Mobile Bay LPGA Classic Friday: Young Americans II, The Sequel, Part Deux

Jessica Korda has started the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic 66-65 to take a 1-shot lead on Karrie Webb, who charged up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 63, but the low round of the day belonged to Sydnee Michaels, whose 62 included an eagle and 8 birdies.

With Lexi Thompson and Mina Harigae at -9 and Jennifer Johnson, Kim Welch, and Lisa McCloskey at -7, the Young Americans are still in this thing (not to disparage the not-quite-so-young Americans Nicole Castrale at -8 and Moira Dunn at -5!).  But the Thai contingent made a move today, with Pornanong Phatlum (65) and Thidappa Suwannapura (67) catching Michaels at -10 and leapfrogging Ariya Jutanugarn (66), who's "only" at -9.  Azahara Munoz's 64 and Beatriz Recari's 70 meant the Spanish Armada isn't out of this, either, although at -9 and -6 respectively they'll have to go even lower on moving day, no doubt.  And of course the Korean contingent isn't to be forgotten, although having Chella Choi (67-66) as their standard-bearer is a little surprising, with Hee Kyung Seo at -8, Eun-Hee Ji at -7, and Ji-Yai Shin and Hee Young Park at -6 a little lower down the leaderboard than expected.

With Angela Stanford at -5 and Stacy Lewis at -4, the door is open for Webb, a Young American, or a young international star to take this thing on the weekend.  But it's also an opportunity for Song-Hee Kim at -4, Mitsuki Katahira and Seon Hwa Lee at -3, Sun Young Yoo at -2, Jennifer Song and Ryann O'Toole at -1, and Chie Arimura and Tiffany Joh at E to get their seasons going.  Rookie of the Year race leader Moriya Jutanugarn unexpectedly missed the cut, so this is a great opportunity for Arimura to make up some ground on her.  She'll need a great weekend to do it!

[Update (9:27 am):  Here's bangkokbobby's take!]

Mobile Bay LPGA Class Thursday: The Young Americans Step Up

You gotta love the leaderboard at the end of the 1st round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic!  Lexi Thompson: 65. Jessica Korda: 66. Mina Harigae and Jennifer Johnson: 67. Vicky Hurst, Lauren Doughtie, Dori Carter, and Amelia Lewis: 68.  I know I've focused a lot on the globalization of women's golf here at Mostly Harmless.  With the rise of Lydia Ko, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, Hyo-Joo Kim, and other young international stars, it's been easy to see that the days of an American monopoly on the top talent on the planet are over.  Which makes it all the more gratifying to see a new generation of Americans step up and try to compete at a world-class level.  Let's see if they can keep it up over the next 54 holes.  With Eun-Hee Ji (65), Hee Young Park (67), and Hee Kyung Seo (68) in the mix, it won't be easy!  Not to mention Beatriz Recari (68), Sandra Gal (68), Karrie Webb (69),  and Ariya (69)....

The Road to Sebonack: May 15th Results for 2013 U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifying

Here's a link to the USGA's overview of the sectional qualifiers for the 2013 U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, NY.  Since the official USGA results page is often slow to be updated--at least judging by recent history--I'm sharing results from today's qualifiers below and on my overview post from last week.

Oak Valley Golf Club, Beaumont, Calif. [pairings]

The biggest names in the field include Cheyenne Woods, Stephanie Na, Cathryn Bristow, Tiffany Lua, Ani Gulugian, and Allison Lee....  If anyone finds out the results before me, please post a comment or send me an email!

[Update (5/16/13, 6:08 pm):  Assuming you all got this from the USGA site already, but here are the results!]

Tiffany Lua(a) - ROWLAND HEIGHTS, CALIF.	139
Gabriella Then(a) - RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIF.	139
Stacey Keating - AUSTRALIA	144
A - Grace Na(a) - ALAMEDA, CALIF.	145
A - Eun-Jeong Seong(a) - REPUBLIC OF KOREA	145

Who Are Your Picks for the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic?

As Tony Jesselli recently pointed out, many top players are skipping the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, but for me that just means that I get to root for youngsters like Tiffany Joh, Mina Harigae, Jennifer Song, Mitsuki Katahira, and Hannah Yun, not to mention more experienced players trying to restart their hikes up the comeback trail like Seon Hwa Lee, Moira Dunn, Jane Park, Song-Hee Kim, and Laura Diaz.  With lots of recent additions to the U.S. Women's Open field playing this week, it'll be interesting to see which of them can keep it rolling in Alabama (so to speak).

Here are my picks:

1. Lewis, Stacy
2. Shin Ji-Yai
3. Jutanugarn, Ariya
4. Kang Haeji
5. Stanford
6. Webb
7. Munoz
8. Park Hee Young
9. Icher
10. Korda
11. Recari
12. Seo

Alts: Jutanugarn, Moriya; Yang, Amy; Thompson

Who are yours?

The Road to Sebonack: May 14th Results for 2013 U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifying

Here's a link to the USGA's overview of the sectional qualifiers for the 2013 U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, NY.  Since the official USGA results page is often slow to be updated--at least judging by recent history--I'm sharing results from today's qualifiers below and on my overview post from last week.

Cantigny Golf, Wheaton, Ill. [pairings]

Camilla Hedberg and Isabelle Lendl were among the 7 golfers to withdraw from this event.  After the 1st round, Caroline Powers (71) leads Abbey Carlson and Prima Thammaraks by 1 shot, but with no big names left in this field, anything can happen!

[Update (7:56 pm): Caroline Powers (143) is in, but it's hard to tell from the leaderboard whether Ana Menendez or Chelsea Harris at 145 got the 2nd spot.  The one who didn't will be 1st alternate and Alejandra Cangrejo at 146 is the 2nd alternate.  Abbey and Prima missed the playoff for that last possible spot by a single shot.  Golf is cruel!]

[Update (9:12 pm): IceCat at Seoul Sisters.com has Chelsea in and Ana 1st alternate!]