Sunday, June 14, 2009

LPGA Championship Sunday: Rookie Nordqvist Gets Major Win

Anna Nordqvist did this week in the LPGA Championship what Stacy Lewis couldn't do last year in the U.S. Women's Open: put together 4 great rounds and hold off a packed field for her 1st LPGA win. With an amazing week on the greens--she only took 101 putts over 72 holes--it didn't matter that she hit the ball short off the tee and didn't hit all that many greens in regulation. Hound Dog has the play-by-play covered and Brent Kelley puts her win in context, so I'll do my usual thing and hack away at random details from the final round.

Who Will Be Next to Get Their 1st LPGA Member Win? Lindsey Wright made a great effort today to get hers, while Kristy McPherson played the kind of steady golf (4 straight 70s) that usually wins majors, Na Yeon Choi and Stacy Lewis couldn't get anything going on the weekend, and Song-Hee Kim and Amy Yang made up for that one bad early round to snag top 10s. With Ai Miyazato finishing only T17 at the Suntory Ladies Open this week and never getting anything going, and the rest of my ranked players doing even worse this week, it's looking like it'll be one of those 7.

Is Suzann Pettersen OK? Stephanie Wei linked to Suzann Pettersen's tweets on her WD. Good thing for her there's a 2-week layoff for the LPGA, but there are a lot of huge tournaments coming up right after that. The European Solheim Cup side would be hurting without her, that's for sure, even with Nordqvist's surprisingly quick learning curve.

What's Up with Angela Park? Speaking of injuries and WDs, Angela Park WDed after a 1st-round 83. Is she hurt, too? If so, it would certainly explain her bad play since May.

Is Inbee Park Back? Even with a double bogey on the back, Inbee Park closed strong with a 69 that got her her 2nd top 15 of the year. Last season, Park finished 6th at the Wegmans, won the Open, and finished 10th at the NW Arkansas Championship, so she may be the kind of golfer who heats up at the start of the summer. Or she may go back to missing cuts like she did all May. The Wegmans will be a huge tournament for her this year.

Is Eun-Hee Ji Ready to Defend Her Wegmans Title? Speaking of the Wegmans, Eun-Hee Ji seems to be recovering from her mid-spring mini-slump. Even though she finished just outside the top 20 this week, at least she's not finishing outside the top 50 any more.

Is the Kyeong Bae Birdie Machine Back on Track? Kyeong Bae made a great back-9 charge up the leaderboard, making 4 birdies in her 1st 5 holes on the back. She used to make birdies in bunches with great regularity, but this was her 1st top 10 since last July's State Farm Classic. It would be great to see this Senior Standout make a comeback.

There's more to be said, but we're taking onechan and imoto's oldest male cousin to the airport today to fly back (alone) to his family in Okinawa. More later!

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