Evian Championship
Evian Resort Golf Club
Evian-les-Bains, France
First-Round Notes & Interviews
September 11, 2014
Interviews With:
Rolex Rankings No. 20 Hyo Joo Kim (-10)
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Karrie Webb (-6)
Rolex Rankings No. 4 Suzann Pettersen (-4)
Rolex Rankings No. 28 Brittany Lincicome (-4)
KLPGA member Hyo-Joo Kim made a huge splash in her major championship debut on Thursday at the Evian Championship, shooting a 10-under 61 to take a four-shot lead after the first round of play. Kim’s 61 is the lowest round ever shot in a men’s or women’s major championship and set a new tournament record at the Evian Resort Golf Club. The 19-year-old sits four shots ahead of LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Karrie Webb, who opened with a 6-under 65 on Thursday morning to take the early clubhouse lead.
While she is new to major championships, Kim isn’t a complete stranger to this golf course in Evian. She competed in the Evian Masters in 2012 as an amateur, finishing in a tie for fourth. But Kim said that the golf course looks very different than the first time she saw it since it underwent a major renovation prior to last year’s inaugural Evian Championship.
“I like hard course, so I like it,” said Kim. “I feel very comfortable today.”
Kim tallied 10 birdies in her bogey-free first round and needed just 23 putts. Her impressive round comes as no surprise to those who have watched her professional career in Asia. Since turning professional shortly after the 2012 Evian Masters, Kim has tallied four professional victories and she currently sits at No. 20 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
But Kim will have plenty of competition chasing her in Friday’s second round in Evian. Webb, a seven-time major champion, looked as if she was going to have a solid lead after shooting a 6-under 65 that included a bogey on her final hole. It was one of two bogies that Webb tallied on the day to go along with eight birdies.
“Any time you’re in the hunt at any tournament it’s what you work for still,” said Webb. “Obviously a major, and the last major of the year. We don’t get to play another major for a couple months, so it would be great to have a chance coming down 18 on Sunday.”
Defending champion Suzann Pettersen sits six shots back at 4-under-par thanks to a flurry of birdies at the finish of her round. Pettersen birdied each of her final five holes to finish the first day of play in a tie for fourth with Brittany Lincicome, who is looking to rebound after losing in a playoff to Inbee Park at the Wegmans LPGA Championship four weeks ago.
GOING LOW
Hyo-Joo Kim’s 61 marks the lowest score ever shot in a men’s or women’s major championship.
Lowest 18-hole scores in women’s major championships
61, Hyo Joo Kim, 2014 Evian Championship, first round
62, Minea Blomqvist, 2004 Weetabix Women’s British Open, third round
62, Lorena Ochoa, 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship, first round
Lowest 18-hole scores in men’s major championships
63, Shot 26 times by 24 different golfers
ROLLING NICELY
World Golf and LPGA Halls of Famer Karrie Webb arrived to France this week having gown comfortable with some swing changes she was making and a new putter in her bag. The seven-time major champion pulled out an old putter from her club closet that she used 12 years ago and said the change simplified things on the greens on Thursday.
“Pretty solid to the green and I rolled the ball really nicely,” said Webb. “Probably the best I putted for a long time. Switched to an old putter I used about 12 years ago. Went for a more simple look, and the ball started going in today.”
Webb picked up eight birdies in her first round along with two bogeys and needed only 25 putts for her round of 65. She said she had concerns coming to a major with a new putter but the risk has clearly paid off.
“I think when you go into a tournament with a new putter you don’t know how it’s going to go,” said Webb. “You know, it’s an old putter for a reason. It obviously got one out there at some stage, and it obviously worked at some stage, too. But I was just going for more of a clean look and not so many things to help me line up. I think that was actually confusing me.”
Webb, who is aiming for her eighth major title, had the early lead in the morning on Thursday but trails first-round leader Hyo Joo Kim by four shots. Kim shot a major championship record 61 in the afternoon wave.
“It is very early, but for me, what I like is that I’m not playing catch up,” said Webb. “My first round at majors has been okay, but you’re still 4 and 5 shots behind after the first round and feel like you’ve got to play catch up. So nice to get off to a good start where I don’t have to feel like that teeing off tomorrow.”
COOL & COMPOSED
Suzann Pettersen got off to a shaky start early in her round on Thursday but finished on a high note birdieing her final five holes to post a 4-under 67. The defending champion has said that she’s been battling patience issues recently but kept her composure even after being 1-over par through 12 holes.
“Well, I was patient enough to kind of let the round build,” said Pettersen. “Hit a lot of great shots towards the end and managed to get a little bit out of the round. Good start.”
Pettersen had three bogeys and two birdies in her first 12 holes and said something clicked before she caught fire.
“Felt close enough starting off but just not quite sharp enough,” said Pettersen. “All you need is like one good shot with one good swing sequence and all of a sudden it clicked a little bit.”
Pettersen kept her early frustrations in check and said the biggest positive from her round was keeping a level head and being able to turn things around late.
“That I was patient enough to wait for something to happen and not flip out that I didn’t kind of play good,” said Pettersen.
KEEP IT GOING
Brittany Lincicome had a revival moment at the Tour’s last major, the Wegmans LPGA Championship, where she lost in a playoff to Inbee Park and she continued her steady play this week in Evian with a first-round, 4-under 67. Lincicome followed up her runner-up finish in Rochester with a tie for seventh in Canada and has not yet pinpointed what has made the difference lately.
“I’m not sure, but I feel like I’ve been playing really good all year,” said Lincicome. “It just hasn’t come together. Last couple weeks I guess it’s come together finally. I used to be in contention all the time in 2011. I said two wins that year. It has just kind of gone downhill from there. It’s nice to kind of be back on the leaderboard and look up and see my name up there. Really just building the confidence again. My confidence got really low, and must be coming back now.”
Lincicome had a slow start with two early bogeys on the third and fifth hole but had a great back nine with four birdies including three over her final four holes.
“It started out really shaky, so I wasn’t sure what the day had in store for me. And then had a couple birdies and kind of kept it together,” said Lincicome. “Had a couple holes where I felt like I was falling apart again, but then you make a 5 or 7 footer for par and move to the next hole.
“Just tried to relax a little bit,” she added. “My caddie said I was a little quick on the first couple holes, so just tried to slow the tempo down towards the middle to the back of the round, and made a lot of like 10 footers for birdies, which obviously helps, and kept it together nicely.”
SHORT LIVED RETURN
Michelle Wie was hopeful about her return to competition this week at the Evian Championship. Unfortunately that comeback ended up being a very short one.
Wie withdrew on the 13th hole of her first round Thursday due to the lingering effects of a stress reaction in her right index finger. This year’s U.S. Women’s Open champion said that the finger began bothering her after she hit a fat stinger with her 3-wood on her fourth hole of the day and then aggravated it more with a painful shot out of a divot.
“I’m just really disappointed and really wanted to play,” Wie said. “But, you know, just nothing I can do. I think I should be good for Asia. I just think this week was one or two weeks just too soon.”
Prior to teeing off in Thursday’s first round at the Evian Championship, Wie had played just one full round of 18 holes since being sidelined with the hand injury at the Meijer LPGA Classic in early August. That round came on Wednesday during the tournament pro-am.
Wie had just returned to practicing last week, when she began chipping and putting. She then worked her way up, playing five holes on Monday and 13 holes on Tuesday in preparation for this week’s tournament. But despite the limited amount of practice time, this year’s U.S. Women’s Open champion wanted to try to get back on the golf course for the year’s final major.
“It was at a point where it was touch and go,” Wie said of her injury entering this week. “I just wanted so see if I could play. The doctors just told me, It’s all up to you. It just depends on if it hurts or not. But they did tell me if it did hurt to stop right away just because it could get worse.
“I was having so much fun out there I wanted to keep playing. But it got to the point where it was too painful. So I just made the smart decision to not play.”
Sept. 12 5am-8am ET: Part 1 (Golf Channel) and Golf Live Extra (live)
Sept. 12 9:30am-12:30pm ET: Part 2 Golf Live Extra (live)
Sept. 12 8:30-11:30pm ET: Part 2 (Golf Channel)
Sept. 13 6:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Sept. 14 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Sept. 14 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (NBC)
Sept. 14 Beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET Golf Live Extra
All times listed are Eastern
THE SOCIAL SCENE
“I gave it my best shot today, but had to WD from Evian. I’m listening to my body and my hand needs more rest. Thx for all your messages.” -@themichellewie
“Hyo Joo Kim must have played a different course than me!!! #tenunder #stolemybirdies” -@BrookePancake
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