Brittany Lincicome earned the nickname “Bam-Bam” because of her annual leadership of the Driving Distance category on the LPGA. The native Floridian has led the category four times (2005, 2011, 2012, 2014).
But last week in winning the ANA Inspiration, the old adage, “Drive for show, putt for dough,” applied to Lincicome. She showed her touch on the greens with only 108 putts and currently ranks 10th on the LPGA with 29.07 putts per round.
“I'm not a big practice person, and I keep going to the putting green, taking a few extra putts at the end of the round, just trying to figure it out, and maybe today's strategy is just to go home and do nothing,” Lincicome said after the third round of the ANA Inspiration. “But definitely hitting it well, which is fun. When you know where the golf ball is going out there, it obviously makes the day a lot more stress free.”
Lincicome never took more than 30 putts in a round last week and had a low of 24 in the final round. Her current position at 10th in the Putting Average category is much better than any of her previous season’s final putting statistics. Her best placement was 54th in 2011. She has averaged less than 30 putts per round in a season on three occasions – 28.9 in 2007, 28.8 2008 and 29.9 in 2011.
Ko by the numbers
- 10: With a T51 finish at the ANA Inspiration, her consecutive top-10 finishes streak ended – dating back to the Blue Bay LPGA last October. It would be 11 consecutive if you include her win on the Ladies European Tour in New Zealand.
- 12: Ko is winless in 13 overall major starts and is 0-for-7 in such tournaments since she turned professional in October 2013. Her best finish is a second at the 2013 Evian Championship.
- 29: Consecutive rounds under par, which tied the LPGA mark established by Annika Sorenstam in 2004. She ended the streak with a 1-over-par 73 in the second round of last week’s ANA Inspiration. Tim Petrovic holds the PGA Tour mark of 26. Ko was a cumulative 91-under par during her streak, which included one major, and didn’t shoot a round of even-par or above since Nov. 13, 2014 at the final round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Sorenstam was 100-under par during her run, including two majors. If you include her victory at the Ladies European Tour’s New Zealand Women’s Open on March 1, Ko had 32 consecutive under-par rounds.
- 49: Consecutive made cuts which includes every start she has made on the LPGA dating back to the 2012 ISPS Australian Women’s Open when she was competing as an amateur.
Stacy Lewis keeps her head up
Stacy Lewis continues to be right there at the end of tournaments. She has finished second three times in her last five starts and has recorded five runner-up finishes since her last victory last June at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
“You can’t sit and dwell on it. You just have to go out the next week and try to win,” Lewis said. “I’m doing a lot of really good things, so I just have to keep going forward.”
Etc.
The Lotte Championship is the next LPGA event, scheduled to begin April 15 in Hawaii. … After a run of seven tournaments without an American winner, two consecutive Americans have won LPGA events. Cristie Kerr won the Kia Classic and Brittany Lincicome the ANA Inspiration. Kerr (37) and Lincicome (29) are also the two oldest winners this season.
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