Week of April 20- April 26, 2015
Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic
Lake Merced Golf Club
Daly City, California
TOP STORYLINES
NO. 1 KO BACK TO DEFEND
World No. 1 Lydia Ko returns to the site of her first LPGA Tour win as a professional. The date of last year’s win is tattooed on Ko’s wrist and it started a season that saw her win three times in 2014. It was a particularly memorable week for Ko considering it was her birthday week. And what a week it was as she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most
Influential People early in the week. Then, the gallery sang Happy Birthday to her on the 18th green as she birdied the last to hold off Lewis and fire a final-round 3-under-par 69.
The 17-year-old held off Stacy Lewis a year ago at Lake Merced, and Ko’s been on fire to start 2015. In her first seven starts of the season, Ko’s compiled a win in Melbourne at the ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open, two runner-ups, and three additional top-10 finishes. She also won the New Zealand Open on the LET.
But Ko’s last start at the season’s first major – the ANA Inspiration – wasn’t her best showing, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive top-10 finishes with a tie for 51st finish at Mission Hills. Ko’s streak of 29 consecutive rounds under par, tying Annika Sorenstam, came to a close in the second round.
KIM’S SPECTACULAR FINISH
Sei Young Kim was No. 1 on ESPN Sportscenter’s Top 10 plays Saturday evening after the best ending seen in golf this year. Kim chipped in from just off the green on No. 18 to force a playoff. Then, Kim did the unthinkable, holing out her second shot from the fairway for eagle in the first playoff hole to beat Inbee Park at the Lotte Championship.
Kim’s incredible finish earned the rookie her second LPGA Tour win of the season after she won the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic in only her second start as a rookie in a three-way playoff with Ariya Jutanugarn and Sun Young Yoo. Kim currently leads the Tour in wins and leads the money list and is second in the Race to the CME Globe standings.
THRILLING FINISHES
Brittany Lincicome had quite the finish of her own three weeks ago when the LPGA was last in California at the ANA Inspiration - the season’s first major. Heading into the par-5 18th down two shots, Lincicome curled a beautiful shot five feet behind the hole for her eagle. It was a nearly identical shot to the one she hit to win by one shot in 2009 at the ANA Inspiration. This time Lincicome again holed her eagle, and after Stacy Lewis missed her birdie at the last, the two were heading back down the fairway to play the 18th again.
The duo would each miss birdie putts on the first two trips down the 18th but on the third playoff hole, Lincicome’s layup shot came up in a divot, and she wasn’t able to get enough on her third shot, leaving it short of the green. Her chip came up short as well and Lincicome calmly two putted for a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
HISTORICAL ROOKIES
While the LPGA Tour season is only a quarter complete, this class of rookies is already proving that it may be more prolific than any ever seen before it. Three times a rookie has won already this season, and four rookies currently sit in the top-15 on the money list - Sei Young Kim, Hyo Joo Kim, Ariya Jutanugarn and Ha Na Jang. Four rookies also currently rank in the top 20 on the Rolex World Golf Rankings.
Sei Young leads the Tour’s money list at this point and she’s the only player with multiple wins on Tour. Hyo Joo Kim is second on the Tour in scoring average.
SAN FRANCISCO GOES GLOBAL
This week’s tournament is sponsored by Swinging Skirts, a successful Taiwanese group whose goal is to grow women’s golf and the golf industry in Taiwan. The event is co-sanctioned with the Taiwan LPGA, and will feature LPGA players, as well as 16 players from Taiwan. Last year, Swinging Skirts became the first ever LPGA co-sanctioned tournament on American soil. The venue has long been a strong supporter of women’s golf as Lake Merced was one of the first golf clubs to have no gender restriction in membership.
AMATEUR CHAMP IN THE FIELD
Austin, Texas native Kristen Gillman, a high school junior, is in the field this week for her second career LPGA start. The reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion earned her way into the field with a different victory last summer, though, cruising to an 11-shot victory at the Junior PGA Championship. Gillman also played in last year’s Evian Championship but missed the cut.
This is sure not to be her last this year, though, as the Alabama commit has earned an exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open via her win at the U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer.
PARK BACK AT NO. 2
The losses don’t get much tougher than the one Inbee Park experienced Sunday. She had to have thought she had it sealed up when Sei Young Kim sent her tee shot on the 18th into the water and needed to get up-and-down for a par, but Kim chipped in for par to force the playoff with Park. Then in the playoff hole, Park didn’t even have the chance to pull her putter out of the bag as Kim dunked her second shot from the fairway for an eagle and the win.
It wasn’t a total loss for Park, though, as the runner-up finish allowed her to regain the No. 2 ranking behind Lydia Ko.
Stacy Lewis briefly took over the No. 2 spot after her runner-up finish at the ANA Inspiration but Lewis wasn’t in the field last week, and Park’s runner-up proved enough to regain the second spot. Ko, Park, and Lewis are all in the field this week and should continue to jockey for the preeminent positions in women’s golf.
Park has now finished in the top 10 in five of her last six starts and hasn’t finished worse than 13th this season.
QUICK FACTS
Field: 144 (136 professionals, 8 amateurs)
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,507
Purse: $2,000,000
Winner: $300,000
Defending Champion: Lydia Ko
TV Times
Broadcast on the Golf Channel
April 23 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
April 24 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
April 25 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
April 26 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern
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