Tag: Sarah Kemp

Sarah Kemp leads Pure Silk LPGA Championship with rookie Ana Belac lurking

Ana Belac isn’t wasting any time as an LPGA rookie and has put together two powerful rounds at the Pure Silk LPGA Championship.

Two years ago at this time, Ana Belac was a senior on the Duke roster, helping her Blue Devils work their way through NCAA Championship week and ultimately to the national title. Belac was a big part of Duke’s seventh NCAA trophy – its first in match play – and hasn’t looked back since charting her career as a professional.

The 24-year-old from Slovenia finished first on the Symetra Tour money list last year, which earned her LPGA membership for the 2021 season as well as a start in the U.S. Women’s Open in December. Now, she’s lurking on an LPGA leaderboard.

After rounds of 70-67 at the Pure Silk Championship, Belac is tied for second with big names Jessica Korda and Stacy Lewis. They all trail Australian Sarah Kemp by a shot at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Virginia.

This is a particularly big week for Belac considering it’s the last week before the first reshuffle of the 2021 LPGA Tour season.

“It’s in the back of my mind,” Belac said. “My ultimate goal, my life goal, is to play on the LPGA and do well here. I try not to think about it [the reshuffle] when I’m on the course and just play my game.”

2020 U.S. Women's Open
Ana Belac waits on a green during the practice round at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. (Simon Bruty/USGA)

Belac had a steady round with five birdies and a bogey. Korda, on the other hand, does what Korda does, and that’s create fireworks. She eagled the par-5 seventh and the par-5 15th.

“I just try to put myself in the right positions, and luckily I was able to have a good amount of birdie opportunities and saved a good amount of par putts,” said Korda on how her round went. “Obviously the eagles help. If you take those eagles away, I would’ve shot even par today, so eagles always help.”

Korda won the season opening Tournament of Champions in January.

As for Kemp, a second-round 67 that included six birdies helped her get to 6 under and the solo lead.

“It was great. Had a really good warmup. I just felt really good,” said Kemp who said she slept great the night before. “And sometimes you just feel like you’re going to play well, and it was one of those days. Hit some great shots. Made some putts. I didn’t miss a whole lot of fairways. Probably had under 30 putts, and that leads to 4-under.”

Paula Creamer, making her first LPGA start since October 2019 this week, fired rounds of 76-74 to miss the cut by five shots.

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CME Group Tour Championship: Jin Young Ko is in the field; Sophia Popov is out

Jin Young Ko’s runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open propelled her into the CME Group Tour Championship but another major champ didn’t make it.

HOUSTON – Jin Young Ko and Sophia Popov are both headed to Naples, Florida, following the conclusion of the 75th U.S. Women’s Open. Ko’s second-place finish in Houston propelled her into this week’s CME Group Tour Championship. Popov isn’t in the field; she just happens to live there.

Popov, of course, won the AIG Women’s British Open in August. Because she was a non-member at the time, she did not earn the 625 points typically awarded for first place toward the Race to the CME Globe standings. The field was expanded to 72 players this year (including two sponsor exemptions). Popov finished 82nd on the final points list; she would’ve finished 16th if the AIG had counted.

Popov, who recently bought a house in Naples, thought she then might get one of the two sponsor exemptions that were on the table. On the eve of the opening round at the Pelican Women’s Championship last month, she found out those went to Natalie Gulbis and Sarah Kemp. Popov said she was shocked, saying that she felt she deserved to be there.

“It’s a fairness thing as far as playing ability,” said Popov. “It’s not like I haven’t earned it. It’s like I have earned it points-wise, technically.”

Terry Duffy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CME Group, told Golfweek that he wanted those two sponsor exemptions to ensure that his two ambassadors – Cheyenne Knight and Kemp – got into the field.

Typically, there are no sponsor exemptions for the CME, and Duffy said there won’t be any going forward. Like so many things about 2020, this was an exception. After Knight qualified on her own, Duffy had one more spot to fill.

“I’ve known Natalie since 2005, when I did my first event with clients,” said Duffy, who noted that Gulbis was instrumental in his decision to take the step toward title-sponsoring an event.

In January, Gulbis announced that she’d be retiring after the 2020 season. She then told the Toledo Blade back in August that she’d be returning in 2021 because there weren’t any fans out for most of the season.

LPGA Chief Tour Operations Officer Heather Daly-Donofrio said sponsor-exemption decisions are at the discretion of each week’s title sponsor, without input from the LPGA, as a benefit for their investment and partnership.

“The decision to add sponsor exemptions for the CME Group Tour Championship is for this year only,” said Daly-Donofrio. “In this abnormal 2020 year, the CME Group Tour Championship is slightly different than in the past, allowing more players in the field and offering two sponsor invites. In 2021, we expect to return to a 60-player field that is filled strictly off the Race for the CME Globe rankings.”

In 2019, the CME Group Tour Championship offered the biggest payday in women’s golf history – $1.5 million to winner Sei Young Kim. Duffy also raised the purse to $5 million, thereby raising the bar for the entire tour.

Ko earned enough points in just three starts on the LPGA, leaping up to 46th on the points list with finishes of 34th, fifth and second. The World No. 1 spent most of 2020 back home in her native South Korea.

“This week is my best finish at the U.S. Open, so I can play next week, as well,” said Ko. “I’m really thankful. This season is too tough with coronavirus, so I want to say thanks to USGA and all the volunteers.”

With Amy Olson, Ally Ewing and Marina Alex not playing this week, Brittany Lincicome, Anne van Dam and Maria Torres made it into the field.

The 72-hole no-cut event will offer a purse of $3 million. The winner will receive a check of $1.1 million, the highest first-place check on the LPGA.

Popov won’t be the only 2020 major champion missing from the field. U.S. Women’s Open A Lim Kim won’t be there either. Like Popov, she will have the option to accept a two-year membership for the tour beginning in 2021.

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