Alena Sharp played virtually flawless golf over the 1st 36 holes of the Symetra Tour's season-opener in Mesa, Arizona (13 birdies, 1 double bogey), as she opened up a 3-shot lead on Jennie Lee, but she made things interesting when she stumbled out of the gate in her final round with 3 bogeys in her 1st 4 holes. Even as Emily Talley fired a bogey-free 65 to finish early at -9 (she was later joined by Sadena Parks and Becca Huffer, who both shot 68s), and Sharp's playing partners Lee and Marissa Steen fought back from early problems themselves, the LPGA veteran hung tough and sandwiched a lone bogey between pairs of birdies (on 8 and 9 and then on 12 and 13) to get back to -12. By the time the final threesome got to the 16th tee, though, Lee had pulled within 2 shots and Steen within 3 of Sharp's lead. After Lee bogeyed 16 and Sharp bogeyed 17, Sharp led both of her challengers by 2 shots. And a walkoff birdie sealed the deal, giving the Canadian her 1st career Symetra Tour victory after 2 runner-up finishes last season (the 1st at this very event).
While I'm excited to discover that Parks is a fan of animated film and an American Ethnic Studies graduate from the University of Washington, I'm disappointed that Mitsuki Katahira closed with a 75 to fall outside the top 60, Yueer Cindy Feng could never get it going all week and needed to birdie her last 2 holes to finish at E (T35), and Hannah Yun ended up with a 74 that dropped her to T21 (although she did show a lot of fight by bouncing back from a pair of early doubles today). At least Cheyenne Woods played solid golf after a rough 1st 15 holes to the tournament, finishing T14 (tied with, among others, Fiona Puyo, who fired a 6-birdie 67 today), 3 shots behind Lee Lopez and 2 behind Lindy Duncan, who both closed with fine 68s. It was also great to see Sara Brown's name near the top of the leaderboard again; she finished at -7 on the strength of a 5-birdie 69.
The tour next travels to City of Industry, California, where Birdie Kim, Jennifer Song, and Kim Welch join the show, but it's looking like Sharp will sit this one out. Let's see who can join her in the 2014 winner's circle!
9 comments:
Nothing against Alena Sharp and congrats to her, but she won her full LPGA card last year and I question why the LPGA lets full-status LPGA players drop down and play on the Symetra Tour. It is supposed to be a developmental tour, I thought, not a tour for LPAG players to play on when they don't have an LPGA event to play in. There is not that much money to spread around on the Symetra Tour. I'd rather see it go to young players struggling to make it to the LPGA and pay their bills.
I see what you're saying, Dave, but there are plenty of former LPGAers on the tour--and current players with marginal priority status--and Sharp isn't the oldest of the bunch. If they can help raise the profile of the tour and help it get more events and prize money, it'll benefit everyone. Frankly, if the youngsters can't figure out how to hang with or beat the likes of Sharp, they don't have much of a future on the LPGA, anyway.
I see your point also. Would only add that the former LPGA players and those with marginal LPGA status are trying to earn their way back to full status on the LPGA through the Symetra Tour. Players like Alena Sharp who currently have full status on the LPGA, are only playing for a check in any given event. Nothing wrong with that, I agree, but it is not what the Symetra Tour was designed for.
Are you sure Alena went to Washington?
Her LPGA bio says she went to New Mexico State University for Marketing:
http://www.lpga.com/golf/players/s/alena-sharp/bio.aspx
John he was referring to Sadena Parks not Alena Sharp.. please read the post again.
I see Bruce's point, but I have to agree with Dave on this one. There should be a priority status above which a player is ineligible to play a Symetra event.
I'd guess Sharp playing for the competition, more than the money.
I'd like to know if this has ever happened before on the Symetra Tour. Obviously the Cactus Tour and SunCoast Series don't have any rule barring high-status LPGAers, as you'll see some decently-big names tuning up in the pre-season there. It might seem weird to make Symetra more restrictive, but on further reflection I would support Dave's idea and diane's proposal!
The current eligibility rules can be googled and downloaded (try "Symetra Tour tournament eligibility"). Sharp was eligible to play. So the question is how should the rules be modified (and why).
By the way, Sharp's winnings are not included on the money list, so we don't have to worry about the effect of her win on others' chances to get their LPGA cards in 2015.
http://www.symetratour.com/stats/stats-detail.aspx?q=official%20money
Post a Comment