AN AGELESS ACCOMPLISHMENT
In an era where teenagers frequent the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour, a win by 46-year-old Catriona Matthew this week would be not only impressive but also record breaking. The mother of two would set the all-time record for oldest player to win a major if she claims her second RICOH Women’s British Open title on Sunday. Matthew will be 46 years, 11 months and 6 days old on Sunday and would break Fay Crocker’s record set at the 1960 Titleholders Championship.
Here is a list of the oldest winners:
| Play | Event | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Fay Crocker | 1960 Titleholders | 45/7/11 |
| Sherri Steinhauer | 2006 RICOH Women's British Open | 43/7/10 |
| Babe Zaharias | 1954 U.S. Women's Open | 43/0/6 |
| Juli Inkster | 2002 U.S. Women's Open | 42/0/14 |
HITTING HER TARGETS
Shanshan Feng is looking for a breakthrough this week for her second major title and first LPGA win since her last victory at the 2014 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. The four-time winner hasn’t fared particularly well at this championship with the exception of a tie for second finish in 2014. In eight career starts here, she’s only recorded one finish better than T25 and missed two cuts.
Feng knows that her ball striking will rarely let her down and the difference maker week in and week out will be her putting. She ranks 8th on Tour in greens in regulation (73.44%) and 108th in putting average (30.38) and 71st in putts per GIR (1.82). She had 30 putts on Thursday and 27 on Friday. She’s only missed six greens in the first two rounds.
“I think my putting has been working. It’s been pretty good,” said Feng. “My ball-striking is always not bad, so I will have a lot of birdie chances every day. If I can make some putts, then I know I’m able to make more birdies, so I’m not worrying about that.”
Feng won’t be looking at the leaderboard and will focus on her game as she seeks her first RICOH Women’s British Open championship.
“I have a habit, I don’t look at leaderboards, until we finish on Sunday,” Feng said. “So I actually don’t know what the others are doing and don’t know where they are at. I only know what I am doing. I think 10-under for two days is not a bad score at all, so I’m just going focus on my own game, and if it’s mine, it’s mine.”
KO FINISHES STRONG TO EXTEND STREAK
Lydia Ko needed a late surge to keep her cuts made streak alive on Friday and closed with back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and 16 to get to even par and one shot within the cutline. This week marks the 28th consecutive cut made by Ko dating back to the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – her only missed cut in her LPGA career. She’s made 81 cuts in her 82 total career starts.
“Normally they don’t say what the cut is, but on the leaderboards here, they say what’s going to make it,” said Ko. “So I knew that even was just -- all day, I said, hey, I’ve got to make two more birdies, two more birdies. And I would make a birdie and bogey the next one, so I’m back to two more birdies again. I just tried to just keep chipping away. Two good putts on 15, 16, I think that definitely helped.”
TRYING FOR ANOTHER ONE
Mo Martin’s only LPGA win came at the 2014 RICOH Women’s British Open at Royal Birkdale and she admitted earlier this week that her mom was polishing off her trophy. Martin, whose best finish in 2016 was a T7 at the LPGA LOTTE Championship, has been working with coach Jamie Mulligan in Long Beach and that work has been paying off this week with better putting and ball striking.
Can the consistency pay off with her second RICOH Women’s British Open trophy - or “jug” as Martin calls it.
“A pair of jugs would be great but I’m not getting ahead of myself,” Martin said after her round. “Got the weekend ahead of us and it’s been a great start and want to continue what I’m doing and executing what I can.”
LET’S MAKE IT A FIRST
A few players on the leaderboard heading into the weekend will try to add their names to the list of players who have won their first major championship at the RICOH Women’s British Open. Inside the top-10, four players are fighting for
major No. 1: Mirim Lee (1, -11), Ariya Jutanugarn (T2, -10), Ha Na Jang (T4, -9) and Sei Young Kim (T8, -6).
Here is a list of players who captured the RICOH Women’s British Open as their first major title:
| Player | Year |
|---|---|
| Karen Stupples | 2004 |
| Jeon Jang | 2005 |
| Lorena Ochoa | 2007 |
| Jiyai Shin | 2008 |
| Catriona Matthew | 2009 |
| Mo Martin | 2014 |
CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND
The cutline fell at 1-over par 145 with a total of 75 players making the cut. Notables to miss the cut: Suzann Pettersen (+3), Paula Creamer (+5), Michelle Wie (+5), Laura Davies (+6). This week marks the seventh missed cut for Wie in her last eight starts.
The cut ties the low cut at this championship and third time it has fallen at 1-over par. Below is a list of the lowest cut.
| Score | Course | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 145 (+1) | Woburn | 2016 |
| 145 (+1) | Sunningdale | 2008 |
| 145 (+1) | Carnoustie | 2011 |
ABOUT THE RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN
The RICOH Women’s British Open became a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2001, and is celebrating its 16th edition in 2016. The Women’s British Open was played as a non-major for seven years prior from 1994 to 2000 and this major replaced the du Maurier Classic, which was played for 22 years from 1979 to 2000.
ABOUT WOBURN GOLF CLUB
Woburn Golf Club is hosting the RICOH Women’s British Open for the first time as a major in tournament history and the 10th time overall. The first Women’s British Open Championship was played in 1976 and Woburn hosted nine times from 1984 to 1999. Thirteen different players have won the trophy including two-time champions Jiyai Shin (2008, 2012) and Yani Tseng (2010, 2011).
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