With one final full swing last July, Mo Martin accomplished so much. Shot of the year. Biggest upset. Cinderella story of the season.

With the wind at her back on the final hole of last July’s Ricoh Women’s British Open, one of the shortest and most accurate drivers on the LPGA had approximately 240 yards to the hole on the par-5 finishing hole at Royal Birkdale. Facing a slight downhill and left-to-right lie, Martin’s 3-wood shot faded just a bit and headed straight for the hole.

“When it was in the air, I said, ‘Sit,’ and then I said, ‘Stop,’ and then when it was going toward the hole, I said, ‘OK, I don’t have anything more to say to that ball,’ ” Martin said last July. “I actually heard it hit the pin. It’s definitely one to remember.”

The ball caromed off the flagstick and settled 6 feet left of the hole. Martin sank the eagle putt – her only eagle for the entire 2014 season and just the fifth of her three-year career to date – to complete an even-par 72 and finish the tournament at 1-under par. She waited nearly an hour as Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen and Shanshan Feng couldn’t catch up.

It was Martin’s first LPGA victory, with only one career previous top-10 finish, a third in 2013. This after walking on at UCLA, helping the Bruins to the 2004 NCAA Championship and playing numerous years on the Epson Tour before earning her LPGA card in 2012 at age 29. She promised to use her Ricoh Women’s British winnings to secure the California ranch of her late grandfather in the Martin family.

Martin also earned another distinction. At 5-foot-2 and the straightest driver in all of golf (89.8 percent this year, No. 1 on the LPGA for a third consecutive year), Martin goes by the nickname “Mighty Mo.” She is only the second former UCLA golfer to claim a major championship. Corey Pavin, who at 5-9 was labeled the “Gritty Little Bruin,” won the 1995 U.S. Open thanks to a 4-wood on the final hole that nearly hit the pin in two.

Martin played every LPGA event through the Marathon Classic. She took off last week at the Meijer Classic to prepare for this week’s title defense at Trump Turnberry Resort.

Grand Slamming with Inbee

In 2013, Inbee Park eyed the Ricoh Women’s British Open as the fourth leg of the five-legged Grand Slam – for one season.

Now she focuses on this week’s tournament and The Evian later this summer to complete the Career Grand Slam.

“That’s been my goal for the last two, three years, since I’ve won three other majors,” Park said. “So I mean it's definitely one of my biggest goals in my career, for sure. And I definitely want to win the British Open before I retire.”

Park played last week’s Meijer Classic in Michigan, finishing T44 the week before her trip to Trump Turnberry Resort.

“I always just try to play the tournament before the major, instead of taking a week off, because after I’ve taken a week off, I look at my results and the results are not as good as when I play the tournaments in a row,” Park said. “So I just try to get the feel of the tournament going and obviously I want to get my game before, right before the major tournament to see everything is in the right position. If I need to fix anything I have to try the other tournament, because there are a few things that you just can’t do it on a week off or having a practice round.”

Park captured The Evian in 2012, the year before it was given major championship status, but has never won the Women’s British, even though she has had opportunities, heading into the final round in the top three on three occasions:

Year	Course	Finish	Noteworthy
2007	St. Andrews	T11	Opening 69 (second place) followed by 79-76
2008	Sunningdale	Cut	Shot 74-75 three weeks after winning the U.S. Women’s Open
2009	Lythan St. Annes	24	Shot two 76s and never contended
2010	Royal Birkdale	T9	Third-round 77 knocked her out of contention
2011	Carnoustie	T7	Second-round 64 followed by 73-73
2012	Royal Liverpool	2	In third entering final round, shot 76
2013	St. Andrews	T42	Aiming for fourth consecutive major, opened with 69 but finished with 78
2014	Royal Birkdale	4	Led entering final round, but shot 77

Turnberry’s short but great history

The Ailsa course at Turnberry, Scotland has not been a major championship venue for as long as some of the more famous links courses in the British Isles. But the venue has produced dramatic results.

The only time the Ricoh Women’s British Open was held here previously was 2002 when Karrie Webb won her third title. She opened and closed with 66s to become the first three-time winner of the event. It was the second year that the Women’s British was designated as a major.

On the men’s side, the first major at Turnberry was perhaps the most memorable as Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus in 1977 in the famous “Duel in the Sun.” Greg Norman (1986), Nick Price (1994) and Stewart Cink (2009, in a playoff over 59-year-old Tom Watson) also won at Turnberry.

The course, which will play approximately 6,500 yards and to par 72 this week, will close in late September for some renovations and is scheduled to reopen in June 2016.

Lexi’s mental victory

Lexi Thompson won her fifth LPGA title last week at the Meijer Classic in typical fashion. She shot a final-round 65 and averaged 297 yards in rallying past Lizette Salas. However, the 20-year-old also displayed great accuracy (10 of 13 fairways hit) and a precise putting touch (only 24 putts in the final round; all four rounds with less than 30 putts).

“I had been working on the mental side of the game with John Denney down in south Florida and that has helped me out tremendously just to relax and have fun instead of just grinding 24/7 on the golf course,” Thompson said. “It’s helped me out a lot. I knew it was coming, I was just trying to be patient.

“We work a lot of on breathing and that has helped me out a lot. I focused a lot on breathing in my pre shot routine just getting me really relaxed walking into my shot and just over my shots visualizing them, and that’s what we really focused on and just being grateful for a lot of things in life.”

Etc.

The Ricoh Women’s British has had consecutive Americans win in dramatic fashion. At St. Andrews in 2013, Stacy Lewis birdied 17 and 18 to win, only to be topped by Martin’s eagle on the final hole at Royal Birkdale last year. … The Ricoh Women’s British will be played at Woburn Golf and Country Club in England in late July 2016 (10th time at the course) and at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland the first week of August 2017 (first time hosting a major). … This week’s tournament will be televised by ESPN2 live Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m.-noon EDT and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. ABC will broadcast a one-hour highlight show on Sunday from 5-6 p.m. … First-place points in the Race to the CME Globe are normally worth 500 points but bump up 25 percent this week to 625. Therefore, Lydia Ko, ranked second in the standings and 516 points behind No. 1 Inbee Park, could move to first this week. In three career Women’s British starts, Ko has broken par three times in 12 rounds and has a best finish of T17 (2012).

Stats and Stuff: Recalling Mo Martin’s 2014 Shot of the Year

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