LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
LPGA International- Jones & Hills Courses
Daytona Beach, Florida
Second-round News and Notes
December 5, 2013
2nd Round Results >> 3rd Round Pairings>>
Jaye Marie Green continued her dominance at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament on Thursday, as she carded a second-round 4-under-par 68 to climb to a five-stroke lead over Vanderbilt graduate Megan Grehan.
After breaking the course record with a 10-under-par 62 on the Jones Course at LPGA International, Green fired a bogey-free 4-under-par 68 during the second round on the Hills Course to take her two-day total to 14-under 130. Even with a significant lead, Green’s plan of attack this week leaves her feeling rather stress-free.
“We were just kind of like, let’s just play smart, like, why through it away?” said Green. “You can still make birdies and play safe and that’s what happened.
“I was thinking of it really as, ok each tournament is three rounds on the Epson Tour. So I was just thinking that I have a 14-shot head start. It makes me more calm and want to play more conservative. I was just kind of taking each day as a new day. Just forget about the past two days and just play smart.”
Grehan, who spent the past year playing on the Ladies European Tour, followed up her opening round of 5-under 67 on the Hills Course with a solid 4-under 68 while playing Jones. The Nashville, Tenn. native got off to a hot start by carding back-to-back birdies on the first two holes with two more coming on the fifth and ninth holes, both par-5s. A bogey-free back-nine was enough to place her in solo second place at 9-under-par 135.
“Well I birdied the last two holes yesterday and the first two holes today, so it was nice to just kind of kept it going,” said Grehan. “I just hit the ball really well, made some putts. It was just really fun. You just have to keep playing aggressive.
Chasing after Green in a two-way tie for third at 8-under-par 136 are South Korean Seon Hwa Lee and Californian Tiffany Joh, who both entered Thursday’s round tied for second.
Amy Anderson, the winningest college golfer from North Dakota and the medalist at Stage II LPGA Qualifying Tournament, sits in solo fifth place with a two-day total of 7-under-par 137 following rounds of 68-69.
The players were split between LPGA International Jones and Hills courses and are repaired by scores for the third round based on the course they started on the first round. The 153-player field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties after the fourth round on Saturday. A total of 20 exempt spots on the 2014 LPGA Tour are up for grabs this year, while those who place 21st through 45th and ties will receive conditional status.
Pasta anyone? Nashville, Tenn. native Megan Grehan has two jobs on her post-grad résumé: professional golfer and skilled pasta maker.
The 2011 Vanderbilt graduate, who played all four years on the women’s golf team, had given up on golf following a rough senior season and decided to use her Human and organizational Development degree as a pasta maker at The Pasta Shop, which specializes in creating different pasta shapes.
“I just was struggling and didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Grehan. “I had been playing golf for so long I wanted to try something else. I missed golf so I came back.”
But it wasn’t long until Grehan started missing competitive golf, so she quit her job less than a year later to pick up her clubs again to play. She spent the past year playing over in Europe on both the Ladies European Tour and the LET Access Series, which gave her all the experience she felt she needed to give Q School a try.
“It definitely helped my golf game,” said Grehan. “I had to learn to make a couple shots over there that I didn’t have. Like playing in the wind and controlling the golf ball and how to deal with jetlag. I feel like also just driving and flying to tournaments. Not really knowing too many people over there was difficult. But some of the girls I played college golf with were over there so that helped.”
Surf’s up! Tiffany Joh’s last event on the LPGA Tour was the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola back in August where she missed her ninth cut of the 2013 season. Admitting it was quite the sting, Joh said she needed a break.
“After Portland I think I was a lot more disappointed in how I played this year than I really led on,” said Joh. “I was kind of over it. I actually didn’t really touch my clubs for about a month or so. So I went down to El Salvador for a surf retreat and hung out there for a week. I went tent camping on the beach and went surfing there in California.”
After posting 66-70 for the first two round of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, Joh finds herself at the top of the leaderboard in a tie for third. But it’s not the position Joh is happy about, it’s the state of her golf game.
“I think I’m more excited that I’m just playing solid golf,” said Joh. “I hadn’t played a tournament since like Portland, so I was getting a little worried about getting the rest off. So I’m more excited about coming out and playing competitive golf.”
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