finish in store, and it all came to a crashing, truly comical halt.

Mirim Lee won the tournament outright with her three chip-ins, including an electric eagle on the 72nd hole. No one can dispute the way she coolly kept her head in the game while the blonde bombers traded blows in the spotlight.

But Lee’s eagle came on the heels of a 5-wood that might have found the water had the Great Wall of Dinah not stopped it cold. That was the plan all along for Lee, and no one can blame her.

The blue wall behind the 18th green at the ANA Inspiration during a Golf Channel broadcast. (Beth Ann Nichols/Golfweek)

“I definitely thought to utilize the back and the backboard,” said Lee after her victory dip. “When I had practice rounds, I had practiced that shot, so it was a definite for me to use the space there.”

Golf fans can’t blame Lee, but they can blame the LPGA and tournament organizers for constructing a wall that’s even bigger and closer to the green than the usual grandstand when there were plenty of other ways available to give ANA the attention it deserves.

It’s a wonderful thing, carrying on sponsorship duties and providing an opportunity for play during a global pandemic.

Yet the wall created unnecessary controversy. It wasn’t easy to accept an obstruction on an island green even with seats there for important guests. But we did because someone has the pay the bills, and on the LPGA title sponsors are vital at the majors.

Take out the seats and the guests though, and it simply didn’t make sense.

Brooke Henderson’s second shot on the 72nd hole came in so hot it went underneath the wall and got stuck. Her sister/caddie Brittany crawled inside the blue mesh to retrieve the ball as Katherine Kirk worked out how she might hit a shot from the ledge of Poppie’s Pond, where it says “Do not dive. Do not step.”

“That’s closest to the hole from the diving board today,” joked Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz after Kirk managed to not only hit a nifty little shot, but also stay dry.

Judy Rankin tried to hold back about the wall throughout the week on the broadcast only to ultimately say what most were thinking as the wall took center stage.

“The fact is, it has been way too artificial,” said Rankin. “There was no real reason for it to be there. There were no spectators, or clients or anything like that. And it has affected play way too much.”

On the heels of the Sophia Popov snub, this was another bad look for the tour.

Tune in for the big finish! Nelly Korda! Brooke Henderson! Lexi Thompson!

Fans who don’t normally watch the LPGA might have flipped over to Golf Channel for the conclusion, only to become instantly perplexed by the presence of a wall.

The LPGA can make it right in 2021, by taking the finishing hole back to its roots as an island green and eliminate the grandstands. At the very least, move them as far out of play as possible and downsize. Make the closing par 5 a true championship test, one that puts risk back into the equation.

This week felt similar to 2007 when the Women’s British Open was first contested at the Old Course, and they played the Road Hole as a par 5 and it ranked the easiest hole for the week. (Thankfully that was fixed in 2013.)

The depth of talent in the women’s game and quality of play has never been better. There’s plenty to showcase.

But sometimes the LPGA just can’t get out of its own way.

[lawrence-related id=778065857]

Chips fall at the right time as Mirim Lee wins first major at ANA Inspiration

Mirim Lee holed out three times, the last for an eagle on 18, to take the victory over Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda in a playoff.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — It was a two-horse race at the ANA Inspiration between Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda on Sunday afternoon.

No one told Mirim Lee.

Lee dazzled with her chipping game for a long birdie on the 16th hole and an unlikely eagle on the 18th hole, then managed a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Henderson and Korda for the 2020 ANA Inspiration title at Mission Hills Country Club.

While it is Lee’s fourth LPGA victory, it is the South Korean star’s first major championship.

SCORES: ANA Inspiration

Lee, playing in the second-to-last group of the day ahead of Henderson and Korda, managed a 5-under 67 on Sunday mostly on the strength of her short game. In addition to the 80-foot chip-in on the sixth hole and a 60-foot chip-in on the 18th, Lee chipped in from off the green on the sixth hole for another birdie.

Henderson birdied the 18th hole to get to 15-under par and reach the playoff with a round of 69. Korda, who held at least a share of the lead after all four rounds this week, parred the final hole for her Sunday 69.

On the playoff hole, again the par-5 18th, Korda laid up on her second shot out of the rough, while Henderson was short of the putting surface but near the island green in two and Lee was just off the back of the putting surface in two.

Korda two-putted from about 30 feet for her par, but Henderson missed an 8-foot putt for her birdie. Lee then rolled in her birdie putt from about the same distance before breaking into tears over the biggest win of her career.

[lawrence-related id=778065752,778065733,778065739,778065715]