The start of Jessica Korda’s 13th LPGA season remains on hold. According to the LPGA’s website, Korda is no longer in the field for next week’s Honda LPGA Thailand, the second event of the season. It’s the home of her fifth career victory in 2018 and her LPGA member debut in 2011.

Korda announced in early November that she’d step away due to rehabbing a back injury at her doctor’s suggestion.

“Playing anything further would have made my recovery a lot longer,” Korda tweeted when she stepped away, “so per doctor recommendation and talking to my team, we’ve decided that this is the right call. I’m beyond bummed. I haven’t had the most luck when it comes to injuries in my career, nonetheless I’m going to keep on keeping on.”

Korda has battled a lengthy injury history over her career. The 29-year-old missed time earlier in 2022 due to a rib injury. She withdrew six holes into the LPGA’s Drive on Championship in February and returned at the JTBC Classic in late March.

Hi pic.twitter.com/OBlZULnS2F

— Jessica Korda (@Thejessicakorda) November 8, 2022

The six-time winner had an extensive operation in December 2017 to put 27 screws into her mouth to fix a substantial overbite that affected her sleep. She missed the 2017 Solheim Cup earlier in the season due to a left forearm injury.

Korda reflected on how challenging managing her injuries has been following her last victory at the 2021 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

“My family is everything,” Korda said, “They’re my biggest support system. They believe in me more than I believe in myself. They’re always there to pick me up when I’m down.

“Let me tell you, I’ve been down.”

As much as Korda’s battled through her injuries, it hasn’t stopped her from being competitive. She won the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand merely 11 weeks following her reconstructive jaw surgery.

It’s an ability she’ll need to rely on when she returns this year. As of now, Korda sits 19th in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. That spot qualifies for the U.S. in the Solheim Cup by being the top-ranked player not in by Solheim Cup points. The three-time Solheim veteran is eighth in points, six behind Meghan Khang for the final points position.

However, time is more pressing for earning her way into the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown. Currently, Korda’s on the outside looking in. She sits two back of Danielle Kang (17th) in the rankings for the fourth and last spot on Team USA. The final seeding will be confirmed via the Rolex Rankings following the DIO Implant LA Open on April 3.

Three tournaments remain after the Honda LPGA Thailand before International Crown rosters finalize: The HSBC Women’s World Championship March 2-5, LPGA Drive On Championship March 23-26, and the DIO Implant LA Open March 30-April 2. Per the tour’s website, of those three tournaments, Korda is only in the field at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

The post Start to Jessica Korda’s 13th LPGA season still on hold appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Paisley
It’s become a theme in 2021, star players ending surprisingly long victory droughts. Jordan Spieth (Valero Texas Open), Hideki Matsuyama (Masters), Lydia Ko (Lotte Championship), Brooke Henderson (Hugel-Air Premia LA Open) and Hyo Joo Kim (HSBC Women’s World Championship) all have found themselves champions again after long waits to regain their winning form.

On Sunday at the Honda LPGA Thailand, former World No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn joined them, shooting a closing 63 to win by a shot at Siam Country Club and become the first Thai native to win the 15-year-old tournament.

But Jutanugarn’s victory—made even more dramatic after having to wait out a 69-minute weather delay to see if her score would hold up—was particularly inspirational after hearing just how dark things had gotten for the 25-year-old two-time major winner, whose last victory came at the 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open some 1,015 days earlier.

“I just feel so good,” Jutanugarn said at her press conference after winning her 11th career LPGA title. “Not only for a Thai player to win, but I had really tough time last two years. I don’t know how many times I told my psych coach, ‘You know what, I want to rest, I want to stop for a while.’ But every time, I looked at the kids, I wanted to give them inspiration, too. So I felt like, you know what, just don’t give up, do your best, try harder, keep trying, and one day, you will get it.”

Her closest point from walking away from the game was last year when inconsistency with her swing caused to struggle just to post top-10 finishes. Jutanugarn credited her team—she works with Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott—for keeping faith in her regardless of how much she had in herself.

“I would say without them I am not who I am. How many times I just wanted to stop, and I feel it’s so tough for me,” Jutanugarn said. “Pia and Lynn told me this morning that I want you to believe in yourself in the same level they believe in me. That meant so much to me.”

“As a young star, she was experiencing the bad stress of expectations from herself and others,” Nilsson said. “With all the attention, she is figuring out who she is, what makes her happy and what she wants in life and golf.”

Jutanugarn has been talking to Nilsson and Marrriott on the phone every day during the LPGA’s two weeks in Asia. It was Nilsson’s birthday Saturday, and Nilsson asked Jutanugarn for a gift: be fully committed all day. Like the nugget they gave fellow Thai native Patty Tavatanakit before her victory at the ANA Inspiration, it worked wonders.

Jutanugarn started the final round five off Tavatanakit’s lead. She birdied her opening three holes, setting the pace for a six-under 30 front nine. She was part of a cadre of stars climbing up the leader board to pressure Tavatanakit and 18-year-old Atthaya Thitikul, another Thai native trying to make history in the event. Defending champion Amy Yang and former World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu shot 64s to finish at 20 under.

Tavatanakit, who shot a pair of 64s to start the tournament, ultimate fell out of contention with a final-round 70, birdieing her last two holes to join Yang and Ryu in third place.

Jutanugarn, down to the No. 33 player in the world, did not lose steam on the back nine. She birdied the 10th and 12th holes to sit eight under par for the round and 21 under for the tournament. She had putts to tie the lead on the 14th, 17th and 18th, making the final one to get to the clubhouse at 22 under.

The tie was only for a blink, as Thitikul three-putted for her first bogey of the day on the 17th to fall back to 21 under. She teed off on the short par-5 18th, with her average drive of 276 yards putting her in position to reach in two.

Then, the horn blared with bad weather moving in.

While the final two groups had golf left to play, Jutanugarn tried to stay away from everyone. She listened to music near the practice facility until it reopened, her sister Moriya around lending moral support.

When play resumed, Thitikul hit her second shot to the back fringe. She then chipped her third to four feet, setting up a birdie putt that would lead to a playoff, only to miss the putt and finish one back.

Thananuwat Srirasant
Atthaya Thitikul, 18, fell one shot shy of becoming the first Thai native to win the Honda LPGA Thailand.

“That last putt I just feel like, ‘OK, give me a good one and do my best that I can,’ ” Thitikul said.

Like Hannah Green last week, Thitikul missed two short putts on the final two holes to hand the win to the clubhouse leader.

When Jutanugarn realized she won, she broke down and kneeled on the ground, embraced by Moriya. All the emotions of nearly walking away from golf last year welled up within her.

#CheersToTheChampion ?

With her win at the @hondalpgath, Ariya @jutanugarn punched her ticket to the 2022/2023 @diamondresorts Tournament of Champions! ?
#DiamondLPGA pic.twitter.com/LqQwdi88Bj

— LPGA (@LPGA) May 9, 2021

“She said, ‘No matter, I’m always proud of you,’ ” Jutanguarn said of what Moriya told her.

“As a young star, she was experiencing the bad stress of expectations from herself and others,” Nillson said. “With all the attention, she is figuring out who she is, what makes her happy and what she wants in life and golf.”

After the trophy ceremony, Jutanugarn and Thitikul hugged. Like the role model Jutanugarn is to Thai golfers, she told the 18-year-old she should’ve won the tournament with how she handled the pressure. The pride of Thailand golf ended her victory presser with an inspiring message to the kids of Thailand on not giving up.

“Of course, when we have a tough time, sometimes we thinking about giving up,” Jutanugarn said. “At the same times, if you go enough, I think you’re not going to give up. Just be patient with it and believing in yourself. The timing of your life is different, don’t compare yourself to others, don’t keep asking why they play so good, why they win the tournament. Just do your best.”

“One day your turn is going to come.”

It’s a lesson in perseverance we can all take away from her historic accomplishment.

The post Ariya Jutanugarn is an LPGA winner again, confesses she was close to stepping away from the game appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Paisley
This week is the first time since November 2019 that the LPGA will be holding a tournament in Asia. The HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore kicks off a two-event/three-week stretch (originally scheduled for three in three) that marks the tour’s return after officials had to cancel the scheduled spring and fall Asian swings in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While a handful of top American players, including Nelly and Jessica Korda, Lexi Thompson and Jennifer Kupcho, aren’t making the trip, the 69-player field at Sentosa Golf Club has nine of the top 15 on the Rolex Women’s Ranking competing with heightened health and safety measures in place.

The COVID protocols used in the tour’s six U.S. events so far in 2021 have required players, caddies and tour staff to be tested twice before being allowed on the course at a tournament, first at home (a negative test needed to travel), then upon arriving onsite. Players could practice and do anything outdoors until they received a negative result. After that, players were allowed to go to restaurants to pick up to-go orders, but otherwise had to either be at the golf course or wherever they were staying, be it a hotel or an Airbnb.

As outlined by an LPGA spokesperson, players and caddies making the trip across the Pacific (agents and family have been prohibited) all had to take COVID tests in Los Angeles last Friday at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open to be cleared to fly. Each needed to download the app TraceTogether on their smartphones; the nation-state has required everyone in Singapore to have it since last October. They all also had to take another COVID test after arriving at the airport in Singapore or the designated hotel, where the tour has secured rooms on specific floors.

“Life is different with COVID,” said Inbee Park, twice a winner of HSBC title. “We had a 17-and-a-half hour flight from L.A. to here. After that we were sent to hotel and got tested and then another probably 12 to 14 hours in the room quarantined. Probably we spent about 30, 40 hours just indoors.”

Only room service will be allowed for player dining during the evenings. Shuttles will carry players to and from the hotel to the course.

For the following week’s Honda LPGA Thailand tournament, the tour has set up a chartered flight to take players from Singapore to Thailand. There are also designated flights to Thailand from the United States for those only playing at Siam Country Club. No tracing app is required, but all the other regulations will carry over.

“I know it is sometimes tough when you are just stuck in the room and just, you know, there’s nothing you can do,” Park said. “But obviously we are doing it for everyone’s safety and that’s what we need to do. … It’s just something that we need to do in order to play golf tournaments.”

The tour was supposed to go from Thailand to China for the Blue Bay LPGA, but that event was cancelled earlier this year because of COVID concerns.

Upon the resumption of the LPGA schedule in the U.S. at the Pure Silk Championship, there will be another protocol tweak for players at Kingsmill Resort in Virginia. For the first time, the tour will allow limited outdoor dining. Otherwise, the rules remain the same that the players had heading into Los Angeles.

As is the case on the PGA Tour, where commissioner Jay Monahan has encouraged players to get vaccines but will not require them to compete, LPGA chief Mike Whan has taken the same tact. Unlike the PGA Tour, however, the LPGA has not decided whether vaccinated players will be able to bypass weekly testing as the year moves on.

The post As the LPGA returns to Asia for the first time in 17 months, players adjust to a stricter COVID bubble appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
For the second and third time in 2020, the LPGA has had to cancel tournaments that are part of its early-season Asian swing due to concerns over the coronavirus.

On Sunday night, the tour released a statement announcing that the Honda LPGA Thailand, set for Feb. 20-23, and the HSBC Women’s World Championship, scheduled for Feb. 27-March 1 in Singapore, were both postponed. This comes after the tour had previously cancelled the Blue Bay LPGA in China, which was to be played March 5-8.

In a statement, the tour said: “It is always a difficult decision to cancel events, and the LPGA greatly appreciates the understanding and all the efforts made by our title sponsors (Honda and HSBC) as well as IMG to host incredible events for our players. The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority. While we are disappointed that these tournaments will not take place this season, we look forward to returning to Asia soon.”

After the LPGA competes for a second straight week in Australia with the upcoming ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, there will now be a four-week gap in the schedule, before the tour resumes play at the Volvik Founders Cup in Arizona March 19-22.

Hee Young Park won the tour’s third tournament of 2020 on Sunday, taking the ISPS Handa Vic Open title in a sudden-death playoff.

The post LPGA cancels the remaining two Asian swing tournaments due to the coronavirus appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The most talked about story coming out of the Honda LPGA Thailand involved world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Olson. When they celebrated after Olson’s ball hit Jutanugarn’s, keeping it from running far from the hole on 18th green during the second round, conversations on Twitter and beyond popped up about the controversial issue of “backstopping.” Ultimately the LPGA Tour ruled there was no breach of the rule, meaning neither player was penalised.

@GeoffShac @MichaelClayto15 @LPGA @the_fried_egg @BoysBackstop @johnhuggan

At least the fist bump shows you have zero care for the integrity for the rest of the field. #Cheating pic.twitter.com/ShfweJiQ0b

— Duncan French (@Teamfrench23) February 22, 2019

While all of this was going on, another Amy—Amy Yang—was quietly making her way to the top of the leader board at Siam Country Club. It’s a move that has become common for her in this event. With a seven-under 65 on Sunday, the 29-year-old from South Korea won by one stroke, bringing her total number of victories at the Honda LPGA Thailand to three.

It was hot in Thailand. Temperatures were in the 30s °C and the humidity was high all week, and then thunderstorms caused a break in play during the final round.

Yang was paired with Minjee Lee on Sunday. Both started the day at 15 under, but that number plunged lower for Yang early in the round. After putting together a string of five straight birdies on the front nine, Yang turned with a five-under 31. She cooled off on the back nine. After a bogey at 14, she and Lee were tied. A birdie at 16 put Yang back out from by one, and when both players finished par-birdie, Yang had won her fourth career LPGA title.

With the $240,000 winner’s cheque, Yang is a little more than $100,000 shy of $9 million dollar mark for career earnings.

When asked why she has had such success in Thailand—in addition to the wins, Yang has three other top-10s in the tournament—the champion said she wasn’t sure. As for why things came together for her this week, she had a pretty simple answer: “[When] hitting and putting like works well together, the score goes low.” Yang, who has been on the LPGA Tour since 2008, missed a total of 13 greens during the tournament and averaged 28 putts per round.

Despite her impressive record in Thailand, Yang said she was still nervous playing the final round.

“I was honestly very nervous, especially last three holes,” said Yang. To cure the nerves, she said she told herself: “Just be patient, do your best. Just when nervous thinking rises, just let it go.”

The post After rules controversy dominates headlines, the Honda LPGA Thailand gets a familiar winner in Amy Yang appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Jessica Korda didn’t have an ideal off-season. Instead of spending her time traveling, or working out, or working on her game like most LPGA players, she had to undergo jaw surgery in December, an elaborate procedure that required her nose and jaw to be broken and 27 screws placed to reset all the bones. The goal was to fix chronic, painful headaches that Korda has been trying to manage for years, but it meant being unable to pick up a club until mid-January.

Of course, you wouldn’t have known it from her play this past week at the Honda LPGA Thailand, Korda’s first start of the 2018 season. Despite feeling somewhat underprepared, and still having numbness in the face, the 24-year-old was finally headache-free and anxious to see how it might effect her on the course.

“This is the most holes I’ve played in a row since CME [Tour Championship],” Korda said. “I didn’t know how I was going to do. I was just coming in here just happy to be able to play and be able to be back out. I’ve missed it. It was hard sitting home watching everyone on TV.”

After rounds of 66-62-68-67 at Siam Country Club, which included 25 birdies and three eagles, Korda finished the week at 25 under, a tournament record that helped her win by four strokes over Lexi Thompson and Moriya Jutanugarn. This is Korda’s first win on the LPGA since 2015 at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and the fifth of her career.

Thananuwat Srirasant

Korda was paired with Jutanugarn, who grew up in Thailand, in the final group. The crowds are always large and loud in Thailand, but those following the final group was even more intense because of Jutanugarn.

“I felt at one point I was in the trees on 9 and hit a punch out into the bunker and I felt like Tiger Woods,” Korda said. “All these crowds are coming in right behind me. I was like, This is really cool. It’s all really fun playing in front of crowds like this. I really, really enjoyed it.”

What made the win more special is that this event was the first event Korda played as a member of the LPGA Tour, back in 2011. Winning on the first course she played as a member of the tour, in front of a huge crowd, just two and a half months after surgery had Korda smiling so much after the round, she had to take a break from photos to rest her jaw.

“Coming in after surgery I didn’t know what to expect,” said Korda after the win. “I didn’t know how I was going to be received. Obviously when I look at myself I still don’t feel like I look like myself yet. That will come. I’m just very, very happy. All the hard work I was putting in in the off-season when I could has paid off rather quickly.”

Though Korda was happily surprised at how well the event went, her competition is prepared for anything when it comes to the talented 24-year-old.

“I don’t think any of us doubt how talented Jessica is,” said Lexi Thompson. “I think it shows coming out after surgery and that few-month break she had how much talent she actually has. She’s a player to always look out for.”

The post Jessica Korda caps an emotional return after jaw surgery with a victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
If any golfer wanted to avoid another question regarding the Rules of Golf, it’s Lexi Thompson after all that transpired at the 2017 ANA Inspiration. But it was likely inevitable that the 23-year-old would face a situation as some point, and that some point came Friday during the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand.

On the 15th hole at Siam Country Club, Thompson found her ball near an advertising sign, which she moved. At some LPGA events these signs are considered moveable obstructions, at others, they’re temporary immovable obstructions. Unfortunately for Thompson, playing in her second start of the 2018 season, at the Honda they were immovable, resulting in a two-stroke penalty for her breach that gave her a 68 on the day rather than a 66.

Making the situation a little more unusual is the fact that Thompson wasn’t assessed the penalty until she was in the scorers’ tent. Thompson finished her round unaware that she had broken a rule. But prior to signing her scorecard, a rules official informed her of the infraction. Instead of being four shots behind leader Jessica Korda, Thompson stands six back at 10 under.

The LPGA explained the ruling in this official statement:

“During the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand, Lexi Thompson incurred a two-stroke penalty on hole 15 for breach of the Local Rule regarding temporary immovable obstructions as prescribed in Appendix 1. The Supplementary Rules of Play for the Honda LPGA Thailand state that advertising boards are temporary immovable obstructions.”

The situation, of course, brings back the bad memories of the 2017 ANA where Thompson incurred a four-shot penalty during the final round for not replacing her ball correctly on a putting green during the third round. Thompson lost the lead and eventually the tournament. The first two strokes were for not replacing the ball, and the other two strokes were for signing an incorrect scorecard. Thanks to a USGA rules change that allows the implementation of a local rule, those second two strokes would now not be applied.

The LPGA uses that local rule, so even if Thompson had signed her card before being made aware of her rules infraction in Thailand, she wouldn’t have received the extra two-stroke penalty like she did at the ANA.

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