ANA Inspiration Pre-tournament Notes

FOREVER AND EVER

Lydia Ko’s age has likely never shone through a media interview more than it did on Wednesday at the ANA Inspiration. Asked about her current 28-consecutive sub-par round streak, Ko referenced Taylor Swift song lyrics and counting sushi rolls instead of sub-par rounds. The precocious 17-year old from New Zealand said she wasn’t aware of the historic run she’s making until television broadcast talent brought it up last week in San Diego. Her coach, David Leadbetter gave her a trick to not over think her chance at history.

“Yeah, forever and ever. It’s like a lyric off a Taylor Swift song,” said Ko. “Yeah, 28 consecutive rounds under par, I wasn’t really counting until Golf Channel told me that was going on, and yeah, I’ve been just trying to have fun out there, and David keeps telling me don’t worry about the record, just think of it as how many sushis can you have, and he said, I’ve had 28 right now. Hopefully we can continue that on.”

Ko’s amazing play has been the talk of the Tour this year since her ascension to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings after the season-opening Coates Golf Championship. She said she’s becoming more in tune with how much attention her accomplishments are getting and the more she hears it being talked about, the more likely she’ll have it in the back of her mind.

“Obviously because I’m so close, it will be at the back of my mind because there’s been so much talk about it,” Ko said. “I’m sure that thought is going to come up within those 18 holes, but I’m just going to try and have fun.

“I’m going to be concentrating on that moment, and at the end of the day, my goal is to try and play well for this week. If I break the record or if I tie it or if I don’t break it, I’m so happy that I can get so close to it even. No, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it in some way, but I think it’s just going to be hard enough trying to concentrate on that putt going in the hole.”

ALWAYS IN THE HUNT

It has been no surprise to see Stacy Lewis’ name near the top of the leaderboards in every event on the LPGA’s schedule so far in 2015 but the queen of consistency hasn’t won since last June at the Tour’s stop in Arkansas. She’s come very close so many times since then with nine top-10’s and four runner-ups. Asked if she has any frustration about the close calls, the Texan had no hesitation in saying so.

“Oh, yeah, totally,” said Lewis. “Knowing just me and my personality, there’s frustration. I felt Phoenix was tough, just because I felt like I played well enough that final round to win a golf tournament, and she just played a little bit better. There’s definitely frustration, but there’s also -- I’ve done so many good things that I can’t be frustrated coming into this week. You know, those tournaments are done, they’re over with, and it’s on to the next.”

Lewis has had a terrific record at Mission Hills Country Club. In seven starts here, she’s recorded four top-5 finishes including a third-place finish last year. When it was pointed out to her that her final-round scoring average was the best among all four rounds, Lewis didn’t sound shocked, more pleased. It would be no surprise to see the American in the mix come Sunday.

“I like that, yes,” said Lewis. “I think in a major you learn the golf course every day a little bit better. But I love being in contention on Sundays in majors. That’s where you want to be. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve played my best golf then. I don’t know what to attribute it to. I don’t know what it is, but I think you should. In theory you should be playing your best golf by the end of the week because you should be learning the golf course as the week goes on.”

LESS THAN PERFECTION GOOD ENOUGH FOR PARK

Inbee Park’s historic three-major stretch – one of the greatest in golf history – began here at the ANA Inspiration.

Park recalled among a stretch that also included wins at the U.S. Women’s Open and Wegmans LPGA Championship that it was here in Rancho Mirage where the world got to see her best golf.

“That week my game was nearly perfect,” Park said. “I mean, some weeks I get my game to that level, and even this year, as well, but that year, that week in 2013 my game was perfect. Right now I don’t think I’m as good as that right now. I think I will get to that point sometime this year.”

Of Park’s 13 Tour wins, she felt like her game was the best here and then earlier this year during her win at the 2015 HSBC Women’s Champions. She can still win without the perfect game, she says, but needs an exemplary week in one of the four phases of the game – driving, iron play, chipping or putting.

“I definitely played the best at this tournament in 2013 and probably the worst at Wegmans, but I putted really good,” Park said. “I’ve won tournaments without the perfect game before.”

Although Park felt she had that perfect game only a month prior in Singapore, she didn’t see it last week in her return to the States at the Kia Classic. And she even had a four-putt, which she said was the first time that’s happened in two or three years.

She still finished fifth. That’s how good Park is these days. If she’s far off of her prime in 2013, the disparity is minimal, and Park’s hoping it’s enough to recreate a feeling she’ll remember forever.

“I think this tournament ANA Inspiration is about the history, and I think everybody really – this is one of the tournaments that really everybody wants to win,” Park said. “And I think jumping into Poppie’s Pond is very special for everyone, and looking at every past champions going in the pond, you want to be in there. I know exactly how it feels because I’ve done that before. I know how good it feels. I think that’s what makes this tournament special.”

POPPIE’S POND REDEMPTION

Stacy Lewis made the leap into Poppie’s Pond after her first major win in 2011 alongside her caddie, sister and parents. Asked if she would change up anything about her jump, Lewis said she’s a bit superstitious when it comes to thinking about celebrations ahead of time.

“I don’t know, you don’t think about the jump because you don’t want to jinx yourself,” said Lewis. “It’s one of those spur of the moment things. I know my mom would have to jump again because she needs to redeem herself. That’s the part of it I’ve thought about, but you definitely don’t think about it because I don’t want to jinx anything.”

Lewis’ own leap was outshined by her mom, Carol, who ended up fracturing a bone in her leg when she landed in the pond. Lewis said she and her mom have had the conversation about giving the jump another shot and this time escaping without any injuries.

“Oh, yeah, she already knows she’s going,” said Lewis. “Oh, I think she’s ready to redeem herself, too, because she’s tired of being the one that broke her foot in the pond. I think she’s ready to redeem herself.”

BLUE & IMPROVED

World No. 3 Stacy Lewis didn’t know what to expect when she pulled into Mission Hills Country Club earlier this week. But the 2011 champion immediately new that the first major of the year had entered a new era.

“When I first drove up, I actually was -- I was shocked about the blue tents and the blue everywhere really,” said Lewis. “You come to this event the last few years and we’ve seen red with Kraft Nabisco. I was afraid coming to this event everybody would be calling it the old names and everything like that, but as soon as I came on property this was the ANA Inspiration. It didn’t even feel like the old sponsor. That was actually my initial thought when I came here.”

In addition to the rebranding of the championship, there will be several other changes to the spectator experience too. Fans will have the unique opportunity to “upgrade” their tickets to the 18th green suites by visiting the ANA exhibit in the fan zone. Ticket holders who tweet a photo sitting in the ANA business class seats at the Fan Zone using the tags @ANAinspiration, @FlyANA_Official and #ANAinspiration will be entered to win one-day upgrades to the hospitality suites adjacent to the 18th green.

ROLEX RANKINGS SCENARIOS

The fight at the top of the Rolex Rankings continues this week in the desert with Inbee Park being the only player to have a chance to unseat Lydia Ko at No. 1. Here are the scenarios:

Inbee Park would become No. 1 if:

• She wins AND Lydia Ko finishes in a tie for third or worse.

• She wins AND Ko finishes in a five-way tie for second

• She finishes solo second and Lydia finishes 33rd (not counting any ties) or worse

KEY NUMBERS TO KNOW

486 – LPGA victories among the 115 player field this week

4 - runner-up finishes by Stacy Lewis since her last victory in June of 2014 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

$2.5 million – total purse this week, up $500,000 from last year

24 – countries represented in this year’s field

18 - age of youngest champion, Morgan Pressel, in 2007. Lydia Ko could become the youngest this week at age 17

16 - age of ANA Inspiration Junior Challenge winner and youngest player in the field, Haley Moore of Encidido, Calif.

QUOTABLE

“I don’t think motivation. I think we have lost the last two, and we’ve got to find a way to maybe dig a little deeper and play a little harder. For me so far, as Carin says, it’s the day-to-day stuff, the little piddly stuff, like menus. Just give them some food and let them go out there and play, or outfits or gifts, all that little stuff. That was really never huge on my list. I just couldn’t wait to get my bag and get out there and play. Maybe we need to get back to just playing golf and see where that takes us.” – Juli Inkster on her motivational tactics for the U.S. Solheim Cup Team

“Gosh, Poppies Pond, I think it’s the greatest celebration in golf. I really do. I think it’s something that as a little kid you see these players just so genuinely excited, acting like you. They’re acting like a little kid, just jumping in a pond. I think it’s something that everybody can relate to, everybody can -- they just genuinely see how excited you are, which I don’t think you always see in golf.” – Stacy Lewis on the tradition of leaping into Poppie’s Pond

ROUNDING INTO FORM

For a month there, Juli Inkster had to be watching her United States Solheim Cup team with her eyes closed. After opening the season with four in the top-10 in back-to-back events at the Coates Championship and Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, Inkster’s Americans seemed to go on hiatus with only four top-10s combined in the next four events. Three of them were by Stacy Lewis.

However, Inkster started to see a return to form last week at the Kia Classic with the first American winner of the 2015 season – Cristie Kerr – and eight Americans in the top-15, tying the most at an event this season.

“Well, my team is rounding into form. The last couple weeks they’ve played well,” Inkster said.

Inkster hasn’t seen as much movement among the standings as she thought she might to start 2015 but has her eye on a couple of young players that are trying to fight their way on the team. She’s noticed a couple players that are playing well – Austin Ernst, Kim Kaufman, and Alison Lee – but the only player inside the top 12 that wasn’t on the 2013 team is Mo Martin currently. But only 10 guarantee entry, a daunting fact for Inkster who would prefer to just take the 12 that earn their way.

“It’s kind of a wimpy way out because then I don’t have to make anybody mad or anything, I just take the 12 and go play,” Inkster said.

European captain Carin Koch actually has four captain’s picks to make, and although she’s not looking forward to the day she has to inform the players who didn’t make it, she actually embraces the chance to make the picks so she can ensure the personalities all fit.

“You get a chance to pick people that you know are going to work with a lot of the players, and they’re going to be able to play with a lot of the players,” Koch said. “It’s not only stats and who makes more birdies and who plays well, it’s also a lot of personality that goes into the picks.”