Michelle Wie struggled in her 1st round yesterday at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, opening with a 76 that featured a double bogey on the par-5 11th, her 2nd hole, and 2 bogeys in her last 4 holes. But she's -4 through her 1st 11 holes today and so far has the low round of the day going (defending champion Shanshan Feng played the front in a bogey-free 32). Let's see if she can keep it going in a week that counts double for Solheim Cup team qualification and counts extra in the Rolex Rankings!
[Update 1 (10:55 am): Aussie Sarah Jane Smith is getting into the act, as well: she's -3 through 11 holes of bogey-free golf today and actually has an 18-hole bogey-free run going!]
[Update 2 (11:16 am): More not-quite-live blogging on my twitter feed!]
[Update 3 (12:11 pm): Gotta give a shout-out to Lydia Ko, who bogeyed 2 of her 1st 3 holes to drop to +7 on the week, but is now -3 today through 17 and only +2 overall!]
[Update 4 (12:29 pm): Wie's 68 low round of day so far! Back to E for the week!]
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Wegmans LPGA Championship Friday: Chella Choi Leads Ji-Yai Shin and Morgan Pressel by 1
I can't tell you how impressed I was by Morgan Pressel's 68, Brittany Lincicome's 69, and Se Ri Pak's and Jessica Korda's 70s this morning in the long-delayed 1st round of the Wegmans LPGA Championship, so you may be able to imagine how shocked I was that Chella Choi surpassed Pressel by a shot and Ji-Yai Shin tied her from the afternoon wave. To tell you the truth, I was expecting -1 to be the best anyone would be able to manage on a soaked and nasty Locust Hill today. Instead, Laura Davies, Angela Stanford, Che Arimura, Amy Yang, Catriona Matthew, Anna Nordqvist, Lexi Thompson, Ilhee Lee, and M.J. Hur find themselves 4 off the pace after shooting what would normally be considered fantastic 71s. Sure, I figured something on the order of 25 golfers would finish at par or better (it was actually 23)--and today the likes of Inbee Park, Na Yeon Choi, Ya Ni Tseng, and Suzann Pettersen hit that number on the dot--but I never expected anyone to break 70.
Why am I so amazed by the 4 who did so and the 15 who got under par today? Just consider the damage some of the world's best female golfers--or at least big names who have been playing well of late--sustained today:
80 Hee-Won Han (who just WDed), Amanda Blumenherst
79 Azahara Munoz, Sandra Gal, Gerina Piller
78 Karine Icher, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Jenny Shin
77 Mika Miyazato, Lydia Ko, Caroline Hedwall, Mo Martin
76 Karrie Webb, Paula Creamer, So Yeon Ryu, Melissa Reid, Guilia Sergas
75 Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Hee Young Park, Jennifer Johnson, Lizette Salas
74 Stacy Lewis, Ai Miyazato, Shanshan Feng, Hee Kyung Seo, Beatriz Recari, Moriya Jutanugarn
73 Haeji Kang, Nicole Castrale
To be sure, it could have gone either way for a lot of the players I've mentioned already. Ya Ni Tseng recorded her 1st-ever LPGA hole in 1; Stacy Lewis doubled 2 holes and birdied 2 holes; Cristie Kerr was E through 10 but bogeyed 3 in a row, then played bogey-free the rest of the front (her back); Inbee Park doubled 18 to fall back to E, while Suzann Pettersen birdied 2 of her last 3 holes to get there; Morgan Pressel birdied 4 in a row to close out her round, while Amy Yang followed up a 10th-hole par with 4 birdies in a row to kick off her round. And the list goes on.
In any case, that's just the golfers you might have expected to do better than that today. If Locust Hill was that evil to them, what was it like, you might wonder, for those who hadn't been playing well? Yes, a good number of them played well beyond expectations today (MP, BL, SRP, LD, AY, MJH, to initial a few). But when 20 players failed to break 80 today, you know conditions were brutal.
That just underscores that the bottom line today for today was just surviving. It's not expected that a whole lot of rain (if any) will fall the rest of the tournament, so course conditions should improve markedly the next two (or more) days. Assuming Locust Hill remains pretty evil tomorrow, despite that, the cut line will be +5 or (much) higher, while it's very easy for all 4 players who broke 70 today to come back to the field. Frankly, I think anyone at E through 54 holes will have a chance to win this thing.
I wasn't able to go up to Pittsford today (took imoto with other parent-chaperones to the Niagara Aquarium) and won't be able to go tomorrow (we're helping out a friend whose husband passed away unexpectedly by taking her youngest out to the movies), but the entire Constructivist family will descend on Locust Hill on Sunday. So for now, enjoy the major-quality notes and interviews from LPGA.com and let me know in comments what you saw on Golf Channel!
Why am I so amazed by the 4 who did so and the 15 who got under par today? Just consider the damage some of the world's best female golfers--or at least big names who have been playing well of late--sustained today:
80 Hee-Won Han (who just WDed), Amanda Blumenherst
79 Azahara Munoz, Sandra Gal, Gerina Piller
78 Karine Icher, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Jenny Shin
77 Mika Miyazato, Lydia Ko, Caroline Hedwall, Mo Martin
76 Karrie Webb, Paula Creamer, So Yeon Ryu, Melissa Reid, Guilia Sergas
75 Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Hee Young Park, Jennifer Johnson, Lizette Salas
74 Stacy Lewis, Ai Miyazato, Shanshan Feng, Hee Kyung Seo, Beatriz Recari, Moriya Jutanugarn
73 Haeji Kang, Nicole Castrale
To be sure, it could have gone either way for a lot of the players I've mentioned already. Ya Ni Tseng recorded her 1st-ever LPGA hole in 1; Stacy Lewis doubled 2 holes and birdied 2 holes; Cristie Kerr was E through 10 but bogeyed 3 in a row, then played bogey-free the rest of the front (her back); Inbee Park doubled 18 to fall back to E, while Suzann Pettersen birdied 2 of her last 3 holes to get there; Morgan Pressel birdied 4 in a row to close out her round, while Amy Yang followed up a 10th-hole par with 4 birdies in a row to kick off her round. And the list goes on.
In any case, that's just the golfers you might have expected to do better than that today. If Locust Hill was that evil to them, what was it like, you might wonder, for those who hadn't been playing well? Yes, a good number of them played well beyond expectations today (MP, BL, SRP, LD, AY, MJH, to initial a few). But when 20 players failed to break 80 today, you know conditions were brutal.
That just underscores that the bottom line today for today was just surviving. It's not expected that a whole lot of rain (if any) will fall the rest of the tournament, so course conditions should improve markedly the next two (or more) days. Assuming Locust Hill remains pretty evil tomorrow, despite that, the cut line will be +5 or (much) higher, while it's very easy for all 4 players who broke 70 today to come back to the field. Frankly, I think anyone at E through 54 holes will have a chance to win this thing.
I wasn't able to go up to Pittsford today (took imoto with other parent-chaperones to the Niagara Aquarium) and won't be able to go tomorrow (we're helping out a friend whose husband passed away unexpectedly by taking her youngest out to the movies), but the entire Constructivist family will descend on Locust Hill on Sunday. So for now, enjoy the major-quality notes and interviews from LPGA.com and let me know in comments what you saw on Golf Channel!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Rain Likely to Wash Away 1st Round of the Wegmans LPGA Championship
The word is out that the earliest they can possibly start play at the Wegmans LPGA Championship is 2 pm, but I'm betting the tournament organizers call the whole day off in their planned noon announcement. The course has already received about a third of an inch of rain and there's a big line of thunderstorms massing in the southwest corner of the state on a northeasterly track to reach Pittford by late afternoon, with no obvious breaks in the rain cover over the entire western NY region in between. Everybody with an afternoon tee time won't be playing any golf today, so why subject those in the morning wave to radically different conditions than everyone is likely to face the rest of the week?
[Update (12:15 pm): No golf today is the word from the LPGA twitterverse!]
[Update (12:15 pm): No golf today is the word from the LPGA twitterverse!]
Who Are Your Picks for the Wegmans LPGA Championship?
Here are mine from this week's PakPicker competition at Seoul Sisters.com:
1. Miyazato Ai
2. Miyazato Mika
3. Creamer
4. Kerr
5. Webb
6. Feng
7. Lewis, Stacy
8. Park Inbee
9. Pettersen
10. Shin Ji-Yai
11. Kim In-Kyung
12. Arimura
Alts: Pak Se Ri, Ryu, Choi Na Yeon
Morgan Pressel and Jeong Jang have great records at Locust Hill, but I couldn't bring myself to put them in my top 15 this year, nor could I include more than my top 3 players without a major (plus Chie Arimura) coming into this week!
How about you?
1. Miyazato Ai
2. Miyazato Mika
3. Creamer
4. Kerr
5. Webb
6. Feng
7. Lewis, Stacy
8. Park Inbee
9. Pettersen
10. Shin Ji-Yai
11. Kim In-Kyung
12. Arimura
Alts: Pak Se Ri, Ryu, Choi Na Yeon
Morgan Pressel and Jeong Jang have great records at Locust Hill, but I couldn't bring myself to put them in my top 15 this year, nor could I include more than my top 3 players without a major (plus Chie Arimura) coming into this week!
How about you?
The Best on the LPGA without a Major: 2013 Wegmans LPGA Championship Edition
All right, it's time to update my last round of predictions as to who will break through for her 1st career LPGA major, this time at the Wegmans LPGA Championship being played this Thursday through Sunday (weather permitting). As always, the numbers in parentheses following the players' names are for LPGA wins and international wins (but only from the other major tours: JLPGA, KLPGA, LET).
Most Likely to Survive Locust Hill
1. Ai Miyazato (9/17): I've said it before and I'll say it again: she's due. She's got a very good history at Locust Hill and has been on the verge of playing great golf again. Could this be her week?
2. Mika Miyazato (1/1): She already has 9 top 15s to her credit in LPGA majors in her short professional career, including 3 top 10s in a row in 2011 (a T7 at the KNC, a T8 at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, and a 5th-place finish at the USWO) and another 3 in a row last year (T2 at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, T7 at the USWO, and 4th at the WBO). Plus, she's already won a JLPGA major, getting revenge at the '10 Japan Women's Open for her final-round collapse in the '09 edition--and she finally broke through for her 1st LPGA win last season in the midst of her major run. Only problem is she basically shut it down early late last season, playing only 3 events after the WBO, and started off 2013 on a limited schedule, as well, with very unimpressive results for someone of her talents. Has she been she injured? sick? burned out? Or did she just need a break? I didn't get to talk to her on Tuesday to find out, but I will after her morning round today. Whatever the cause, she's contended in the last 2 events she's played and seems to always play Locust Hill well. So I'm moving her way up this list!
3. In-Kyung Kim (3/1): Here's what I wrote on the eve of her near-miss at last year's KNC: "Talk about due: she hadn't finished worse than 12th in her last 6 majors until coming to Carnoustie, where she had her worst finish in her last 14 majors besides an exceptionally windy KNC in 2010. Even with an uneven start to 2012, I have to rank someone with 11 top 20s in that stretch of majors, one who's had plenty of shots at the winner's circle, among the most likely to get there this week." Even after all her injuries and heartaches over the remainder of last season, she's come back strong in 2013 with another playoff loss at the Kia and 4 other top 10s, including a T5 last week on the Jersey Shore. We know she's playing well enough to win; what we'll find out this week is what shape her psyche's in. At #2 among the LPGA's Club 36, I would love to see her break through this week!
The Contenders
4. Beatriz Recari (2/1): Yes, she beat IK at the Kia, and she's been playing great golf for quite some time now, but her record at the majors isn't as strong (to say the least) as most of the top players on this list. Still, it would be criminal to rank her lower than this, and you could probably make a case for putting her higher, given how accurate off the tee she is.
5. Angela Stanford (5/0): Her best chance to win a major to date was back in the 2003 U.S. Women's Open, but Hilary Lunke answered Stanford's 27-foot birdie with her own walkoff birdie to win the 18-hole playoff instead. Since then, Stanford's had 19 more top-25 finishes in majors, including 2 top 5s at the LPGA Championship (back when it was sponsored by McDonalds), a T3 and T11 in the 2 KNCs before this year's (where she fuinished T19), and a 4th-place finish at the 2011 USWO (where she was the 3rd-round leader). She's another one of those "any given week" golfers whose game is custom-made for majors--so why not this one, particularly since I believe course conditions will favor a straight shooter like Stanford?
Quantum Leap Candidates
6. Chie Arimura (0/13): She added a close call at last week's ShopRite LPGA Classic to her 2 other best finishes on the LPGA, a near-win at the 2011 HSBC Women's Champions, which always features a major-quality field, and a top 10 at the KNC that same year (her 2nd in a row there at the time). Looks to me like her game is also rounding into shape at just the right time.
7. Hee Kyung Seo (1/11): It took her awhile last year, but she finally got over the disappointment of giving up a late-Sunday lead at the KNC and got used to being near the top of the leaderboard again in the 2nd half of the season. This season, she has 2 top 10s and 6 top 25s, so could very well kick it up a notch this week.
8. Karine Icher (0/5): She had a great 2012 and despite a slow start in 2013, she hasn't finished outside the top 30 in her last 6 starts. She only has 1 top 10 at Locust Hill, way back in 2006, but already has 2 top 10s this season.
9. Guilia Sergas (0/0): She's playing very well in 2013 and is coming off her only top 10 at Locust Hill last year.
10. Moriya Jutanugarn (0/0): Little sister Ariya beat her to the winner's circle at the start of their professional careers, so can Moriya continue to outpace Chie Arimura in the Rookie of the Year race with a good finish at Locust Hill? I wouldn't put it past her, but I'm less confident for her than I was at the KNC. A win? Might be asking for too much too soon, especially given the troubles she's had after getting herself into contention this year. Wonder if Ariya will be on the bag for her big sister, given that she had to WD with a shoulder injury sustained during a fall in Monday's practice round....
11. Azahara Munoz (1/1): Despite missing her 1st cut in an LPGA major as an LPGA member at last year's Wegmans LPGA Championship, she played some great golf in the 2nd half of the season. 2013 has been less impressive and has included a missed cut at the KNC, but she's showed flashes of brilliance and has put in more solid starts than bad ones, so maybe she can jumpstart her season this week.
12. Jessica Korda (1/1): Yeah, she doesn't have a great record in majors and hasn't won on U.S. soil as a professional, but she's been playing really well in 2013 and is very accurate off the tee for a bomber, so who says she can't win this week?
13. Chella Choi (0/0): She's coming off a T10 at last year's WBO and a T32 at this year's KNC and already has 2 top 10s and 5 top 20s this season. She doesn't have a super-strong record at the majors, but she has tasted what it feels like to contend on the LPGA and has made steady improvements every year she's a pro, so maybe she's ready to take it to the next level this season.
14. Haeji Kang (0/0): She's quietly becoming a non-surprise leaderboard presence and is coming off a top 10 at the Kia, a T5 in this year's KNC, and a T15 in last year's KNC. She hasn't played well in her last 4 starts, but don't count this dark horse out!
15. Amy Yang (0/4): I still believe in what I saw from her in person in 2011 at Locust Hill: she has a great game for majors, she's capable of going toe-to-toe with Ya Ni Tseng (or Stacy Lewis, for that matter), and she's way overdue for her 1st LPGA win. She came really close at last year's U.S. Women's Open, falling short to Na Yeon Choi's weekend heroics (and some good bounces!), and was in the mix in last year's KNC, but the problem is that she skipped the last 2 LPGA events and finished T72 on a Mobile Bay course that should have suited her game to a T, so I suspect she's injured. Maybe she's recovered already?
16. Lexi Thompson (1/1): Sure, she hasn't yet followed up on her top 10 at the 2010 USWO in another LPGA major, but cut her some slack, will ya? She's another one with the talent to contend any time and a surprising amount of experience in majors for someone so young, even though it hasn't all been good in terms of results. Still, she showed off some big improvements last year, with 2 top 20s and 4 top 30s in majors, and already has several solid finishes in 2013, plus she's almost as accurate off the tee as Korda.
Watch Lists
Most wins/longest careers without a major: Hee-Won Han (6), Sophie Gustafson (5), Maria Hjorth (5)
Slumping stars in field: Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel, Seon Hwa Lee, Momoko Ueda
Rising stars: Carlota Ciganda, Caroline Hedwall, Pornanong Phatlum, Ilhee Lee, Lizette Salas, Gerina Piller, Jennifer Johnson, Mo Martin, Danielle Kang, Jenny Shin
Possible non-LPGA winners: Lydia Ko, Melissa Reid
Most Likely to Survive Locust Hill
1. Ai Miyazato (9/17): I've said it before and I'll say it again: she's due. She's got a very good history at Locust Hill and has been on the verge of playing great golf again. Could this be her week?
2. Mika Miyazato (1/1): She already has 9 top 15s to her credit in LPGA majors in her short professional career, including 3 top 10s in a row in 2011 (a T7 at the KNC, a T8 at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, and a 5th-place finish at the USWO) and another 3 in a row last year (T2 at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, T7 at the USWO, and 4th at the WBO). Plus, she's already won a JLPGA major, getting revenge at the '10 Japan Women's Open for her final-round collapse in the '09 edition--and she finally broke through for her 1st LPGA win last season in the midst of her major run. Only problem is she basically shut it down early late last season, playing only 3 events after the WBO, and started off 2013 on a limited schedule, as well, with very unimpressive results for someone of her talents. Has she been she injured? sick? burned out? Or did she just need a break? I didn't get to talk to her on Tuesday to find out, but I will after her morning round today. Whatever the cause, she's contended in the last 2 events she's played and seems to always play Locust Hill well. So I'm moving her way up this list!
3. In-Kyung Kim (3/1): Here's what I wrote on the eve of her near-miss at last year's KNC: "Talk about due: she hadn't finished worse than 12th in her last 6 majors until coming to Carnoustie, where she had her worst finish in her last 14 majors besides an exceptionally windy KNC in 2010. Even with an uneven start to 2012, I have to rank someone with 11 top 20s in that stretch of majors, one who's had plenty of shots at the winner's circle, among the most likely to get there this week." Even after all her injuries and heartaches over the remainder of last season, she's come back strong in 2013 with another playoff loss at the Kia and 4 other top 10s, including a T5 last week on the Jersey Shore. We know she's playing well enough to win; what we'll find out this week is what shape her psyche's in. At #2 among the LPGA's Club 36, I would love to see her break through this week!
The Contenders
4. Beatriz Recari (2/1): Yes, she beat IK at the Kia, and she's been playing great golf for quite some time now, but her record at the majors isn't as strong (to say the least) as most of the top players on this list. Still, it would be criminal to rank her lower than this, and you could probably make a case for putting her higher, given how accurate off the tee she is.
5. Angela Stanford (5/0): Her best chance to win a major to date was back in the 2003 U.S. Women's Open, but Hilary Lunke answered Stanford's 27-foot birdie with her own walkoff birdie to win the 18-hole playoff instead. Since then, Stanford's had 19 more top-25 finishes in majors, including 2 top 5s at the LPGA Championship (back when it was sponsored by McDonalds), a T3 and T11 in the 2 KNCs before this year's (where she fuinished T19), and a 4th-place finish at the 2011 USWO (where she was the 3rd-round leader). She's another one of those "any given week" golfers whose game is custom-made for majors--so why not this one, particularly since I believe course conditions will favor a straight shooter like Stanford?
Quantum Leap Candidates
6. Chie Arimura (0/13): She added a close call at last week's ShopRite LPGA Classic to her 2 other best finishes on the LPGA, a near-win at the 2011 HSBC Women's Champions, which always features a major-quality field, and a top 10 at the KNC that same year (her 2nd in a row there at the time). Looks to me like her game is also rounding into shape at just the right time.
7. Hee Kyung Seo (1/11): It took her awhile last year, but she finally got over the disappointment of giving up a late-Sunday lead at the KNC and got used to being near the top of the leaderboard again in the 2nd half of the season. This season, she has 2 top 10s and 6 top 25s, so could very well kick it up a notch this week.
8. Karine Icher (0/5): She had a great 2012 and despite a slow start in 2013, she hasn't finished outside the top 30 in her last 6 starts. She only has 1 top 10 at Locust Hill, way back in 2006, but already has 2 top 10s this season.
9. Guilia Sergas (0/0): She's playing very well in 2013 and is coming off her only top 10 at Locust Hill last year.
10. Moriya Jutanugarn (0/0): Little sister Ariya beat her to the winner's circle at the start of their professional careers, so can Moriya continue to outpace Chie Arimura in the Rookie of the Year race with a good finish at Locust Hill? I wouldn't put it past her, but I'm less confident for her than I was at the KNC. A win? Might be asking for too much too soon, especially given the troubles she's had after getting herself into contention this year. Wonder if Ariya will be on the bag for her big sister, given that she had to WD with a shoulder injury sustained during a fall in Monday's practice round....
11. Azahara Munoz (1/1): Despite missing her 1st cut in an LPGA major as an LPGA member at last year's Wegmans LPGA Championship, she played some great golf in the 2nd half of the season. 2013 has been less impressive and has included a missed cut at the KNC, but she's showed flashes of brilliance and has put in more solid starts than bad ones, so maybe she can jumpstart her season this week.
12. Jessica Korda (1/1): Yeah, she doesn't have a great record in majors and hasn't won on U.S. soil as a professional, but she's been playing really well in 2013 and is very accurate off the tee for a bomber, so who says she can't win this week?
13. Chella Choi (0/0): She's coming off a T10 at last year's WBO and a T32 at this year's KNC and already has 2 top 10s and 5 top 20s this season. She doesn't have a super-strong record at the majors, but she has tasted what it feels like to contend on the LPGA and has made steady improvements every year she's a pro, so maybe she's ready to take it to the next level this season.
14. Haeji Kang (0/0): She's quietly becoming a non-surprise leaderboard presence and is coming off a top 10 at the Kia, a T5 in this year's KNC, and a T15 in last year's KNC. She hasn't played well in her last 4 starts, but don't count this dark horse out!
15. Amy Yang (0/4): I still believe in what I saw from her in person in 2011 at Locust Hill: she has a great game for majors, she's capable of going toe-to-toe with Ya Ni Tseng (or Stacy Lewis, for that matter), and she's way overdue for her 1st LPGA win. She came really close at last year's U.S. Women's Open, falling short to Na Yeon Choi's weekend heroics (and some good bounces!), and was in the mix in last year's KNC, but the problem is that she skipped the last 2 LPGA events and finished T72 on a Mobile Bay course that should have suited her game to a T, so I suspect she's injured. Maybe she's recovered already?
16. Lexi Thompson (1/1): Sure, she hasn't yet followed up on her top 10 at the 2010 USWO in another LPGA major, but cut her some slack, will ya? She's another one with the talent to contend any time and a surprising amount of experience in majors for someone so young, even though it hasn't all been good in terms of results. Still, she showed off some big improvements last year, with 2 top 20s and 4 top 30s in majors, and already has several solid finishes in 2013, plus she's almost as accurate off the tee as Korda.
Watch Lists
Most wins/longest careers without a major: Hee-Won Han (6), Sophie Gustafson (5), Maria Hjorth (5)
Slumping stars in field: Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel, Seon Hwa Lee, Momoko Ueda
Rising stars: Carlota Ciganda, Caroline Hedwall, Pornanong Phatlum, Ilhee Lee, Lizette Salas, Gerina Piller, Jennifer Johnson, Mo Martin, Danielle Kang, Jenny Shin
Possible non-LPGA winners: Lydia Ko, Melissa Reid
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