Na Yeon Choi and Jessica Korda scorched Jack Nicklaus's course in the Reignwood LPGA Classic's opening round. Each fired bogey-free 64s on the par-73 track, putting them 4 shots ahead of Stacy Lewis, Hee Young Park, and Hee Kyung Seo and 5 shots beyond Inbee Park, Anna Nordqvist, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Amy Yang, Carlota Ciganda, Jane Park, Paola Moreno, and JLPGA regular Li-Ying Ye. With 43 golfers breaking par and 51 shooting par or better, that pair of 64s really stand out. Where the heck did they come from?
Today was Choi's lowest score since the final round of the Manulife Classic in mid-July, when she also went -9. Those 2 rounds are her only sub-65 scores of the year, so they're rare to begin with. But when you consider that Choi was having trouble breaking 75 in her previous 6 rounds (she finished Evian going 73-75 and did even worse last week on the KLPGA), you have to wonder what led to this performance, where she didn't miss a fairway, missed only 2 greens, and took only 25 putts. Birdieing her last 4 holes in a row wasn't bad, either.
Ditto for Korda: her most recent previous low round of the year (a 65) also came on Sunday in Waterloo and she also had trouble in Evian, plus she had the added burden of having to chip away a little rust this week. Surprisingly, she wasn't as long off the tee as Choi on the holes they measured driving distance; not surprisingly, she wasn't nearly as accurate, hitting only 8 of 14 fairways. But she hit 15 greens nevertheless and took only 24 putts. She also made 7 birdies in her 1st 13 holes, so she had that going for her, too.
It's certainly not shocking that Choi or Korda went super-low. Given their lack of momentum coming in, I put them low in my top 15 predictions, but I didn't drop them out of it (although I was going to leave NYC out until I changed my mind at the last second!). After all, they're both in the race for the Vare Trophy for low scoring average and have both been breaking 70 with regularity this season (around 42% of the time, with Korda barely ahead of Choi). Still, it's surprising that they did it in their 1st competitive rounds on a course they've never seen before.
How did they account for their feats? It appears from their post-round interviews that they took opposite approaches. Choi emphasized the return of her old caddie, her low expectations, and a much more relaxed attitude than last season's Asian swing, when she was #2 in the world and grinding for #1. Korda, by contrast, was not shy about expressing her desire for her 2nd career LPGA victory; yes, she also emphasized she's relaxed and had fun with Morgan Pressel and Ilhee Lee in their pairing, but unlike Choi, who de-emphasized her lack of an LPGA victory in 2013 when asked, Korda said, "I finished second in Alabama and got a little taste of it and that second win. I’m kind of going after it.... I’m excited for what the next three days bring."
Whatever works for you, eh? If Choi and Korda can keep the pedal to the metal, they can turn this into a 2-player race pretty quickly and put a lot of pressure on their lead chase pack to take risks to try to keep up with them, much less chase them down. But there's so much talent right behind them it's hard to imagine them being able to do that. Shanshan Feng, Lizette Salas, and Caroline Masson are at -3, So Yeon Ryu, Caroline Hedwall, Karrie Webb, Brittany Lang, and last week's LET winner Azahara Munoz are at -2, Ya Ni Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Sandra Gal, and Moriya Jutanugarn are at -1, and Beatriz Recari and Chella Choi are at E. You give them and the folks who broke 70 but not 65 all of 54 holes to make up 9 or fewer shots and you've got yourself a real race. Let's see who responds to the challenge Choi and Korda laid down to the field today!
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Japan Women's Open Thursday: 4 Lead at -2, Only 6 Under Par
Mika Miyazato, Miki Saiki, Teresa Lu, and Mihoko Iseri came the closest in the 108-player field at the Japan Women's Open to reaching the 60s, but all eventually finished their opening rounds at -2, giving them a 1-shot lead on Yuri Fudoh and Kaori Ohe, a 2-shot lead on Mayu Hattori, Hyun-Ju Shin, Tomoko Kusakabe, and Yui Mukaiyama, and a 3-shot lead on a host of players that included Sakura Yokomine, LPGA rookie Ayako Uehara, last week's winner Na-Ri Lee, and former LPGAer Harukyo Nomura.
Meanwhile, some of the highest-ranked players in the field struggled mightily. In-Kyung Kim opened with a birdieless 40 and needed her lone birdie of the day on the 160-year par-3 17th to stay at +4. Ai Miyazato made the Japanese evening news by missing 2 1-footers on the same hole (she tripled that long par-5 3rd hole with a 4-putt after bogeying the previous hole) and missing another short putt; she actually did well to stay at +4, making 3 birdies and 3 bogeys the rest of the way. Ji-Yai Shin made a double on the medium-length par-5 18th as she made the turn and also ended up with an opening 76 after posting a total of 4 bogeys (including 2 in her last 4 holes) and 2 birdies in her round. Sun-Ju Ahn also made a double and 4 bogeys but bounced back with 3 birdies in her last 11 holes to salvage a 75. Money-list leader Rikako Morita was -2 through her 1st 6 holes, but still ended up with a 74 after making 4 bogeys, including 2 consecutive bogeys to finish her round, the rest of the way. Bo-Mee Lee joined her by following up her bogey-free 35 on the back (her 1st 9) with 2 bogeys and a walkoff double on the front. Mi-Jeong Jeon also shot a 74, but at least she made 16 pars in her round--no birdies, though.
In that context, it's pretty impressive that anyone was able to get and stay under par on the fast and firm greens (which ran 12.5 on the stimpmeter). Mikan was actually -3 and bogey-free through her 1st 12 holes and finished with 5 straight pars. Lu also made the same-length bogey-free run, but her 1st bogey of the day brought her over par; she bounce right back with 3 birdies in a row, though, to close out her round. Fudoh made 4 birdies on the front, including 3 in a row to finish the side, and was -3 through 11 holes, but stumbled home with 3 bogeys and a birdie the rest of the way. Others had similar roller-coaster rounds. Saiki made 5 birdies in her round, but needed a bogey-free finish over her last 7 holes in which she made her last 2 birdies of the day to get and stay under par. Miseri did the same but her final 2 birdies came in her last 4 holes and her closing bogey-free run was 6 holes long. Mayu Hattori needed a bogey-free 33 finish on the front to fight back to E after finishing the back with a double bogey. Natsuka Hori tripled her 2nd hole, the long par-5 11th, but fought back with 6 birdies the rest of her round--and still shot a 73. And the list goes on. It's a rare scorecard that didn't have at least one double on it.
In other words, things were tough all over. Let's see who has the mental toughness to stay focused and keep fighting over the final 54 holes in the biggest tournament of the year on the JLPGA.
[Update 1 (8:05 pm): The low amateurs so far have pretty good pedigrees. Haruka Morita (73) won the Japan Women's Amateur in late June, while Mao Nozawa (also 73) came in 3rd.]
[Update 2 (8:11 pm): In addition, Kotone Hori (74) made it to the 2nd round of the JWA, while runner-up there Yumi Matsubara opened with a 74, as well. Hibiki Kitamura finished 4th at the JWA, but she had to settle for a 76 today.]
[Update 3 (8:20 pm): Check out who made their JWO debuts in 2010! A lot of the young amateurs in the field this year were even younger back then!]
Meanwhile, some of the highest-ranked players in the field struggled mightily. In-Kyung Kim opened with a birdieless 40 and needed her lone birdie of the day on the 160-year par-3 17th to stay at +4. Ai Miyazato made the Japanese evening news by missing 2 1-footers on the same hole (she tripled that long par-5 3rd hole with a 4-putt after bogeying the previous hole) and missing another short putt; she actually did well to stay at +4, making 3 birdies and 3 bogeys the rest of the way. Ji-Yai Shin made a double on the medium-length par-5 18th as she made the turn and also ended up with an opening 76 after posting a total of 4 bogeys (including 2 in her last 4 holes) and 2 birdies in her round. Sun-Ju Ahn also made a double and 4 bogeys but bounced back with 3 birdies in her last 11 holes to salvage a 75. Money-list leader Rikako Morita was -2 through her 1st 6 holes, but still ended up with a 74 after making 4 bogeys, including 2 consecutive bogeys to finish her round, the rest of the way. Bo-Mee Lee joined her by following up her bogey-free 35 on the back (her 1st 9) with 2 bogeys and a walkoff double on the front. Mi-Jeong Jeon also shot a 74, but at least she made 16 pars in her round--no birdies, though.
In that context, it's pretty impressive that anyone was able to get and stay under par on the fast and firm greens (which ran 12.5 on the stimpmeter). Mikan was actually -3 and bogey-free through her 1st 12 holes and finished with 5 straight pars. Lu also made the same-length bogey-free run, but her 1st bogey of the day brought her over par; she bounce right back with 3 birdies in a row, though, to close out her round. Fudoh made 4 birdies on the front, including 3 in a row to finish the side, and was -3 through 11 holes, but stumbled home with 3 bogeys and a birdie the rest of the way. Others had similar roller-coaster rounds. Saiki made 5 birdies in her round, but needed a bogey-free finish over her last 7 holes in which she made her last 2 birdies of the day to get and stay under par. Miseri did the same but her final 2 birdies came in her last 4 holes and her closing bogey-free run was 6 holes long. Mayu Hattori needed a bogey-free 33 finish on the front to fight back to E after finishing the back with a double bogey. Natsuka Hori tripled her 2nd hole, the long par-5 11th, but fought back with 6 birdies the rest of her round--and still shot a 73. And the list goes on. It's a rare scorecard that didn't have at least one double on it.
In other words, things were tough all over. Let's see who has the mental toughness to stay focused and keep fighting over the final 54 holes in the biggest tournament of the year on the JLPGA.
[Update 1 (8:05 pm): The low amateurs so far have pretty good pedigrees. Haruka Morita (73) won the Japan Women's Amateur in late June, while Mao Nozawa (also 73) came in 3rd.]
[Update 2 (8:11 pm): In addition, Kotone Hori (74) made it to the 2nd round of the JWA, while runner-up there Yumi Matsubara opened with a 74, as well. Hibiki Kitamura finished 4th at the JWA, but she had to settle for a 76 today.]
[Update 3 (8:20 pm): Check out who made their JWO debuts in 2010! A lot of the young amateurs in the field this year were even younger back then!]
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
And...They're Off!
With the LPGA on mainland China for the 1st time ever and the JLPGA holding its biggest tournament of the year, this is a bigger than usual week in women's golf. I'm going to be posting on both the Reignwood LPGA Classic and the Japan Women's Open as I find the time, but I'm not going to hold back from revealing spoilers in my posts. I'll try to keep my headlines as ambiguous as possible out of respect for those who are DVRing the early-morning Golf Channel coverage and might be visiting other golf sites while avoiding mine until they've gotten a chance to watch the LPGA action. Oh, and I'll be super-busy at my union's delegate assembly on Friday and Saturday, so may be on a weirder than usual posting schedule.
All I'll say now is I can't wait to see how Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato do paired together at the JWO!
All I'll say now is I can't wait to see how Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato do paired together at the JWO!
Who Are Your Picks for the LPGA's 1st-Ever Event in Mainland China?
With Angela Stanford skipping the Asian swing, Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson, Momoko Ueda, and Chie Arimura sitting this week out, and In-Kyung Kim, Ji-Yai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, and Ayako Uehara playing in the Japan Women's Open, I can't rely on many of my usual suspects in the Seoul Sisters.com PakPicker competition for the Reignwood LPGA Classic. So here are my picks:
1. Ryu
2. Hedwall
3. Park Inbee
4. Munoz
5. Lewis
6. Webb
7. Feng Shanshan
8. Korda
9. Recari
10. Nordqvist
11. Salas
12. Choi Na Yeon
Alts: Kerr, Tseng, Park Hee Young
As you can see, I've been encouraged by the recent excellent play off the LPGA by my top 4 picks and discouraged by how badly NYC played last week on the KLPGA. Other than that, I'm really guessing, just going with who seems on a roll and likely to play this medium-length course well.
How about you?
[Update 1 (1:17 am): Here are Tony Jesselli's picks!]
1. Ryu
2. Hedwall
3. Park Inbee
4. Munoz
5. Lewis
6. Webb
7. Feng Shanshan
8. Korda
9. Recari
10. Nordqvist
11. Salas
12. Choi Na Yeon
Alts: Kerr, Tseng, Park Hee Young
As you can see, I've been encouraged by the recent excellent play off the LPGA by my top 4 picks and discouraged by how badly NYC played last week on the KLPGA. Other than that, I'm really guessing, just going with who seems on a roll and likely to play this medium-length course well.
How about you?
[Update 1 (1:17 am): Here are Tony Jesselli's picks!]
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Symetra Tour Watch: Megan McChrystal Wins Tour Championship
Megan McChrystal birdied the 18th hole on Monday to secure a 2-shot victory in the Symetra Tour Championship over Perrine Delacour (-11) and win by 3 shots over Paula Reto (-10), who finished double-bogey-bogey-par yesterday. Reto's collapse allowed Delacour to sneak into the top 10 on the money list and earn a LPGA card for the 2014 season, knocking Olivia Jordan-Higgins, who missed the cut, into the final stage of LPGA Q-School.
1. P.K. Kongkraphan $47.3K
2. Giulia Molinaro $39.8K
3. Marina Alex $39.8K
4. Christine Song $39.3K
5. Cydney Clanton $38.9K
6. Sue Kim $37.9K
7. Hannah Jun $36.8K
8. Perrine Delacour $34.6K
9. Alena Sharp $34.1K
10. Jaclyn Sweeney $33.6K
-----------------------------------
11. Olivia Jordan-Higgins $33.5K
12. Kim Kaufman $32.2K
13. Melissa Eaton $29.8K
14. Laura Kueny $28.8K
15. Wei-Ling Hsu $28.8K
16. Marissa Steen $28.6K
17. Alejandra Llaneza $27.6K
18. Megan McChrystal $27.2K
19. Kendall Dye $26.3K
20. Hannah Yun $25.0K
-----------------------------------
21. Katy Harris $23.2K
22. Jackie Stoelting $23.1K
23. Caroline Westrup $22.4K
24. Samantha Richdale $22.2K
25. Jean Chua $22.1K
26. Amelia Lewis $21.6K
27. Isabelle Boineau $21.4K
28. Courtney Massey $21.1K
29. Jaye Marie Green $19.8K
30. Mitsuki Katahira $19.2K
31. Stefanie Kenoyer $16.1K
32. Lisa Ferrero $15.6K
33. Paula Reto $15.5K
34. Jean Reynolds $15.4K
35. Jenny Suh $15.4K
As you can see, McChrystal's victory earned her a free pass into the final stage of Q-School, while Hannah Yun held onto that pass by the skin of her teeth. As for the rest, it's on to Stage II, where they'll have to compete with the likes of Lee-Anne Pace, Joanna Klatten, Rebecca Artis, Cheyenne Woods, Sally Watson, Marta Silva, Line Vedel, and Benedikte Grotvedt from the LET, Mi-Rim Lee from the KLPGA, and amateurs Yueer Cindy Feng, Kelly Shon, and JiSoo Park.
As for those who won their LPGA cards, it's hard to tell if the parity between them and the lack of distance they put between themselves and the rest of the tour is a sign of the overall quality of the tour this year or the mediocrity of its top players. The answer to that question will depend on how they do on the LPGA in 2014. By my count, half the players who won their cards have some or a lot of LPGA experience, so the question for them is how to do better there than they've done in the recent past. For the other 5, the question is how well they'll adjust to the higher level of competition on the big tour. It'll be interesting to see how they do!
[Update 1 (9:10 am): Good news for Katy Harris and Jackie Stoelting, who got into Stage III of Q-School because Llaneza and Yun already were exempt into it. According to the Symetra Tour site:
1. P.K. Kongkraphan $47.3K
2. Giulia Molinaro $39.8K
3. Marina Alex $39.8K
4. Christine Song $39.3K
5. Cydney Clanton $38.9K
6. Sue Kim $37.9K
7. Hannah Jun $36.8K
8. Perrine Delacour $34.6K
9. Alena Sharp $34.1K
10. Jaclyn Sweeney $33.6K
-----------------------------------
11. Olivia Jordan-Higgins $33.5K
12. Kim Kaufman $32.2K
13. Melissa Eaton $29.8K
14. Laura Kueny $28.8K
15. Wei-Ling Hsu $28.8K
16. Marissa Steen $28.6K
17. Alejandra Llaneza $27.6K
18. Megan McChrystal $27.2K
19. Kendall Dye $26.3K
20. Hannah Yun $25.0K
-----------------------------------
21. Katy Harris $23.2K
22. Jackie Stoelting $23.1K
23. Caroline Westrup $22.4K
24. Samantha Richdale $22.2K
25. Jean Chua $22.1K
26. Amelia Lewis $21.6K
27. Isabelle Boineau $21.4K
28. Courtney Massey $21.1K
29. Jaye Marie Green $19.8K
30. Mitsuki Katahira $19.2K
31. Stefanie Kenoyer $16.1K
32. Lisa Ferrero $15.6K
33. Paula Reto $15.5K
34. Jean Reynolds $15.4K
35. Jenny Suh $15.4K
As you can see, McChrystal's victory earned her a free pass into the final stage of Q-School, while Hannah Yun held onto that pass by the skin of her teeth. As for the rest, it's on to Stage II, where they'll have to compete with the likes of Lee-Anne Pace, Joanna Klatten, Rebecca Artis, Cheyenne Woods, Sally Watson, Marta Silva, Line Vedel, and Benedikte Grotvedt from the LET, Mi-Rim Lee from the KLPGA, and amateurs Yueer Cindy Feng, Kelly Shon, and JiSoo Park.
As for those who won their LPGA cards, it's hard to tell if the parity between them and the lack of distance they put between themselves and the rest of the tour is a sign of the overall quality of the tour this year or the mediocrity of its top players. The answer to that question will depend on how they do on the LPGA in 2014. By my count, half the players who won their cards have some or a lot of LPGA experience, so the question for them is how to do better there than they've done in the recent past. For the other 5, the question is how well they'll adjust to the higher level of competition on the big tour. It'll be interesting to see how they do!
[Update 1 (9:10 am): Good news for Katy Harris and Jackie Stoelting, who got into Stage III of Q-School because Llaneza and Yun already were exempt into it. According to the Symetra Tour site:
In addition to the top 10 players on the money list earning their LPGA Tour earns, the next 10 players on the Tour’s money list who do not already have LPGA Tour status, earned automatic entry into Stage III of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. The tournament will take place at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., set for December 4th – 8th. Those players, include; Olivia Jordan-Higgins, Kim Kaufman, Melissa Eaton, Laura Kueny, Wei-Ling Hsu, Marissa Steen, Megan McChrystal, Kendall Dye, Katy Harris and Jackie Stoelting.
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