Brittany Lincicome’s newest ball marks remind her of her most significant remaining LPGA Tour dream. Using one with the name Sophia on it Thursday, in honour of her eight-month-old daughter, she’ll rotate to one engraved with Emery, her eldest daughter’s name, on Friday. Both were in attendance as Lincicome posted a two-under 70 at Carlton Woods Thursday, putting her in contention for her first major title since the 2015 ANA Inspiration, the former namesake of this tournament.

“I could retire I think today or Sunday [if I won],” Lincicome said. “It would just be so cool to have them run out on the green. You know, we see it on the PGA [Tour] all the time. You know, seeing the kids run out and give their dads a hug. So I think that would just be so cool.”

The eight-time LPGA winner’s world has substantially changed since her last win at the 2018 Marathon Classic. During Lincicome’s opening round, she wore a plain, white hat, striking for a two-time past major championship winner not to have sponsorship. Lincicome joked that she’s open for business, hoping someone would call and offer one tomorrow.

“I was going to put like: ‘Your name here,’ but I thought I would just do it blank,” Lincicome said.

Yet the two-under 70 at Carlton Woods was her first under-par round at a major since the second round of last year’s Chevron Championship. Part of the rejuvenation came from reflection. The 37-year-old focused on remembering some of her best major moments to conjure up a solid first round at Carlton Woods.

“Just thinking back and replaying those shots in my head,” Lincicome said. “Like, you’ve hit those shots before. Let’s take those into this week. Just gives you a little bit more confidence.”

Lincicome entered this season understanding her ability may no longer be there. A 19-year veteran, she told Golf Digest back in February that if the year doesn’t go how she wants, she may retire to spend more time with her kids. Early returns weren’t promising. Lincicome made one cut in her first two starts, a T-68 at the LPGA Drive On Championship a month ago.

The importance of parenthood to Lincicome was visible when her father was the first person she cited when noting Carlton Woods might fit her game.

“My dad always says I play better when I’m in the rough or in the trees because then I just have to focus that much harder,” Lincicome said.

She explained the keys to that success, from the clutch 10-footers she made to save par, the challenge of birdieing only one par 5, and closing with two birdies over her last four holes.

Those put her in contention to enter rare historic air at the event. A third victory would make her tied for the most wins at the 52-year event, joining tour legends Amy Alcott, Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam. With the $765,000 first-place check, she’d become the 25th player in the LPGA’s history to earn $10 million or more in her career.

But instead of those potential accomplishments, she dreams of the emotions of having family by her side if she wins.

“I just, I would love to win any tournament and have my girls out,” Lincicome said.

The post LPGA veteran Brittany Lincicome’s goal is to win, of course, but for different reasons than at the start of her career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Paisley
A few months ago, Lauren Stephenson quietly took a shot at a dream she has had since seeing Brittany Lincicome compete at the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship in 2018. The 24-year-old South Carolina native, still searching for her first LPGA win in four years on tour, wrote a letter to tournament director Steve Wilmot at the RBC Heritage requesting a sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour event she attended in her youth at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island.

“I grew up playing high school boys golf. I’m used to playing long yardages because I had to play from the same tees as them,” Stephenson said in explaining why she would have been well suited to become just the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. “I think it’d be really cool because I’m from South Carolina. It’s an invite-only tournament. It’s a tournament I grew up going to. I know a lot of people from around the area. Why not at least ask?”

Laura Stephenson. Sarah Stier

Indeed, the worst the tournament could say was no, which it did when it respectfully declined her request, noting interestingly she was not the first woman to try to get into the field.

News of Stephenson’s bid to play in a PGA Tour event leaves unanswered the following questions: When will a woman again tee it up with the men? And who might it be?

When thinking of such a feat, and with the PGA Tour at Colonial Country Club this week in Fort Worth, what immediately comes to mind is Annika Sorenstam memorably joining the field at the then Bank of America Colonial. It’s was 19 years ago that Sorenstam was paired with Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber for the opening two rounds, missing the cut by four shots but making news and shining a spotlight on women’s professional golf.

Only one woman has made a cut in a PGA Tour event, and that happened before the LPGA had officially formed. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who first played in a PGA Tour event at the 1935 Cascades Open, made three 36-hole cuts in 1945: first at the Los Angeles Open (a third-round 81 kept her from making the field for the final 18 holes), a 33rd place at the Phoenix Open and 42nd at the Tucson Open.

Along with Zaharias, Sorenstam and Lincicome, Michelle Wie competed in eight PGA Tour starts from 2004 to 2008 and the late LPGA founder Shirley Spork finished 105th at the no-cut 1952 Northern California-Reno Open. Additionally, Suzy Whaley earned a start in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open after winning the Connecticut PGA Section Championship the previous autumn.

Sorenstam had remained a substantial figure in the women’s game, running her Annika Foundation and serving as a mentor to multiple players. Interestingly, trying to make a start on the PGA Tour is not a common topic when her pupils ask for advice. “I’m really not surprised [six women have played on the PGA],” Sorenstam said via email expressing that, “it is hard to do. You have to be at the top of your game, and then you need to get the invite and then have the courage to go through with it. It’s easier said than done.”

WOMEN WHO HAVE COMPETED IN PGA TOUR EVENTS

Babe Didrikson. Underwood Archives

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Like Sorenstam, Lincicome says no players have asked for advice on trying to make it into a tour field and what the experience felt like.

“It is kind of crazy,” Lincicome said about the fact she remains the last to have played. “I think it’s just a distance thing. Those guys hit it 320 [yards], 330 consistently or even fly it that far. The golf courses are just so long. As long hitters on the LPGA, our bread and butter are the par 5s you can get to in two and try to make some eagles on. Obviously, playing in a men’s event, there aren’t many opportunities to do that.”

A two-time major champion, Lincicome pointed out that for players to have a chance to make the cut in a PGA Tour event, not only would they need to average around 280 yards off the tee, but they would likely need to flip their practice regimen. Instead of focusing on short irons, as Lincicome does for her approach practice, they’d need to dedicate themselves to working on long irons into greens for a potential PGA start.

“Lexi [Thompson] could definitely go do it,” Lincicome said, noting the 11-time LPGA winner’s impressive length. “Ariya Jutanugarn, if she ever were to hit a driver, she hits it plenty far enough, she could definitely do it. We don’t normally talk about it.”

Jutanugarn actually contemplated making a run at a PGA Tour start when she was World No. 1 in 2018. She won three times that year, including the US Women’s Open for her second major title and joked about the possibility with her caddie as she felt her game was in a good place. One of the first stories her parents told her about playing professional golf was Annika’s start at Colonial when Jutanugarn was seven.

The challenge of following through would be the pressure, as Jutanugarn imagines playing on the PGA Tour would come with more nerves than competing as the No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings on the LPGA, a spot she held for 23 weeks in her career. Even averaging 262 yards off the tee so far in the 2022 season without using a driver, she’s unsure she’d hit the ball far enough.

“I think about it,” Jutanugarn said. “It’s always too big. I don’t know how to deal with all the spectators, the pressure, so I end up with stop thinking about it.”

Danielle Kang noted she has a couple of prerequisites before ever considering a PGA start. First, the six-time LPGA winner would want to become the No. 1 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She nearly accomplished that in 2020, climbing as high as second after winning the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness Club in 2020 and then winning the Marathon LPGA Classic the following week. Now 11th in the Rolex Rankings, Kang also would need to find a tournament where she could compete with her 251-yard driving average.

“I’d be very careful on what golf courses to pick, where I can go low, how I can play to my advantage,” Kang said. “Maybe the straightness would help. It’d be really hard to compete on a 7,000-yard golf course when I don’t even hit it as far as [PGA players] hit a 4-iron.”

While some of the shorter PGA Tour setups hover around 7,000 yards, with the Sony Open (7,022 yards), RBC Heritage (7,121 yards) and the Colonial (7,209 yards), Hannah Green won the 2019 KPMG Women’s Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club that played at 6,807 yards. Since then, the Australian added 17 yards in driving distance off the tee, averaging 255 in 2019 to 272 this season.

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR A FUTURE PGA TOUR START

Ariya Jutanugarn. Christian Petersen

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Green has had success competing against men as well. In February, she became the first woman to win a 72-hole mixed men’s and women’s professional event at the TPS Murray River in Australia. However, even with the CV and length to hold her own, she hasn’t attended a PGA event. Once Green’s coach Rickie Smith watched Scottie Scheffler win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match play event and mentioned how good the skill level was, Green put away any potential thought of competing on the PGA.

“After he said that, I don’t think I could compete against them,” Green quipped.

Mel Reid competes against Jupiter, Florida, neighbor Brooks Koepka in money matches, but that’s as far as she plans to go towards a potential PGA Tour start. The 34-year-old remembered watching Sorenstam at Colonial, and Vijay Singh’s comments that he’d withdraw if paired with the Swede. The Englishwoman understands the challenge of someone trying to overcome a seven-club difference between drivers, with some of the longer PGA Tour players hitting it 370, nearly 100 yards further than the longest on the LPGA.

Reid believes that to take that step and tee it up on the PGA Tour, a player needs to showcase herself as a preeminent star on the LPGA over an extended period. After all, Sorenstam won 43 times on the LPGA before teeing it up in Fort Worth.

“I totally get why Annika did it,” Reid said. “She completed dominated, won all these majors, and didn’t miss cuts, and was winning all the time. I think somebody like Nelly [Korda] and Jin Young [Ko] definitely could [make a PGA cut], but I think that’s in the future and definitely not right now.”

Like Reid, Patty Tavatanakit plays with PGA Tour members for practice. Her 323-yard average off the tee at her 2021 ANA Inspiration victory, albeit in Palm Springs desert conditions, optimal for the ball to run out, puts her in a category to have the necessary distance to compete on the PGA.

Tavatanakit brought the thought of trying to make a PGA start to her coach, former PGA Tour pro Grant Waite, as she enjoys going up against fellow Thai native Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Korn Ferry Tour members Curtis Luck and Ryan Ruffels in money games in Florida. However, making history didn’t occur to her until being asked about it.

“I’ve never thought about that [being the first LPGA member to make a PGA cut] actually,” Tavatanakit said, “I just come out here [the LPGA] to try to win tournaments, try to win majors.

“That’s something I could put on my list for sure.”

Others too are worthy of consideration: Maria Fassi tried her hand competing against men on the Moonlight Tour in Florida during the LPGA’s COVID-19 pause in May 2020. She missed the cut at Champions Gate, which played around 7,300 yards during the week. But the experience fueled her appetite for more, as she’s been in touch with the Mexican tour, trying to line up dates for a start there. The 2019 NCAA individual champion viewed the mini-tour experience as more of a mental challenge than physical, aiming to stay within her 274-yard driving average and not swing out of her shoes. She’d enjoy the challenge of taking a run to be the first woman to make the cut on the PGA Tour in the LPGA’s lifetime.

“Anytime you get a chance to be part of history … I would be lying if I’d say that’s not tempting,” Fassi said when asked about a future attempt from the Mexican native. “The more that we see women doing different things, it’s also going to attract different people to the game, and that’s only going to help me and everybody else on the LPGA Tour. One hundred percent that would be something that drives me to want to do it.”

Other players Golf Digest talked with generally echoed Fassi’s thought that the accomplishment could help validate the LPGA’s talent on a larger stage and potentially grow the game to PGA fans who otherwise don’t watch. Notably, it was Kang who holds reservations given the stark contrast in playing styles between the LPGA and PGA.

“It’s just something where they’re two completely different games, two completely different tours,” Kang said. “I can’t really compare the two and what it would mean. I don’t know if it’d grow the women’s game in a sense/not grow the women’s game in a sense. It shouldn’t really matter whether someone makes the cut or not. I think if they want to try it, they can try it.

“With that being said, Annika did it after she was World No. 1, she has made her name, and she has dominated on this tour and excelled at every level. I think that’s pretty respectable she gave it a go at a 7,000-plus yard golf course. It’s just a challenge, a different challenge.”

While the next woman may not become the first to make a PGA weekend in the modern era, Sorenstam confidently believes someone else will eventually accomplish the challenge she set for herself at the Colonial.

“I think it would be great, and I’m sure it will happen one day.”

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The post Two decades after Annika played Colonial, LPGA pros ponder taking on the PGA Tour men again appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
After taking Thanksgiving off, the LPGA Tour returns this week at the Volunteers of America Classic outside of Dallas, the first of three final events in 2020. But it will do so without one high-profile player. Brittany Lincicome, a two-time major winner, announced on social media that she has withdrawn from the event after stating that she tested positive for COVID-19.

Lincicome’s positive result came while at her home last week. The LPGA Tour’s testing protocols involve testing players before they travel to an event and then again when they arrive on site.

Though Lincicome’s test came back positive, she was happy to report that both her husband and her daughter have tested negative.

“I am now self-isolating and working on contract tracing with all those I have been in contact with,” Lincicome wrote on Instagram. “I have mild symptoms but am very disappointed to have to withdraw from the Volunteers of America Classic. I will be isolating at home until it is safe to resume my schedule. I wish everyone the best of luck and look forward to when I can return to playing on Tour.”

The 35-year-old has played in nine events since the LPGA restart this summer, her best finish coming at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a T-9 showing.

The week after the Volunteers of America Classic is the last major of 2020, the U.S. Women’s Open, followed by the CME Group Tour Championship. Lincicome ranks 67th in the Race to the CME standings, with the top 70 earning invitations to the year-end event where the winner earns a $1.1 million first-place prize.

The post Brittany Lincicome tests positive for COVID-19, withdraws from Volunteers of America Classic 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 Joel Beall
Golf instructor Hank Haney was forced to address accusations of making racist, sexist comments on his radio show Wednesday afternoon ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Haney, speaking with co-host Steve Johnson on Haney’s eponymous program on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, mockingly predicted “a Korean” would win this week’s event at Country Club of Charleston, adding he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour save for those with the last name “Lee.”

Below is the transcript of the conversation:

Steve Johnson: “Hank, the 74th U.S. Women’s Open…yeah.”

Hank Haney: “I’m going to predict a Korean.”

Johnson: “Okay.” (laughter)

Haney: “Okay.”

Johnson: “Pretty safe bet.” (Laughter)

Haney: “That’s going to be my prediction…I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour.”

Johnson: “Yeah.”

Haney: “Maybe I could. Well…I’d go with Lee if I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right…Yeah, I don’t know.”

Johnson: “You’ve got six Lee’s.”

Haney: “Honestly, Michelle Wie’s hurt…I don’t know anybody…where are they playing, anyway?”

The outcry was swift on social media, which included a statement from Wie, who is missing this week’s Open due to injury.

“As a Korean American female golfer, these comments that @HankHaney made disappoint and anger me on so many different levels,” Wie said. “Racism and sexism are no laughing matter Hank….shame on you. I don’t ever do this, but this must be called out.”

As a Korean American female golfer, these comments that @HankHaney made disappoint and anger me on so many different levels. Racism and sexism are no laughing matter Hank….shame on you. I don’t ever do this, but this must be called out. https://t.co/P18JByTosN

— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) May 29, 2019

Too many of these girls, Korean or not, have worked countless hours and sacrificed so much to play in the US Open this week. There are so many amazing players in the field. Let’s celebrate them….Not mock them. @HankHaney https://t.co/YB25Bl9zoC

— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) May 29, 2019

Well said @themichellewie Wiesy! Shame on you @HankHaney and Steve Johnson. @PGATOUR if you’re truly serious about supporting the @lpga and growing the game these two morons won’t have a voice anymore! https://t.co/2hvZoBE4Tn

— Karrie Webb (@Karrie_Webb) May 29, 2019

Unacceptable! https://t.co/5LvSPe5muh

— Annika Sorenstam (@ANNIKA59) May 29, 2019

Shame on you @HankHaney …. https://t.co/4IyrFiLcQ2

— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) May 29, 2019

???

— Brittany Lincicome (@Brittany1golf) May 29, 2019

Haney tried to clarify those comments later in the program, saying he couldn’t remember what he said.

“I guess people are taking this as racially insensitive,” Haney remarked.” He then apologized “if I offended anyone.” The show ended with Johnson telling Haney he was not a racist, to which Haney replied, “I am definitely not a racist.”

Golf Digest reached out to Haney for further comment and he replied with the following response via text:

”This morning I made some comments about women’s professional golf and its players that were insensitive and that I regret. In an effort to make a point about the overwhelming success of Korean players on the tour I offended people, and I am sorry. I have the biggest respect for the women who have worked so hard to reach the pinnacle of their sport, and I never meant to take away from their abilities and accomplishments. I’ve worked in this game with men and women players from many different cultures, and I look forward to continuing to doing so.”

Haney is best known for coaching Tiger Woods from 2004 to 2010, and for the Golf Channel TV show “The Haney Project.” He is also a longtime Golf Digest contributing teacher.

The post Golf instructor Hank Haney criticised for disparaging comments about U.S. Women’s Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
Brittany Lincicome did herself and the LPGA proud on Saturday, by making five birdies and an eagle and posting a one-under-par 71 in the weather-delayed second round of the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.

Lincicome finished 36 holes in five-over-par 149 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky. She missed the cut and will finish near the bottom of the field, but not at the bottom.

The highlight of her round came on the par-5 17th hole, where she holed her third shot from 116 yards for eagle. A close second was her making three consecutive birdies on the front nine.

“A great little grip gap wedge,” she said of the eagle. “Right when I hit it I thought I hit it a little short. I thought it was going to spin back a little bit on me. Then when it landed I was like, okay, it’s on top, and then it rolled back and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I mean, the highlight of my week. So cool.”

She was among the leaders in the field in driving accuracy over two rounds, hitting 78.57 per cent of them. However, she hit only 44.4 per cent of greens in regulation.

“I felt a lot calmer today,” she said. “I think maybe because the spectators couldn’t come out as much, so it was a little bit calmer feeling this morning. This is obviously a much bigger stage or different stage than I’m used to. With a major coming up, hopefully, that first tee shot I won’t be as nervous. I’ve learned to kind of play through the nerves this week, which is great. Just in the future, I think that’ll really help me.”

Lincicome, 32, was only the sixth female to play in a PGA Tour event.

“It was a pleasure, a treat,” Conrad Shindler said of having been paired with her. “It’s a historic moment always when we have a girl play in a PGA Tour event. To get to have a front row seat in the group, it’s a unique aspect.

“She’s really consistent. You know she does the same thing every shot. She just knows where it’s going to go. Great short great. Each day she gained confidence. Hit a lot of good putts. I think she made five birdies and had a great hole-out there on 17 for eagle.”

The post Brittany Lincicome breaks par in the second round of PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship, holes 116-yard shot for eagle appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The Jutanugarn sisters are no longer the only, women from Thailand to win on the LPGA tour. After shooting 65 on Sunday at the Marathon Classic and beating Brittany Lincicome in a playoff, Thidapa Suwannapura has won her first LPGA event and becomes the third woman from Thailand to win on tour.

Suwannapura, who birdied the first playoff hole to beat Lincicome, turned professional after Q-School in 2011, and has been waiting seven years for this first win.

“I never expect it was going to be today at all,” she said. “I’ve just been struggling the whole year and tried to keep my tour card and try my best. Finally, all my work I’ve been doing has come out and shown up today.”

Before her 65-69-71-65 performance at Highland Meadows Golf Club, Suwannapura’s best finish on the LPGA was a 7th place at the 2014 Kingsmill Championship. In the 2018 season, she’s had one top-20 finish and has missed the cut in six of the 16 events she’s played.

The 25-year-old, who took up residence in Virginia, had to wait over an hour for the final group to finish. After Brooke Henderson knocked in her par putt to miss the playoff by one shot, Suwannapura and Lincicome went to the par-5 18th for the first playoff hole. Lincicome drove it into the fairway bunker off the tee and then put her next shot into a hazard. But she got up and down after her drop to make par. Suwannapura didn’t falter under the pressure of needing to make birdie, however. Her putt fell, and suddenly she had defeated a two-time major winner.

“[On the] last hole I know that she’s going to make par. I know that, so I just tried my best to make birdie, and that’s it,” Suwannapura said after the round.

For her next event, Lincicome is headed to the Barbasol Championship. It will be her first time playing against the men in a PGA Tour event.

As for Suwannapura, her win in Toledo earns her a trip to the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

The post Thidapa Suwannapura goes from fear she’ll lose tour card to beating Brittany Lincicome in a playoff for first LPGA win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The big-hitting 22-year-old fired a best of the week 65 Thursday to move to -10 and open up a two shot lead over Scot Kelsey MacDonald at the $500,000 Ladies European Tour season-decider.

Revelling in the fun-filled atmosphere encouraged by her playing partners, American Solheim Cuppers Brittany Lincicome and Angel Yin, Van Dam’s flawless seven under loop of the Majlis was highlighted by three successive birdies from the 2nd (her 11th hole).

The Power Hitters @OMEGAGolfDubai ??!@angelyinlol @Brittany1golf & @Annevandam pic.twitter.com/wfYVgWVRYK

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

What happens next though is anybody’s guess. Van Dam won her maiden LET title at the Xiamen International in China last year but has developed an unfortunate reputation since for mixing sublime scoreboard climbs with the nonsensical blowouts.

The final stage of LPGA Q-School is a still fresh and frustrating case in point. After opening with a 68 to share the first round lead in Florida, Van Dam backed up with a soul-destroying 81 before finishing 75-75 and in a tie for 118th place. It means Van Dam is committed to the LET for next season and how she’d love to take a second title into the New Year. She’s certainly trending well – Florida aside – after finishing T-4 and T-3 in the recent Open de France and Indian Open respectively as well as T-23 at the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi.

What a day for @Annevandan!

Superb 2nd round bogey-free 65 (-7) moves her to the top of the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic leaderboard on -10 pic.twitter.com/7jQl8qMizB

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 7, 2017

She could easily have title No.2 already but for an uncooperative putter in France where she missed a bunch of makeables as Christie Kerr won. We can’t confirm if Van Dam used the same putter in Florida but we do know that mallet was sent to golf’s equivalent of the naughty chair afterwards.

“Well, my putter from last week just needed a break. I didn’t putt well at Q-School… so yeah, he couldn’t come this week,” Van Dam joked.

“It’s actually quite funny because I haven’t been putting great at all, like the last half year. I changed putters two days ago. I completely got something else, normally I have face-balance, and now I have toe hang. It’s a blade. Normally I have a mallet. So everything is different. But I like the look of it and it’s going well, so maybe that’s the change this week.”

What was also funny was Van Dam’s post round interview, conducted by Yin at the behest of the LET media team. The banter flowed between the big hitters with Yin recalling the 350-yard bomb Van Dam hooked over the trees on 18 in the first round to leave an 8 iron into the par 5 and which she duly birdied for an opening 69.

Van Dam was asked what her longest drive was and it sparked a fun back-and –forth. “Probably that one on 18. 320 metres, that’s like 370 yards or something [350 yards to save further confusion],” said Van Dam before Yin quickly retorted: “It’s close to 400.” Van Dam: “No, no, that’s 360. I think it’s like 370 metres.” Yin had the last word on the matter: “That’s pretty freaking long. My excuse is that I broke my driver before I came here. It’s a new thing and I need to warm it up, break it in.”

Van Dam admitted the fairway giggles helped: “We had a lot of fun out there today, and yesterday, as well. We were all playing well, all under par for two rounds in a row, and yeah, we all hit it long, so that helps. All play aggressive.”

Van Dam is out in the final threesome at 11.43am Friday with MacDonald and Georgia Hall. It promises to be a rather more serious affair given MacDonald and Hall are still searching for their first LET titles but Van Dam has vowed to keep smiling.

“Like, it’s the two last days of the season, and I hope to just finish up great and hit some more monster drives, hole a few more putts with my new putter and it should be great.”

Indeed it should.

The post Dutch delight as Van Dam fires 65 to lead in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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Welcome to your first OMEGA Dubai Ladies Classic. You must be excited to be here?
It’s pretty amazing. I’ve never been to Dubai before and I always wanted to come play in this event. It’s at the end of the year, so that’s why a lot of players, especially from America, don’t want to play because we just want to be done for the year. But it’s definitely an event that’s been on my bucket list for a long time and just finally nice that it worked out. I feel like I should have been here before because it’s so incredible.

What are your initial impressions of Emirates Golf Club?
It’s awesome. The golf course is great. We finally played all 18 holes now. I’ve also taken in a bunch of the sights: The Burj Khalifa and I’ve gone to the mall and played with the penguins. We’ve done so many cool things. It’s been incredible.

Let’s talk about your year, the highs and the lows?
Well, I started out my year really well. I won the first event on the season [Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic] but then it didn’t really go as well as I would have liked. Obviously having a win early in the season, I was kind of hoping for another win or close finishes and that didn’t happen. But obviously we’re in Dubai and I’ll get another win and it will be great [hopeful laughs]!

What are your ambitions for 2018?
You know, obviously get a win or two would be nice. But yeah, just kind of little goals for myself, personal goals. I would like to be more consistent. I seem to kind of be on a roller coaster ride most times, and that’s never fun.

What about your Christmas plans after the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic?
My husband already bought our Christmas tree while I was gone, so hopefully when I get back we can decorate it together. We only have a couple weeks till Christmas, so I should probably do some shopping too and get some presents under that tree. We bought a new house a couple of weeks ago, so it will be nice to just kind of be in our house and do nothing.

There are a lot of new players breaking through on the men’s tour, but what’s your take on the progression of the women’s game globally?
I think it’s fantastic. The Solheim Cup … I think a lot of people that weren’t maybe golf fans before watched that and they were like, wow, these girls are really good. Having events like that, and then obviously being over here on the LET, it just showcases the best golf in the world. Even on the LPGA, it’s a different player that can win every single week. There’s so many good players and you have to shoot really low scores every day you tee it up to have a chance to win.

Any young players you are excited about?
Just like what Lydia Ko has done, and obviously Michelle Wie who is a little bit older now, everyone is getting younger and younger. Angel Yin is [one to watch]. I’m 32 and I feel like I’m ancient now. I’ve been on Tour for 13 years and these girls coming out at 18, 19 years old, it’s cool to see the game’s still growing.

Lexi Thompson isn’t going too badly either?
Lexi is freaking killing it. It’s cool to see her evolve. She obviously hits it a long, long way. She’s kind of reeled it in and maybe knows not to hit driver on every hole. She hits a lot of 3-woods now and keeps it in play and works out a ton, and that obviously helps her.

Did you ever play with Angel Yin?
I have. I’m actually playing with her the first two days here. She’s super entertaining. Like we’re going to have the best of times the next two days. So we’ll see who can hit it farther!

Are you’re a player that is hard on yourself or are you pretty relaxed whatever you shoot?
I try to keep a good balance. Obviously I’m super competitive and I want to do good every time, but it’s golf. You’re not going to play good every week. It’s cool to be able to go fishing and hang out at my home and then still be competitive and practice enough to still be good to play the game.

The post Lincicome’s roller coaster ride to Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There’s a new name and a new trophy at this week’s OMEGA Dubai Ladies Classic. In-Kyung Kim struggled to get her head around the former on the eve of the Ladies European Tour season-ender – “I was like Masters? No. Championship? No. Classic?” – but has very clear designs on that sparkling new dallah come Saturday afternoon.

“It looks more like the guy’s trophy. Fantastic,” said the reigning British Open champion.

“Look’s like a genie is going to come out of it or something. I kept staring at it [during yesterday’s Pro-Am] on the first tee. Yeah, it’s kind of a piece of art.”

With four-time defending champion and world No.1 Shanshan Feng home in China to receive a civic award, Kim is the only former winner and highest ranked player in the field for the $500,000 LET event. But the world No.8 knows she isn’t going to get her hands on the freshly minted silverware without a scrap, not with two-time major champion Brittany Lincicome, recent Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open winner Aditi Ashok and newly crowned European No.1 and LPGA Tour graduate Georgia Hall all in rich form. Charley Hull, who closed with a 65 around the Majlis to finish runner-up to Feng last December, is another who deserves to be in the title contenders conversation.

“I.K.” Kim finished sixth in her last appearance in Dubai to seal LET rookie honours in 2010, a year after closing with a 68 to hold off fast-finishing Michelle Wie, who fired a 63, for the third of her now four LET titles.

She returns to Dubai after a career year, highlighted by her first major title at Kingsbarns in August and before that her fifth and sixth LPGA Tour titles at the ShopRite LPGA and Marathon Classics.

The 5ft 3in South Korean is certainly battled hardened, not allowing the missed 14-inch putt on the 72nd green that cost her the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration) to define her career.

The 2009 win in Dubai certainly helped shape it and Kim knows what will be needed this week. “I think this golf course, keeping it in the fairway is very important. Some pin positions are really hard to get to. So whoever is bravest, and also plays smart, should be the winner.

“Sometime I plan everything, like how I want to play. But this golf course, when the wind changes…I remember this golf course is one of the golf courses that can be very tough to shoot even par on the back nine when it›s very windy.”

Hall, fresh from securing an LPGA Tour card for 2018, has an unassailable lead in the LET order of merit race. What’s not so clear cut is the rookie race where French leader Camille Chevalier is looking for a top finish in her first Dubai appearance to seal the deal.

The 23-year-old, who claimed her maiden title at last month’s Hero Women’s Indian Open, sits approximately €31,000 ahead of Swede Jenny Haglund with season earning’s of €62,985 from eight starts. But with a winner’s cheque worth US$75,000, or approximately €63,246, any of the other first year members in the field could effectively seal the leading rookie title with a victory in Dubai, if Chevalier missed the cut.

Haglund or third placed Luna Sobron could mathematically overtake Chevalier with a runner-up finish but Chevalier is thinking positive.

“A win would be awesome. If not, a top 10 will be okay,” said Chevalier. “I came here to win. If you don’t come to win, then why do you come?”

The post In-Kyung Kim eyes Classic’s new ‘piece of art’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.