At the 2015 turn: Younger players dominate first half

This week marks the halfway point of the 2015 LPGA season, with 16 tournaments and two of the five major championships completed. The U.S. Women’s Open, is next on the schedule, July 9-12 in Lancaster, Pa.

With an off week and anticipating a dramatic Women’s Open, let’s take a look at the first half of the season:

• Youngest winner: Lydia Ko won the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open at age 17 on Feb. 22 and the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic on April 26, two days after she turned 18.
• Teen trend: Four tournaments have been won by teenagers, including Lydia Ko (age 17 and 18), Hyo-Joo Kim (19) and Minjee Lee (18).
• Consecutive under par tied: Lydia Ko tied the LPGA mark for consecutive rounds under par at 29, established by Annika Sorenstam in 2004. Ko was a cumulative 91-under par during her streak, which began Nov. 13, 2014 at the final round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and ended with a 1-over-par 73 in the second round of the 2015 ANA Inspiration. If you include her victory at the Ladies European Tour’s New Zealand Women’s Open on March 1, Ko played 32 consecutive under-par rounds.
• Rookie sensation: Sei Young Kim has won twice as a rookie, leads the standings for top rookie of 2015 and is second in the Rolex Player of the Year standings. She also leads the LPGA in birdies (234) and eagles (9).
• Oldest winner: Cristie Kerr, age 37, when she won the Kia Classic on March 29. Suzann Pettersen, age 34, was the only other player in her 30s to win in the first half. The average age of winners thus far this season: 25.
• South Korean dominance: Only four of the first 16 tournaments were won by players not from South Korea. That included Americans Cristie Kerr and Brittany Lincicome, Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen. The four multiple winners were all born in South Korea: Inbee Park (3), New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (2), Sei Young Kim (2) and Na Yeon Choi (2).
• No. 1: Inbee Park began 2015 as the No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, but gave that position up to Lydia Ko after the season-opening Coates Championship. Ko, at age 17, was the youngest ever to be No. 1 (male or female) and was top ranked for 19 weeks. Park moved back to No. 1 for the third time in her career on June 15, the day after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. This week marks here 76th as the No. 1-ranked player, including 59 weeks in 2013 and 14 in 2014.
• Park’s streak: A bogey on the fourth hole at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship broke Inbee Park’s bogey free streak at 59 consecutive holes dating back to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship victory three weeks ago. Earlier this year, Park went 93 consecutive holes without losing a stroke to par. Park has played 954 holes this season, with 220 of those under par.
• Winning margins: Inbee Park won by the most, five strokes, at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. There have been four playoffs, including at the ANA Inspiration and the two tournaments that followed the first major of the year.
• Statistical surprises: The top players headline numerous stats categories, led by Inbee Park (first in Official Money, Race to the CME Globe, Rolex Women’s World Rankings, Player of the Year and Scoring). The most surprising statistical leaders at the turn include Joanna Klatten (273.9 in Driving Distance) and Julie Yang (28.50 in Putting Average). Yang, a rookie from South Korea, has made just one cut this season. Klatten, from France, finished third in Driving Distance last year, her first on the LPGA.
• Not a statistical surprise: Once again, Mo Martin is the most accurate driver in the game. She has hit 89.19 percent of her fairways this season, far surpassing her 2014 mark of 86 percent. Martin was third on the LPGA in 2012, her rookie season, and ranked first in 2013 and 2014. The PGA Tour’s most accurate driver this year is Francesco Molinari at 78.5 percent.
• Shot of the First Half: Sei Young Kim holed out from 154 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th hole to win the Lotte Championship on the first hole of a playoff with Inbee Park. On the same hole, the final one of regulation, she chipped in for par to force the playoff after hitting her second shot in the water.

Grand Slam perspective

Two years ago, Inbee Park won the first three major championships of the LPGA season (Kraft Nabisco, LPGA Championship and U.S. Women’s Open) before trying to gain a fourth consecutive major title at St. Andrews.

In three weeks (July 16-19), Jordan Spieth will be going for the third leg of the men’s Grand Slam after capturing the Masters Tournament and U.S. Open earlier this year. The site? St. Andrews.

“Once I get on the golf course, I don’t really think about it so much,” Park said prior to her 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open start. “When I’m off the golf course, I feel the pressure, but I try to concentrate on the golf course.”

Park visited her homeland, South Korea, the week before the trip to Scotland. She admitted to being physically tired but was mentally upbeat after seeing friends, relatives and fans. She also purchased a red Ferrari in South Korea.

Park started out with similar momentum on The Old Course, standing 6-under through 10 holes in the first round. But she played the next eight holes 3-over par for an opening 69, followed by three over-par rounds and a tie for 42nd. Normally one of the LPGA’s best putters, she never took less than 30 putts – and had 40 in a final-round 78 – for the week.

“It is tough to be in the center of everything for a week,” Park said after finishing the week, “and I feel exhausted a little bit.”

2013 was the first season the LPGA had five majors as The Evian was elevated to major status. Park has not won the Ricoh Women’s British Open or The Evian. The only woman to win all majors in one season was Babe Zaharias. In 1950, she won all three majors played that year – the Titleholders Championship, the Women’s Western Open and the U.S. Women’s Open. The LPGA Championship, now titled the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, didn’t begin until 1955.

Here’s a look at the Grand Slam efforts by the two:

Choi’s magical 8-iron derails Lewis

Stacy Lewis must feel snake bit. Leading by one stroke with three holes remaining, Lewis looked over her shoulder last weekend at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and watched Na Yeon Choi come storming back. Choi holed an 8-iron from 145 yards for eagle on the par-4 16th hole at Pinnacle Country Club to pull from one behind to one ahead. Lewis had just missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th green. Lewis missed another birdie putt on the par-3 17th and Choi responded with an 8-iron to 3 feet to increase her margin to two strokes.

Lewis has finished second five times since her last victory at the 2014 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. She finished T3 last week at her home away from home and increased her consecutive rounds below par in Arkansas to 20 rounds.

Etc.

Two of the next four LPGA events are majors: the U.S. Women’s Open in Lancaster, Pa., next week and the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Trump Turnberry, Scotland, July 30-Aug. 2. … The last two LPGA winners, Inbee Park and Na Yeon Choi, are former U.S. Women’s Open winners – Park in 2008 and 2013 and Choi in 2012. … There are six tournaments remaining to earn points for the 2015 Solheim Cup, scheduled for Sept. 18-20 at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club near Heidelberg, Germany. The Aug. 20-23 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open is the last event to earn points.