OH SO CLOSE AGAIN

After a disappointing opening nine 1-under-par 35, Stacy Lewis made a serious charge at leader Hyo Joo Kim with a back nine 4-under par, 33 but it was too little too late as Lewis was unable to eagle the last to tie Kim and finished as the runner-up.

“Seven under’s a great score and I knew it was going to take something like that today on this golf course with less wind. You know you needed to shoot a number,” Lewis said. “Just got off to a bit of a slow start. Making bogey on eight really hurt, but proud of the way I came back on the back nine and gave myself a chance.”

Lewis said she was proud of her back nine rally and that the way she hit the ball this week softened the blow of her ninth runner-up since her last win at the 2014 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

“I shot even par the first day and 16 under these last three days. I mean, that’s playing some pretty good golf. It’s nothing to be disappointed about,” Lewis said. “Like I said yesterday, I’m so happy with the golf swing stuff finally coming together. I felt like I could go out there today and shoot 8-under and I didn’t feel that last year. I just feel things are in a better place.”

Despite what she felt like was her best putting year of her career in 2015, she never felt 100 percent with her ball striking but felt like she had it back this week and just submerged her chances with missed putts in an opening round even-par 73.

“Just the control and knowing where the golf ball’s going, that’s the biggest thing,” Lewis said. “To be able to sit over a 9-iron that’s tucked left and go at the pin, I haven’t felt that comfortable in a long, long time.”

CRITICAL BUMP IN THE RANKINGS

It was apparent heading into the 2016 season that the battle for spots on the Korean team for both UL International Crown and the Olympics would be a heated one but maybe didn’t expect huge changes in the very first event of the year. With her victory, Hyo Joo is projected to move up in the Rolex Rankings from No. 10 to No. 7 and after finishing tied for second, Sei Young Kim is projected to move from No. 7 to No. 5. Sei Young would bump So Yeon Ryu to No. 6 and would be the second-highest ranked Korean behind No. 2 Inbee Park.

Based on the rankings to be release tomorrow, the UL International Crown and Olympics team for Korea would look like this: Inbee Park, Sei Young Kim, So Yeon Ryu and Hyo Joo Kim.

QUOTABLE

“Yeah, calm as a cucumber. She’s just so used to winning. I mean, she’s won so many times in Korea that she’s very comfortable when she’s on top of the leaderboard, and getting there. Her iron play got better today. Didn’t hit the iron shots very well yesterday, hit a lot of thin shots. Last night we were working on something and today she was able to hit a lot more solid shots.”-Dean Herden on caddying for Hyo Joo Kim this week

OLD GAME, NEW PAULA

Paula Creamer wasn’t sure what to expect at the season opener with only a month and half of time working with her new coach, Gary Gilchrist, after 15 years with her previous coach before making the switch. What she found in the Bahamas was her old game. Creamer tied her best finish – tie for fifth – since her win at the 2014 HSBC Women’s Champions, and the 10-time career LPGA winner leaves the Bahamas feeling as if her game is in fine order for 2016.

“I put zero expectations on myself this week. I made a big change working with Gary Gilchrist now and I love it, I think it’s awesome,” Creamer said. “I think we’re a great fit and I’ve known him for a very long time. It’s obviously hard taking new golf swing out to a tournament, but I did it and I’m very proud of myself and it’s a good step at the beginning of the year.”

More than anything in 2016, Creamer wants to make the United States Olympic team and UL International Crown team. She’s fiercely passionate about her country, and always embraces any time she can put on the red, white and blue, so she’s got her eye on posting a strong first seven months of the year to make a push back up the Rolex Rankings and onto the United States squad for both the UL International Crown and Olympics in back-to-back months this summer.

“That’s a huge goal of mine,” Creamer said. “The Olympics is something I’ve always dreamed about. I know I need to make a big push early on.”

Surprisingly, there really isn’t much going on in changes with her swing as far as the path or anything. It’s more to do with her set up, her pivot and utilizing her lower body more to get back the distance she felt like she had lost in the last year or two. It’s not wholesale changes, but after 15 years, sometimes it’s just about hearing similar ideas presented in a different way from a different voice.

“Oh, a hundred percent. I mean Gary said there’s nothing we’re really going to do to change,” Creamer said. “He said you’re a great player, you’ve obviously done well, but there are things that you need to change to get better but nothing huge. Obviously a setup change is big for a golfer but I’m getting used to it.”

News and Notes: Final Round Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic

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