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A seven-time major winner and the 2016 Olympic gold medallist, Park wrote: “We are thrilled to announce that we will be welcoming new member of our family. Thank you all for so much support and love.”

Park, 34, did not share when she’s due, but the tour’s maternity leave is as good as it’s ever been. Current tour regulations state that players can take up to two years’ leave. Once they return, they’ll have the same status that they had when they started their leave. This policy was put into effect in 2019, in part thanks to other LPGA players who had children. Karine Icher worked hard to have the policy changed so that tour pros wouldn’t see their careers harmed by taking time after giving birth.

RELATED: Inbee Park ends two-year title drought
Olympics on Inbee Park’s mind

Similarly, Stacy Lewis worked with the USGA in 2019 to help update the governing body’s maternity policy regarding its championships. That year, Lewis petitioned the USGA to play in the US Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston after having given birth to her daughter, Chesnee, in 2018. Because Lewis took time off after having her baby, her World Ranking had fallen, which meant she no longer was fully exempt into the championship despite being ranked high enough at the time she took maternity leave to have automatically qualified. The USGA accepted Lewis’ petition and went on to update its maternity leave policy. Now, if a player goes on maternity leave and would have been exempt into the US Women’s Open, she is exempt the following year.

The post LPGA legend Inbee Park announces via social media she’s pregnant appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Park followed and opening 69 with a 67 Friday and is in fourth place, two shots behind Women’s PGA Championship winner In Gee Chun.

Still, it’s been a while for the 34-year-old Korean. Yes, she has amassed 28 other top-10 finishes to set alongside those Grand Slam wins, but the last of those victories arrived back in 2015 at the Women’s Open at Turnberry. The well-earned respect from her fellow competitors will surely remain, but the fear factor that took her to World No. 1 on four separate occasions cannot be what it once was.

Since she withdrew prior to the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, Park has played five times without any great distinction. Three cuts have been missed — including the last major, the Evian Championship and last week at the Scottish Open — her best finish a T-15 at the Shoprite Classic. Her most recent LPGA win was in March last year at the Kia Classic.

Even the putting for which Park is rightly lauded hasn’t been quite what it was. Not according to her anyway.

“Believe it or not, I’ve been striking the ball so well all year,” she claimed. “But my putter has been just not good at all. I’ve had a lot of three-putts and been missing every single opportunity on the greens. So I think just the putter has been a little bit different this week. Everything else is the same, same ball striking, same swing, everything. I’m just rolling in a few more putts, maybe two or three more per day.”

None of which seemed to be bothering the ever-serene Park at the end of a day when she shot a 67 that had clearly pleased her. Five birdies dotted a scorecard marred by only a single bogey, a feat she also achieved during her opening 69. There was a bigger difference than that two-shot improvement though.

“It was a little less windy today, a little bit easier to play than yesterday,” Park said. “I hit a lot of good shots out there today. My ball-striking was my strength. I don’t remember chipping at all today. So I was hitting a lot of greens and gave my myself a lot of opportunities at birdie. I’m thinking my putter was good, too. There were so many opportunities. It was fun playing like that. Yesterday I was in six bunkers. So I was able to avoid a lot of them today. Today, just one.”

Ominously for her fellow challengers, Park followed her display of pleasure with an acknowledgement of her position with two (increasingly blustery) rounds to play on a links course that is seeing its first Women’s British Open after hosting 16 of the male versions. Class players tend to win at Muirfield and Park more than fits the bill in an environment she at first struggled in but has grown to love.

“I think I’m in a good position, obviously,” she said. “And I feel like my game is in good form. I’ve just got to keep doing what I have been doing today. The first few years I just struggled with links golf so much. It was such a different golf. And I didn’t know if I was enjoying myself because it was always rainy, always windy. I was miserable. But then after a few years, I really started enjoying links golf, and it’s just beautiful out here. I’ve became falling in love with it more and more. And it’s definitely one of my favorite places to come and play.”

Okay, what would victory here this week mean? For years now, Park has been hinting at early retirement, so would a win here represent a crowning glory? Or would such a feat merely galvanise her to go for more?

“I think that winning here will be a very good way to saying a farewell,” she said, briefly hinting at retirement from a game that has seen her win 27 times and amass $18,197,343 on the LPGA alone. “I think it’s definitely one of my dreams to do it. But I still have a little bit left in me, so I’m trying to keep that going for now.”

Two more days might just be enough.

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By Keely Levins
A playoff seemed inevitable at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Celine Boutier was in the locker room at Seaview Resort at 14 under. Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park, both at 13 under, were coming down the 18th at the Bay Course, a short par 5 that holds the opportunity for eagles, let alone birdies. After hitting their approach shots, Park had an eight-footer to tie Boutier, Ko a seven-footer.

Park’s putting is so good, Boutier felt certain a birdie was as good as made: “I was like, I shouldn’t even watch it, it’s going to go in,” Boutier said. Remarkably, Park missed. Then Ko stepped up to her putt. Certainly, both the No. 3 and No. 2 players in the world wouldn’t miss, consecutively?

But they did, Ko’s putt moving left of the hole. And with that Boutier had won her second LPGA Tour event. No one was more in shocked than she.

“I was already in my mind going into the playoff and having to prepare for that,” Boutier said. “And then just the fact that neither Jin Young or Inbee birdied 18 really left me, I don’t know, kind of stunned. I’m still a little bit surprised about it.”

Even so, Boutier deserves full credit for her win, despite the unlikely misses of Ko and Park. The 27-year-old from France hit all but two fairways on Sunday and needed just 26 putts to shoot her final-round 63 in the 54-hole event.

Though it’s been more than two years since Boutier’s first LPGA win, the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open, if you look at Boutier’s past few weeks, this win isn’t a surprise at all.

Sarah Stier

Boutier played on Europe’s Solheim Cup team in their victory over Team USA at Inverness Club. Boutier went 1-1-1 in her matches. Though not as dominant as her 4-0-0 showing two years prior at Gleneagles, she played well and scoring points for the winning team built her confidence.

“I think it gave me a lot of energy. So, my next tournament after the Solheim was the French Open, which I won, too, so it kind of help me for the French Open,” Boutier said. “And then the French Open helped me get more confidence coming into these weeks on the LPGA. I just feel like I’m having some really good momentum, and I hope to keep going until the end of the season.”

Winning the Lacoste Ladies French Open was Boutier’s third Ladies European Tour victory. With her second LPGA title, she ties Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Anne Marie Palli as the winningest Frenchwomen in LPGA history.

Boutier, who graduated Duke University in 2016, is humble about the accomplishment.

“Patricia has won a major, so I feel like I’m not even at that level yet,” Boutier said. “But it’s just so great to be able to tie them. We’re not that many French players out here on tour, so it’s just always amazing and super proud to be representing my country every week, and hopefully a lot more players from France are coming.”

For now, she’s trying to come to terms with what happened on the 18th.

“Just unreal,” Boutier said. “I still can’t believe that they both missed.”

The post Celine Boutier wins the ShopRite LPGA with a closing 63 and some unlikely help from a pair of major winners appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As was the case with the men’s Olympic competition, International Golf Federation officials have appropriately given the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the 2021 Olympic women’s golf tournament to a native of the host country.

Japan’s Mone Inami will be the first player off when the women’s event begins on Wednesday at Kasumigaseki Country Club at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. eastern time Wednesday in the U.S.). Inami will be playing in the threesome with Maria Fassi of Mexico and Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland. (Side note: You might recall that Sepp Straka was in the opening pairing of the men’s tournament and shot a 63 to take the early lead last week.)

There are several interesting pairings to follow, most notably the threesome of Inbee Park, Lydia Ko and Shanshan Feng that tees off on Day 1 at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday night U.S. time. The trio from South Korea, New Zealand and China won gold, silver and bronze at the 2016 Rio Games.

As for the four Americans competing in the women’s event, World No. 1 Nelly Korda tees off at 7:14 p.m. Wednesday night U.S. time (paired with Nasa Hataoka and Jin Young Ko), with Lexi Thompson following her at 7:25 p.m. (with Brooke Henderson and U.S. Women’s Open champ Yuka Saso). Jessica Korda tees off at 9:03 p.m. and Danielle Kang has a 9:36 p.m. tee time.

ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Amundi Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee of Australia are paired together along with 2020 AIG Women’s British Open winner Sophia Popov. They tee off at 9:14 p.m. Tuesday in the U.S.

Here are all the first and second round tee times at Kasumigaseki Country Club:

ROUND 1
First Tee

7:30 a.m./6:30 p.m.
Mone INAMI, Japan
Maria FASSI, Mexico
Albane VALENZUELA, Switzerland

7:41 a.m./6:41 p.m.
Kelly TAN, Malaysia
Alena SHARP, Canada
Anne VAN DAM, The Netherlands

7:52 a.m./6:52 p.m.
Leona MAGUIRE, Ireland
Bianca PAGDANGANAN, Philippines
Matilda CASTREN, Finland

8:03 a.m./7:03 p.m.
Mel REID, Great Britain
Caroline MASSON, Germany
Anna NORDQVIST, Sweden

8:14 a.m./7:14 p.m.
Nasa HATAOKA, Japan
Jin Young KO, South Korea
Nelly KORDA, USA

8:25 a.m./7:25 p.m.
Brooke HENDERSON, Canada
Lexi THOMPSON, USA
Yuka SASO, Philippines

8:41 a.m./7:41 p.m.
Inbee PARK, South Korea
Lydia KO, New Zealand
Shanshan FENG, China

8:52 a.m./7:52 p.m.
Sanna NUUTINEN, Finland
Maria TORRES, Puerto Rico
Tiffany CHAN, Hong Kong

9:03 a.m./8:03 p.m.
Klara SPILKOVA, Czech Republic
Manon DE ROEY, Belgium
Christine WOLF, Austria

9:14 a.m./8:14 p.m.
Maha HADDIOUI, Morocco
Lucrezia COLOMBOTTO ROSSO, Italy
Daniela DARQUEA, Ecuador

9:25 a.m./8:25 p.m.
Nanna KOERSTZ MADSEN, Denmark
Aditi ASHOK, India
Giulia MOLINARO, Italy

9:36 a.m./8:36 p.m.
Wei-Ling HSU, Chinese Taipei
Azahara MUNOZ, Spain
Jodi EWART SHADOFF, Great Britain

9:47 a.m./8:47 p.m.
Xiyu LIN, China
Emily Kristine PEDERSEN, Denmark
Madelene SAGSTROM, Sweden

10:03 a.m./9:03 p.m.
Jessica KORDA, USA
Celine BOUTIER, France
Gaby LOPEZ, Mexico Gaby Mexico

10:14 a.m./9:14 p.m.
Minjee LEE, Australia
Patty TAVATANAKIT, Thailand
Sophia POPOV, Germany

10:25 a.m./9:25 p.m.
Ariya JUTANUGARN, Thailand
Hyojoo KIM, South Korea
Carlota CIGANDA, Spain

10:36 a.m./9:36 p.m.
Danielle KANG, USA
Hannah GREEN, Australia
Sei Young KIM, South Korea

10:47 a.m./9:47 p.m.
Min LEE, Chinese Taipei
Stephanie MEADOW, Ireland
Perrine DELACOUR, France

10:58 a.m./9:58 p.m.
Mariajo URIBE, Colombia
Pia BABNIK, Slovenia
Magdalena SIMMERMACHER, Argentina

11:09 a.m./10:09 p.m.
Diksha DAGAR, India
Kim METRAUX, Switzerland
Tonje DAFFINRUD, Norway

ROUND 2
First Tee

7:30 a.m./6:30 p.m.
Nanna KOERSTZ MADSEN, Denmark
Aditi ASHOK, India
Giulia MOLINARO, Italy

7:41 a.m./6:41 p.m.
Wei-Ling HSU, Chinese Taipei
Azahara MUNOZ, Spain
Jodi EWART SHADOFF, Great Britain

7:52 a.m./6:52 p.m.
Xiyu LIN, China
Emily Kristine PEDERSEN, Denmark
Madelene SAGSTROM, Sweden

8:03 a.m./7:03 p.m.
Jessica KORDA, USA
Celine BOUTIER, France
Gaby LOPEZ, Mexico Gaby Mexico

8:14 a.m./7:14 p.m.
Minjee LEE, Australia
Patty TAVATANAKIT, Thailand
Sophia POPOV, Germany

8:25 a.m./7:25 p.m.
Ariya JUTANUGARN, Thailand
Hyojoo KIM, South Korea
Carlota CIGANDA, Spain

8:41 a.m./7:41 p.m.
Danielle KANG, USA
Hannah GREEN, Australia
Sei Young KIM, South Korea

8:52 a.m./7:52 p.m.
Min LEE, Chinese Taipei
Stephanie MEADOW, Ireland
Perrine DELACOUR, France

9:03 a.m./8:03 p.m.
Mariajo URIBE, Colombia
Pia BABNIK, Slovenia
Magdalena SIMMERMACHER, Argentina

9:14 a.m./8:14 p.m.
Diksha DAGAR, India
Kim METRAUX, Switzerland
Tonje DAFFINRUD, Norway

9:25 a.m./8:25 p.m.
Mone INAMI, Japan
Maria FASSI, Mexico
Albane VALENZUELA, Switzerland

9:36 a.m./8:36 p.m.
Kelly TAN, Malaysia
Alena SHARP, Canada
Anne VAN DAM, The Netherlands

9:47 a.m./8:47 p.m.
Leona MAGUIRE, Ireland
Bianca PAGDANGANAN, Philippines
Matilda CASTREN, Finland

10:03 a.m./9:03 p.m.
Mel REID, Great Britain
Caroline MASSON, Germany
Anna NORDQVIST, Sweden

10:14 a.m./9:14 p.m.
Nasa HATAOKA, Japan
Jin Young KO, South Korea
Nelly KORDA, USA

10:25 a.m./9:25 p.m.
Brooke HENDERSON, Canada
Lexi THOMPSON, USA
Yuka SASO, Philippines

10:36 a.m./9:36 p.m.
Inbee PARK, South Korea
Lydia KO, New Zealand
Shanshan FENG, China

10:47 a.m./9:47 p.m.
Sanna NUUTINEN, Finland
Maria TORRES, Puerto Rico
Tiffany CHAN, Hong Kong

10:58 a.m./9:58 p.m.
Klara SPILKOVA, Czech Republic
Manon DE ROEY, Belgium
Christine WOLF, Austria

11:09 a.m./10:09 p.m.
Maha HADDIOUI, Morocco
Lucrezia COLOMBOTTO ROSSO, Italy
Daniela DARQUEA, Ecuador

The post Tokyo Olympics women’s tee times: Starting times and pairings for the first and second rounds appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Shane Ryan
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — In May 2020, when Danielle Kang learned that qualifying for the Olympic golf tournament had been extended 15 months due to COVID-19, she panicked. And then she cried. At that point, she had mathematically secured her spot to play in Tokyo, and the extension in essence had snatched her dream away from her. It meant so much to her that the idea that she could achieve what she called her “life goal,” have it taken from her and then fail to achieve it again was devastating … even though it was only hypothetical.

Kang’s story has a happy ending. She played on when the LPGA resumed its season last summer and has secured her spot in Tokyo yet again. And it’s her passion for the event, and the passion of her fellow pros, that seems so out of place if your only experience with the confluence of golf and the Olympics has come from the men’s side.

One of the biggest post-U.S. Open stories is the ongoing trickle of men who are choosing not to compete in the Olympics after men’s qualifying closed on Sunday. Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott took their names out of the running early in 2021, but recently Tokyo has lost Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer. As John Feinstein wrote in March, even those who end up making the trip might not necessarily be over the moon about it, and the Olympics don’t register on the same level as a major in golf. With a month and a day left before the start of the Games, we probably haven’t seen the end of the exodus.

Which makes it at least a little strange that at Atlanta Athletic Club, the site of this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, not only are the women in qualifying position excited to play in the Olympics, but the race for the final spots—women’s qualifying ends on Sunday—is one of the most compelling narratives of the week.

The main drama centers on the U.S. and South Korea contingents. Both countries are eligible for four spots in the Olympic field since they have at least that many players ranked inside the top 15 of the Rolex Rankings. In each case, the top three are secure: Jin Young Ko, Inbee Park and Sei Young Kim for Korea; and Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson for the U.S. (Thompson loves the Olympics so much that after competing in Rio, she got a tattoo of the Olympic rings.) It’s the fourth spot where the intrigue is brewing—on the Korean side, Hyo-Joo Kim is attempting to hold off a number of her compatriots, while Jessica Korda has to defend her spot against American challengers like Ally Ewing, Jennifer Kupcho and Austin Ernst.

Stuart Franklin
After competing in the Rio Olympics in 2016, Lexi Thompson got a tattoo of the Olympic rings as a reminder of her play.

On Tuesday, when a number of the players in qualifying position spoke to the media, there was a marked contrast in how the Olympics were discussed. While the conversation on among the men has been laced with hesitancy, for the women, there is unabashed excitement.

“To be able to achieve what I wanted to achieve, being on the Olympic team for the second time of my career, it has been a very big goal of my career,” said Inbee Park, the 2016 gold medalist. “I know a lot of Korean girls, I think it’s one of their most wanted goals to be on the team. For me as well, I’ve achieved a lot in golf, won a lot of majors, won a lot of tournaments, but winning the gold medal was something really different.”

Ko, ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings, brightened up instantly at the very end of her press conference when the topic of the Olympics came up.

“Yes!” she chirped, practically hopping with energy. “It’s really tough to get to the Tokyo Olympics, especially the Korean team, because everyone knows Korean players playing every week are really good. Everyone is like, perfect players. So it was hard to get in there, but I made it. I’m so happy.”

Kim, who has secured her spot as the third player from Korea, said that making the Olympics and representing her country was her “biggest wish.” Meanwhile, the Korda sisters stressed that they were focused on this week, but each lamented the fact that their parents couldn’t come along to enjoy the experience in Tokyo if they were to both make the U.S. team.

It was Kang, though, who was the most effusive about the reality of playing at the Olympics.

“I can’t speak for what the Olympics mean for a lot of people, but for me it’s everything,” she said. “Ever since I trained Tae Kwon Do to be an Olympian, the Olympics have been my dream … it’s something I’ve wanted to achieve all my life.”

Thananuwat Srirasant
Danielle Kang is grateful that the extended qualifying period didn’t prevent her from making the American Olympic team.

When asked how to explain the difference in perspective between the men and women, Kang declined to speculate. Park could only point to the scheduling issues inherent to the men’s game (the Open Championship is being played two weeks before and the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin three weeks after).

Perhaps it’s that, and perhaps the contrast in outlook goes deeper. In Atlanta, it was clear that the women appreciate and respect the history and stature of the Olympics, and are filled with excitement at the prospect of competing, for reasons that simply haven’t resonated with the men. For all the negative press surrounding golf in Tokyo, the Olympic spirit still exists if you know where to look.

The post On the Olympics, LPGA stars paint a major contrast with the men 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 Kent Paisley
The Hollywood sign looms large over Wilshire Country Club, where the LPGA’s Hugel-Air Premia LA Open begins on Wednesday. It’s apropos of the drama that could be playing out this week and throughout the spring and summer on the LPGA Tour.

Since July 2019, Jin Young Ko has held the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Women’s Rankings, the stretch including 82 weeks of active play and eight weeks when the rankings were frozen during the COVID-19 hiatus. Yet her nearest rival, World No. 2 Inbee Park, has been steadily creeping closer to Ko on the points list in recent weeks. Park, who won her 22nd career LPGA title at the Kia Classic last month, trails Ko by an average of .67 points after opening the season 2.51 points behind. In addition to her Kia win, Park was T-7 at the ANA Inspiration and tied for runner-up last week at the Lotte Championship.

It isn’t just Park who is putting heat on Ko. Sei Young Kim and Nelly Korda, Nos. 3 and 4 in the latest Rolex Ranking, have both gotten off to solid starts in 2021. Kim also finished T-2 at the Lotte and T-3 at the ANA, and has posted top-25s in 17 of her last 19 starts dating back to October 2019.

“Yeah, definitely that’s my biggest goal, and I keep push myself,” said Kim, a 13-time tour winner, of becoming World No. 1. “Yeah, I wish I could reach what I goal this year.”

Korda, also T-2 last week, won earlier this year at the Gainbridge LPGA, was T-3 at ANA and T-10 at Kia. She’s the trying to become the first U.S. player to reach No. 1 since Stacy Lewis in 2014.

“It’s a cool accomplishment to be the highest-ranked American, but definitely my No. 1 goal as a professional golfer is to be the No. 1 golfer in the world,” Korda said early last year.

All three golfers will be competing this week in Los Angeles, the tournament that started in 2018 but was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic having 15 of the top 18 players in the world in the field.

Ko has been No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s Rankings since July 2019. Jed Jacobsohn

MORE: Lydia Ko ends winless drought with romp at Lotte Championship

While the race for No. 1 is tightening, it’s not as if Ko is making it easy for her rivals to continue their pursuit. The 25-year-old from South Korea has finished in the top seven in three of her four starts in 2021, with two solo fourth-place finishes at the Gainbridge LPGA and Kia Classic.

Ko did not return to the United States when the LPGA Tour initially resumed play last summer, competing on the KLPGA Tour until eventually making the trip from her home country in November. At that time, it was Kim who crept up on Ko’s lead at No. 1 by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA and the Pelican Women’s Championship in consecutive starts. But Ko responded with a runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open and a victory at the CME Group Tour Championship. By taking the $1 million check in the season-ending tournament, Ko claimed the 2020 money title in four starts.

This week, Ko can lean on good vibes from her previous starts at Wilshire. She finished T-5 and T-2 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, hinting that the venue might be one where she can hold her own.

“I’m just trying to play my game, and focus on my game, not the other players,” Ko said on Tuesday. “Even Sei Young, or Inbee, or Nelly, or the other players, I don’t care really.”

Maybe she doesn’t, but those giving chase do. And they’re not likely to give up until they catch her.

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By Tod Leonard
CARLSBAD, Calif.—With 21 wins on the LPGA Tour, the latest coming on Sunday in the Kia Classic, Inbee Park can play in just about any women’s golf tournament in the world if she wants to. Except for one.

Even as the reigning gold medalist from the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, Park couldn’t count on being in Japan, either in 2020, when the Games were originally scheduled, or when they were postponed until this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, when COVID-19 hit last March and would eventually wipe out a number of events on the LPGA schedule in 2020, Park found herself outside of the bubble in qualifying for the Olympics, and she was running out of time to catch up. There were four South Korean compatriots ahead of Park in the Rolex World Rankings, and the max from any one country is four.

Some golfers, like Dustin Johnson, find the Olympics too much of a hassle or a scheduling burden. Not Park, who’s never experienced anything like standing on the podium and hearing her national anthem.

“If there was no Olympics, I don’t know,” Park said of whether she might still be competing. “I’m asking the same question.”

Always surrounded by talk of retirement because of the extensive time she takes off and a trophy case that seems to hardly need any more hardware, Park saw a repeat appearance in the Olympics as her biggest challenge. Great thing for her, bad for her competitive peers.

Just before COVID-19 shut down the world, Park captured the Australian Women’s Open in February 2020, and after she returned to the LPGA in October, Park posted six top-10s, including a pair of runners-up.

That run vaulted her to fourth in the World Rankings, and her standing will only grew stronger with her victory Sunday in the Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club. Competing for the first time since taking three months off, Park went wire-to-wire for the first time in her career, She closed with a two-under-par 70 to record a 14-under and win by five shots over Lexi Thompson (69) and Amy Olson (68).

Donald Miralle
Lexi Thompson tees off the first hole during the final round of the Kia Classic.

Motivation, Park said, “could be anything. It could be just like this week. The Kia Classic, I came close to winning, but I didn’t win. So I want to win this week.”

Three times Park had finished second in the Kia, including twice at Aviara, where the event has been played since 2013. She never gave this one a real chance to slip away, starting on Thursday with a 66 score in cool, wet and windy conditions, to Sunday, where she forged a seven-shot lead at one point. Park suffered only two bogeys in the tournament’s first 65 holes, and though she wobbled slightly with two bogeys on the back nine on Sunday, she answered that by draining a 40-foot eagle putt after driving the green on the par-4 16th.

Park, of course, looked like her pulse never quickened.

“Everybody asks me like, ‘Do you still get nervous?’ Yes, of course,” Park said with a smile. “ ‘You look so comfortable. Are you comfortable?’ I’m like, no!”

Olson, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open runner-up who was playing in her second event of the season, had the best round among the pursuers with a 68 on Sunday, but joked that she never considered that Park would falter.

“Yeah, I did not really think much about Inbee,” Olson said. “She was kind of doing her own thing and playing her own golf course. She obviously played phenomenal this week.”

The 32-year-old Park continues to make her mark in the LPGA record books. With her 21st win, she passed Laura Davies and current player Cristie Kerr on the all-time victory list, moving into a tie with the late Marilyn Smith, one of the original founders of the LPGA. By earning $270,000, the LPGA Hall of Famer became only the fourth player on the tour to surpass $17 million in career earnings.

One thing that Park says does not motivate her: catching her idol Se Ri Pak’s LPGA total of 25 wins, the most by a South Korean.

“To beat someone’s record. I’m never playing golf for that reason,” Park said.

Chasing her own achievements in motivation enough.

The post With Olympics on her mind, Inbee Park takes her 21st LPGA title in Kia Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Angela Stanford has been on the LPGA Tour for two decades, but it wasn’t until this 20th season, at age 43, that she finally got to win with her parents on site. To make it even sweeter, the win came in their home state of Texas.

Stanford’s victory at the Volunteers of America Classic outside of Dallas on Sunday was her seventh career tour title. And she did it holding off a daunting leaderboard that included Inbee Park (No. 5 in the world), So Yeon Ryu (No. 15) and Jin Young Ko (No. 1). Stanford’s seven-under 277 total was good enough for a two-shot victory over Ryu, Park and Yealimi Noh, which felt like it was going to be hers for the majority of the back nine.

While everyone else in contention seemed to struggle to post a low number, Stanford shot a four-under 67, with a stretch on the back nine starting on the 13th that included four birdies in five holes. The rest of the players in the top 10 shot one under or worse on the final round.

How did the 43-year-old conquer Old American Golf Club? In part, because she’s a native. Stanford is from Fort Worth, about 45 minutes away. Knowing how to play golf in Texas in December is a skill. All week, players were bundled up in fleece and down jackets, wind chills bringing temps into the 30s. Some said it was the coldest conditions they’d ever played in. Yet having grown up playing golf in Texas, Stanford knew how to handle it—something that will likely serve her next week as well as the U.S. Women’s Open is held a few hours south in Houston at Champions Golf Club.

“It was windy, it was cold, and I think growing up in Texas you have to play in a little bit of cold in the off season, so I knew … it was harder than I thought it was going to be this week,” Stanford said. “The course played really tough but, it just felt like Texas this week, so I was really comfortable out there.”

Playing in the cold isn’t just about learning how to swing with a lot of layers on, it’s also about commitment to club selection. When it’s cold, you’re hitting a lot more club than you’d be hitting in July.

“I told my caddie on No. 1, we hit 7-wood into 1 today, I said, It’s really hard to commit to a club that you never thought you’d hit into a green. We hit 9-irons and 8-irons and wedges into 1 last year, so I think just being in December and it being cold and the wind coming from a different direction that made it hard,” Stanford said.

Stanford also credits a short-game overhaul for her success. Though the veteran won her first major in 2018, the Evian Championship, she struggled in 2019. She missed 10 cuts of the 22 events she played that season, and never finished inside the top 20. It was frustrating.

“After the major, it would have been easy to be satisfied, and I think I was for a little bit. But then there’s just something about bad golf. I don’t like bad golf,” Stanford said.

Chuck Burton
Stanford won for the seventh time in her LPGA career, but the first in which her parents were at the tournament watching.

With the help of her coach Todd Kolb, she went to work, admitting that she’s spent her entire career relying on good ball-striking, without ever really knowing how to properly hit short game shots.

“I think mechanically I’ve always been pretty average when it comes to chipping and putting,” Stanford said. “My ball-striking has carried me for 20 years. And I think that’s why I haven’t been more consistent.”

She says now, she’s starting to understand it. She’s learned how to hit the high, soft chip—a shot she didn’t know how to really hit before. And they’ve worked on making sure her hands don’t get too far away from her body during the putting stroke. Clearly, the hard work is paying off. Not only did she win in Texas, she’s had other good results in 2020: T-3 at the Arkansas Championship and T-6 at the Pelican Women’s Championship the start before this week being the highlights.

“I just felt like if I’m getting close to the end of my career, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned,” Stanford said. “I want to find out, if I chip it the best I can, if I putt it the best I can, if I hit it the best I can, what am I capable of before I’m done.”

She’ll be an assistant captain to Pat Hurst for Team USA at the Solheim Cup in 2021 along with Michelle Wie West. Stanford has played in the Solheim Cup six times. After this win, many have been prompted to ask, is she going to make it seven? For now, Stanford says she’s happy to be in her assistant title, and doesn’t want to think that far ahead to the possibility of playing. Instead, she’s soaking up this moment where her parents finally got to see her win.

“I couldn’t even look over at my mom coming up 18 because I was starting to get teary-eyed. I’m like, Just don’t look over there, don’t look over there. I would have lost it if I would have looked over there again,” Stanford said.

Her mom’s breast cancer, which was in remission for eight years, returned in 2018 and metastasized in her bones. Though that caused her to miss the win at Evian, she was right there for this one, waiting by the 18th green to hug her daughter, a winner again on the LPGA Tour.

The post Angela Stanford does the unlikely: beats a stacked leader board to win in Texas at age 43 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
ADELAIDE, Australia — She didn’t quite finish as she started, but the ending was sweet enough for Inbee Park at the ISPA Handa Women’s Australian Open. Three days after beginning her opening round by holing-out a wedge for an eagle 2 on the first hole, the 31-year-old South Korean strolled to victory on a blustery Sunday at Royal Adelaide. Park’s closing one-over-par 74 was enough to maintain her overnight three-shot edge and clinch her 20th victory on the LPGA Tour.

Closest to Park’s winning aggregate score of 14-under 278 was American Amy Olson, who finished strongly with a 70 on a day when only one player, Cristie Kerr, shot in the 60s (69). France’s Perrine Delacour, the leading money-winner on last year’s Symetra Tour, was third at 10 under after a closing 73 marred by a triple-bogey 7 on the 14th hole.

It was, however, Park’s day, Park’s week and Park’s tournament from the moment her ball disappeared into the cup on the first green Thursday morning. Almost two years on from her previous victory, this was the LPGA Hall of Famer and former World No. 1 back to something like her distinguished best.

Park’s putting, something of a bugaboo recently but normally a strength, was the biggest difference between her and the rest. Time after time she holed out from six to eight feet for pars—most notably on the sixth, eighth and 12th greens—during a final round in which her ball-striking slipped from the peerless form she had shown over the first 54 holes, but never enough to cause her any real anguish. Only once all day was the margin between first and second less than three shots.

Sue McKay/Getty Images
Park waves to the crowd as she heads towards the 18th green at Royal Adelaide.

Still, while this win was obviously important to the new holder of the Patrica Bridges Bowl—“19 is an unlucky number in Korea,” she said—it also represented an important step towards qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year. The gold medalist in Rio four years ago, Park is currently not one of the top-four Koreans on the Rolex Rankings; she was ranked No. 17 entering the week. Such is the depth of quality her home nation can boast in women’s golf, even making the top 15 in the world (any country with four players inside that mark is allowed to take only four to the games) would offer no guarantee of a seat on the plane to Japan.

But that is for the future. For now, Park had some kind words of tribute for her longtime caddie, Australian Brad Beecher.

“It’s been a long time with him [14 years],” she said. “He loves Australia and every time we play in the U.S. he flies back there, even if there’s only five days off. So being able to win for him in front of his people in Australia is just great.”

More soberly, while Park was clearly intent on enjoying a long-awaited victory to become the 28th golfer to break the 20-win mark on the LPGA Tour, she hinted again at her previously expressed desire to retire from the game in the not too distant future.

“It’s a great honour to put my name among these legends in golf and hopefully later, 10, 20 years later, everybody looks at those names and maybe one of my name, and then everybody thinks that it is their honour to be on there,” she said of the trophy previously held by the likes of Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Lydia Ko, Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson. “And yeah, it is hard, travelling like this. But it is what I need to do so that I can do what I love to do. Although, after I retire I’m going to miss this life probably.”

Maybe. Maybe not. But what is for sure is that Park didn’t miss much else this week during her visit to South Australia.

The post Inbee Park wins her 20th LPGA title while ending a nearly two-year victory drought appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.