By Keely Levins
During quarantine, Lydia Ko took up new sports, got stronger, and started drinking protein shakes. She’s not on the Bryson DeChambeau diet, she says. She’s more of a one-protein-shake-a-day kind of person. But the strength gains are evident, and the work she’s been doing on her game, with the shakes and new swing coach Sean Foley, is paying off at Aronimink Golf Club at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.

Ko followed an opening-round 68 with a 70 on Friday and was one shot off the lead at the time.

“I am a one-protein-shake-a-day person, though if I could have as many as Bryson DeChambeau and play that good, maybe that’s the option,” Ko said. “I think what he did at the U.S. Open was pretty incredible and what he’s done after the quarantine. Maybe that’s a trend; I don’t know.”

Other than the protein shakes, Ko updated her Instagram with videos of herself playing tennis, rock climbing and running. It’s been a lot of changes for her golf game to absorb over the past several months.

“I know that with everything it takes time to get used to things,” Ko said. “I feel like especially the five-week stretch kind of gave me the confidence and belief that I’m moving in the right direction.”

The changes appear to be working, allowing her to play some of her better golf in recent years. Since the tour’s restart, she has finished T2 at the Marathon LPGA Classic, T14 at the AIG Women’s British Open and sixth at the ANA Inspiration. Her place near the top of the leader board at the Women’s PGA Championship seems to be a continuation of that trend.

As far as her strength gains, her increased length off the tee is helpful on the long, par-70 course. In 2019, she averaged 245.5 yards off the tee. During the first two rounds at Aronimink, she has averaged 265 yards.

The distance changes can also be attributed to the work she’s been doing with Foley.

“It’s been a few months working with Sean, and I think we’ve kept it really simple, not overcomplicating anything,” Ko said. “I think he’s really been able to help me not only in the technique standpoint but also trying to clear out some of the questions in my head, and I think sometimes those are more important than the technical parts.”

It’s hard to look at Ko’s name near the top of a leader board and not think of the impressive run she was on from 2014 to 2016, when she won 12 times. She’s just 23 years old now, and was a teenager back then, seemingly floating through competitive golf with an enviable ease. She looks back on it now knowing that she had to work for what she accomplished, and she’s dedicated to continuing the work now. Work that is being validated on the course.

“A lot of people said, ‘Hey, you make it look so easy out there,’ and I’m like, ‘That must not be me because I’ve never found it easy,” Ko said. “Sometimes when things are going your way it looks like it from the outside, but no, I think even when things weren’t going my way, there was always an excitement and adrenaline and the pressure and all of those kind of emotions going through. Even if you post a good number out there, I think for me it’s never been easy. I’m just trying to go out there and have a good time and play confidently and aggressively as I can and just kind of go with the flow.”

The post Lydia Ko’s strength gains are serving her well at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
We’re only one round in at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and Aronimink Golf Club is already proving to be a test. On a chilly, blustery day outside Philadelphia, the lowest score was just three-under 67, a mark achieved by Kelly Tan and Brittany Lincicome.

Only 12 players broke par, with six sitting one shot back of the lead, one of them being Danielle Kang. After wrapping up play on Thursday, the 2017 Women’s PGA champ and a two-time winner since the LPGA’s return to golf in July got specific about how she’ll prep for Round 2 on the long, difficult Donald Ross design.

“I replay the golf course in my head,” Kang said.

Pin sheets are be released to players around 9 p.m. ahead of the next round, so Kang says she’ll mark where the pins will be and study up.

“I sit there and put the pins in and I check the winds, how the wind is going to play,” Kang explained. “[The] eighth hole I replay that in my head probably about seven times thinking if I would need the hybrid or not. No matter how much it was gusting I think I could have covered 176, so I was like, ‘OK, 4-iron today.’ ”

The par-3 eighth has an elevated tee. The tee box leaves you exposed to the wind, making club selection to the green below difficult. Kang made birdie there in round one. Lydia Ko, also at two-under after Thursday’s play, made birdie as well, and said it was a highlight of her round.

Kang says she gets more specific in her preparation when the course is harder, and when she hasn’t played it before.

“More so to the golf courses that I don’t know, that are difficult, that kind of just stays with me,” Kang said. “If I don’t know it very well, then like I said, if I can’t get a grasp on it then I just have to keep thinking about it over and over.”

The post An inside look at how Danielle Kang will prep for Round 2 of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
With all due respect to Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and the rest of the golfers atop the leader board at the BMW Championship, Sunday’s final-round drama won’t be isolated to who wins the tournament title. Just ask Jordan Spieth.

While a third-round 66 at Aronimink Golf Club moved Spieth from T-48 to T-39 for the tournament, it wasn’t enough to boost Spieth inside the top 30 in the projected FedEx Cup ranking. Come Sunday, the three-time major winner will need to post a sub-par score to hope to move off the bubble and earn a spot into the field at the Tour Championship in two weeks.

Spieth is chasing Keegan Bradley, whose Saturday 66 put him in the 30th spot in the projected FedEx Cup points list.

Here’s a look at the bubble regarding players trying to earn their spots at East Lake:

Spieth entered the tournament ranked 27th, but a one-over 71 on Friday became an unfortunate anchor given the low scoring throughout the week outside Philadelphia; he was just one of six players to post an over-par score in the second round. Spieth has never failed to qualify for the Tour Championship since becoming a PGA Tour member in 2013, having won the tournament (and the FedEx Cup title in 2015).

RELATED: Rose takes one-stroke lead at BMW, with rain in Sunday forecast

Missing out this year could be a bigger issue than simply not being able to grab some loot at East Lake. Spieth would wind up only playing in 24 PGA Tour events, one shy of the requirement for membership (his participation in the Ryder Cup is also considered a start) under a policy adopted two years ago. The policy states that players can play fewer than 25 events so long as they have added a tournament they have not played in four years, but Spieth did not add a new tournament to his 2018 schedule.

No player has violated the policy so far, and it is unclear what might happen if Spieth became the first. According to an ESPN report, Spieth could face a fine and a possible suspension should that happen, an awkward situation for the golfer who is chairman of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council.

The post Jordan Spieth in jeopardy of missing Tour Championship, violating tour policy on minimum starts appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Stephen Hennessey
Nobody would blame Tony Finau for being upset about not hearing Jim Furyk utter his name on Tuesday night when the U.S. Ryder Cup captain announced his first three captain’s picks for the 2018 squad, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.

Finau has become one of the most consistent golfers in the world over the past two years. Three top-10s in majors in 2018, five top-10s since the U.S. Open and 10 top-10s this season, plus two top-four finishes in last two weeks all would seemingly be enough to make most Ryder Cup teams. But the 2018 squad is stacked. And though Finau is undoubtedly one of the best American golfers, he will wait until after this week’s BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, when Furyk announces his final pick to see if he’ll be on the team.

Sure, Finau would have loved to have been among those Furyk singled out early. But he knows Tiger and Phil were not going to be denied. Meanwhile, DeChambeau, arguably Finau’s biggest challenger starting the FedEx Cup Playoffs, might be the only golfer hotter than Finau, having won the first two FedEx Cup events.

Rather than get anxious about things, Finau told the media on Wednesday that he’s not allowing himself to think about it too much.

“It’s something that I dreamed of since I was a kid—to be able to represent my country and play in the Ryder Cup is what dreams are made of,” Finau said on Wednesday. “That was definitely my dream as a kid. So it would be a special phone call for me if that were to happen, but if it didn’t, you know, we’ve got the Tour Championship coming up, we’ve got—there’s so much to look forward to.”

OK, OK. But you’ve made more than $8 million in on-course earnings over the past two seasons. There must be some disappointment for the big-hitting, easy-going Utah native, right?

“No, I wasn’t disappointed. Tiger, Phil and Bryson are worthy candidates for those spots. They played incredible golf throughout the year, and the way Bryson has been playing, that was a no-brainer,” Finau said.

“The good news for me, there’s still one spot left, and if I continue doing what I’m doing, hopefully, that spot is for me.”

= Jim Furyk announces his first three captain’s picks on Tuesday outside Philadelphia. (Rich Schultz)

Indeed, with Finau’s play over the past 12 months, he is the likely favourite for the final captain’s spot. Though he won’t admit it. He’s third on tour in driving distance, 11th in birdies made, sixth in most eagles made. Pretty much the ideal match-play player.

The reality is, Finau will turn 29 next week—and celebrating a birthday, plus a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team headed to France would be pretty cool. Barring a big finish at Aronimink from other contenders for the final pick—Xander Schauffele, Kevin Kisner—the spot might be his. First, Finau will aim for another strong finish, which would surprise nobody after his impressive 2018.

“I feel I’m one of the few guys that have a legitimate chance to be chosen,” he said. “To have that feeling is pretty cool, and, again, I’ve been playing some good golf.

“The task at hand is to continue to play well and let the chips fall where they may.”

RELATED: Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey round out 2018 European Ryder Cup squad as captain’s picks

The post Ryder Cup 2018: Tony Finau ‘not disappointed’ about waiting for Jim Furyk’s final captain’s pick appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.