ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer
Galloway, New Jersey
Thursday Pre-Tournament Notes
May 28, 2015

THE SITE TO TAKE BACK NO. 1 SPOT
59 weeks after first taking the No. 1 ranking, Inbee Park lost that top spot a year ago to Stacy Lewis here at the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer. Park would again regain that No. 1 ranking later in the year but Lydia Ko took it from her at the season’s opening event this year and has held it ever since.

But Park can regain her throne this week with a tie for third or better as Ko’s not in the field this week to protect her lofty perch.

“I think that would be quite memorable,” Park said. “Having the time that it was here last year, but I mean like I said, it’s not my only priority. I have a lot more things to do in golf, and I’ve been to No. 1 ranking before and just trying to -- I mean I feel like I play quite good golf, but obviously Lydia play very, very good.

And I still have so much opportunity to catch up.”

MINJEE’S ZONE
Some call it “The Zone.” It’s that feeling when a player’s just feeling it and seemingly have no conscience when it comes to the birdies and eagles they pour on the field.

Minjee Lee’s not sure what exactly to call it but she was certainly feeling it when she went bananas on the back nine at the Kingsmill Championship with a 5-under-par, five-hole stretch from holes 11-15 that allowed her to steal the lead and her first LPGA title two weeks ago.|

“I was behind, and I just -- I don’t know. I just kind of played,” Lee said. “Like I didn’t really think about the lead. I was just -- I was just like playing. I wasn’t thinking about it. And normally I’m like, oh, I might make the cut here. Like it was just a weird mentality that I had that I’ve never had before. So it was kind of -- I just kind of changed the way I thought. I was like, I’m out here because I’m good enough. So yeah, just kind of a different thought process, and I just played without much thought. I just played golf.”

As difficult as it is to describe, it’s just as tough to duplicate. When it’s hard to explain, it’s hard to find. And that’s the way “The Zone” can be.

“I think just like committing to each shot. And I like played all the shots that I wanted to play,” Lee said. “Like even if it was a little off, I was still okay. Yeah, just my putting was crazy. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened there.”

KEY NUMBERS TO KNOW
23 – rookies are in the field this week. Three have already won on Tour this season (Sei Young Kim (2), Hyo Joo Kim and Minjee Lee)
6,117 – total yards the Bay Course will play this week, the shortest course on the 2015 schedule
23 – years since Juli Inkster’s last win here in 1988
17 – weeks since Inbee Park was unseated by Lydia Ko for the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings. Park can overtake the top spot if she finishes in a two-way for third or better
40 – spots in the Rolex Ranking that Minjee Lee jumped the week after her win at the Kingsmill Championship. She celebrated her 19th birthday on Wednesday and is now ranked No. 20 in the world
3rd – Inbee Park’s best finish here in four starts. It came in her first appearance in 2010

MCBRIDE NAMED EUROPEAN SOLHEIM CUP ASSISTANT CAPTAIN
Liselotte Neumann brought fellow Swede Carin Koch along with her as a Vice Captain in 2013 when Neumann led the European team into Colorado and stormed out with an 18.5-10.5 victory. Koch used that experience in 2013 to land the European captaincy for 2015, and she’s hoping to accomplish a similar mojo, appointing an all-Swede leadership team with the announcement that Maria McBride and Sophie Gustafson will join Annika Sorenstam as her three Vice Captains.

“I think, you know, you’re always going to have people complaining about it, thinking why so many Swedes, but you know, we’re so spread out,” McBride said. “And there’s a lot of Swedes that always played in Solheims, so to have opportunity to be vice captains, whatever, I think it’s a great opportunity. And even if there’s four Swedes, we all know everybody from everywhere, all the tours, different countries, so I can’t see that being a problem.”

What McBride’s hoping it turns into is not only a historical third consecutive victory but also a future succession plan similar to Koch’s.

“I would like to be a captain one day,” McBride said. “Obviously you have to be a Vice Captain first before you can be a Captain, so I’m happy I have the opportunity this time, and then we’ll see in the future if that can happen.”

McBride was the one who originally approached Koch. She was still working out the number of Vice Captains she wanted and what she was looking for from each, she said, but then in Hawaii three weeks ago, McBride got the call that she’d been chosen as one of the three. Although Sorenstam brings arguably the greatest resume in women’s golf history to the European squad as Vice Captain, Koch wanted McBride by her side to have someone in leadership that’s out on Tour with these girls still on a daily basis and can do some of the things throughout the year that Koch can’t do from a far.

“The first tee in the Solheim is very, very stressful, but it’s a great experience, great feeling,” McBride said. “Playing is really, really nerve wracking. I mean it will be as a vice captain, too, but at least I’m not holding the club. I’m not making the putt. I’m not hitting the ball, so in that regard all we can do is give support and give help and listen to our players and we’ll see what happens.”

SHORT TRACK BUT NO WALK IN THE PARK
The Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club is the shortest track LPGA players will see in 2015 but the players who know the course are certain that shorter does not mean easier.

“This golf course is a short golf course, probably one of the shortest that we play all year, so that gives me a lot of opportunity at birdies, and it can get really tricky because it’s a windy golf course, and there’s a lot of crosswind holes this week,” said Inbee Park. “So I think it’ll really depend on the weather, and the greens are the poa annua greens where you gotta be just really patient and careful. That’s going to be the key, I think, holing the putts this week.”

Stacy Lewis, a two-time winner on this course, agreed with Park that players will be zoned in on their work on the greens.

“I just like this golf course because it’s kind of old school, and just the way kind of golf was made to be played, you know, tee to greens really close, and it’s a challenge,” said Lewis. “There’s holes you gotta take par on and move on, but then there’s holes you can make birdies on. And the greens are tricky, which I like, because I feel like I can read the greens a little bit better.”

Michelle Wie said avoiding the long fescue that borders a lot of holes is critical. Keeping it short and straight will be the strategy.

“I think it’s just keeping the ball in play. It’s not a long course,” said Wie. “I think you just gotta put the ball in play, put it in the right spot, definitely put it in the right spot on the greens. So I think that’s very important.”

AIRTIMES THIS WEEK
Golf Channel will broadcast all the action at the ShopRite LPGA Classic with airtimes listed below:
May 29 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
May 30 3:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
May 31 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern

QUOTABLE
“Yeah, in prime shape. Hey, mom, you want to get a glass of wine. I’m like, all right. I’ll meet you. But it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. I look back on it and I don’t know how I did it, but it’s turned out really good.” –Juli Inkster on how balancing being a mom on Tour has worked out. Media members in New Jersey covered her 1986 and 1988 wins at this event remembered her discussing the daunting task over 20 years ago

ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer Pre-tournament Notes

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