Tag: Pelican Golf Club

Nelly Korda fights back with clutch putts to win again on LPGA, while Lexi Thompson crashes

It was set up to a be a dramatic Sunday and the stars delivered.

BELLEAIR, Florida – It was set up to a be a dramatic Sunday at the Pelican Women’s Championship, and the stars delivered. Though it was as shockingly good as it was bad.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda collected her fourth LPGA title of the season, making her the most decorated American player since Stacy Lewis in 2012. Lexi Thompson, on the other hand, reminded us that no amount of living room sessions on the Perfect Practice Putting Mat can simulate the pressure of needing to make a putt with everything on the line. For all the talk of Thompson’s improved putting this week, it’s three short misses down the stretch that will likely haunt her for some time.

After a back-and-forth battle that saw Korda, 23, and Lexi Thompson, 26, tied for the lead at 19 under with two holes to play, a session of ugly golf broke out on the short par-4 17th, with Korda making a triple from the fairway and Thompson missing a 4-footer for par.

“Honestly, I lost hope,” said Korda, who said curse words were flying as she walked down the 18th fairway.

Caddie Jason McDede told Korda to give herself a one-minute reset and think nothing but positive thoughts. Korda took the time to think about all the putts she’d made.

Being fired up though, has always been a benefit to her game.

“When I used to play against my dad when I was younger,” said Korda, “he would always try to piss me off because he always says that I step it up a notch when I’m pissed.”

Thompson held a one-stroke lead heading into the 72nd hole but, after Korda knocked in a birdie, missed yet another 4-foot putt for par, sending the foursome of Sei Young Kim, Lydia Ko, Korda and Thompson back to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff. Kim, the 2020 Pelican champion, had drained a 25-foot putt for birdie in regulation play to join them at 17 under.

In the playoff, Kim found the left fairway bunker off the tee and went long with her approach, as did Ko from the fairway. Korda, meanwhile, put herself on a similar line from before: This time 18 feet below the hole. Thompson, who was last to hit, left herself in a similar spot to what she faced in regulation as well, this time 6 feet left of the hole.

When Kim and Ko could do no better than par, Korda showed her moxie with a second straight birdie on the 18th hole pour the pressure back on Thompson.

As Korda stood off the side of the green with her hands behind her back, Thompson approached yet another short putt to decide her fate. Once again, the ball slid to the right, leaving an uncomfortable-looking Thompson heartbroken and Korda triumphant.

As Jessica rushed over to hug her little sister, an emotional Thompson stood off to the side with her caddie. This was supposed to be a redemptive moment for Thompson, with her mom watching in person for the time in nearly two years. The sting of the meltdown at The Olympic Club certainly still fresh in the minds of many watching from outside the ropes.

Thompson took one question after the round from an LPGA media official, who asked her to assess the week.

“Played a lot of good golf, made a lot of good putts, and just wasn’t meant for me in the end,” she said.

While Thompson hasn’t won on the LPGA since June of 2019, Korda has won five tournaments in that time. She now has a total of seven career victories.

With her victory in Belleair, Korda joins Jin Young Ko as the only players on tour with four victories this season. She also jumps 10 points ahead of Ko in the LPGA Player of the Year race with 191. A victory at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship is worth 30 points and second place is worth 12. Ko won last year’s edition.

“It doesn’t even feel like a season,” said Korda. “If feels like it’s two seasons. I feel like Lake Nona was a couple years ago.”

When asked to rank her accomplishments so far, Korda put the major on top of the heap, saying it was the hardest to win because it came on the heels of another title and it’s what she had dreamed about as a kid. Lewis, Korda’s pod leader during the Solheim Cup, sent a “great fighting” text to Korda when it was done. Korda loves the way Lewis never backs down.

“Even though I say I think I lost hope,” said Korda, “I will never give up. I’ll go down fighting every single time.”

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Su Oh becomes third player to win two-year lease on a Lamborghini at LPGA’s Pelican Women’s Championship

You get a Lambo! You get a Lambo! You get a Lambo!

BELLEAIR, Florida – Su Oh doesn’t have a car in the U.S. or back home in Australia. She shares an Audi Q5 rental with Hannah Green when she’s in America and borrows her parents’ Volkswagen CC when she’s in Melbourne.

On Sunday at the Pelican Women’s Championship, Oh was the first player of the day to take a swing at the par-3 12th hole, and she recorded her second ace of the season. Oh hit a smooth 7-iron from 157 yards, becoming the third player this week to win a two-year lease on a Lamborghini.

“I would actually love it if I could take it to Australia,” she said, “but I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Austin Ernst was the first player to ace No. 12 during Monday’s pro-am. She took a test drive around the parking lot on Friday but, as of Sunday, said she hadn’t yet talked to the dealership about the details of insurance or a cash-out option.

Pavarisa Yoktuan was the second player to ace the 12th, and her fantastic reaction was caught on camera as this week marks the first time the LPGA has had a “Feature Hole” live stream on Peacock. Every players’ shot into the 12th is being streamed live.

Thailand’s Yoktuan took a test drive herself on Sunday, but said given how much she travels, it didn’t make sense to pay the insurance on it. She didn’t get an official quote, but heard at least $30,000 for two years.

“But I don’t think it’s that cheap,” she said. “I think it’s probably more.”

Coming into this week, Yoktuan had made $23,991 for the entire 2021 season.

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LPGA Pelican Women’s Championship extends partnership through 2025, with purse increase to $2 million

The Pelican is here to stay for a few more years.

BELLEAIR, Florida – The Pelican Women’s Championship – and its sensational leaderboard – is here to stay through 2025, the tournament has announced. Next year’s event will be held Nov. 10-13 and the purse will increase to $2 million.

After making its debut in 2020 where Sei Young Kim walked away victorious, the event returned this week with spectators. Fans on Sunday are being treated to a star-studded top 10 led by Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda that includes Jennifer Kupcho, Lydia Ko, Patty Tavatanakit, Christina Kim, Sei Young Kim, Leona Maguire and Jin Young Ko.

This week’s field of 108 players are competing for a $1.75 million purse at the newly renovated Pelican Golf Club.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with the LPGA Tour in bringing the world’s best female professional golfers to Tampa Bay for the Pelican Women’s Championship,” said Dan Doyle Jr., who co-founded the club with his father.

“We are committed to providing a best-in-class experience for the players and fans alike, and we are thankful for the tremendous support from the Belleair community in helping to build this new championship as a premier event on the LPGA Tour.”

This week the tour also debuted Feature Hole coverage for the first time tour history. Fans can watch live streaming on Peacock of the par-3 12th hole, where both Austin Ernst and Pavarisa Yoktuan have made aces to win two-year leases on a flashy Lamborghini.

Final-round coverage of the tournament takes place from 1-4 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com. The event will be tape-delayed on Golf Channel from 7:30-10:30 p.m. ET.

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Solheim sensation Leona Maguire fires record 62 at Pelican LPGA, looks to become tour’s first Irish winner

“It was Hogan-like. She didn’t hit a bad shot.”

BELLEAIR, Florida – Upon her return from the Solheim Cup, Leona Maguire, the undisputed Woman of the Match at Inverness, rode through her hometown in a gold BMW convertible with a “LEONA” license plate.

“It was basically like St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland,” said Maguire, who hails from the one-stoplight town of Cavan.

Folks that normally never watch golf, tuned in to see the local hero lead Europe to victory in front of an all-American crowd in Toledo, Ohio.

“I mean, it was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before,” she said of the homecoming.

On Thursday at the Pelican LPGA Championship, Maguire put together another special performance, recording a tournament and course record 8 under 62 at Pelican Golf Club. There wasn’t a bogey in the group of 2020 Pelican champ Sei Young Kim (64), Lexi Thompson (65), and Maguire.

Maguire’s swing coach, Shane O’Grady, who has guided her since she was 10 ½, watched her compete in person at the Pelican for the first time since the penultimate Symetra Tour event in 2019, when Maguire earned her card.

Were it not for a few putts that grazed the cup, O’Grady couldn’t help but think about the would-be 59.

“It was Hogan-like,” he said. “She didn’t hit a bad shot.”

Maguire hit 14 fairways and 14 greens and took only 24 putts, carding a 31 on both sides. She birdied all four par 3s en route to a two-shot lead. The former Duke standout and No.1-ranked amateur said she put a 6-hybrid in the bag this week and nearly aced the third hole. She also made an adjustment to her 9-wood, pouring in a birdie on the 15th, too.

“I suppose over the last two weeks I’ve worked on my irons a lot,” said Maguire. “I was kind of overdrawing it a little bit the last few weeks and in Korea … just getting that neutral ball flight back in.

“I play my best when I have little or no shape on my ball, so getting back to that. That’s been good here. Being able to hit it in those right sections of the greens, and even when I slightly missed the green it was still a pretty simple two-putt.”

No Irish player has ever won the LPGA. Maguire, ranked 46th in the world, came close this summer when she finished second to Nelly Korda. She also tied for second at the Lotte Championship in April, though Lydia Ko won that one by a mile.

For many in Ireland, even in her hometown, the Solheim Cup marked the first time non-golfers were able to appreciate the kind of talent and promise Maguire holds. A victory now would be even bigger in the wake of the rookie’s gripping Solheim performance.

“It was nice to see them excited about golf,” she said, “and hopefully there is a few young girls and boys in Ireland that have taken up golf because of that.”

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UConn’s men bagged an early match-play title with three freshmen in the lineup and a renewed sense of gratitude

Dave Pezzino and his UConn men’s golf team gained quite a bit of perspective in the past year. That translated to an early match-play title.

Dave Pezzino’s team didn’t play in the fall, and holed up in Storrs, Connecticut, the UConn men’s golf coach found himself grateful that he could live through the experiences of the teams that did tee it up.

Months of quarantine went by during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was no golf to watch. The Tour came back in June but college golf came back – sort of – in September. Pezzino happily tuned in to the Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Golf Channel the first week of October.

Two weeks later, he was running numbers just to feel it again.

“The Maridoe tournament, I was grateful that they put a hole location sheet out because I took that, broke it down, started looking at pluses and minuses on the hole locations,” he said. “I missed it so much.”

Pezzino’s last memory from the 2020 college season is from the fairway at nearby Tallwood Golf Club. It was March 12, the day before the NCAA called off all spring sports amid a spreading pandemic, and Pezzino felt a heart-to-heart was in order.

“I didn’t think we were playing very well and I thought it was more of a growing-up issue and just staying focused because the world around us was falling apart when this whole thing was going down,” he said. “None of us had ever experienced anything like this. I think I was trying to push them a little bit.”

Pezzino didn’t keep track of the days that elapsed from that speech to Feb. 1, 2021, the opening round of Big East Match Play. It was more than 300.

With COVID-19 cases so high in the Northeast, Pezzino knew it made more sense for his players to spend the fall season at home where they could practice, take classes online and ultimately stay safer. The Huskies “crushed it, academically,” Pezzino said.

“As much as I missed them, it was the right thing to do.”

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Pezzino brought his players back to campus Jan. 3. They quarantined and started practice a few days later, sacrificing warmer weather for the chance to finally be together.

Never in his coaching career has Pezzino begun a spring season with back-to-back match-play tournaments. This month, UConn’s men have won five of six matches as a team between the Big East event and the Ball State-hosted Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play.

Big East Match Play allowed Pezzino to see how his men stacked up in the conference. Teams played Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, which hosted the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship on the LPGA in November. That amounted to a pinch-me moment on many levels.

“The conditions of the golf course were phenomenal,” Pezzino said. “To be able to get out at a place like that in February, the week before the Super Bowl in the Super Bowl hometown, with the hometown team? It’s mind-numbing.”

Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

UConn defeated Seton Hall and DePaul that week, only falling to tournament champion Marquette. A week later, UConn took the bottom seed in Ball State’s match-play event (based on their ranking last spring) and in the pool-play format, earned head-to-head wins over Drake, Loyola-Chicago and Evansville to claim the title.

The Huskies are young, with half the lineup teeing it up in their first college competition at those events. Pezzino couldn’t think of a better way to ease them in.

“It was awesome for me because the freshmen had never played in a college event before so it was OK if they stubbed their toe, it wasn’t a big number,” he said. “It was just a lost hole.”

From here, UConn has three weeks off until the team competes again at the Sea Palms Invite in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Pezzino says his men could not be more grateful for the opportunity ahead this season. That’s a feeling many teams are probably experiencing.

If there was one positive to a longer-than-expected break, perhaps it’s perspective.

“Give these guys a dozen balls and they’re so excited,” he said. “It’s like we’ve hit refresh on the college golf experience here at UConn.”

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Sei Young Kim coasts to second consecutive victory, sets eyes on No. 1 ranking

Six weeks after topping the field at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title, Sei Young Kim picked up where she left off

BELLEAIR, Florida – Sei Young Kim’s tour friends, led by In Gee Chun, who clutched a 2008 bottle of Dom Pérignon, rushed the 18th green to soak the hottest player on the LPGA. The champagne celebration was courtesy of Pelican Golf Club, and Kim made sure to get a taste.

“Everything feels like take a shower in the champagne,” said Kim. “I still smell … feels, you know, like (a) little drunk.”

Kim, 27, broke into that contagious smile of hers as she recounted the celebratory scene. Six weeks after she trounced the field at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title, she came back to the tour and picked up where she left off, winning the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship by three strokes over Ally McDonald. On a week when only 19 players broke par on the windswept west coast of Florida, Kim finished at 14-under 266. Stephanie Meadow’s third-place showing marked her best finish since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst.

Kim’s 12th career title on the LPGA isn’t enough to overtake top-ranked Jin Young Ko, but she’s never been closer. Becoming the No. 1-ranked player happens to be Kim’s top goal for 2020.

“Before, Olympic gold medal was my biggest goal in this year,” she said, “but it cancel. Might be next year.”

Kim’s dozen titles makes her the third-winningest South Korean in LPGA history. She passes Jiyai Shin (11) and trails only LPGA Hall of Famers Se Ri Pak (25) and Inbee Park (20).

The third-degree blackbelt isn’t one to back down from a fight. In the third round, when McDonald aced the par-3 12th hole to cut Kim’s lead to one stroke, Kim responded by making four consecutive birdies on Nos. 14-17.

In Sunday’s final round, Kim’s lead grew as high as six early on in the front nine. As Kim headed to the 10th tee eating a sandwich, however, her lead over McDonald had shrunk to three. She got out her makeup compact on the tee box to powder her face before mounting her final-round charge. Needless to say, she didn’t look concerned.

“She’s comfortable and confident,” said Kim’s longtime caddie Paul Fusco, “which is right where you need to be.”

A series of tremendous up-and-downs for par early on in the back nine kept Kim’s cushion intact. A birdie on the par-5 14th zapped some of the pressure that had been building as her lead grew to four.

A large number of Pelican’s members were out watching the final group, including Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.

By the time the final threesome reached the 18th, Kim held a five-shot advantage and a sea of members wearing blue blazers had surrounded the green. There’s speculation that Kim might get a jacket of her own. The blue would pair nicely with Kim’s red skort.

Kim started wearing Sunday red at age 14 at the Korean Women’s Amateur Championship.

“Just imitating Tiger,” she said “but different way. … He wearing a T-shirt, but I wearing pants.”

Tiger Woods certainly never celebrated a major championship quite like Kim did last month. After winning the KPMG at Aronimink Golf Club, Kim flew back to South Korea for an emotional reunion with her family. She then had to spend two weeks in quarantine back at her parents’ home in Seoul. They put all her meals outside her bedroom door as she isolated with movies, a drawing pad and phone calls to friends.

Kim spent four weeks back home in Korea and soaked up the long-awaited spoils of victory. She then flew back home to Dallas by herself, where she practiced for five days before heading to Florida.

Next week she’ll head to Houston with Fusco to get two practice rounds in at Champions Golf Club ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open. She’ll skip the Volunteers of America Classic in two weeks in order to stay fresh for the USWO and CME Group Tour Championship, which she won last year, taking home $1.5 million, the biggest paycheck in women’s golf history.

The CME victory last November allowed Kim to play more relaxed at the KPMG. The victory at KPMG, she figures, will help when she goes for a second major title in Houston.

“Feels happy when I walk on the course,” she said.

Feels even better after that lavish champagne.

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Tampa resident Elizabeth Szokol primed for career week, CME berth at Pelican Championship

Elizabeth Szokol is in position to have a career week at the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship.

BELLEAIR, Florida – It’s a home game of sorts for Elizabeth Szokol, who moved to Tampa from Chicago a little over a year ago. Her instructor, Justin Sheehan, is director of golf here at Pelican Golf Club. They met in 2017 at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Olympia Fields when Szokol was out following fellow Virginia grad Brittany Altomare.

Sheehan, who in addition to Altomare also works with Nelly Korda, was immediately drawn to 26-year-old Szokol’s sunny attitude. The pair started working together two years ago, and Szokol, who was a rookie in 2019, finds herself in position to have a career week at the inaugural Pelican Championship and earn valuable points in the Race to the CME Globe standings.

“It’s nice to be at home,” said Szokol, “and that’s helpful and relaxing.”

Szokol, who’s career-best finish is a share of sixth at last year’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, currently sits in eighth place. Sei Young Kim extended her lead to five at Pelican but the rest of the top 10 is bunched together. Because Szokol isn’t in the U.S. Women’s Open, she has one more event in Dallas to make a push for the season-ending event.

It was only a couple months ago that Szokol left a lesson with Sheehan with a mile-long list of things to work on. Sheehan said the list totaled 11 areas of concern; Szokol said it was more like 17. Whatever the case, she took it seriously.

“Her setup had gotten the face pretty open,” said Sheehan, “so she was hitting a lot of weak shots.”

After this year’s KPMG, Szokol switched putters to the Ping Heppler and the move paid off quickly.

Szokol’s mom is in the gallery this week (players are allowed two guests), and she’s enjoying sleeping in her own bed as the commute home takes about 40 minutes. She was alternate for this event until last Friday, when a number of players withdrew because of injury or a positive COVID-19 result in tournament pre-testing.

Szokol, by the way, has since trimmed down her list of swing thoughts down to two, and it’s all coming together at the right time.

“I like how she doesn’t think too much,” said Sheehan of his fast-paced pupil, “just gets up and hits it. Always positive, always smiling.”

A strong finish this week will boost Szokol into the top 70 on the Race to the CME Globe points list. She’s currently 79th on the list with 222 points. The field at the CME Group Tour Championship was increased this season from 60 to 70 to give more playing opportunities in a shortened season. (There will also be two sponsor exemptions.)

Yui Kawamoto currently holds the 70th spot with 288 points. Notable names outside the top 70 include Jessica Korda (71), Angel Yin (74), Charley Hull (76), Annie Park (77) and Eun-Hee Ji (80).

Here is the points breakdown for official LPGA events with a cut:

  1. 500
  2. 300
  3. 190
  4. 135
  5. 110
  6. 100
  7. 90
  8. 85
  9. 80
  10. 75

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‘Yikes!’ Sophia Popov’s career-low 64 paces field at Pelican Women’s Championship

Sophia Popov wasn’t eally thinking about her birdie streak at the Pelican Women’s Championship until she saw her scores on a leaderboard.

BELLEAIR, Florida – Sophia Popov wasn’t really thinking about her birdie streak during Round 1 of the Pelican Women’s Championship until she saw her scorecard on a leaderboard.

“Yikes!” Popov said of the five-birdie run. “That was better than anticipated.”

The 2020 AIG Women’s British Open champion holds a two-shot lead over Ashleigh Buhai after posting a career-low 6-under 64 at the newly renovated Pelican Golf Club.

Popov relished the challenge of the wind and the creativity the Donald Ross-designed greens allow.

“I think mentally I’ve never felt as freed up as I do now,” she said.

“You know, I don’t know if that’s from winning the tournament or just overall just having more fun out here. Having obviously an exemption for the next couple years just frees up the swing a little bit, my mindset, I can be a little bit more aggressive, and I think I just took advantage of that.”

PELICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Leaderboard

The player who had only Symetra Tour status at the start of the year played alongside World No. 1 Jin Young Ko in her first round back on the tour since November 2019.

“I’ve watched her play a lot of golf. … on TV,” said Popov.

“I was honestly just excited, maybe fan-girling just a little bit.”

Ko opened with a 2-over 72, noting that she was confused by the grain on the greens. The 2019 LPGA Player of the Year made her first birdie on the LPGA in 2020 on the 10th hole. Popov had posted six on the day by then, thanks to a hot putter.

Pelican Women's Championship 2020
Jin Young Ko hits her tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the Pelican Women’s Championship at Pelican Golf Club on November 19, 2020 in Belleair, Florida. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

“Looks easy,” said Ko, when asked for her impression of Popov’s game.

Ally McDonald, who played alongside Popov and Ko, broke through with her first victory in Georgia last month at the LPGA Drive On Championship and continued her hot streak with a 3-under 67, good for a share of third. McDonald was hoping to be introduced as an LPGA champion for the first time on Thursday but apparently the starter didn’t have it in his notes.

“I was disappointed,” said McDonald. “I was anticipating hearing that. So I got the Solheim Cup, which was great, but I kind of waited a second to tee my ball up. Never heard it, but it’s just whatever.”

Sei Young Kim, the KPMG Women’s PGA champion, also holds a share of third at 3 under. Brooke Henderson headlines a group at 2 under.

“It’s definitely a tricky golf course,” said Henderson. “You got to be careful out there. It can kind of jump up and bite you if you’re not paying attention, and especially with how windy it was earlier today. I feel like we really had to judge the conditions really well.”

Popov said the pinch-me moments are less frequent these days, though she does enjoy reminiscing when people ask questions. Royal Troon’s life-changing victory is never too far from her thoughts, however, considering where she keeps the trophy.

“The trophy is on my nightstand,” said Popov, smiling. “Right where it’s supposed to be.”

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Lexi Thompson cards LPGA’s 10th ace of 2020, bringing total donations to $200K for St. Jude

Lexi Thompson’s second ace in two years brings her total amount raised for St. Jude to $40,000. This marks her fifth career ace on tour.

BELLEAIR, Florida – Lexi Thompson only knew she’d made an ace in the opening round of the Pelican Women’s Championship when a man behind the green threw his hands up. With limited galleries—club members are allowed to bring four guests—even the best of shots elicit quiet reactions these days.

“Even though there was only about 10 people that saw it,” said Thompson, who opened with an even-par 70 at Pelican Golf Club and trails clubhouse leader Sei Young Kim by three. “Still a good feeling for me.”

Thompson struck a 9-iron from 162 yards on the par-3 third. The ball hopped twice before striking the flagstick and diving into the hole. Thompson high-fived her brother Curtis, who is on the bag this week. Both her parents were in the gallery. (Players are allowed two guests.)

PELICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Leaderboard

Thompson’s second ace in two years brings her total amount raised for St. Jude to $40,000. This marks her fifth career ace on tour.

Pelican Women's Championship 2020
Lexi Thompson reaches in the cup to get her ball after making a hole-in-one during the first round of the 2020 Pelican Women’s Championship at Pelican Golf Club on November 19, 2020 in Belleair, Florida. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

A total of 10 aces have been recorded so far in 2020, resulting in $200,000 raised. For perspective, $1,000 helps cover about two-thirds of the cost of one day of chemotherapy.

“It means the world, I think to everybody out here,” said Thompson. “We’re not just athletes who play well in our sport, but we want give back. It’s such a great way and I think it’s a great idea what they’re doing.”

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