EYES WIDE SHUT
Lexi Thompson has been trying to find a winning recipe of technique and equipment for her putting strategy and has been bouncing between a few different approaches during the past few weeks. The 21-year-old put a new putter in the bag at the ANA Inspiration and started to putt with her eyes open again.
“I’ve changed to a Cure putter since ANA Inspiration. It’s been a good change,” said Thompson. “It is different looking, but the roll off the putter is absolutely amazing. I’ve been giving it a lot of chances, and I’m actually going back to my eyes closed again. So I am just changing it all back and forth. That’s what I feel most comfortable with. Just makes any feel my stroke a lot better.”
Thompson had a tough week on the greens in Hawaii and has decided to change back to the eyes-closed approach. She had seven three putts in Hawaii and had 34 putts during the first round and 30 in the final round.
“Well, I tried it with eyes opened and that didn’t quite work out,” said Thompson. “I missed a good amount of putts the first day there in Hawaii. I mean, I am not going to say the wind didn’t have a factor on that. It was blowing about 40 miles per hour it seemed like. You know, it’s just a comfort thing with me. It allows me to just feel my stroke a lot more and takes the worry out of it.”
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO
At the start of the 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, Brooke Henderson was ranked No. 207 in the Rolex Rankings and not yet an LPGA member. She finished third here last year, coming up one shot short of a playoff with Morgan Pressel and eventual champion Lydia Ko. Henderson used that strong finish to jumpstart a successful run that eventually earned her LPGA status.
“Last year at this time it was really my breakthrough moment on the LPGA Tour. It was the first time that I shot really 4-under par, - 7 on the Friday,” Henderson explained. “You know, that gave me a lot of confidence going into the weekend. I was a little disappointed with my finish, as I had the lead going into the final two rounds. Third place, and the next week I was able to Monday qualify and back it up with a T13. So this was definitely a big starting point for me.”
Now ranked No. 7 in the world, Henderson is looking for her second career win and her eighth consecutive top-10 finish on Tour.
GOING FOR THREE IN-A-ROW
Lydia Ko has a chance to win her third-consecutive Swinging Skirts title this week and to join an esteemed list of players to accomplish the feat. She could become just the 11th player in LPGA history to three-peat and would be the first since Inbee Park won her third KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in a row. Laura Davies and Annika Sorenstam are the only two players to have won a single event more than three times in consecutive years. Sorenstam holds the all-time record with five consecutive wins at the Mizuno Classic from 2001-2005.
Most Consecutive Wins at the Same Tournament:
| Wins | Player | Tournament | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Annika Sorenstam | Mizuno Classic | 2001-2005 |
| 4 | Laura Davies | Standard Register PING | 1994-1997 |
| 3 | Patty Berg | World Championship | 1953-1955 |
| 3 | Betsy Rawls | Tampa Open | 1956-1958 |
| 3 | Louise Suggs | Dallas Civitan Open | 1959-1961 |
| 3 | Kathy Whitworth | Orange Blossom Classic | 1968-1970 |
| 3 | Sandra Haynie | Charity Golf Classic | 1973-1975 |
| 3 | Annika Sorenstam | Michelob Light Classic | 1997-1999 |
| 3 | Karrie Webb | Australian Ladies Masters | 1998-2000 |
| 3 | Annika Sorenstam | McDonald's LPGA Championship | 2003-2005 |
| 3 | Lorena Ochoa | Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite | 2006-2008 |
| 3 | Inbee Park | KPMG Women's PGA Championship | 2013-2015 |
BETTER VIBES FOR THOMPSON
Lexi Thompson has a much better feeling coming into this week in the Bay Area. Last year she came in on Wednesday night due to a sponsor obligation and only saw the course during a practice round a few weeks earlier.
“Last year I think I only got one practice round in. I came a few weeks early,” said Thompson. “I actually wasn’t on site until Wednesday night here, so I didn’t get too much practice on it. The weather was quite different than this. It was pretty cold.”
Thompson finished T58 here a year ago in her first appearance at Lake Merced and is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes including a tie for 10th last week in Hawaii. She knows the challenges that the course this week provides and will have to be steady off the tee. She currently ranks 84th in driving accuracy (69.13%) but first in driving distance (286.86 yards).
“This course is tough. You know, very demanding tee shots,” said Thompson. “The greens are really firm this year. I mean, it’s in absolutely great shape for us. This is an amazing golf course and venue for us. We always look forward to it. But I feel a lot better about where my game is this year than last.”
OF NOTE
- World No. 2 Inbee Park withdrew from the 2016 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic with a ligament issue in her left thumb. At just 27-years of age, Park qualified for the Hall by winning the 2015 Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average for the season. With that honor, Park earned the 27th and final point needed for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She will be eligible following the completion of her 10th event in her 10th active season on Tour. She completed her ninth season in 2015.
- This is the third edition of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, with Lydia Ko being the only winner of this event
- Thanks to Minjee Lee’s win last week at the Lotte Championship, Team Australia has jumped ahead of Team China in the UL International Crown rankings. Players and country seeding will be finalized at the conclusion of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
- The average age of LPGA winners this year is 20.8 years old and Ha Na Jang was the oldest at 23 years, 10 months and 4 days when she won at the HSBC Womens Champions.
- In Gee Chun has three consecutive runner-up finishes coming into this week and jumped from No. 8 to No. 6 in the Rolex Rankings this week.
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