ANNIE PARK NO STRANGER TO SUCCESS
Third-year LPGA player Annie Park may be a new name near the top of an LPGA leaderboard, but her road to this point has been paved with success at all levels of the game.
The Levittown, New York native was a strong amateur golfer and as a freshman at USC, Park led the team to its third NCAA team title while winning four individual events, including the 2013 NCAA Women’s Golf individual title. She was a three-time All-American and three-time first team Pac-12 pick for the Trojans and finished her career as the school’s career leader in wins (six).
She turned professional and joined the Epson Tour in 2015, where she won three times and finished first on the Race for the Card money list, earning Epson Player of the Year and Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year honors.
The 23-year-old has yet to make a big splash on the LPGA, where she has made the cut in 22 of 45 career starts with two top-10 finishes and a career-best T6 at the 2016 ShopRite LPGA Classic.
The road may not always be glamorous, but Park is enjoying the ride.
“It was a hard transition from college to professional like within one day,” Park said. “I mean, I enjoyed it. I get to travel a lot, I get to visit a lot of new places, play new golf courses. So, I mean, it’s fun. I like traveling, I like being on Tour playing golf, doing what I love, so it’s the dream.”
ONCE IN A GENERATION
Since 1949, the best girls junior golfers have teed it up at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship held annually by the USGA. It’s not every year however, you see such a crop of young golfers who all move on to succeed on the LPGA. The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2012 held at Lake Merced Golf Club was one of those years.
Nine players in the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship made it through to match play at the famed 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, and it was Australia’s Minjee Lee who held the trophy at the end of the week.
“I think almost all of us are out here,” Lee said after a round of 70 on Friday at Lake Merced Golf Club. “That field, I think a lot of the girls that I played against in the match play are all here. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I mean, we’re all out here ripping it up.”
Here’s how the nine players fared in 2012 at Lake Merced Golf Club and where they sit going into the weekend in 2018.
Player; 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Result; LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship Position
Katelyn Dambaugh; Second Round; (+1, 145)
Brooke Henderson; First Round; (-1, 143)
Ariya Jutanugarn; Semifinal Round; (-1, 143)
Megan Khang; Second Round; (+7, 151)
Lydia Ko; Semifinal Round; (-6, 138)
Minjee Lee; Champion; (-4, 140)
Yu Liu; Third Round; (+1, 145)
Su Oh; Second Round; (-4, 140)
Annie Park; First Round; (-8, 136)
Seven past U.S. Girls’ Junior Champions are in the field this week as well: Inbee Park (2002), In-Kyung Kim (2005), Jenny Shin (2006), Lexi Thompson (2008), Amy Olson(2009), Ariya Jutanugarn (2011) and Minjee Lee (2012).
NOTABLE QUOTES
Annie Park, USA (70-66, -8) on the L4-S1 back injury she has battled through:
“I learned a lot from it. I didn’t know how much I missed the sport that much. I love the sport. I was very excited to come back, and so it was actually a huge turning point for me, a different perspective towards life and golf.”
Lydia Ko, New Zealand (68-70, -6) on getting wine recommendations from playing partner Cristie Kerr:
“I know her wine, the Kerr Cellars wines, they’re great. That’s what a lot of the girls tell me. I was actually thinking of getting my mom some, yeah, because to me I don’t know wine very well. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s the best. It’s too early for drinking right now for me, but later in the end of the week.”
Inbee Park, Republic of Korea (72-71, -1) on playing this week after returning to Rolex Rankings No. 1:
“I just get congrats a lot, but except for that everything has just really been the same. Yeah, it feels great to be back in No. 1 spot. I try not to feel so much pressure.”
OF NOTE
In five starts this season, Jessica Korda (-9, 135) has a win (Honda LPGA Thailand) and two additional top-10 finishes; her scoring average of 68.850 is the lowest on Tour
Korda finished T27 the last time the LPGA played Lake Merced (2016 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic)
Two of Korda’s five LPGA Tour titles have come when she was leading through two rounds
Through two rounds, Korda has a total of 53 putts, 27 in Rd. 1 and 26 in Rd. 2, which ties for the best number in the field with Annie Park who also had 27 in Rd. 1 and 26 in Rd. 2
Annie Park (-8, 136) made seven birdies and just one bogey while hitting 13/14 fairways to fire the low round on Friday with a 6-under par round of 66
The 2016 LPGA rookie Park, shot a 2-under par round of 70 and won a 1-hole playoff on Monday at Lake Merced Golf Club to get into the field as one of two Monday qualifiers
The last time a player who Monday qualified won an LPGA event was Brooke Henderson at the 2015 Cambia Portland Classic; Laurel Kean is the only other Monday qualifier to win an LPGA event in history (2000 State Farm LPGA Classic)
Charley Hull’s lone LPGA victory came at the 2016 CME Group Tour Championship
Heading into this week, Hull ranked first on the LPGA Tour in birdies with 143
In 2014, Hull became the youngest winner of the LET Order of Merit (18 years old) thanks to nine top-10 finishes including her first professional victory at the Lalla Meryem Cup just four days before her 18th birthday
Hull became the youngest player ever to be selected to a Solheim Cup Team when she was chosen for the 2013 European Team – she was 17 years old at the time and went 2-1-0
Lydia Ko won the 2014 and 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club; also in 2012, Ko made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Lake Merced
Ko’s title in 2014 at Lake Merced kickstarted her record-setting rookie campaign where she ultimately won three tournaments to become the youngest-ever Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year at age 17; she also captured the inaugural Race to CME Globe in 2014
Ko successfully defended her title at Lake Merced Golf Club in 2015; her only successful title defense of her 14 tournament titles
In 2018, Ko has four top-20 finishes in eight starts; she is looking for her first top-10 finish of the season
Ko is making her 44th start this week since her last victory at the 2016 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I
Last week’s HUGEL-JTBC LA Open winner Moriya Jutanugarn fired a 4-under par round of 68 on Friday to sit T5 (-5) heading into the weekend; in her last three starts Jutanugarn has a win and two top-10 finishes
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park hit 14/14 fairways on Friday en route to a 1-under par round of 71 and is T26 heading into the weekend
LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Juli Inkster (T26) was 1-under par on Friday to make her first cut of the 2018 season in front of her hometown fans
Cristie Kerr eagled the par-5 18th on Friday to make the cut right on the number at +2 (146)
Ryann O’Toole (T11, -3) is the only player in the field to go bogey-free through 36-holes; she also leads the field in pars with 33
Five countries are represented by the top six players - USA (Jessica Korda, Annie Park), England (Charley Hull), New Zealand (Lydia Ko), Thailand (Moriya Jutanugarn) and Republic of Korea (Sei Young Kim)
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