Post by HappyFan on Sept 1, 2018 10:56:06 GMT
Round 2:
I was in Portland the past couple of days and had a chance before returning home to go to one round of the Cambia Classic. I used to go to a lot of LPGA events up until about 2007, but since the birth of my daughter I've only gone to a handful: Sahalee and I think two other Cambias, plus the 2012 Canadian Women's Open won by Lydia Ko.
Some random thoughts:
I realized as I walked through the gate and saw the past champions' banners that the Sisters haven't won this event since MJ Hur back in 2009. That's a long time! In fact, how's this: in my life I have personally attended THREE tournaments won by Henderson. For contrast, I have NEVER attended an event won by Se Ri, or Inbee, or So Yeon, or Grace Park, or Inky, or In Gee. Unless you count Lydia, the last time I was at an event won by a Korean was when Hee Won won this event in 2006.
I'm glad Cambia is sponsoring this tournament, but there's no doubt it's much more stripped down than when Safeway was the title sponsor. There is less advertising in town (although I did see some banners for it on one street, mostly featuring people like Paula Creamer though). Many of the holes that used to have bleachers (hole 8, hole 10, hole 17) no longer have them. Even the final hole no longer has stands open to the public. At one point 17 had massive sponsors' stands, but those are no longer there.
It's weird when you've seen photos of someone for so many years but have never met them. I walked past Amy Yang and almost said 'hi' to her before I remembered she would have no idea who I was and stopped myself.
I got to the course about 10 AM and followed Inbee Park in the morning. I watched her play from holes 1 to 9, her back nine. Her driving was fine: she almost always was dead straight. From what I see, she is still hitting a lot of Inbee Park shots, but those are mixed in with much more average to weak stuff than in the past. For instance, on the first hole. Perfect drive. Terrible approach well short of the green. Amazing pitch to a foot, tap in par. On the par 3 second, her tee shot was much closer than either Feng's or Thompson's, maybe five feet away, but she missed the birdie and Feng made one from maybe 15 feet.
Thompson was really having her problems. She missed a fair number of fairways. On the par five fifth, she dunked her tee shot in the water and made bogey. Meanwhile, Inbee came just short of reaching in two and got up and down with a nice pitch to about four feet. The only thing that saved Lexi's round was the other par five, which she easily reached in two and two-putt for birdie.
The sixth was another hot and cold hole. Inbee's drive ended up in the bunker I think (couldn't see from where I was), but then she hit a perfect approach that rolled to five feet past the hole. She made that one, too. On seven, she again nearly reached in two. But this time her short game let her down: bad pitch well past the hole, bad birdie try four feet past, lip out par save, bogey. She also lipped out a birdie try on the 9th.
It was weird to watch Inbee over these short putts and feel like it was a question whether she could make them. I'm used to her almost arrogant assumption of ownership of those kinds of putts. You can tell she just isn't at her best, but she still threw more than a few great shots into the mix, and her driving was really consistent.
In the afternoon, So Yeon started on the first tee in the group ahead of In Gee. Ryu was paired with Nordqvist and Tally (Nordqvist sure looks taller than Thompson from what I could see, even though they are always said to be the same height). I got there just in time to see Ryu's group walk off the tee, so I waited and followed In Gee at first, then decided to ping pong back and forth with whomever had the hot hand.
Most of the day, it wasn't In Gee. The first hole was all right; she just missed a shortish birdie try. But hole 2 was a disaster: tee shot into the bunker, then a shot from the bunker that hit nothing but ball and soared over the green. Fortunately a convenient old person was there to get hit by the ball and stop it or it might have gone 30-40 feet further. In Gee chipped her third well past the flag and made double.
I hurried to catch up with So Yeon after that. On the 4th, she hit a great fairway bunker shot to a few feet but missed the birdie. On the fifth, she reach the greenside bunker in two, but hit a weak sand shot and didn't make birdie.
But like Inbee, So Yeon had a great 6th hole. Bad drive, but from the rough hit a shot that landed on the front of the green and tracked all the way to the flag. From where I stood, it looked like it bounced off the flag and stopped. "Tap in" doesn't describe how close that one was; an inch at most, right in front of the hole.
On 7, she was again maybe twenty feet from reaching the green. She chose to chip and got up and down.
So Yeon is definitely striping the ball these days. She was well past her playing partners all day, usually 30 or so yards. And deadly straight most of the time. On 10, she laid up, but hit her third super close for another easy birdie.
It was at this point that she started to make silly mistakes. After another perfect drive on the 11th, her approach was straight but maybe half a foot too short and wound up in the big bunker; she didn't save par, her par putt stopping on the lip. On 13, she hit into the water, but her ball did cross the hazard first, so she was able to play near the green and salvage bogey. She almost reached the 12th in two, chipping and putting for birdie there.
I saw a little of In Gee on the back nine. She hit a fantastic approach on 11 for an easy birdie (she pulled off what Ryu tried but failed to do on that hole). She also got close on 12 and got up and down. On 14, she was much shorter off the tee than Lindberg and Hall, but my guess is that she took a 3-wood off the tee (no way she's 50 yards shorter than Lindberg normally). Her approach there was great, but she missed that five footer.
At that point, I heard a roar from 15, which turned out to be another birdie by Ryu. I rejoined her on 16 to see her hit a great tee shot there for another birdie. I followed her into the house. Turns out her practice from the bunker on 18 came in handy, because she was in that same bunker today. And she hit a great shot from there, though she didn't cash in the birdie.
Like with Inbee, So Yeon had a lot of great stuff today, but too many uncharacteristic sloppy mistakes and bad breaks to make a big move.
I also saw In Gee hit a sweet approach from just in front of that fairway bunker on 18 to a few feet to make a birdie that got her into the weekend. The crowd really cheered for her. I later saw her signing autographs for a bunch of eager kids. I also noticed that her hair is growing enough that she had a mini pony tail.
I didn't see enough of her complete game to say exactly what's ailing her. She was shorter than her playing partners on several occasions, but she did well on 12 for instance (maybe a few yards shorter than Hall there after two shots). She had some great irons. I didn't see any obvious physical problems. Other than that horrendous bunker shot on 2, her short game looked OK.
My guess: it might be a bit of mental fatigue hitting her. She might be over the initial excitement of being on the LPGA and now it's more of a chore. Still a lot of smiles, but I don't quite detect the joy I did when I saw her at Sahalee. But then again, struggling to make a cut might not have put her in her top mood, either.
My other comment is that it's not like the Sisters have been left behind by the other players. Even Hall wasn't doing anything I haven't seen Ryu or In Gee do on many occasions. Rather, they just seem to be in a collective funk and are not at the top notch best most of the time this season. Hopefully whatever is causing their doldrums will go away soon; I would love to watch a great return to for at the Evian or International Crown from these stars.
Hwaiting!
I was in Portland the past couple of days and had a chance before returning home to go to one round of the Cambia Classic. I used to go to a lot of LPGA events up until about 2007, but since the birth of my daughter I've only gone to a handful: Sahalee and I think two other Cambias, plus the 2012 Canadian Women's Open won by Lydia Ko.
Some random thoughts:
I realized as I walked through the gate and saw the past champions' banners that the Sisters haven't won this event since MJ Hur back in 2009. That's a long time! In fact, how's this: in my life I have personally attended THREE tournaments won by Henderson. For contrast, I have NEVER attended an event won by Se Ri, or Inbee, or So Yeon, or Grace Park, or Inky, or In Gee. Unless you count Lydia, the last time I was at an event won by a Korean was when Hee Won won this event in 2006.
I'm glad Cambia is sponsoring this tournament, but there's no doubt it's much more stripped down than when Safeway was the title sponsor. There is less advertising in town (although I did see some banners for it on one street, mostly featuring people like Paula Creamer though). Many of the holes that used to have bleachers (hole 8, hole 10, hole 17) no longer have them. Even the final hole no longer has stands open to the public. At one point 17 had massive sponsors' stands, but those are no longer there.
It's weird when you've seen photos of someone for so many years but have never met them. I walked past Amy Yang and almost said 'hi' to her before I remembered she would have no idea who I was and stopped myself.
I got to the course about 10 AM and followed Inbee Park in the morning. I watched her play from holes 1 to 9, her back nine. Her driving was fine: she almost always was dead straight. From what I see, she is still hitting a lot of Inbee Park shots, but those are mixed in with much more average to weak stuff than in the past. For instance, on the first hole. Perfect drive. Terrible approach well short of the green. Amazing pitch to a foot, tap in par. On the par 3 second, her tee shot was much closer than either Feng's or Thompson's, maybe five feet away, but she missed the birdie and Feng made one from maybe 15 feet.
Thompson was really having her problems. She missed a fair number of fairways. On the par five fifth, she dunked her tee shot in the water and made bogey. Meanwhile, Inbee came just short of reaching in two and got up and down with a nice pitch to about four feet. The only thing that saved Lexi's round was the other par five, which she easily reached in two and two-putt for birdie.
The sixth was another hot and cold hole. Inbee's drive ended up in the bunker I think (couldn't see from where I was), but then she hit a perfect approach that rolled to five feet past the hole. She made that one, too. On seven, she again nearly reached in two. But this time her short game let her down: bad pitch well past the hole, bad birdie try four feet past, lip out par save, bogey. She also lipped out a birdie try on the 9th.
It was weird to watch Inbee over these short putts and feel like it was a question whether she could make them. I'm used to her almost arrogant assumption of ownership of those kinds of putts. You can tell she just isn't at her best, but she still threw more than a few great shots into the mix, and her driving was really consistent.
In the afternoon, So Yeon started on the first tee in the group ahead of In Gee. Ryu was paired with Nordqvist and Tally (Nordqvist sure looks taller than Thompson from what I could see, even though they are always said to be the same height). I got there just in time to see Ryu's group walk off the tee, so I waited and followed In Gee at first, then decided to ping pong back and forth with whomever had the hot hand.
Most of the day, it wasn't In Gee. The first hole was all right; she just missed a shortish birdie try. But hole 2 was a disaster: tee shot into the bunker, then a shot from the bunker that hit nothing but ball and soared over the green. Fortunately a convenient old person was there to get hit by the ball and stop it or it might have gone 30-40 feet further. In Gee chipped her third well past the flag and made double.
I hurried to catch up with So Yeon after that. On the 4th, she hit a great fairway bunker shot to a few feet but missed the birdie. On the fifth, she reach the greenside bunker in two, but hit a weak sand shot and didn't make birdie.
But like Inbee, So Yeon had a great 6th hole. Bad drive, but from the rough hit a shot that landed on the front of the green and tracked all the way to the flag. From where I stood, it looked like it bounced off the flag and stopped. "Tap in" doesn't describe how close that one was; an inch at most, right in front of the hole.
On 7, she was again maybe twenty feet from reaching the green. She chose to chip and got up and down.
So Yeon is definitely striping the ball these days. She was well past her playing partners all day, usually 30 or so yards. And deadly straight most of the time. On 10, she laid up, but hit her third super close for another easy birdie.
It was at this point that she started to make silly mistakes. After another perfect drive on the 11th, her approach was straight but maybe half a foot too short and wound up in the big bunker; she didn't save par, her par putt stopping on the lip. On 13, she hit into the water, but her ball did cross the hazard first, so she was able to play near the green and salvage bogey. She almost reached the 12th in two, chipping and putting for birdie there.
I saw a little of In Gee on the back nine. She hit a fantastic approach on 11 for an easy birdie (she pulled off what Ryu tried but failed to do on that hole). She also got close on 12 and got up and down. On 14, she was much shorter off the tee than Lindberg and Hall, but my guess is that she took a 3-wood off the tee (no way she's 50 yards shorter than Lindberg normally). Her approach there was great, but she missed that five footer.
At that point, I heard a roar from 15, which turned out to be another birdie by Ryu. I rejoined her on 16 to see her hit a great tee shot there for another birdie. I followed her into the house. Turns out her practice from the bunker on 18 came in handy, because she was in that same bunker today. And she hit a great shot from there, though she didn't cash in the birdie.
Like with Inbee, So Yeon had a lot of great stuff today, but too many uncharacteristic sloppy mistakes and bad breaks to make a big move.
I also saw In Gee hit a sweet approach from just in front of that fairway bunker on 18 to a few feet to make a birdie that got her into the weekend. The crowd really cheered for her. I later saw her signing autographs for a bunch of eager kids. I also noticed that her hair is growing enough that she had a mini pony tail.
I didn't see enough of her complete game to say exactly what's ailing her. She was shorter than her playing partners on several occasions, but she did well on 12 for instance (maybe a few yards shorter than Hall there after two shots). She had some great irons. I didn't see any obvious physical problems. Other than that horrendous bunker shot on 2, her short game looked OK.
My guess: it might be a bit of mental fatigue hitting her. She might be over the initial excitement of being on the LPGA and now it's more of a chore. Still a lot of smiles, but I don't quite detect the joy I did when I saw her at Sahalee. But then again, struggling to make a cut might not have put her in her top mood, either.
My other comment is that it's not like the Sisters have been left behind by the other players. Even Hall wasn't doing anything I haven't seen Ryu or In Gee do on many occasions. Rather, they just seem to be in a collective funk and are not at the top notch best most of the time this season. Hopefully whatever is causing their doldrums will go away soon; I would love to watch a great return to for at the Evian or International Crown from these stars.
Hwaiting!