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Post by philknj on Sept 4, 2023 7:06:48 GMT
After bombing out Q-school, a few people didn't take the hint and plunked down another $500 for the Monday qualifier, including Wenbo Liu and Linda Wang ... the bug had already bitten Wang at her 2019 USWA qualifier:
Linda Wang represented St. John’s U., but did not wear the team uniform. She wore a red Callaway cap, red J Lindeberg shirt with a CIMB logo, white shorts and white socks over the kneecaps...I assume she is a returning senior, but was dressed like a pro.
Allie White will also tee it up today ... I watched her outdrive Miki Saiki (JLPGA winner) by 35 yards at the 2009 USWO ... that plus 50 cents will get her a cup of coffee today.
But, there is a real baller in the field of 33, Erica Shepherd, who aced it in the desert last week ... win this qualifier and win the tournament, that's the new formula.  |
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Post by haneymademedoit on Sept 4, 2023 23:49:36 GMT
After bombing out Q-school, a few people didn't take the hint and plunked down another $500 for the Monday qualifier, including Wenbo Liu and Linda Wang ... the bug had already bitten Wang at her 2019 USWA qualifier:
Linda Wang represented St. John’s U., but did not wear the team uniform. She wore a red Callaway cap, red J Lindeberg shirt with a CIMB logo, white shorts and white socks over the kneecaps...I assume she is a returning senior, but was dressed like a pro.
Allie White will also tee it up today ... I watched her outdrive Miki Saiki (JLPGA winner) by 35 yards at the 2009 USWO ... that plus 50 cents will get her a cup of coffee today.
But, there is a real baller in the field of 33, Erica Shepherd, who aced it in the desert last week ... win this qualifier and win the tournament, that's the new formula. Looks like the Monday qualifiers are Faith Kilgore USA Qualifier 1
Wenbo Liu CHN Qualifier 2
So Liu did make it, but Wang, White, and Shepherd will have to try another time...
But really... these fields are full of dozens of the top golfers in the world... how could a Monday qualifier possibly have a chance???  |
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Post by philknj on Sept 5, 2023 0:00:01 GMT
Uh oh, here we go again ... Wenbo Liu earned $955 in eight Epson tour starts this year ... that settles it, she'll finish ahead of all the Koreans on Sunday. 🦄
Chanettee's win moved Elinor Sudow into the 144th field spot, which is why she dropped out of the qualifier.
Pos Player Name Nat. Par Score
1 Faith Kilgore (USA) USA -2 70
2 Wenbo Liu (CHN) CHN -1 71
Failed to Qualify
3 Payton Schanen (USA) USA -1 71
4 Emily Lauterbach (USA) USA Par 72
4 Marion Duvernay (FRA) FRA Par 72
6 Elsa Diaz (USA) USA +1 73
6 Lauren Peter (USA) USA +1 73
6 Erica Shepherd (USA) USA +1 73
6 Allie White (USA) USA +1 73
6 Tiffany Chan (HKG) HKG +1 73
11 Janelle Johnson (USA) USA +2 74
11 Mikayla Fitzpatrick (USA) USA +2 74
13 Linda Wang (USA) USA +3 75
13 Cecily Overbey (USA) USA +3 75
13 Aneka Seumanutafa (USA) USA +3 75
13 Alexis Miestowski (USA) USA +3 75
13 Kum-Kang Park (KOR) KOR +3 75
18 Ju Hee Bae (USA) USA +4 76
18 Samantha Bruce (PHI) PHI +4 76
18 Eleanor Hudepohl (USA) (a) USA +4 76
21 Mari Chun (USA) USA +5 77
22 Reagan Ramage (USA) (a) USA +7 79
22 Cailyn Henderson (USA) USA +7 79
22 Tzu-Yi Chang (TPE) TPE +7 79
25 Kyle Fraser (USA) USA +8 80
26 Jessica Williams (USA) USA +9 81
27 Daniella Pryor (USA) USA +14 86
27 Mckinzie Perry (USA) USA +14 86
29 Brianna Mcgilvray (USA) USA +18 90
30 Ellinor Sudow (SWE) SWE WDN WDN
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Post by tonyj5 on Sept 5, 2023 4:38:35 GMT
My field rating for this event is a mediocre 54.5 %, down from 59% last year.
My breakdown is 60% from the LPGA Priority List and 49% from the Rolex Rankings.
Ten of the top twenty players from this week's Rolex Rankings will be teeing it up this week.
The field will be led by top ten players:
Ruoning Yin
Lydia Ko
Allisen Corpuz
Charley Hull
Top ten players skipping the event this week:
Lilia Vu
Nelly Korda
Jin Young Ko
Celine Boutier
Hyo-Joo Kim
Atthaya Thitikul
Other stuff:
The two longest LPGA cut streaks ended this week as both Hye-Jin Choi (43) and Nasa Hataoka (33) both missed the cut.
Chanettee Wannasaen was the 10th first time winner on the LPGA tour this year. The record was set last year when there was 11.
Atthaya Thitikul recorded her 9th top ten of the year, which leads the LPGA tour.
There was some movement in this week's new Rolex Rankings by LPGA players worth mentioning:
The most important move was made by Ruoning Yin, who moved from No.4 to No.2.
The biggest move was made by Chanettee Wannasaen, who catapulted from No.367 to No.52.
Perrine Delacour Jumps from 87 to 79.
Olivia Cowan Rises from 97 to 84.
There was also some huge jumps outside the top 100:
Alexa Pano makes a huge jump for the third consecutive week as she moves from 146 to 125.
Gina Kim leaps from 294 to 143.
Mi Hyang Lee continues her comeback with a jump from 193 to 160.
Hyo Joon Jang vaults from 488 to 292.
More importantly there was movement worth reporting in the Race to the CME Globe. A player must finish in the top 100 here in order to play in most tournaments in 2024.
Chanettee Wannasaen secured her playing privileges by leaping from 222 to 46.
Gina Kim improved her chances by vaulting from 127 to 80.
Olivia Cowan's move from 81 to 70 tells us she will be back again next year.
Lauren Hartlage sneaks into the top 100, moving from 102 to 100.
LPGA players that fell out of the top 100 this week: Azahara Munoz, Lucy Li, Chella Choi.
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Post by haneymademedoit on Sept 5, 2023 6:35:40 GMT
Tony, thanks as always for your informative field rankings and related updates.
I have only a small minor contribution by comparison, it's the "New kid in town" update... A few weeks ago when Pano won the Handa against what may have been the weakest LPGA field in history, I congratulated her and questioned why she was getting a fraction of the attention given to Rose Zhang. HF, you correctly pointed out that Rose's career till then was far more accomplished than Alexa's. That was true and I agreed that it would not make sense to expect Alexa to outperform Rose in the following tournaments. Alexa was just a 'one week fluke' in a weak tournament.
So here's the "New kid in town" update...
Handa ISPS: Alexa Pano 1, minus-8, Rose Zhang, did not enter
CPKC: Alexa Pano T22, plus+1, Rose Zhang, T41, plus+4
Portland Classic: Alexa Pano, T12, minus-16, Rose Zhang, cut, missed cut by two strokes, minus-2 after two rounds.
If Wannasean continues to have success, then I'll add her to the "New kid in town" update... H***, I'll consider including Wenbo Liu if she beats Pano and Zhang this week... what's the chance of that?
LPGA has been running a new self-serving commercial on the broadcasts recently, a montage of Zhang. The only thing missing is the voiceover, "I'm Rose Zhang and I drive on," which they did not include. I would say that maybe they are no longer using that tagline for their ad campaign... except that they keep showing "We're the Korda sisters and we drive on." Maybe they should show the one with Suwannapura again, I found that touching... when will we see ads featuring Lilia Vu or Megan Khang or Jen Kupcho or more of the sisters?
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Post by HappyFan on Sept 5, 2023 14:46:20 GMT
Wannasaen's record is even more astonishing. Apparently she had missed the previous TEN cuts before her win (according to a tweet I saw, I didn't look it up). I'm sorry, I know I'm going to irritate some of you, but stuff like this is not normal, and we are increasingly seeing it. Either we are in the midst of the greatest influx of new talent in the history of the LPGA, or there's another reason.
Tony hasn't shared his theory, but mine is that the LPGA two years ago decided to dumb down the courses for several reasons. First, more birdies makes the women look better to the casual observer (they call it setting up the course 'for excitement'; for me, seeing a top ten where 8 of the players shot 5 under or better on Sunday is dire). Second, it increases the number of people who are capable of winning, as tournaments more and more turn into putting contests and tee-to-green excellence is not as important. As a side benefit, this usually means long hitters win more (they get closer to the flag more often), which impairs the Koreans, who were until that moment dominating the league but have few bombers. And because most of the players on tour are American, theoretically it should increase the number of American winners if more people in general are capable of winning.
If I'm right, you would expect to see a lot of first time winners. Bingo. Tons last year, tons more this year. But you would also expect not a lot of those players to win and win; and again, true, only a couple have had staying power. Look at the Majors: four first time winners, and the one who wasn't was a repeat winner from earlier in the year.
One side effect is that, IMO, there are no stars anymore on the LPGA. All the names you looked at as big have become less effective all at once. The Kordas, Thompson, Kang, Lydia, Minjee -- have any of them won this year? Can't recall, but it doesn't feel anything like past years that's for sure. Thitikul, Jutanugarns, most of the Koreans, Hataoka also haven't won (I might be wrong, but that's my recollection). Even a superstar like Jin Young only has two wins.
The few times we do have tougher conditions we get some great leaderboards. Pebble, Canadian. But the LPGA seems unwilling to give us this too often. So we have the current situation. It will be interesting to see how long this continues and how long it is before we get another dominant #1. As it is, it feels like we are going to keep switching at the top a lot from now on.
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Post by philknj on Sept 5, 2023 18:06:51 GMT
As a side benefit, this usually means long hitters win more (they get closer to the flag more often), which impairs the Koreans, who were until that moment dominating the league but have few bombers.
When is this canard going to die? This year's winners and their current driver distance ranking:
ECP 29 Vu 53
New Ko 63 Boutier 96
Ronni 22 Grace Kim 86 Greeny 69 Pajaree 76
The Zhangster 110 Buhai 127
Maguire 118
Corpuz 117 Grant 18 Knight 142
Szokol 121 Pano 68
Khang 79
CW 26
This isn't the PGA Tour. I am all for the ball and club improvements that have given the women's game so much more mojo compared to 30-40 years ago, but it means almost nothing today when it comes to wins and losses. Yani, Ochoa and Mannika were in the top-10 in distance around 2005-10, but they're not here anymore. Among today's top-10, there are a combined two career LPGA victories. I saw De Roey and Dr. Noh drive it over 300 at UMCC ... and they stink this year. |
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Post by HappyFan on Sept 5, 2023 18:08:14 GMT
Let me add that my comments are not meant to denigrate the achievements of Wannasaen in winning this week. She still had to overcome her past demons and make a zillion putts to hold off all the players surging up the leaderboard. Anytime someone wins, it's a great achievement.
What I am wondering is how much she and others have been given the opportunity to win that they might not have really had before. Hyo Joon Jang, for instance. I feel like her tee to green was actually a bit shakier than Six's on Saturday, as I mentioned, but she was still able to give herself a ton of birdie chances and made pretty much all of them. If the course is harder and one or two of those missed greens really punished her, her score might have been notably worse. Hard to say. And hard to say if Jang is potentially a great player or if it was a one-time thing on a super scorable course. It was much easier in the past to make educated guesses about that stuff.
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Post by HappyFan on Sept 5, 2023 18:19:32 GMT
As a side benefit, this usually means long hitters win more (they get closer to the flag more often), which impairs the Koreans, who were until that moment dominating the league but have few bombers. When is this canard going to die? This year's winners and their current driver distance ranking: ECP 29 Vu 53
New Ko 63 Boutier 96
Ronni 22 Grace Kim 86 Greeny 69 Pajaree 76
The Zhangster 110 Buhai 127
Maguire 118
Corpuz 117 Grant 18 Knight 142
Szokol 121 Pano 68
Khang 79
CW 26 This isn't the PGA Tour. I am all for the ball and club improvements that have given the women's game so much more mojo compared to 30-40 years ago, but it means almost nothing today when it comes to wins and losses. Yani, Ochoa and Mannika were in the top-10 in distance around 2005-10, but they're not here anymore. Among today's top-10, there are a combined two career LPGA victories. I saw De Roey and Dr. Noh drive it over 300 at UMCC ... and they stink this year. Sung Hyun Park and Ariya were also long hitters and were #1. You have a point. I still think that long hitting is a bigger advantage that it needs to be, but the top requirement is putting. Thompson can get ten four-foot putt opportunities per round, but if she doesn't make many of them it doesn't help (and she's a terrible putter). Also, I wonder how far some of these winners hit it? There are several you mention in the top 30. The real key is not to be the biggest bomber, the key is to hit it far enough to reach par fives in two, or get close enough to have short irons in as opposed to rescue clubs. Whoever falls on the wrong side of that equation (like In Gee for instance) is going to have more work to do. Length definitely helped at the International Crown. It's not a coincidence that Japan and Korea got smoked; they had one long hitter between them (Saso). Meanwhile Thailand, with three bombers, claimed the title. |
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Post by philknj on Sept 5, 2023 21:08:24 GMT
Sung Hyun Park and Ariya were also long hitters and were #1. The real key is not to be the biggest bomber, the key is to hit it far enough to reach par fives in two, or get close enough to have short irons in as opposed to rescue clubs.
Yes, Sung Hung reached the top-10 in driving distance for 2017-19, but her 20 weeks at Rolex #1 (spread over four separate frames) pales in comparison to the three players I mentioned ... Ariya 51 gave up hitting her driver during her 23 weeks at Rolex #1, although she has never been a weakling with her other clubs.
Golf courses have more par-fours than par-fives. What kind of club do you think Ayakee Furoo (#140 in driving distance, CME points galore) is hitting into 400+ yard par-fours? There are more routes to success on the LPGA tour versus the mens' tours. How about Yeah, Lee Won acing the Q-series and becoming a Korean Furoo ... will that work for you? Works for me. 
******
Looked back through my notes regarding Hyo Joon Jang ... she was +6 while playing her Round One at Cognizant ... the standard bearer in her group dumped on her course management skills. I think I saw her hit one drive at Liberty National, that was about it. One week before she got hurt at Shoprite, she completed four rounds at Mizuho, shooting +10. She shot -17 in Portland ... umm, that's a 27-stroke difference ... you'll have to take my word that Jersey City was NOT a goat track. As for Jang, it's still wait-and-see. |
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Post by philknj on Sept 5, 2023 21:29:17 GMT
Thursday's groups are posted ... as an indicator of improved play, MHL is playing with two players that have some street cred, Min Lee and UC-LA Law. Mack Attack and Bianca in the same group, tell the volunteers to put on their hard hats. NASA will witness some bombs from Team Yin (Ronni and the Gangsta) ... I won't be surprised if Ronni hits Rolex #1 within two months. Interesting that they put CW with C. Knight and Grace Kim ... yes, two winners this year, but not A-listers. Where is Old Ryu ... is she too washed up to be here?
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Post by haneymademedoit on Sept 5, 2023 23:36:06 GMT
We're going to get to see Hye-Jin on Thursday's broadcast, don't you think? She's with Lexi and Rose, and the group will have just made the turn when the tv window begins. Maybe some of Corpuz, Ewing, and Kupcho, and of course, anyone else having a hot round on the course in the afternoon. Hopefully one or more of the sisters...
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Post by SoYeonFan on Sept 6, 2023 0:17:19 GMT
So Yeon Ryu will play whenever she decides to play.
Calling her names will not change anything.
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Post by philknj on Sept 6, 2023 4:31:27 GMT
The Japanese media are gaga over Mack Attack ... claimed she drove it 330 at #10.
Videos of her bombs are here:
Bags a 2-iron that she can carry 235 yards. 
*****
The article above reports that Pano is anxious to play Toto in Japan ... the Google mush is not clear ... seems like her dad is an old stick-in-the-mud and is worried about jet lag.
She has good memories of her last visit to Japan, which was the 2016 Yonex Ladies: |
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Post by haneymademedoit on Sept 6, 2023 5:12:50 GMT
Kenwood CC is in a nice section of Cincinnati about 10 miles NE of downtown, basically adjacent to I-71. I've occasionally been to the Kenwood 'neighborhood' or area; my wife used to like to go to some shops near there. If anyone happens to be attending the Kroger, and if you like authentic Chinese food, do a Google Maps to Sichuan Chili on Glendale-Milford Rd in Evendale, about 15 or 20 minutes driving distance from Kenwood CC. Love their vegetarian Ma Po Tofu!
If you read my posts on the Dana Open back in July, you may remember me complaining or at least stating that both Highland Meadows (Dana Open venue) and Stone Oak (Monday qualifier) "should have been" within the state boundary of Michigan but Ohio ripped us off with the consent of the federal government to change the state boundary line. Would you believe that Kenwood CC should have been within the state of Kentucky, not Ohio? Well, actually no, I just made that up. But if there's ever a tournament in Evansville, Indiana, I will explain why there is a strip of land north (Indiana side) of the Ohio River which is within the boundary of Kentucky. (It has to do with a series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812, not on the West Coast but in the Midwest; I'm not making this up!) And in a crazy mysterious way in my personal life, it has a connection to 안나 린 ...
Since amateur Mia Hammond is in the field, I think she's a sponsor invite, I'll repeat the text of a post I made on the Dana Open page a couple of months ago. She got into that tournament by winning the Monday qualifier at minus-5 and proceeded to outplay a number of big names and make the cut there and finish T26. She's a high school sophomore or junior. Wouldn't surprise me if she got sponsor invites to all the LPGA tournaments in Ohio for the next year or two...
The Columbus Dispatch had a great profile of 15-year-old amateur Mia Hammond in the Tuesday, July 18 edition.
New Albany sophomore ties for 26th at LPGA tourney
Andy Resnik
The Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY NETWORK
With her final round at the Dana Open in the books, Mia Hammond signed autographs and posed for selfies with fans.
The New Albany sophomore, who had just wrapped up her LPGA debut, was happy to oblige those waiting behind a fence near the 18th green Sunday at Highland Meadows in Sylvania. She definitely had earned the attention, having tied for 26th as the only amateur in the field.
“I’ve given a few autographs here and there, but to have that many people come up to me and ask for my signature, ask for a picture ... and most of it is little kids, so it’s good to know that it’s inspiring some younger people who want to play the game,” Hammond said. “It was actually funny today (because) we had to be escorted away due to how many wanted autographs at the end.”
Hammond, 15, had a whirlwind week. On Monday, she shot a 5-under 66 to win the Dana Open qualifier at Stone Oak Country Club in Holland. Then at Highland Meadows, she turned in consecutive rounds of 3-under 68 on Thursday and Friday to make the cut at the Dana Open. She shot a 70 on Saturday, in a round played mostly in the rain, and carded a 72 on Sunday to finish the tournament at 6-under 278. The five professionals who tied Hammond for 26th each earned $14,952.
“The weather definitely had an impact (Saturday) and then fatigue also hit as well (Sunday),” Hammond said. “I’ve played seven or eight days in a row (when including practice rounds). After a while, your body just gets tired and exhausted.
“But the weather (Saturday) was a big factor in the middle of the round, and we had a (three-hour) delay as well. … It was nice to not have to play in the rain any longer, but at the same time, you kind of lose your focus, I guess, when you have to wait that long to finish your round just for five holes.”
Linn Grant earned $262,500 with her first-place finish. A tournament-low round of 62 on Saturday helped set her up for a three-stroke win at 21-under 263.
Hammond said her “biggest takeaway” from the Dana Open “is going to be dealing with the crowds.” She couldn't help but notice Sunday's crowd was larger than the previous three days.
“There were a lot more people there (with it) being the final round and I noticed it quite a bit,” she said. ”It definitely spiked some nerves in the beginning.”
Her father, Tom, who is her coach and caddie, said his daughter showed poise beyond her years.
“I’m over the moon,” he said. “I can’t believe how well she handled the pressure and how well she stood up to the test. ... I don’t know how someone her age is so composed and so mature. I know she doesn’t get it from me. She must get that from her mother (Terra).”
Hammond won the Division I district tournament last fall. She then tied for fourth at state to help lead New Albany to a third-place finish.
Despite her performance in the Dana Open, she’s not expecting any special treatment when school begins Aug. 16.
“Things are probably going to die down before then,” she said. “At least I hope it’s what I’m used to. I’m sure a few of my friends will congratulate me, (the ones) I haven’t seen in a while, but besides them I would say it’s going to be the same.”
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