Flaky Flatstick
Austin Ernst’s finishes tend to come and go with the putter. When Ernst’s putter is on, she usually contends and finishes in the top five or 10. When not, she usually finds herself in early pairings.
The putter was the reason she finished in a tie for 2nd at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and it was also the reason she had a disappointing stretch since in which she hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in any of her last six starts after two top-five finishes in the three events prior.
“I’ve had my ups and downs. It’s been a little streaky at times,” Ernst said. “I didn’t play that well in Asia, but going into Asia I was playing well. Obviously Yokohama, I finishing second there, losing by a shot, I was right in the hunt that entire week. I got a lot of confidence from that.”
Ernst also gets a lot of confidence from having her dad, Mark Ernst, who doubles as her long-time coach, here this week. They were working together on the range yesterday, and Ernst striped it Thursday, hitting 17 greens.
“I was kind of mis-hitting it a little bit yesterday, just catching it off the bottom with the irons,” Ernst said. “We did a little bit of work yesterday afternoon and we were working on the right things because I had it going today with the irons.”
The ball striking has been solid for much of the year though. She’s 15th on the Tour in greens in regulation but it always comes back to the putter with her. She’s just 68th in putts per green in regulation and 128th in putting average.
“Based on statistics, based on how I’ve played because I’ve hit the ball well all year. I think I’m right around, I’m at least top 15 in greens in regulation,” Ernst said. “So putting, I’ve been saying all year if I could have one less putt around I would have won once at least and maybe another time.”
It’s not for a lack of work either. Ernst is always on the greens practicing but says she has a tendency to pop up out of putts and take a peak too quickly, causing her to block putts at times and lose her pace. She’s trying to change that this week.
“This week especially I’ve just been trying to stay down on putts. I’ve been popping up,” Ernst said. “That’s made it inconsistent with speed and with getting balls started online. Today especially was the first day that I tried to stay down. I’m trying to listen for the ball to go in. Today I putted well. There was still two or three putts I feel like I should have made. To be able to say that and shoot 66 is definitely a step in the right direction as opposed to in the past few years I’d shoot 70 but I should have shot 65.”
Mi Hyang Lee Goes Low After Week Off
Mi Hyang Lee had been on the road overseas for seven straight weeks when floods ripped through Columbia, S.C., where she lives, but she finally got a week off last week and went back to Columbia to both check out the damage, gain some weight, and work on her game.
“Seven weeks in a row! I lost like ten pounds,” Lee said. “After I lost weight, I am feeling like I’m so tired. I did a lot of eating last week at home. That’s better for this week.”
Whether the extra grubbing turned into extra fuel is up for debate but her game certainly showed sparks on Thursday with a 5-under-par 67 that included birdies on five of her first eight holes and eight on a day in which she hit 14 fairways and 14 greens.
“Eight birdies, I think that’s awesome, great,” Lee said. “I made like three bogeys, that’s a little I want to make I can save the par, but it’s an easy chip I missed. So that’s a little sad for me. But still good playing, so I want to keep it up for tomorrow.”
As for Lee’s home, that was fine, but she noticed the remnants of the flooding around as she perused around town last week during her week off.
“My house is not a problem,” Lee said. “I saw closed roads, instructions to go around it and stuff. So a little sad for that!”
Down To The Wire
The race for the LPGA’s three major awards - the Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and Money Title - is a two horse race between Lydia Ko and Inbee Park and after the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship the line separating the two remains razor thin. Below is a breakdown of how things would shake out if the event ended today.
Sei Young Kim Projected To Take Home The Million
Sei Young Kim has had an incredible rookie season on the LPGA Tour with three wins and the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year honors. If things hold as they are she could also add $1 million and the Race to the CME Globe Title to that Resume.
“I’m very excited,” Kim said. “It’s come almost true, I think. I try to on the course not think about it. It’s just step by step. That’s very important to me and keep my mind in the game.”
Kim hasn’t thought about what she’d spend her million on because she’s been too focused on her Rookie of the Year acceptance speech tonight.
“Very exciting and very nervous,” Kim said of how she feels about the speech. “It’s fun. It’s a great experience for me.”
Inbee Park Vs. Bermuda
Inbee Park doesn’t hide her disdain for Bermuda greens. She usually wins when the putter is hot and she rarely feels like it is when she putts on Bermuda like Tiburon Golf Club has this week. With that said, it’s probably not a coincidence that so many of her biggest LPGA wins have come during the summer months when the Tour heads to courses where bent grass is more prevalent. It’s probably not a coincidence either that she hasn’t played up to her standards the last two years here with a tie for 24th last year and fifth place finish here the year before.
Despite winning in Mexico City last week at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational with a hot putter, Park said she couldn’t bring that touch on the greens to the Bermuda in Naples during a first-round 1-under-par 71 that has her five shots back of the lead.
“Just got off to a slow start and made a couple birdies coming in. I only chipped once today. I hit a lot of greens and fairways, just couldn’t putt,” Park said. “These Bermuda greens got me again. I haven’t putted that well on Bermuda greens. I feel like I hit a lot of good putts, but just lipped the edges and a little bit off on the pace. I need to work on the putter a little bit and I think it should be good.”
Quote Of The Day
LPGA beat reporter Steve Eubanks of Global Golf Post asked Lydia Ko if there were more time commitments away from the golf course this week than a major championship week. Ko chuckled, smiled, then she hit him with a zinger.
“Well, the more questions you ask me, it really depends,” said Ko with a laugh, sending the contingent of reporters around her into a fit of laughter.
Numbers To Know
1 – One previous time – 2014 Kingsmill Championship – has Austin Ernst held at least a share of the first round lead. She finished in tie for 18th that week.
2 – Lydia Ko’s up two shots on Inbee Park, which is exactly the amount of shots Ko needs to beat Park by for the week to overtake her in the Vare Trophy standings.
3 – Ko leads Park by three points in the Rolex Player of the Year standings, but Park needs at least an eighth place finish this week to even have a chance at tying Ko if Ko doesn’t finish in the top 10.
5.15 – The Par-5 1st hole was brutal Thursday, playing to a 5.15 scoring average. It was the second toughest hole of the day. In the final two groups alone, three provisional tee balls were hit. Each of the other three par-5s on the course played under par on Thursday.
63 – Stacy Lewis owns the tournament record here with a 9-under-par 63 in the third round at the 2013 CME Group Tour Championship. David Gossett owns the course record with an 11-under-par 61 in the Pro-Am at the Franklin Templeton Shootout.
66 – 6-under-par 66 was the first round lead both last year (Julieta Granada) and Austin Ernst took the first round lead with a 66 here this year.
71 – Lydia Ko won the CME Group Tour Championship a year ago despite a 1-under-par 71 during the first and second round. But Ko followed up on the weekend with back-to-back rounds of 4-under-par 68.
1,000,000 – Sei Young Kim would win the Race to the CME Globe’s $ 1 million if the leaderboard remained the same for the next three rounds.
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