Jennifer Kupcho celebrates with the Dinah Shore Trophy after winning the 2022 Chevron Championship. Harry How

Do you remember the taste of mac and cheese as a child? The delight when your parents start making it as the aroma wafts through the kitchen?

Defending Chevron Championship winner Jennifer Kupcho never let go of that sensation. The blue-and-yellow boxed Kraft Mac & Cheese, ironically a past sponsor of this event, remains her favorite food. It’s the one item on the menu she requested at the champion’s dinner on Monday night cooked by Michelin star chef Thomas Keller.

“He did an amazing job,” Kupcho said. “It was not too rich. It was obviously not Kraft Mac & Cheese, but it was amazing. It was really good.”

Joking about her favourite dish juxtaposes the chaos she went through 24 hours before the start of her breakthrough victory last year at the Dinah Shore Course in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Her helter-skelter Wednesday did not foreshadow a major title.

“I was in a bit of a panic last year, actually,” Kupcho said. “I was struggling hitting the ball, so I had a little bit of a panic, calling my swing coach, working with the Ping rep, trying to figure out what was going wrong with my swing and hitting the ball, and I would say I’m a little bit more relaxed this year. Feel like I have my feet under me and ready to go.”

She overcame the litany of challenges and earned her breakthrough victory. Kupcho, the winner of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, shared that the major title made her feel more comfortable that she could win going forward. Lizette Salas has had a front-row seat to the 25-year-old’s emergence. She played alongside Kupcho during the 2021 Solheim Cup, the first two rounds of last year’s Chevron Championship, and teamed up with her at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, where the tandem won this past July. The only victory Salas didn’t see was Kupcho’s triumph at the Meijer LPGA Classic last June.

“To win out here is tough, let alone three different times,” said Salas, who has two wins in 11 years on tour. “She’s evolved very fast, but at the same time we kind of expected it, and I knew at the same time, I think she also expected that from herself.”

Lizette Salas and Jennifer Kupcho teamed up to win the 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Dylan Buell

Kupcho’s confidence is now as much a staple of her game as mac and cheese is to her diet. Salas explained that Kupcho eats her favorite dish up to four (!!) times a week during tournaments.

Salas sees the self-belief on the course in the consistency of how Kupcho carries herself. Kupcho is at ease when they play together, chatting and joking on various topics, from music to asking Salas about her relationship status.

Even when Kupcho expresses her frustration on the course, she also laughs some of her poor shots off. She balances her fun-natured side with Salas alongside a quiet fierceness. Down the stretch of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the tandem kept to themselves to combine for their first victory.

“We didn’t want it to be our fault in case something bad happens,” Salas said. “But I think we were just trying to keep it cool for each other.”

Kupcho brings that coolness to the first of her three title defences, starting at Carlton Woods on Thursday. She arrived at the Woodlands on Saturday to prepare at her own pace. While her hard work has paid off in success on the course, most notably, for her, she’s earned fans’ support everywhere she goes.

“One of the biggest things at Mission Hills was everybody was calling my name as well as calling ‘Go, Colorado,’” Kupcho said the Littleton, Colorado, native. “That’s just really special to me, and I think that’s kind of continued throughout last year and through this year.”

The post Mac and cheese? Jennifer Kupcho served up a classic at Chevron Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here are five players we’ll be keeping an eye on as play begins at the Evian Resort Golf Club:

Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee. Sarah Stier

Lee is the defending champion, having started a major roll in France last summer that extended to 2022 with a win the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles and a T-2 at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Congressional. Outside of the majors, the 26-year-old Australian has added a win and two other top-three finishes to her 2022 accomplishments. Given her results, it’s no surprise she’s climbed up the rankings and is now No. 2 in the world. She’s comfortable at the Evian Resort Golf Club and she loves the majors, because she loves pressure. She might not need a playoff to get it done this year.

Leona Maguire

Leona Maguire. David Cannon

In 2021, Maguire shot a final-round 61 at the Evian. With that round, the Irishwoman tied the lowest round ever shot by a professional golfer — male or female — in a major. Fast-forward to 2022, and Maguire is no longer an LPGA Tour rookie, and no longer winless on tour, either. She claimed the LPGA Drive On title in February and finished T-2 last month at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give against a stacked leaderboard. Though Maguire, 27, hit a snag early this week when an airline lost her clubs on the way to France, she was able to find them and might be primed for another historic week.

Jennifer Kupcho

Jennifer Kupcho. Supplied

The 25-year-old from Colorado has already won three times in 2022, making her the most successful player on the LPGA Tour this season. One of those wins was a major: the Chevron Championship. Were she to win in France, it’d be the first time that an American has won two majors in one season since 1999, when Juli Inkster won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the US Women’s Open.

Jin Young Ko

Jin Young Ko. Douglas P DeFelice

The World No. 1 won the first event she played in 2022 but hasn’t won since. Her best finish in a major was fourth at the US Women’s Open, and she remains in the top five on tour in strokes gained/total on tour. Heading into the Evian, where Ko, 27, won in 2019, it feels like it’s time for the 2021 Player of the Year to win again.

Atthaya Thitikul

Atthaya Thitikul. Getty Images

The 19-year-old rookie from Thailand has one win this year and has been close on several other occasions. She quietly finsihed two shots back of In Gee Chun at the KPMG in June, her best career performance at a major. Her second-best finish was in 2021 at the Evian. She was four back of Lee, shooting three rounds in the 60s. Entering this year with more experience, she could be primed for her first major win.

You may also like:
Amundi Evian Championship Round 1 tee times and pairings
Maja Stark and Linn Grant resume LET Race
Louise Duncan turns pro ahead of Scottish Open
Your chance to play at Aramco Team Series — Sotogrande
Nordqvist claims LET title in Netherlands
LET a tour de force for Olivia Cowan
A whirlwind time for Whitney Hillier 
Chiara Noja stretches LETAS Order of Merit lead
Ciganda claims Estrella Damm title on LET
Noja shines in Scotland
The Gulf Club: The Latest UAE news from July 2022
The Gulf Club: The latest UAE news from June 2022
The Gulf Club: All the latest news from around the UAE and beyond
Xander ends his PGA Tour drought
In Gee holds on to win KPMG
Dubai’s Chiara Noja continues to dominate on LET Access Series
Abu Dhabi-based 12-year-old wins in Scotland
All the latest news from around the UAE and beyond

The post Five players to watch at the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But, maybe in this case, it could.

On a rainy Thursday morning, In Gee Chun could do no wrong to start the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 27-year-old South Korean made nine birdies en route to an eight-under 64 at Congressional Country Club. With it, she secured a new course record at the newly renovated Blue course and opened up a sizable gap between herself and the rest of the field. After the morning wave, the next-closest competitors were seven shots back.

Among those at one-under 71 were major champions Nelly Korda, Jennifer Kupcho and Brooke Henderson. Each player was pleased with the score she had posted. And a bit surprised by the one Chun put up.

“I feel like I played really well,” Kupcho said. “The course is really hard. I don’t really know how In Gee is eight-under right now.”

In Gee Chun. Elsa

Chun knows what she’s doing at major championships. She’s won two: the 2015 US Women’s Open and the 2016 Evian Championship.

“Sometimes In Gee does that. Sometimes she just plays so well, and nothing bothers her, and it’s really cool to see,” Henderson said. “Hopefully I can be more like her tomorrow and make some more birdies and climb up the leaderboard.”

While Chun’s score might say otherwise, Congressional was playing tough on Thursday after the course was soaked with two inches of rain overnight. While playing soft, it was also playing long. Korda, the defending champion, noted that on the par-5 ninth hole she had to hit a 7-wood into the green with her third shot.

“Any first-round under par is good at a major,” said Korda, who lost in a playoff last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic and is playing in just her third event since returning from surgery to remove a blood clot. “I don’t know what golf course In Gee is playing. She must be playing really well.”

To hear Chun explain it, it did sound like she was playing a different golf course. After the round, she talked about how she’s been focusing of late on staying present with the shot at hand. She’d gotten so good at it that at Congressional, she didn’t realise how low she was going, walking around in her own little world. Rather than check leaderboards or think about her score, she spent time between shots chatting with her caddie about an annoying pimple on her lip and where to find the best kiwis, one of her favorite on-course snacks.

It wasn’t until her post-round press conference that she realised she was leading by seven.

In the afternoon, that lead was trimmed to five by Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand and Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi. But there’s no denying that’s a significant lead. Winning a golf tournament after being down so far after the first round isn’t uncharted major-championship territory. Remember Tiger’s opening 74 to Chris DiMarco’s 67 at the first round of the 2005 Masters?

There’s only one point in a tournament where it matters whether you’re leading or not. And it’s not after the first round.

You might also like
Five to watch at KPMG PGA Championship
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship doubles purse to $9m
Saudi girls celebrate Aramco podium spot
Dubai’s Chiara Noja skips another event through injury
Abu Dhabi-based 12-year-old wins in Scotland
All the latest news from around the UAE and beyond
Bronte Law triumphs in London
WATCH: Highlights from Day 3
Watch action from Day 2 at Aramco
Davis sizzles in London
Highlights from Day 1 of Aramco Team Series — London
Super Swedes lead the way in Aramco Team Series
Bringner and Hall among leaders at Aramco Team Series
Familiar faces as Aramco Team captains make picks
Dubai’s Chiara forced out of Aramco London
Bronte Law calls for level playing field

The post Two-time major winner In Gee Chun jumps out to stunning early lead at KPMG Women’s PGA appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
Recent major champions Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho have confirmed their participation in this year’s Ladies European Tour Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open taking place at Dundonald Links from July 28-31.

Australian Lee, the 2020 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic champion, who won her second major title at the US Women’s Open earlier this month by four shots, is currently the highest ranked player entered in this year’s 144-women field, at No. 3.

Lee’s US Open victory was her second LPGA win of the season after last month’s Cognizant Founders Cup, taking her total LPGA victories to eight. She returns to Dundonald Links for her sixth appearance in the Women’s Scottish Open, having three top-10 finishes including solo second place in 2018.

Jennifer Kupcho

American Kupcho captured her first major title in April at the Chevron Championship. An impressive third round of 64 saw her enter the final day with a six-shot lead, and despite a shaky back nine she finished the championship two shots clear of fellow American Jessica Korda. This past weekend, Kupcho won her second LPGA title at the Meijer Classic where she beat Ireland’s Leona Maguire and world No. 2 Nelly Korda in a dramatic three-way playoff. She will be looking to make her first cut in three appearances at this year’s Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open.

“I can’t wait to return to Scotland this summer for the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open,” Lee said. “I have great memories of playing in this event and its always so special to come back to Scotland. Links golf is always challenging, but I really enjoy navigating the different conditions as we don’t get to experience a true links test very often.

“I’ve also heard great things about the newly transformed Dundonald Links so I’m excited to experience it in person and also try to keep building on my win at the US Open. My brother Min Woo won the Scottish Open last year which was a huge win for him, and it definitely gives me a little extra incentive to try and win the Women’s so we have one each.”

Kupcho added: “I last played this event in 2020, so I’m looking forward to being back and taking on the challenge of true links golf again. This has already been such a special year for me winning my first major and I will definitely be leaning on that experience to give me the extra boost of confidence that the tough Scottish coastal courses demand.”

This year’s field is the strongest yet with seventeen major winners already entered into the field at Dundonald Links, and more set to sign up before deadline on July 13.

This is Trust Golf’s second year as title sponsor and has increased this year’s prize-fund by 33 per cent to $2 million.

You might also like
Abu Dhabi-based 12-year-old wins in Scotland
All the latest news from around the UAE and beyond
Bronte Law triumphs in London
WATCH: Highlights from Day 3
Watch action from Day 2 at Aramco
Davis sizzles in London
Highlights from Day 1 of Aramco Team Series — London
Super Swedes lead the way in Aramco Team Series
Bringner and Hall among leaders at Aramco Team Series
Familiar faces as Aramco Team captains make picks
Dubai’s Chiara forced out of Aramco London
Bronte Law calls for level playing field

The post Major players Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho sign up for Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins

For nearly two decades, the USGA and R&A have allowed amateurs to compete in professional qualifying schools without jeopardising their amateur status. But now the LPGA Tour has decided that for its qualifying series, only professionals will be allowed to play in the final stage.

The LPGA Tour announced the change to its criteria on Thursday, noting that golfers can play as amateurs in stages I and II of Q-Series. But any player who advances to or is exemption into the final stage — an eight-round tournament that spans over two weeks — must turn pro to be eligible.

The change goes into effect this year. Tour officials cited the desire to create an equal playing field for those committed to playing full time on tour.

“LPGA Q-Series is the final stage to competing on the LPGA Tour, which is a fully professional tour that requires that its Membership competes as professional athletes,” said Ricki Lasky, Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer for the LPGA, in a press release. “Ensuring all competitors have made the same choice to be a professional player elevates the Q-Series competition and creates the most appropriate options for athletes at different stages of their careers.”

The decision eliminates the option for college golfers to play in the final stage as amateurs, earn an LPGA card and defer using the card until after their college season finishes in the spring. The deferral programme began in 2018 and attempted to give collegiate players the best of both worlds: If you made it through Q-Series, you could maintain your amateur status with the guarantee of being able to join the tour after having the opportunity to play out your collegiate career with your teammates — and you’d still have the chance to play in the Augusta Women’s Amateur, too.

But it was rarely utilised.

Of the 16 amateurs who made it through Q-Series since the deferral was announced, only two of them made use of it: Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi. The other 14 players turned pro immediately, missing out on the spring semester and NCAAs. While Kupcho and Fassi were able to play out their amateur careers with their teams and shine at the ANWA, starting their pro careers in July instead of January made it harder to keep their cards: With fewer tournaments to play, they had fewer opportunities to move up the money list. Both players kept their cards after the 2019 season.

One aspect of Q-Series that hasn’t changed is that all players who make it through stage II, regardless of if they’re pros or amateurs, will get Epson Tour status. Amateurs will be allowed to compete on the Epson Tour, with the option to turn pro after their collegiate seasons end. Noted Lasky: “Providing Epson Tour status to those athletes who advance through Q School but choose to retain their college eligibility provides an appropriate pathway for those players to complete their college season or career and then immediately compete on the Epson Tour.”

The LPGA said it will continue to work with the Women’s Golf Coaches Association on creating ways for college players who aspire to play pro golf to work their way on to the LPGA Tour.

This year’s LPGA Q-Series will run from December 1-4 at Magnolia Grove (Crossings and Falls Courses) in Mobile, Alabama, then continue on December 8-11 at Highland Oaks (Highlands and Marshwood Courses) in Dothan, Alabama.

Players finishing inside the top 45 and ties following the conclusion of the cumulative eight rounds of Q-Series will receive LPGA Tour status for the following season. All players finishing outside the top 20 and ties will also receive Epson Tour status.

More
Sergio Garcia ‘can’t wait to quit PGA Tour’
LIV Golf: Bland’s British Masters title defence takes a twist
Dubai Golf Trophy is back!
Westwood and ‘many more’ request release to play LIV Golf Invitational Series
Look: Phil Mickelson spotted on golf course
Tiger Woods plays Southern Hills ahead of PGA Championship
LIV Golf Invitational Series continues to take shape
Trump to host LIV finale
Greg Norman rejected by R&A for Open Championship
Report: First PGA Tour player request to play LIV Golf events

The post LPGA changes Q-Series rules, requires entrants be pros and revokes deferral option for college golfers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

She did so again on Sunday, the day the LPGA bid adieu to its grandest stage for the better part of 51 years, the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. Kupcho, 24, made her first LPGA victory a major one, winning the Chevron Championship by two shots, then taking the victor’s obligatory plunge into Poppie’s Pond, the last to do so in a tradition that Amy Alcott began in 1988.

“I think it’s surreal to be a major winner,” she said, “and to be the last person to jump into Poppie’s Pond, it’s all really special.”

Winning wasn’t easy. It usually isn’t. But she made it look harder than it might have been after staking herself to a six-stroke lead through 54 holes and increasing it to seven at one point in the final round. She squandered much of it before regaining her equilibrium with a tap-in birdie at the 15th hole to go four ahead with three to play.

It mattered not that she bogeyed two of the final three holes or that her score of two-over-par 74 was the highest of her four rounds by four shots. She gave herself a cushion with the 64 she posted in the third round, and completed 72 holes in 14-under-par 274, two ahead of Jessica Korda.

A Coloradoan who mastered a warm-weather game in snow country before heading off to Wake Forest, Kupcho became a star, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and an NCAA individual champion. Three years ago, she won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“I don’t know if you can teach it, but the bigger the moment, the better she plays and the brighter she shines,” Wake Forest assistant head coach Ryan Potter told Colorado Avid Golfer. “The moment doesn’t bother her, and not many people are like that.”

She wasn’t necessarily sure of that, having gone without a victory in three-plus seasons as a professional. She admitted to doubting that the first would come.

“Yeah, for sure,” she said. “I have been so close a couple of times. It’s just really hard sometimes. But here I am.

“I think once I started putting myself in contention and not succeeding, I really worked with my swing coach. He’s also really good with the mental game. So just talking to him a lot about what’s going through my mind all the time and trying to figure out how to process my way through that.”

She won with a club that also was a cause for concern, the putter. She made two putts greater than 10 feet on Thursday, three on Friday and five on Saturday, and made several key putts on Sunday with her lead slipping away.

“It’s actually something she’s been working on for a little while now,” Jay Monahan, her husband of little more than a month, said. “It’s just something that’s stroke related. For a while her through stroke was getting a little too far on the side, and so I honestly just set up a drill for her to kind of try and work through that, get the stroke a little more straight back, all more straight through, and she’s been doing such a good job working on it. It’s nice to see it pay off.”

Monahan caddies for Sarah Schmelzel and was still working when Kupcho began playing. “I was paying attention. I was thinking about it this morning, whether or not I was going to look, and it was too hard not to. I think I looked after hole number nine and then I had to look again after 16 just to hope that she was still in the same position she was when she started the day, if not better.”

She had adequately protected her lead, enabling her to enjoy the walk up 18, followed by the champagne shower she received from friend and eventually the leap into Poppie’s Pond. She was followed into the water by past champions Patty Sheehan, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Sandra Palmer and Amy Alcott—a wet farewell nod to a tournament heading to Houston.

“It’s surreal,” Kupcho said, “to be able to say that I was the last person [to win] here and first person at Augusta.”

The post Jennifer Kupcho’s breakthrough victory and one last leap into Poppie’s Pond appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Paisley
At the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, the three-way tie for the lead at 13 under of Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jennifer Kupcho, and Emma Talley sets up a chance for the fifth first-time winner to emerge on the LPGA Tour in 2021.

“It’s going to be a dream come true [if I win tomorrow], obviously,” Anannarukarn said.

The 22-year-old Thai native is playing the best golf of her LPGA career over the last three weeks heading into the final round at Galgorm Castle Golf Club. Anannarukarn teamed up with Aditi Ashok for a career-best T-3 finish at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational and closed the Evian Championship last week at T-10. She played alongside winner Minjee Lee in the next-to-last group.

Anannarukarn continued her strong play with a seven-under 66 Saturday, including an eagle and five consecutive birdies on Nos. 9 through 14 to surge into the final group. Anannarukarn applied the patience she said she observed of Lee’s march in France toward her first major championship.

“It’s just when you’re at that point [in contention],” Anannarukarn explained, “In that position, where you’re giving yourself good contention into that, she’s [Lee] really playing really solid and patient, really focused and concentrate on her shot, every shot. I think that’s what I learned because sometimes I wasn’t really fully focused and not really fully committed.”

Kupcho, 24, has the most experience in contention of the trio at the top. Ranked 27th in world, she has finished second three times in her two-year LPGA career, most recently in March at the LPGA Drive On Championship. Kupcho was in the final pairing that week with winner Austin Ernst, but shot 74 and ended up losing by five.

“I think to just stay in it and focus on my own game,” Kupcho, who scored 70 on Saturday, said of how to handle the final round. “Come out with the score that I want to shoot instead of playing against someone else. I can’t control what everyone else is doing, so just go out and play my own game.”

Talley’s strong play this week also came from working on her approach in contention with her sports psychologist, Paul Dewland. They processed how she felt during her T-4 performance at the Volunteers of America Classic in early July. She took a share of the lead after the first round and finished with a career-low 63 to close her best result of 2021.

This week, Talley played the first two rounds at 13 under, holding a three-stroke advantage for the first 36-hole lead of her four-year LPGA career. Playing from the top of the leader board on the weekend was an adjustment for the 27-year-old, who shot even-par 73.

“Today honestly threw me off,” Talley said. “I was also very nervous. I haven’t been in this position in a long time, and the fact that I kind of came back after the double [bogey] on 9, I kind of got mad again and used that energy to make a few birdies in a row.”

Talley made four birdies, including three in a row from Nos. 11 through 13. Even though she lost her three-shot lead, Talley’s father gave her encouraging words after play, “My dad said, ‘Who wants to go in six ahead,’” Tally said. “’You want to come from behind or at least level with everybody.’”

The chasers have been in contention recently as well. Atthaya Thitikul, who lost by a shot to Ariya Jutanugarn at the Honda LPGA Thailand, sits three back at 10 under. Chella Choi, a shot behind the leaders at 12 under, could play spoiler for her second career LPGA victory. It’d be her first title since the 2015 Marathon Classic. The 30-year-old succinctly put the goal of all of the frontrunners on their opportunity for a breakthrough LPGA victory.

“Win,” Choi explained. “I really want to make a lot of great shots and make putts and try to enjoy it tomorrow.”

The post Trio at top in World Invitational are each shooting for breakthrough LPGA win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Mel Reid finally got what she’s known she was always capable of. Thirteen years after turning professional, the 33-year-old Brit is an LPGA Tour winner. With rounds of 68-64-66-67, Reid took the title at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Atlantic City, N.J., by two shots over Jennifer Kupcho. As evidence by the number of people who swarmed the green to spray the new champion with champagne, Reid is someone people are happy to see succeed.

Mel Reid is doused with champagne after winning the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Michael Cohen

Reid spent the majority of her career on the Ladies European Tour, where she won six times. It wasn’t until Q School in 2016 that she broke through to get her LPGA Tour card and played her rookie year in the United States in 2017. That season was highlighted with a spot on the European Solheim Cup team (her third appearance), but when the next Solheim Cup came around in 2019, Reid didn’t qualify nor receive a captain’s pick, despite finishing T-3 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship just months before the competition. She handled the disappointment as well as anyone could—better, maybe—and went to Gleneagles as an assistant captain for the victorious Europeans.

That’s one of the things that makes Reid likeable: She knows when the moment is about her and she knows when the moment is bigger than her personal goals. And she lives in all moments with a consistently high level of tenacity.

Despite her competitiveness and obvious talent, this first tour win has alluded Reid for some time. “Everyone has been talking about it for a while or years that I should win and be contending every week, and it’s not been happening,” Reid said.

In her last start before the ShopRite, it looked like it was finally going to happen. Reid held the 36-hold lead in the Cambia Porland Classic, which had been shortened to 54 holes, but shot 74 in the final round to finish T-5. Her countrywoman Georgia Hall took the title.

For a moment on Sunday, it looked like Reid might falter again. After bogeys at 6 and 7 on the Bay Course at Seaview Resort, she had lost the lead.

“I read a tweet yesterday and it was probably one of the only bad tweets that I got, saying she’ll choke. It gave me a little bit of motivation,” Reid said. “I was like, I’m going to prove it. I know it sounds stupid, but probably the best thing I could have read. I’m definitely not letting that happen. Someone is going to have to beat me today. I’m not going to give it away.”

She didn’t give it away by any means. After those bogeys, Reid birdied four of the next five holes. Suddenly a tight leader board that also included Jennifer Song in contention saw Reid begin to run away. She stood on the 17th tee with a four-shot lead, only to make a bogey to Kupcho’s birdie, cutting her lead to two. Still, Reid remained steely and closed out the short par-5 18th with a birdie.

“It changes your life honestly,” Reid said of finally getting her first win on the LPGA Tour. “These are the best players in the world. The LPGA is in my opinion the best tour, the tour you want to be on if you want to be the best in the world. To win out here you get a different—people look at you a bit differently. So, it’s tough to win out here. I can tell that you. Just it get it done is a huge relief and I’m ecstatic.”

The post Mel Reid breaks through for first tour win at ShopRite LPGA Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Despite the LPGA Tour being on hold since February due to COVID-19, second-year pro Jennifer Kupcho has found ways to get in some competition. She popped up on the tournament radar when she won the Colorado Women’s Open in June, her first victory as a pro. Now, a month and a half later, the 51st-ranked player in the world and a Colorado native is heading to another Colorado Open. This time, the men’s.

After getting a sponsor’s exemption, Kupcho will play the CoBank Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch in Denver from July 23-26. Set at 7,309 yards, it’s 608 yards longer than the last event Kupcho played on the LPGA Tour, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

“It will obviously be longer than it was for the Women’s Open last month, but you have to factor in the added distance from playing at high altitude as well,” Kupcho told Golf Digest. “To better myself when I’m practicing, I usually play courses from the back tees for more of a challenge, so the length doesn’t really intimidate me.”

The 72-hole stroke-play event boasts a strong purse for a state open: $250,000, with the champion getting $100,000. It’s why the field also has the likes of former PGA Tour veterans Chris DiMarco, Colt Knost, Sam Saunders, Grant Waite, Shane Bertsch and Jonathan Kaye and up-and-coming tour pros Dru Love.

Kupcho will have a friendly face in the field, with her brother, Steven, also playing. Steven recently had a professional win on the Dakotas Tour, where he shot 72-63-62 at Ridge Golf Club in Sioux Center, Iowa. He won in a playoff. Not surprisingly, this is the first time in Colorado Open history that a brother-sister duo is in the field. Kupcho, however, isn’t the first female to play the event: Sherry Andonian played in 2016.

“I’m approaching it without expectations, but plan to play my best and push myself as I continue to strive towards being the best player I can be,” Kupcho said. “Regardless of the outcome, I’m really just appreciative of the opportunity to raise the visibility of women in golf. I hope it opens some eyes, raises some questions, and maybe even inspires someone to pick up a club. I would consider that a win.”

The CoBank Colorado Open leads right into the LPGA Tour’s restart. On July 31 at Inverness, the LPGA Tour will play its first event since having to shut down in February due to the spreading of COVID-19.

The post LPGA pro Jennifer Kupcho set to tee it up against the men in Colorado appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Jennifer Kupcho is a part of golf history. The Saturday before the 2019 Masters, the world’s top-ranked women’s amateur was among a field of 30 cut from 72 to play the final round of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Kupcho’s tee shot on Wednesday had opened the two rounds of competition at Champions Retreat Golf Club before the tournament’s final round at Augusta National.

What was a stroke-play event felt like match play as attention was focused on the final pairing featuring Wake Forest’s Kupcho and Arkansas’ Maria Fassi.

The two were the only collegiate players to make it through 2018 LPGA Tour Q school and defer their status until after they graduated last spring. Kupcho was mesmerising on the back nine at Augusta, overcoming a migraine to go five-under par on the final six holes, shooting 67 to win by four strokes. She went on to graduate, join the LPGA, and finish the season 39th on the money list. Nearly a year later, after moving from Colorado to Arizona, she spoke with us about the round that changed her life.

How did you first hear about the tournament at Augusta National, and what was your reaction?

I heard about it when they announced it during the 2018 Masters. I was really excited, and then we all realized it was at the same time as the ANA Inspiration [a major on the LPGA Tour that includes top amateurs], so I wasn’t sure how that would work out. Everyone had questions about that. But I was excited to try to qualify and hopefully have the opportunity to play.

● ● ●

How did you choose between the two?

I received the invite to the ANWA first and actually turned it down. We had, I think, five regular-season college tournaments booked up straight into Augusta, and I would just miss so much school, there was no way I could do it. But then my college coach [Kim Lewellen] canceled one of the tournaments, so I was like, OK, I could make this work. Around the end of January, I called [the director of golf development] and asked if I could play. They had a spot in the field and said I was more than welcome to play. The ANA invite came a week later, and I told them that I’d be at Augusta.

● ● ●

What was it like arriving at Augusta National? Had you been there before?

The year before, I played Augusta with my Wake Forest team. Growing up, I’d never thought playing there was even an option. At the ANWA, we didn’t go to the Augusta National grounds until the chairman’s dinner on Tuesday. I think the way it was scheduled built up so much excitement in everyone. We just wanted to be on the grounds.

● ● ●

What did you get to see?

Everyone in the tournament got to see the clubhouse, locker room, Crow’s Nest, and got a tour of the grounds. With Arnold Palmer having gone to Wake Forest, it was really special to see things like his locker there. I didn’t get to see Butler Cabin, the media center and the tunnels until I won.

● ● ●

I’m sure it helped to have played the course before the tournament (in addition to the practice round on Friday before Saturday’s finish)?

Definitely. I had already experienced that awe factor. So by the time I got there for the practice round, I could focus on learning the course instead of looking around being like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool! Obviously, you still feel like that, but the effect was less.

● ● ●

Like others in the field, you switched to a local caddie once you got to Augusta National. Was it a tough decision?

It was really hard. Showing up to the practice round at Augusta, after my dad caddied the first two rounds, we were just going to see how it went. I had my same caddie in the practice round that I played with the year before. Going through the course it was clear how much Brian [McKinley] knew that there’s no way you could ever write it all down in a yardage book. Like knowing differences in slopes, knowing all the yardage markers by memory, knowing the greens, all of the breaks—he knew everything about the course. Then my dad and I knew it was a no-brainer. The funny part is, I told the media before I had the conversation with my dad. There’s no hurt feelings, but at the time he was like, “You could’ve told me first.” But I was like, “Well, the media was asking, so I just gave them the answer.”

● ● ●

There had to be moments during the tournament that you were happy you had a local caddie?

He was a huge role in my success in that round. The read on my eagle putt on 13, I saw it going the other way, and he was like, “No way.” He was right. That was a big one [the eagle giving Kupcho a share of the led with Fassi]. And then the whole three holes of my migraine, I just leaned on him to read the greens and tell me where to at least attempt to hit it.

‘It really encourages girls to pick up a club. To see us be able to do it on the biggest stage, Augusta National, was huge.’

● ● ●

What does it feel like when you get a migraine?

I had them a lot in high school. I got used to it. I’d play basketball games and golf tournaments with migraines. But the one at Augusta was my first since high school. When I first get them, it’s really blurry; I can’t see. As the blurry vision goes away, I get a massive, pounding headache. It started on the eighth green and didn’t go away until the 11th tee shot.

● ● ●

How have you tried to make them go away?

I take a caffeine pill, drink lots of water, take pain medicine, take deep breaths and close my eyes. During the ninth and 10th holes, I walked down most of the fairway with my eyes closed. I told my caddie what was going on. I think he was worried but tried to stay calm because he didn’t want to freak me out.

● ● ●

How hard was it to hit a shot with limited vision?

After so many hours of practicing, it becomes muscle memory. It’s blurry, but from practicing I can know approximately where the ball is.

● ● ●

Was that the hardest thing you’ve experienced in a tournament?

Yes, just because there was so much on the line. When it happened I was like, Why now? Why does this have to happen to me now?

● ● ●

Do you have an idea what caused it?

My mom and I talked about it after. We were pretty sure it was dehydration. Something that we realized in high school was that if I ate a lot of chocolate, I got migraines. That whole week there was so much sugar everywhere, so that could’ve been it.

● ● ●

What’s your favourite shot you hit during that round?

My two favourites were the hybrids on 13 and 15. Thirteen because it led to my eagle. Fifteen was so cool because I play a fade, but standing over the ball, I was like, Screw it, I’m going to try to hit a draw. I don’t know what I was thinking, taking a risk during the biggest moment of my career. But adrenaline took over, and I was like, I’m totally going to pull this shot off. And it worked—I was just over the green in two and two-putted for birdie.

Donald Miralle

What was the best moment of the week?

Walking up to the first tee and seeing how many people were there. Everyone was so excited to see us play; that was insane. I had never played in that type of situation. Getting to experience it with friends I’d made in college golf, knowing we were the first women to compete there, was really special.

● ● ●

Did you stay in Augusta after the win?

I gave out trophies to the Drive, Chip and Putt winners alongside Patrick Reed the next day. Then that afternoon I flew to New York with Maria, and we were on the “Today” show and Jimmy Fallon, and then I had to go back to class. Going back to campus, I was trying to balance school and golf and get back to being with my team, but with so many media requests it was hard. I had no idea what was going to happen or how to prepare for it. It all came in a rush. Trying to practice and get ready [for the ACC Championship two weeks later], and do everything I needed to do to be ready, was definitely a battle. But it was so cool to see how the tournament blew up.

● ● ●

What did the win mean to you?

It was huge. Obviously, I still had college tournaments left, but it was the end of my amateur golf and then the beginning of my professional career, marking me moving on from one section of my life to another. It really helped me be comfortable playing in front of crowds, and it helped me calm my nerves under pressure.

What do you think it meant for women’s golf?

It was a great display for younger girls, whether they’re participating in golf already or just watching it on television because their parents have it on. For them to see the way everything played out, the friendship that Maria and I have, it really encourages girls to pick up a club. To see us be able to do it on the biggest stage, Augusta National, was huge.

● ● ●

Have you ben back since the tournament?

I haven’t. It’d be cool to go and relive all those memories and walk down the fairways again. I’ve watched the coverage a couple times. It’s crazy watching it—to see what the cameras see, and know what I was thinking during specific shots or moments, it’s surreal.

● ● ●

Did you learn something at Augusta that has helped you transition into professional golf?

I went in relaxed. I realize now that was a big part in my success. I used to go into tournaments stressed out, focusing on things that were going wrong. At ANWA, I was just experiencing it and having fun. That’s one of the big things that I’ve carried over to my professional career. If something doesn’t go right, I know I’ll figure it out and make it up in another part of my game.

The post ‘Surreal’: Jennifer Kupcho looks back on winning the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.