NEW JERSEY (REUTERS) - South Korea's Ko Jin-young wrote her name in the LPGA Tour record book not once but twice Sunday (Oct 10) as she authored a wire-to-wire victory at the Cognizant Founders Cup in West Caldwell, New Jersey. Ko's 5-under 66 lifted her to 18 under for a four-shot victory over Germany's Caroline Masson. It was Ko's 14th straight round in the 60s, tying Annika Sorenstam's LPGA record. What's more, Ko went 114 straight holes without making a bogey or worse until she bogeyed No. 17 Sunday. It's the longest such streak on record for either the LPGA or PGA Tour, breaking Tiger Woods' mark of 110 bogey-free holes. Ko said a bogey-free round was her goal Sunday morning, but she wasn't necessarily thinking about the records in play and the names attached to them. "I just focus, despite the others like Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam," Ko said. "I just play by myself ... I don't know what happened to me. I don't know. I just have fun. I'm just trying to have fun on the course with my caddie and the other players." Ko, 26, defended her title at the Founders Cup, which she won in 2019 at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix. The World No. 2 has won three tournaments in her last seven starts. It marked Ko's 10th career win on tour, making her the fifth Korean player to post double-digit victories. Masson posted the low round of the day, a spotless 64 with seven birdies, to move into second. "I can't tell you how big this is," Masson said. "It's been a little bit rough this summer. Honestly, like mentally it was really, really tough stretch, probably the toughest in my career. "So to come back out and have a good week last week and feel like I'm getting really close - you know, I know I'm pretty far away from winning this week score-wise, but it was pretty close. Pretty amazing. Just got to thank everybody on my team for being there for me." Elizabeth Szokol (69) overcame a double bogey-bogey stretch on the fourth and fifth holes to secure third place at 11 under. Jeongeun Lee6 of South Korea (67) and Yuka Saso of the Philippines (70) tied for fourth at 10 under.
BALLYMENA (AFP) - Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn beat American Emma Talley on the second hole of a play-off to win the LPGA World Invitational title on Sunday (Aug 1). The pair had begun the day tied for the lead with Jennifer Kupcho and the same trio reached the 18th tee locked together on 16 under par, only for Kupcho to make a costly bogey after pulling her approach into the water. Both players made par on the first extra hole and another on the second was enough for Pajaree to secure her first LPGA Tour title after Talley missed the green. "I was nervous but actually surprised at how I handled my nervous there. To win here is a special memory," said Pajaree after a final round of 70. England's Daniel Gavins overturned a seven-shot deficit to claim his first European Tour title in the men's event which ran alongside the LPGA tournament. Gavins carded a bogey-free final round of 65 at Galgorm Castle to set the clubhouse target of 13 under par. Gavins was ranked 995th in the world at the end of 2020 and had never previously recorded a single top-10 finish on the European Tour. More on this topic Related Story Golf: Thai Jutanugarn sisters fire another 59 to claim LPGA team event Related Story Golf: Pajaree leads Thai charge in Evian first round as Korda struggles
DALY CITY, CALIFORNIA (FIELD LEVEL MEDIA REUTERS) - Canadian Brooke Henderson and Cristie Kerr have withdrawn prior to Friday's (June 11) second round of the LPGA Mediheal Championship at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, California. LPGA Media did not disclose a reason for their exits, but TSN reported that Henderson withdrew due to a non-Covid-19 related illness. The 23-year-old Henderson, who is fifth in the Rolex Rankings, finished with a 5-over-par 77 after the first round on Thursday. The 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour birdied two of the first three holes before the bottom fell out with five bogeys and a double bogey. Kerr, 43, ended the first round at 6-over 78 on Thursday. The 20-time winner recorded a double bogey on the fourth hole and had bogeys on Nos. 7, 10, 13 and 18.
ORLANDO (REUTERS) - Florida native Nelly Korda converted her third-round lead into a three-shot win on Sunday (Feb 28), carding a bogey-free round of 3-under 69 to capture her fourth career title at the Gainbridge LPGA in Orlando. Korda finished at 16-under 272, three shots ahead of Lexi Thompson (68) and New Zealand's Lydia Ko (69), who had led after each of the first two rounds at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. "I think it's just all the stress from today," said Korda, who was visibly emotional after her win. "Yeah, honestly, I did not play very good golf today, and I just stayed really solid. Honestly, I don't even know what I did. It was definitely very stressful." The victory also marked a few milestones for the 22-year-old, who won for the first time on American soil and bolstered her career earnings to more than US$4 million (S$5.33 million), thanks to the US$300,000 first-place prize. Her win also comes on the heels of her sister Jessica Korda's victory at the LPGA's most recent event - the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions on Jan. 24 - making them the first sister duo to win consecutive events since Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam did so in 2000 (Annika won the Welch's/Circle K Championship on March 13; Charlotta won the Standard Register PING on March 19). Korda had not played Lake Nona prior to the tournament and compared it to her home course of The Concession - site of this week's PGA Tour event. She appeared to get on a roll early and made three birdies over her first six holes. However, it was a string of 12 straight pars that got her to the clubhouse clear of any challengers. "I knew what she was at making the turn, so I knew I kind of had to make a run," said Thompson, who got an extra boost with an eagle at No. 11. "I just tried to stay within my game and focus on one shot at a time, and that definitely helped. I bogeyed the next hole, but I just tried to stay in it and birdie coming in." Ko also tried to mount a charge, stringing together four straight birdies over Nos. 12-15, but also came up short. "Today I drove it so well, and then my ball-striking wasn't there, and then when I did hit it close, I didn't hole many," said Ko, who calls Lake Nona home. "I was able to get a few in a row ... but yeah, it was great to play in front of our home crowds, and I think the members all were super excited for us to be here, and it was so great to play in front of some familiar faces." Rounding out the top five were South Korea's Jin Young Ko (71) in fourth place at 11-under, and Australia's Sarah Kemp (69) and Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit (74), who tied for fifth at 10-under. Annika Sorenstam, winner of 72 career titles and playing on the LPGA Tour for the first time since the 2008 ADT Championship, finished last in the field at 13-over after finishing with a 76. Sorenstam had five bogeys and just one birdie on Sunday. More on this topic Related Story Golf: LPGA riding 'wave of momentum' as it launches 34-stop season with Champions event Related Story Golf: Danielle Kang holds off Jessica Korda charge to lead LPGA Tournament of Champions "I'm just thankful for being here, playing here and be able to make the cut,"said Sorenstam, 50, who admitted she was "exhausted" but was adamant that she would make another competitive appearance again soon. "I think overall it's been quite successful in the sense that I accomplished what I wanted, which was to go out here and just play and play and play. I hit a lot of shots, but I really focused on every shot. I think I never gave up, even though it was not really going my way and I wasn't hitting as well as I should be to be out here. The purpose was to get some tournament rounds and I did that."
MIAMI (AFP) - World number five Danielle Kang birdied two of the last three holes to seize a two-stroke lead after Friday's (Jan 22) second round of the season-opening LPGA Tournament of Champions. The 28-year-old American, seeking her sixth career LPGA title, matched the day's low round with a six-under-par 65 to stand on 13-under-par 129 after 36 bogey-free holes at Four Season Golf & Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Fourth-ranked Nelly Korda was second on 131 after a 66 with defending champion Gaby Lopez of Mexico and South Korea's Chun In-gee, who also shot 65, on 133 and Jessica Korda fifth on 134 after closing with three consecutive bogeys. The 71st LPGA season-opener featured winners from the past three seasons, those in 2018 added because of the depleted number of tournaments played in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kang, who began the day with a one-stroke lead, opened with a birdie and made another at the par-4 fourth, then birdied the par-3 ninth and par-5 10th for the second day in a row. She birdied the par-4 16th then landed her approach four feet from the cup at the par-5 17th and sank her birdie putt before closing with a par. The Kordas are US daughters of 1998 Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda and their 20-year-old brother Sebastian reached his first ATP final last week at Delray Beach. Nelly Korda, five years younger than her sister at 22, birdied the fourth and eighth holes around her lone bogey at the par-4 sixth. She began the back nine with a birdie, added two more at the 12th and par-5 13th and another at the par-4 16th as she chases a fourth LPGA victory but her first in the United States. Chun, 26, chases her fourth LPGA crown, having taken major titles at the 2015 US Women's Open and 2016 Evian Championship as well as the 2018 Hank Bank Championship in her homeland. Chun opened with a birdie and birdied all three par-5s on the back nine - 10, 13 and 17 - in a bogey-free round. "Always when I play a bogey-free round it's great," Chun said. "I tried to be more patient. I trust my game on the course and I just keep going and then it worked."
MIAMI • LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said on Wednesday he will step down from the job later this year after an 11-year reign helming women's golf. The American said in an open letter he would quit the position sometime this year, but did not give a firm timetable for his departure. "I know that news may come as a bit of a shock, but trust me when I say it follows many, many months of deep introspection," Whan, who turns 56 next month, wrote in the letter. He is the longest-serving commissioner in the history of the LPGA, and only the eighth person to hold the job. He is widely credited with strengthening the LPGA Tour since taking over, increasing the number of tournaments on the circuit (it had 24 events when he took over in 2009) and boosting overall prize money by more than US$25 million (S$33 million). Despite a tumultuous 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic decimated the schedule, the Tour recently confirmed a 34-event season for 2021 with a record US$76.4 million in prize money. "I simply wouldn't leave the LPGA if I thought the future was uncertain or not trending straight up," Whan wrote. "Even after the challenges we faced in 2020, the LPGA has never been more financially secure, deeper in leadership talent, or more anchored by passionate, diverse sponsors from all around the world. "The LPGA is poised for even greater heights, and as such, I'm excited to hand the baton to the next leader and become their biggest supporter." His decision was lamented many players. Hall of Famer Juli Inkster said: "Mike ran the Tour like a business, but he also ran it with compassion. I think the LPGA was very close to folding, and he brought it back to life and now it's thriving." Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, the LPGA Tour's player president, said Whan had been the "right leader at the right time". "He rebuilt the Tour and then reimagined its future by bringing new events, new sponsors and a new value proposition around diversity and inclusion to the LPGA," she added. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ally McDonald, hoping to win her first LPGA title, fired a three-under par 69 for a one-stroke lead after Saturday's (Oct 24) third round of the Drive On Championship. The American reeled off four birdies in five holes in the middle of her round to stand on 13-under 203 after 54 holes at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia. "I played some really solid golf after I settled in," McDonald said. "I'm excited with the position I'm in. Mentally I think I handled myself really well. Ready to take on tomorrow." Filipino Bianca Pagdanganan shot 69, the 22-year-old closing with back-to-back birdies to stand second on 204 with American Danielle Kang third on 205, Spain's Carlota Ciganda fourth on 206 and Australian Katherine Kirk fifth on 207. World number 62 McDonald's best LPGA finishes have been two third-place showings, most recently at last year's ShopRite Classic. She hopes for a breakthrough on her 28th birthday Sunday at an event that was created to fill in a gap between US events after the LPGA's usual Asian swing was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. "I'm sitting on the lead. People are going to be coming for the lead," McDonald said. "It's not shying away from it. It's embracing where I am and try to not be complacent and just go out and execute my game plan. "I'm definitely in a more comfortable position knowing that what I have in me is enough. I don't have to push and be more than I am. It's just trusting what I know I can do." No spectators are allowed on the course but boaters on the lakeside layout honked horns for good shotmaking throughout the round. World number 233 Pagdanganan, the LPGA driving yardage leader who turns 23 next week, hopes for her first LPGA triumph in only her sixth professional start. Fifth-ranked Kang, who turned 28 on Tuesday won the LPGA's first two Covid-19 return events in August. "I've got to play a little bit more aggressive," Kang said. "Getting everything together and just firing from the start will be pretty key." Kang was to have been seeking a third consecutive LPGA crown in Shanghai this week before Covid-19 wiped out the event. McDonald, who began the day with a one-stroke lead on Pagdanganan and Kang, opened with a bogey but bounced back with a birdie at the fifth. "I never really got panicked after the first hole," McDonald said. "If anything, might have calmed me just to get that out of the way. But I settled in and got very comfortable. I'm happy with what I did." She reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the par-3 eighth, strong iron shots setting up short birdie putts followed by a long effort from off the green at 10, to reach 13-under. McDonald lipped out from the fringe on a birdie putt at 11 but birdied the par-5 12th to reach 14-under. Kang's tee shot at 16 soared right and out of bounds and she needed a 10-foot putt just to rescue double bogey. "I pushed it," Kang said. "It was out by a couple inches. I was pretty upset because just a waste of two shots right there minimum. Just not the time to do that." When McDonald chipped to three feet and sank a par putt at 16, she reclaimed a four-stroke lead. McDonald missed the green at the par-3 17th, barely reached the fringe with a pitch on the way to bogey, while Pagdanganan birdied 17 and 18 to seize second alone.