What was neat about following these 6 golfers was the range of styles of play they bring. Davies is of course a classic bomber, while Ryu, Stanford, and Gal are straight shooters and Miyazato and Salas are precision players. So I got to see how they each attempted to attack a course that was equally new to each of them. Their scores ranged from 69 (Stanford) to 74 (Miyazato), but to tell you the truth, there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the players in terms of quality of play. I saw 84 drives today and only 1 missed the fairway by more than a yard--Davies's pull into the trees off the 1st tee (where she ended up on wood chips that constituted a temporary cart path, took relief from it, punched out into the front-left trap, and made a great sandie to save par!). Salas hit the fewest greens (11) and Gal the most (15), but until I looked it up, they didn't seem so different from everyone else I followed, who hit 13 or 14. I only saw a few bad misses of greens, as most ended up on the fringe or just off it. One that stands out was Ryu's double-cross on the par-3 6th that ended up in the front-left trap, from which she made double when she hit it a little thin out of the sand and ended up in jail over the back-right corner of the green. Salas put herself in a few very difficult traps, as well, but she had trouble carrying the high banks and had to make excellent scrambles from the rough to save bogeys on those holes. Even the apparent yardage differences from their scorecards are somewhat misleading, as they only average results on a few holes. Davies was consistently longer than everyone else, while Ryu and Stanford were neck-and-neck on most holes. Miyazato was surprisingly long, expecially on the front (their back), often outdriving both Gal and Salas. In fact, Miyazato's drive on 9 wasn't that far short of Davies's!
So what made the difference between their rounds? If you guessed pitches, chips, and putts, pat yourself on the back. Salas bogeyed her 1st 2 holes and needed to work to avoid a double on the par-4 11th, but she was able to make 3 birdies on each side to offset her 5 bogeys. Miyazato had maybe the best ball-striking round I've ever seen her play, but she missed 5 putts between 4 and 12 feet on the back (her front) and I was so disheartened I stopped counting on the front. And yet, after she made what turned out to be her only birdie of the day on the par-4 7th (after sticking her approach to 3 feet) and followed it up with another great approach on the short par-3 8th, she had 12 feet from pin-high right to fight back to E on the day. The putt had perfect speed but crept around the perimeter of the hole instead of falling in. Then she hits a great wedge on the par-5 9th that lands near the hole but fails to hold and as the rain starts falling just misses a chip-in and then misses the comebacker. Contrast that with Stanford, who came about an inch short of an eagle on the par-4 18th and ended up being the only person I saw to break 70 today, and that just about sums it all up.
There's a lot more to say--I literally charted every shot on my course map--but I don't have time to go into more details. So in the 10 minutes I have until I have to catch a shuttle and go to my favorite Korean restaurant in Rochester, let me just sum up the rounds in bullet points:
- Ryu: 2 bad shots in a row on the par-3 6th were the only thing that kept her over par. She did have trouble with super-long putts on the front a couple of times, but pretty much anyone would have. Her left wrist was taped, but it didn't seem to affect her ball-striking. What held her back was an inability to make the putts she needed to get some momentum going.
- Stanford: She was solid all day and deserved to go a couple lower than she actually ended up. That approach on 18 makes up for a lot, though!
- Davies: A typical adventurous round for Dame Laura, although after 1 she was almost always in the fairway all day. She hit a driver off the deck on 9 and almost reached it in 2, but she also displayed fantastic touch out of the sand. If a few par saves and birdie putts had fallen, she could have gone really low today. 71 was about the worst she could have scored.
- Miyazato: Fantastic ball-striking both off the tee and especially with her fairway woods and hybrids, solid pitches when she missed the green, but even when she stuck it or made good recovery shots, her putter just didn't come through for her today. At one point late on the back she missed 4 really make-able birdie or par putts in a row. After her round, she talked about just accepting that it's part of a process that she has to keep working at. She attributed her improved ball-striking the last 2 months to a lot of hard work, so she knows at some point the putter will start working for her again.
- Salas: What a battler! For every bad approach shot she'd hit, she'd hit a great one, too. She had a good-sized group of family and fans following her and they had a lot to celebrate!
- Gal: A very elegant, artistic golfer, with great touch around the greens and on them. She was right around the hole all day, but could get only 2 birdies to fall. Her 71 was about the worst she could have scored, too, given the quality of her play.
All right, I hope I learned a lot about tempo, focus, and persistence that I can take to my Mid-Amateur qualifier tomorrow at Tuscarora. Walking 36 wasn't too much of a struggle, but I'll be glad to get some food and some rest before I play at 9:39 am tomorrow!
5 comments:
In 2.5 hours of TGC coverage minus an hour of commercials and talk I could not see a lot of real dangers on the course. Obviously Lexi took advantage of her length today but could have been so much better. Not sure if we should be seeing 8 birdie rounds at a major but perhaps the pin placement was a little easier first up. " there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the players in terms of quality of play" I think that goes for a lot of the players out there Bruce. Such a fine line between a good day and average.
Thanks for the quality reporting. It's obvious GC has no interest in showing actual golf, any more than they have to.
Hey Colin I agree, the amount of birdies for a major round is profound, but if you saw how generous the fairways actually are you would know that 8 birdies from Lexi is by design.
I would argue that the LPGA is getting exactly what they want this year. No rough at Nabisco so what you get is a bombers paradise and a WIe-Thompson shootout. This week the fairways are wide and the rough not particularly penal, especially if you are hitting 9 iron or a wedge out of it to the green. Very long and tough for the short hitters. The USGA unwittingly joined in by staging the US Womens Open at Pinehurst #2 with no rough but extremely difficult greens for low ball, short hitters. Evian will be more of the same, long and not particularly challenging for the bombers. Thank heavens for the Womens British Open where anyone, and I mean anyone has a chance to win. Long or short, small or tall, the WBO has got it right. Firm and fast golf courses where the longest hitters might actually have to pull something other than driver off the tee to stay in the fairway and have a chance to score. The only women's major where a precision player has a fighting chance
Like it or not, the LPGA is setting up golf courses that favor the long hitters instead of showcasing skill and precision shotmaking. Last week in Michigan hardly a drop of rain fell tournament week yet for all 4 rounds there was mud on the ball in the fairway on 2nd shots. They literally soaked the course at night massively favoring the bombers. Big picture wise, instead of waiting for the natural evolution of the female athlete to bigger and stronger (which in golf should take another 10 to 15 years) the LPGA is starting now by squeezing the short hitter so tight it nearly knocks the wind out of them. It's hard to tell yourself you have a chance when you hit driver-3 wood into most of the par 4's this week.
Sorry so long a rant.
Mr Gee
Good to read Mr Gee someone else can see that this course is not going to play even close to Royal Birkdale this year. I made a similar comment after the Nabisco. I'm sure Lexi's had a smile on her face since the practice round. Still she's not a great putter so we will see. They all said the same thing at pre tournament interviews if you can hit it long and reasonably straight....
Guys, let's wait and see whether a single type of player has an advantage over 72 holes. Given all the rain in Rochester this week, the fairways were rolling out well and the greens were definitely not dartboards. Can Lexi and Brittany keep it up or can Meena and Lisa M. continue to go low? I have a feeling a lot of big names will get it going today. More on these themes in tonight's post!
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