WIE CONTINUES MATCH-PLAY ROLL; NEXT UP IS DEAR FRIEND
Fan favorite Michelle Wie continued her excellent play on Friday, never trailing en route to a 3-and-2 win over 2017 LPGA rookie Laura Gonzalez Escallon in the Juli Inkster bracket. Today’s success followed her 6-and-5 triumph over Lizette Salas in Thursday’s Round of 64. And for the second straight day, her victory featured an eagle-3 on the second hole, which played to 464 yards in today’s Round of 32.
“I’m happy with how I played,” said Wie, who took control of the match with a 20-foot birdie on No. 11 to take a commanding 3-up lead. “It was a fun but tough match. I am happy the way I’m playing, and just happy to survive.”
Next up for Wie is her good friend and fellow USA Solheim Cup team hopeful Marina Alex, who easily dispatched Jessica Korda, 5-and-4. Wie coined tomorrow’s duel the “El Pastor” match, after the restaurant the pair has frequented most nights here in Mexico City.
“We are already texting each other. We do dinner every night,” said Wie. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a lot of gifs sent tonight or over in the course of the day.”
ARIYA OUTLASTS MORIYA TO WIN JUTANUGARN SISTER MATCH
It took all 18 holes, but little sister Ariya Jutanugarn knocked off big sister Moriya Jutanugarn by a 2-up margin. Ariya, the 21-year-old top seed in the Annika Sorenstam bracket, never trailed to 22-year-old Moriya, but was also never able to build a lead of more than two holes.
“Today we had fun because we are sisters, and we always have fun anyways, “said Ariya, who carded four birdies to her sister’s two. “She plays so good, I can’t believe I beat her today because she’s so good.”
“We always say, just have a good day. We know that we both are going to try our best, play our games,” said Moriya, who plans to return to their Orlando, Fla., homebase and cheer on her sister from afar. “We don’t try to be easy on each other. Hopefully next time we are not on the same pool. And don’t have to see each other so early in the week.”
FAST FINISH
Canada’s Brooke Henderson, the third seed in the Lorena Ochoa bracket, came back from 2-down at the turn with a scintillating run of five birdies in six holes to wrap up a 2-and-1 victory over American Ryann O’Toole.
“I knew I had some work to do,” said Henderson, who won her first major title at last year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “I was able to do make four birdies in a row (from the 12th) that helped my momentum. I played great today ... and she played great too, so it was just an awesome match.
“I’m hitting the ball extremely well, and on the back nine the putts definitely started to fall with those five birdies. Hopefully I can continue with that tomorrow and you will see me all weekend.”
LINDBERG, JUTANUGARN SHARE MATCH-PLAY HISTORY
The last time Pernilla Lindberg played in a match-play setting was in the 2014 UL International Crown. Lindberg’s Sweden team made it to singles play, where she was paired against an up-and-coming teenager from Thailand – Ariya Jutanugarn. Experience trumped youth on that occasion, with Lindberg taking the match in a convincing 6-and-5 result.
A lot has changed since then – Ariya is now a five-time LPGA Tour winner and major champion while Pernilla is still searching for her first career victory. The World No. 3 player will get a chance at payback on Saturday as she will meet Lindberg again in the Round of 16 in the Annika Sorenstam bracket.
“Obviously, (Ariya) has had a lot of success since then so I will be the underdog,” said Lindberg, who has guaranteed herself the best result of her 2017 season by making it to the top 16. “So, I’m just going to keep going with my strategy and not get worked up about anything and hopefully I can keep getting those irons in close to.”
NO CHANGE AT WORLD NO. 1
As Lydia Ko has reached the third round and will finish no worse than tied for ninth, she cannot lose her World No. 1 seeding, even with an Ariya Jutanugarn win. The result will mark Ko’s fifth top-10 finish in nine starts this season.
ROUND-OF-16 BY THE NUMBERS
2 - No. 1 seeds remaining in the tournament (Lydia Ko, Ochoa bracket; Ariya Jutanugarn, Sorenstam bracket)
5 - Players hoping to become Rolex First-Time Winners (Marina Alex, Cydney Clanton, Karine Icher, Pernilla Lindberg, Angel Yin)
10 - Countries represented in the Round of 16 (Canada, one player; People’s Republic of China, one player; England, one player; France, one player; Germany, one player; Republic of Korea, two players; New Zealand, one player; Sweden, one player; Thailand, one player; United States of America, six players)
19 - Age of Angel Yin, the youngest player remaining in the tournament
27.1875 - Average age of the players remaining in the tournament
39 - Age of Cristie Kerr, the oldest player remaining in the tournament; she is one month older than Angela Stanford
652 - Combined LPGA starts without a victory for Icher (307), Lindberg (168), Alex (85), Clanton (76) and Yin (16)
QUOTABLE
“I played (here) last November, and wasn’t sure if it suited my game totally. But the last few days reminded me a lot of Sahalee. There are a lot of tight tee shots and I feel very comfortable. But above that, obviously, winning at Sahalee gives me a lot of confidence.”
- Brooke Henderson, comparing the course at the Club de Golf Mexico to Sahalee Country Club, where she won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
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