The LPGA Thread

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

U.S. Open Preview & Pairings


Before I get started with the preview of the LPGA's biggest major tournament, let me congratulate Inbee Park for winning the Walmart NW Arkansaw Championship in a playoff over So Yeon Ryu. It was Inbee's 5th win of the season, and her 2nd consecutive victory via the playoff route. Inbee has clearly established herself as the number one player on the planet.

This week the tour moves to New York for the playing of the United States Open. This will be the third of five major championships on the schedule this year, and generally regarded by the players, press, and fans, as the most prestigious.

This is tournament #15 of 28 on this year's schedule and will mark the beginning of the second half of the season. The LPGA will have their final player reshuffle at tournament's end.

Here are the key details:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

The updated pairings for the first two rounds are now posted:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the first round leaders:

1 Ha-Neul Kim -6 -6 F 66 - - - 66

2 Inbee Park -5 -5 F 67 - - - 67

T3 Caroline Hedwall -4 -4 F 68 - - - 68

T3 Lizette Salas -4 -4 F 68 - - - 68

T3 In-Kyung Kim -4 -4 F 68 - - - 68

T3 Anna Nordqvist -4 -4 F 68 - - - 68

T7 Paz Echeverria -3 -3 F 69 - - - 69

T7 Maude-Aimee Leblanc -3 -3 F 69 - - - 69

T9 Mariajo Uribe -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Karine Icher -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Je-Yoon Yang -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Natalie Gulbis -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Jennifer Rosales -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Catriona Matthew -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

T9 Jessica Korda -2 -2 F 70 - - - 70

For comlete scores:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the second round leaders:

1 Inbee Park -9
2 In-Kyung Kim -7
T3 Lizette Salas -4
T3 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -4
T5 Angela Stanford -3
T5 Jessica Korda -3
T7 So Yeon Ryu -2 -
T7 Anna Nordqvist -2
T9 Ha-Neul Kim -1
T9 Caroline Hedwall -1
T11 Haeji Kang E
T11 Cristie Kerr E
T11 Lindy Duncan E
T11 Brittany Lincicome E
T11 Jennifer Rosales E
T11 Soo-Jin Yang E
T17 Brittany Lang +1
T17 Paula Creamer +1
T17 Catriona Matthew +1
T17 Lexi Thompson +1
T17 Karine Icher +1
T17 Ryann O'Toole +1

For full results:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the leaders after 3 rounds:
1 Inbee Park -10
2 In-Kyung Kim -6
3 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -3
T4 So Yeon Ryu -1
T4 Angela Stanford -1
T6 Paula Creamer +1
T6 Jessica Korda +1
T8 Ai Miyazato +2
T8 Brittany Lang +2
T8 Brittany Lincicome +2
T8 Cristie Kerr +2
T12 Karrie Webb +3

For complete scoreboard:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[Brian Gee]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Not trying to be a jerk, but why do you continue with this thread? Nobody has ever replied but you?

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the Final scores:

1 Inbee Park -8
2 In-Kyung Kim -4
3 So Yeon Ryu -1
T4 Paula Creamer +1
T4 Angela Stanford +1
T4 Jodi Ewart Shadoff +1
T7 Brittany Lang +2
T7 Jessica Korda +2
T9 Shanshan Feng +3
T9 Brittany Lincicome +3

For entire results:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...-pairings.html

[tonyj5]

Comparing Inbee Park & Yani Tseng

First let me once again say congratulations to Inbee Park for not only making history in winning her third consecutive major championship, but also winning three consecutive LPGA tournaments. Inbee has now won 6 tournaments already this year. No one else has won more than two.

Inbee has become,without a doubt, the most dominant player on the LPGA tour. People are already calling her a future Hall of Famer, and the next great player to follow in the footsteps of Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa. Where have we heard that before? Oh yes, it was about this time last year when we were all writing about Yani Tseng.

What Inbee has accomplished this year is bound to draw comparisons to what Yani was doing until the middle of last year, when she went into a slump that she is still yet to recover from.

The truth of the matter is that they are two completely different kinds of players. Yani, with her huge drives and very confident personality (at that time), was extremely exciting to watch. Inbee on the other hand, can almost put you to sleep. She doesn't wow you with her driving ability, and has a very laid back personality.
What Inbee does have though is the hottest putter that I have ever seen on any tour. She seems to always be on top of the leader board, even though many times she doesn't appear to be playing all that well. Her ability to drop long putts at crucial times is uncanny.

Comparing Inbee's 2013 season to Yani's 2011 season:

Towards the end of the 2011 season I did a blog showing how dominant Yani was that year.

Here are some of those numbers:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...ani-tseng.html

[tonyj5]

Re: Surprises & Disappointments - Part 2

Way back in March I sat down and wrote who I thought were my biggest surprises and disappointments of the year. The LPGA had only played 5 tournaments at that point. So much has changed since then. The LPGA has now completed 15 of its 28 tournaments, and I would like to take another look.

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...13-part-2.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

If you watch the LPGA regularly I am sure you hear it mentioned at least once every broadcast that Paula Creamer has not won since winning the U.S. Open in 2010. That of course is true, but doesn't tell the entire story of the level of golf Paula is playing. When a top player doesn't win for 3 years it usually means that they are in some kind of playing slump. Looking at Paula's record, she really has not had a period in her career where she has ever played poor golf. In fact, I can't find where she has ever had three bad tournaments in a row. It seems that in spite of the fact that she has been absent from the winner's circle for 3 years, she is always on the first or second page of the leader board. In fact she has finished in the top twenty 11 times this year already. That is more times than Inbee, Yani, Suzann, and Stacy. That is more times than anyone on the LPGA this year. She has also made 56 consecutive cuts.

Paula's 4th place finish in last week's U.S. Open put her over the 10 million dollar mark in career earnings. She is the 8th player to achieve that feat. She did it in 194 tournaments. Only Lorena Ochoa accomplished it quicker.

How does that stack up against some of today's brightest stars? Let's take a look.

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...est-to-10.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Only three more tournaments remain for the U.S. players to get themselves into position to qualify for the 2013 Solheim Cup, which will be played this year at the Colorado Club in Parker, Colorado. Players started accumulating points at the completion of the last Solheim Cup, in 2011.

The United States has changed the qualifications for entry. In previous years it was the top ten players who accumulated the most points, and then two captain's picks. They have now changed that to the top eight players off the points list, the 2 highest Rolex ranked players not already in, and 2 captain's picks.

Points are accumulated the following way:
(From the first event after the previous Solheim Cup match in 2011 through the end of the 2012 season)
Winner - 40 points, 2nd - 20 points, 3rd - 18 points, 4th - 17 points, all the way down to 20th - 2 points.
(The 2013 season tournaments, leading up to the Solheim match)
Winner - 60 points, 2nd - 30 points, 3rd - 28.5 points, 4th - 27 points, 5th - 25.5 points, all the way down to a 20th place finish worth 3 points.
The reason for the increased points for the last part of the term is to give an advantage to the players who are hot going into the match.
Points are doubled for major championships.

With many players fighting to get into a position to make the team, lets look at where they stand.

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...hting-for.html

[tonyj5]

2013 Manulife Financial Preview & Pairings

After a one week break the LPGA moves to Canada and resumes its schedule with the playing of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. This is a full field, 72 hole tournament. It is tournament #16 of 28 on the schedule this year.

Here are the key details:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...c-preview.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

The pairings for the first 2 rounds have now been posted.

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...c-preview.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the first round leaders:

1 Angela Stanford -8 F
1 Catriona Matthew -8 F
3 Irene Cho -6 F
3 Hee Young Park -6 F
3 Belen Mozo -6 F
3 Meena Lee -6 F
3 Inbee Park -6 F
8 Amy Yang -5 F
8 Ryann O'Toole -5 F
8 Chella Choi -5 F
8 Jenny Shin -5 F
8 Ji Young Oh -5 F

For complete scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...c-preview.html

[tonyj5]

Re: The LPGA Thread

Here are the 2nd round leaders:
1 Catriona Matthew -15 F
2 Angela Stanford -12 F
3 Anna Nordqvist -11 F
3 Ryann O'Toole -11 F
3 Chella Choi -11 F
3 Belen Mozo -11 F
3 Meena Lee -11 F
8 Austin Ernst -10 F
8 Suzann Pettersen -10 F
8 Hee Young Park -10 F
8 Inbee Park -10 F
For the Full Leaderboard:
http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2013/...c-preview.html