Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic Presented by CTBC
Lake Merced Golf Club
Daly City, Calif.
April 21, 2015
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Michelle Wie
Rolex Rankings No. 27 Paula Creamer
Of the myriad of spectacular shots Lydia Ko’s made in her six LPGA wins, the one that stands out the most is the one she hit here a year ago. Leading by one entering the par-5 18th, Ko yanked her second shot into the heavy rough. But she calmly hit her approach to six feet and nailed the putt to hold off Stacy Lewis for the fi rst win of her rookie year.
“I definitely didn’t hit my second shot well, but it can kind of run out that way on the 18th hole,” Ko said. “I think the third shot, I normally don’t visualize my shots that much, but that time I imagined it landing just short of the green and for it to roll up and have ten feet for birdie. It worked out well. I said, Maybe I should visualize more often. That’s defi nitely one of the most memorable and important shots.”
The win was particularly special considering the strength of the fi eld. With 19 of the top 20 in the world, Ko said this event “isn’t a major, but it feels like a major.” That’s why Ko said it meant so much to win here last year. Major level golf course, major level field, and major level crowds, and yet she was the one walking off victorious.
And Ko’s hoping that one day she’ll walk off as the winner at a major, too, and she didn’t feel her game was up to her normal standards three weeks ago at the ANA Inspiration, where she finished in a tie for 51st – snapping a stream of 10 consecutive top-10 finishes.
“The majors, they give me butterflies a lot,” Ko said. “You know, majors, I really shouldn’t think of it as a different tournament or different scale, but somehow I just go there and I don’t feel like my game is up to the standard. That kind of happened at ANA, so I’m trying to learn to – I think through experience I’m trying to learn to I think handle myself, calm myself, and take myself back a little bit and say, ‘You know what? This is just another tournament.’ We’ve got a great field here this week. It’s not much of a difference.”
CREAMER DOESN’T BUDGE ON HER NOTION OF WOMEN’S MASTERS
Paula Creamer got the attention of the golfi ng media world last week when she tweeted out that there should be a Women’s Masters. She wasn’t budging on that notion Tuesday in her press conference here in San Francisco.
“I did. Yes, I did make that statement,” Creamer said. “I feel like there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to. It’s 2015. I think Augusta and the Masters and everybody with that event, they want to grow the game so badly. That’s what it is, about growing the game and giving people opportunities. The Chip and Putt, all of that for the kids to be able to come out there.”
“There is no reason we can’t do that for women’s golf as well. We’re just as much a part of growing the game. I’ve been there, played there, stayed in Butler’s Cabin. I had an awesome time. I think the patrons and everybody would love to have two weeks there, two tournaments. Why wouldn’t you? Hopefully we will see something change and happen.”
SEI YOUNG KIM BRINGS LYDIA KO OFF HER COUCH
Lydia Ko wasn’t in the field last week, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t into the final round of the Lotte Championship.
When Sei Young Kim set the golf world abuzz by chipping in for par at the last to force a playoff and then holing out her second shot approach for an eagle to win, she thrilled Lydia Ko too.
“Two amazing shots at Lotte. I was screaming watching the TV,” Ko said.
Ko herself has never quite had a finish like Kim, but she somewhat knows what Inbee Park felt like last week when Park watched as Kim sunk Park’s fate with the hole-out eagle from the fairway.
“When I was an amateur I played the Astor Trophy and I was playing against a girl and she made a hole-in-one,” Ko said, “And I kind of felt like what maybe Inbee felt. You didn’t do anything, but it’s kind of like already out of your hands.”
THE GRADUATE
One of Michelle Wie’s lifelong dreams was to win the U.S. Women’s Open. She did that last summer.
But it is here in San Francisco where she accomplished a lifelong dream a couple years ago, graduating from Stanford.
It’s that return down memory lane to Stanford that gave Wie solace as she got on the plane Sunday to leave Hawaii, the place where she grew up and always visits in the off season.
“It was defi nitely really sad to leave home, but the fact that I was coming to San Francisco made it that much easier,” Wie said. “Coming back to the Bay Area, stopped by Stanford yesterday for a quick couple of seconds. Just feels so
good to be back. It defi nitely feels like home, like coming back, landing in the airport, just so many memories. It feels
great to be back.”
Wie’s even more thrilled at the strength of the event in the Bay with a track she says is fit for a major and a feel that includes 19 of the top 20 in the world. And the trip home becomes more than just a chance to visit Stanford and see her friends, it also allows them to see what she does.
“Definitely feels diff erent coming back to the Bay Area. Feels like home for me,” Wie said. “It’s great. I’m excited to see all the fans out this week. The sponsors have done such a great job of branding the event, the purple and pink. All the artwork on the golf course is pretty fantasy. So it’s been a fun week so far.”
A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER
Lydia Ko’s 17th birthday celebration brought on a louder sing along than she might have expected. As she walked to the 1st tee on Thursday a year ago, the crowd on the fi rst tee serenaded her with a Happy Birthday sing along. That kick started a week to remember as Ko walked off the green to roars on Sunday after sinking a birdie at the last to win a solid present for herself for her 17th birthday.
Ko’s birthday last year came on Thursday of tournament week, but this year will fall on Friday’s second round.
“I’m hoping that I can get a morning tee time,” Ko said. “Last year got teed off late.”
It’d be hard to match Ko’s birthday week last year, though. Not only did she win, but that week she found out Time Magazine had named her one of the world’s 100 Most Infl uential People.
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“It was a really fun week. My birthday, the Time 100, so a lot of things going on,” Ko said.
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