SLEEP IS KEY FOR JENNY SHIN DURING DELAY
How did first-round co-leader Jenny Shin deal with seven hours of rain delay? The same way much of the field did. Sleep.
“I got the delay notice on the way here, so I drove straight back to the hotel and went back to sleep,” said Shin, who is making her fourth Meijer LPGA Classic start. “Time went by pretty quickly after I slept in. It was just downtime, so I guess I did some reading.”
Shin started on No. 10, carded a bogey-free back nine (her first nine), with three birdies on No. 13-15 and a birdie on 18. She made bogey on No. 3 but finished strong with another string of birdies on Nos. 6-8 en route to her 66.
“The course conditions changed about three, four times today and that made it quite tough,” said Shin, who went out in 32 and came back in 34. “The gusty winds really were difficult, especially on the third hole. The tee shot was straight left-to-right wind and I'm a fade player, so I was kind of struggling a little bit there. But other than that, I stuck with it and had a good round. I'm not looking forward to another seven-hour delay, but I think knowing that I can wake up pretty late tomorrow will give me a head start.”
KATHERINE PERRY ENJOYING REFRESHED SUCCESS
A career-best tie for ninth at the 2019 Pure Silk Championship was truly year-changing for third-year LPGA Tour player Katherine Perry. After starting the year at No. 368 on the Priority List, that strong showing in Virginia vaulted her to No. 140 after the reshuffle. Now halfway through the rain-delayed first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Perry finds herself tied for the lead, a position she didn’t dream she would see in 2019.
“Just been working really hard on the swing with my coach and just having the opportunity to be out here,” said Perry when asked what brought about the change in her game. “I thought I was going to spend the year on Epson and now I'm out here with this opportunity to play and just looking forward to taking advantage of it.”
Perry struggled in her first two seasons on the LPGA Tour, missing the cut in 10 consecutive events at the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018. But her rejuvenated swing has paid dividends the last month, as she finished T26 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and is now in prime position yet again in Grand Rapids.
TWO ACES MADE IN ROUND 1 AT MEIJER LPGA CLASSIC
Mariajo Uribe was 1-under through her first five holes on Thursday before making a hole-in-one on No. 15 with a 7-iron in the first round of the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic. Brooke Henderson also made a hole-in-one after she was 2-under through her first five holes. As soon as Henderson made the shot, play was suspended due to darkness. She is currently T4 at 4-under with 12 holes to play.
“It's kind of like a joke with my caddie, like we've had so many and never win anything. Finally, this time at least they donate some money under my name and then we get an Acer laptop,” said Uribe, who is currently in solo third after shooting a 5-under 67. “I’m so excited because every time I got [an ace], I never won the car or anything before. Not much crowd out there, but it was good. It was a nice way to start my round because it was on my front nine.”
With two aces, CME Group will donate $40,000 towards St. Jude’s Research Hospital. There have been 11 hole-in-ones made prior to the week and a total to $260,000 has been donated thus far in 2019. A total donation of $260,000 can help provide two St. Jude patients the radiotherapy treatment they need for a brain tumor. Families at St. Jude never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all they should worry about is helping their child live.
PLAYER NOTES
Rolex Rankings No. 48 Jenny Shin (66)
- Shin’s first-round 66 is tied for the second-lowest round of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; she shot a 65 in the first round of the Honda LPGA Thailand (her first round of the season) and shot a 66 in the first round of the Bank of Hope Founders Cup
- She hit 10 of 13 fairways and 13 of 18 greens, with 25 putts
- Shin is in her ninth season on the LPGA Tour; she won the 2016 Volunteers of America Texas Shootout presented by JTBC and has twice finished runner-up at the HSBC Women’s World Championship (2012 and 2018)
- This is Shin’s 12th event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is fourth at the Honda LPGA Thailand, her only top-10 finish of the season
- She is competing in her fourth Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give; she tied for 13th in 2017, finished T25 in 2016 and withdrew during the first round in 2015
Rolex Rankings No. 238 Katherine Perry (66)
- Perry’s first-round 66 is tied for the lowest round of her LPGA career; she previously shot 66 in the first round of the 2018 Cambia Portland Classic and the first and third rounds of the 2019 Pure Silk Championship
- She hit 11 of 13 fairways and 13 of 18 greens, with 26 putts
- She shot a 67 in the first round of the 2017 Meijer LPGA Classic but shot a second-round 75 to miss the cut
- Perry is in her third season on the LPGA Tour; her best finish is a tie for ninth at the 2019 Pure Silk Championship
- This is Perry’s fourth event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; her tie for ninth at the 2019 Pure Silk Championship jumped her 226 spots up the LPGA Priority List to No. 141 and into Category 13, which earns her significantly more LPGA Tour stats
- She has competed in six Epson Tour events in 2019, with a best finish of T6 at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic
- She is competing in her third Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give; she missed the cut in 2017 and finished 78th in 2018
- Perry is a 2014 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with degrees in exercise and sports science, and psychology
- Perry’s husband, Kevin Hamski, is her caddie
QUICK HITS
- The first round was delayed for seven hours prior to the start of play on Thursday; the first groups teed off at 2:15 p.m. and the last groups scheduled at 9:14 p.m.
- Round one was played with preferred lies
- Play was suspended at 9:22 p.m. due to darkness and is set to resume at 7:30 a.m. on Friday for 72 players
- Round 2 is scheduled to start at approximately 10:45 a.m.
- The 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give is the fourth event of the 2019 LPGA season to experience a weather delay (ISPS Handa Vic Open, first round, fog; Honda LPGA Thailand, fourth round, lightning; U.S. Women’s Open, second round, lightning)
- Mariajo Uribe (Colombia) and Brooke Henderson (Canada) made hole-in-ones on No. 15 from 156 yards, Uribe with her 7-iron and Henderson with her 6-iron
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