Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club
Ocala, Fla.
January 29, 2015

Stacy Lewis, Jessica Korda, and Azahara Munoz, the headliners atop the leaderboard, headed off the first tee in the morning wave after an hour and half delay looking to steal the show and ensure the season opener would go to a veteran.

Rookie Ha Na Jang, the first to tee off in the afternoon wave, had other plans, following up a first-round 67 with a scorching 7-under-par 65 that was four shots better than anyone else in the field that finished their round on Thursday. Jang didn’t have to use her flat stick a ton after hitting four approaches inside three feet, but she saved her best work on the greens for last, draining a curling bender of a 25 footer on the last in dwindling light to complete the tournament’s best round yet.

“I think today [my] second shot were better,” Jang, the No. 21 ranked player in the world, said. “Very nice iron shots today.”

It was the type of steely calm performance far beyond a rookie in the season opener, leaving one reporter to ask if she felt like a rookie at 22 years of age.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m too old,” she said with a laugh.

50 players remained on the golf course Thursday after the frost delay pushed back the afternoon wave.

Stacy Lewis sits in second at 8-under-par after a second-round 70. Lydia Ko (69), Azahara Munoz (70) are tied in third with Angela Stanford and Austin Ernst, who each have four and five holes left to play in the second round,
respectively. Pushing the second round into Friday morning came at the worst time for Stanford who was 6-under for the day and charging up the leaderboard.

When Lewis finished her round, she surely didn’t leave the golf course thinking there was a 66 out there and likely thought she’d enter Friday’s third round with a lead, not a four-shot deficit.

“We shot some 66s yesterday and I think that’s a great score on this golf course. The greens are just so tricky, there’s not a lot of hole locations on a couple of the greens, you have to hit it to the right spot,” Lewis said. “You can make some bogeys and worse pretty quick. It’s just staying patient.”

Added Munoz: “1-under on this golf course is always good.”.

PLAY TO RESUME TOMORROW
For those players not completing their rounds on Thursday, the resumption of round two will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

Projected starting times for round three will begin at 10:30 a.m off of the 1st and 10th tees.

CREAMER TALLIES LPGA’S FIRST ACE OF 2015
Paula Creamer made her fifth hole-in-one on Thursday with a baby cut five iron that took one hop forward and
trickled in, setting off a high stepping little jig dance on the tee box. The hole-in-one came on the sixth hole, a replica of Augusta National’s 16th hole.

“I said I made my hole-in-one at Augusta. I go, ‘Where’s the car?’” Creamer said. “But I guess having a hole-in-one at Augusta is better than a car.”

Unfortunately, there was no car for Creamer. There’s never been a car for any of her five aces, even though she thought there was at her last hole-in-one in Thailand two years ago.

“Even the one in Thailand, there was a car on it but they just had it sitting there. I was like, ‘You can’t do that!’” Creamer said. “I was not a happy person after that. I said, ‘You should give me one anyways.’”

Creamer said that day in Thailand she and her caddie were going down the fairway acting like they were driving in their new car only to find out afterwards that they didn’t win the car. They didn’t win one for the hole-in-one on
Thursday either, but aces never get old. Even for someone with five.

“Never! Gosh, that’s why you play. You play for that perfect moment,” Creamer said.

CROWDS OUT IN FORCE AT GOLDEN OCALA
One of the biggest takeaways from the week has been the great support from the fans at Golden Ocala. Several players made it a point to acknowledge their appreciation. Below are what some of the LPGA’s best have had to say.

Michelle Wie
“Oh, my God, it’s been incredible. It’s like a major turn out. For a Wednesday, Thursday, it’s pretty incredible. I’m
excited to see how big the crowds are going to be tomorrow and Saturday.”

Paula Creamer
“Even in the pro am that we played there was a lot of people out here. Today I didn’t know what to expect. I knew the afternoons would be nice, but this is awesome. This is what we want, and it just shows that tournaments here in Florida and especially here in Ocala, it’s nice to get a good crowd and they love golf.”

Stacy Lewis
“I was in shock actually when I walked on that tee and saw how many people there were. It’s amazing. It shows that this is the kind of town that we should be playing in. We’re the biggest thing that’s coming right now and this is where we should be playing.”

Lydia Ko
“it’s been really good crowds. Even yesterday we were playing in the afternoon, there were a lot of people out here. Just I guess following from tee to green not only our group but the groups behind and in front also. I think it’s been great and the fans here are really excited. It’s always exciting for me to play in front of them.”

LYDIA AND STACY AT IT AGAIN
Stacy Lewis and Lydia Ko are battling it out for the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings, as both would have a chance to take the top spot with a win this week. The duo were paired together for the first two rounds of the Coates Golf
Championship Presented by R&L Carriers.

“She’s played great every single time I’ve played with her,” Ko said. “I kind of try and feed off her and she’s someone I look up to and I always learn. She’s such a confident player. I always enjoy playing with her. Yeah, it’s always fun whenever I get paired up with Stacy.”

Lewis echoed Ko’s statements.

“She’s fun, easy to play with,” Lewis said. “I think we have similar games and we play well on the same type of golf courses. This one, you look at this and like San Francisco, tree lined golf course, you’ve got to hit it on the right spots on the greens, play smart. I think our games are just really similar so we play well on the same courses.”

NUMBERS TO KNOW
26.5 - Through the first two rounds Ha Na Jang has averaged 26.5 putts per round
162 - Distance of Paula Creamer’s ace on the par-3 sixth
1.128 - The course played 1.128 strokes easier today
13 - The par-4 13th has played as the hardest hole on the course this week at 4.419
7 - The par-5 seventh has played as the easiest hole on the course at 4.789

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Oh, my God, it’s been incredible. It’s like a major turn out.” -Michelle Wie on the fans at the Coates Golf Championship Presented by R&L Carriers

Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers Second Round Notes

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