SLOW AND STEADY IS STACKHOUSE’S GAME
Second-year LPGA player Mariah Stackhouse shot a career-low round of 6-under, 65 to post 134 (-8) through the 36 holes (also a career-low) at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. The 21-year-old only has one top-10 finish for her professional career but is keeping her sights sets on a bigger picture.
“I’m happy with where I am. Like I said, golf is what I want for my career. I don’t want it to be a quick thing, which is why I didn’t feel the need to rush or leave school early. Personally for myself,” said Stackhouse. “I want to be out here for a while and I don’t think there is any rush in that for me.”
Stackhouse, a three-time All American at Stanford, didn’t make it into the U.S. Women’s Open field last week so she decided to spend her time off free of her golf clubs visiting friends in California
“Honestly, six, seven days without your golf clubs you’re not going to lose anything that you’ve been gaining. With the summer stretch, a major being in between and a couple courses I really like before and after the KPMG, I just want to be well rested. I didn’t want to be like, I’ve seen too much of my golf bag, I’ve seen too much of my clubs.”
Stackhouse has yet to score a top-10 finish for 2018 but the Georgia native is humbly managing her expectations.
“I didn’t come out wanting necessarily to win tournaments and be in contention. I need for my game to be at a place where I’m actually having an opportunity to contend week in and week out. That’s my only focus.”
HERBIN HAS TIES TO GOLF LEGEND
Celine Herbin’s stellar play this week is seven years in the making from the work she has done with her golf instructor. That’s how long she has been guided by her instructor, Vicente Ballesteros, the brother of five-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Famer Seve Ballesteros.
Herbin, who lives in Spain and speaks the language fluently, says that Vicente was the one who helped her first get her full-card on the Ladies European Tour. She says that Vicente, who is at the ShopRite LPGA Classic this week, has been with her the last couple of weeks and frequently accompanies her during the season.
WITH A WIN...
- Celine Herbin would become the first player from France to win on the LPGA since Patricia Meunier-Lebouc at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship
- Herbin, Annie Park, Mariah Stackhouse, Ashleigh Buhai or Su Oh would become the fourth Rolex First-Time winner of the 2018 LPGA season
- Sei Young Kim would be the fifth Korean player to win on the LPGA in 2018
- Park (USC, 2013) would be the first former NCAA Division I Individual Champion to win on the LPGA since Stacy Lewis (Arkansas, 2007) at the 2017 Cambia Portland Classic
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