With life moving at such a lightning-fast pace these days, news sometimes gets lost in the cracks or swept up in the wave of information that permeates our tech-dominated world.
The LPGA Tour is no different, with a multitude of happenings clicking by on a daily basis in a frenzied whirlwind of activity that can be tough to process. There is always something going on in the traveling circus that is a professional sports entity, and some storylines may go unnoticed or overlooked.
One of those involves three-time Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC champion Cristie Kerr.
Kerr is attempting this week to join a selective list of Tour stars who have dominated a single course or tournament like none other in the modern era. Kerr, who opened with a 2-over 74 on Thursday, entered this week looking for her fourth victory at the Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in 11 years, a feat that would put her in rarified air in recent years.
Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam won five consecutive Mizuno Classics in Japan from 2001-05 – including four in a row at Seta Golf Course from 2002-05 – and was a four-time Michelob Light Classic champion (1995, 1997-99) at Forest Hills Country Club in Chesterfield, Mo.
Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix was a favorite of Hall of Famer Laura Davies, who won four consecutive Standard Register PING tournaments there from 1994-97. Another Hall of Famer, Se Ri Pak, owned Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, like no other player, winning five Jamie Farr Toledo Classics there (1998-99, 2001, 2003, 2007) during a stellar 10-year stretch.
But no one has dominated a single tournament or golf course like Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who has eight career Australian Ladies Masters victories at Royal Pines Resort in her native Australia. Webb won the event from 1998-01 and in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2013 and likely knows every blade of grass on the course.
Kerr – whose Williamsburg, Va., wins came in 2005, 2009 and 2013 – is eight strokes back of leader Joanna Klatten after 18 holes, but has posted an 8-under 63 on the River Course in the past. So, anything is possible and the 17-time LPGA champion shouldn’t be counted out just yet.
Speaking of not being counted out, LPGA veterans and 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup Team Captain Juli Inkster and Assistant Captain Pat Hurst have been playing some great golf this season. Hurst, who turns 46 on May 23, is among the leaders this week after firing an opening-round 66, and she was on the leaderboard early at the ANA Inspiration last month before a final-round 78 relegated her to a tie for 46th.
Inkster, 54, has made four of six cuts, posted five rounds in the 60s and tied for seventh last week in Texas. Perhaps the U.S. leaders’ competitive desire will rub off on the American squad in Germany this September.
Finally, some people may have overlooked an impressive record broken by Stacy Lewis last season during her Rolex Player of the Year campaign. Lewis smashed the LPGA mark for most sub-par rounds in a season with 85 in 2014, 10 more than the previous record of 75 set by Lorena Ochoa in 2004.
Lewis also came within one round in the 60s from Ochoa’s LPGA record of 51 from that same year. Both players won the Tour’s top award those seasons.
One record that may never fall? Perhaps Webb’s ridiculous mark for the most consecutive top-10 finishes: 16 between the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
Of course, world No. 1 Lydia Ko had a streak of 10 in a row from October 2014 through March of this year before tying for 51st at the ANA Inspiration. The 18-year-old has plenty of time to work on that line item in the record book.
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