By Kent Paisley
While most living in Dallas celebrated the Fourth of July holiday with time away from the office in a three-day weekend, one of the city’s newest residents, Jin Young Ko, put in overtime work to win the Volunteers of America Classic. The World No. 2 endured a 16-hour day of 32 holes on Saturday due to weather delays, and then held off a challenge by rookie Matilda Castren on Sunday to earn her eighth LPGA Tour victory.

“I’m still happy I win,” said Ko, who closed with a three-under-par 69, the same number that Castren shot, to finish at 16 under at Old American Golf Club. ” I was really tired last night. Like, I played 32 holes yesterday, so I couldn’t sleep well tonight, so my body condition [was] really tough and really tired right now.”

Ko opened Sunday with the seventh 54-hole lead of her career, built off a career-low 63 that matched the tournament record in the first round. Closing this one appeared at first as routine as her repeatable swing, with the 2019 LPGA Player of the Year darting to a four-shot lead with three birdies over the first four holes. It gave Castren a taste of what she handed the field at the LPGA Mediheal Championship three weeks ago, when the Finnish player opened up five-under through five in her final round for her first career victory.

No one caught Ko at any point Sunday, and Castren had the only two opportunities. The rookie missed a 10-footer to match Ko on the 14th. Her final opportunity was from off the fringe on the 18th, but a 20-foot bid to get to tie slid past the right side of the cup.

On the final hole, Ko tapped in her winning par putt, which kissed the pin that held a waving American flag. Ko stared longingly into the Texas summer sky, thinking about her grandmother, who passed away in South Korea in March. Ko couldn’t fly back to say farewell due to the two-week quarantine rules of travelling to the country.

Chuck Burton
Matilda Castren hits from a bunker during the final round of the Volunteers of America Classic.

After winning the 2019 ANA Inspiration, Ko dedicated the victory to her grandfather, who died a year before. They both were formative in her development, with her grandfather giving Ko her name and her grandmother taking care of many things for her family.

“I miss my grandmother and father,” Ko said. “Yeah, I miss them.”

Ko’s grandmother reminded her to stop looking so tired when she watched her on TV, even going so far as asking Ko to stop playing because she thought she Ko was exhausted.

Ko’s family surrounded her this week, with her mother and father flying out to watch her. Her caddie, David Brooker, also had his daughter out, and both families stayed at Ko’s home, with the Brookers supplying the laughs to keep Ko relaxed off the course.

Her family didn’t get to see Ko rise to the top position in the world for a third time, as projections don’t have her retaking the spot from Nelly Korda after her victory. The 2019 and 2020 LPGA money-list winner went 10 starts between victories—her longest winless stretch since the span between the 2018 Women’s Australian Open and the Founder’s Cup in March of 2019. Ko said she felt more relaxed this week with Korda taking the crown of top player in the world.

“When I was ranking No. 1, I didn’t know,” Ko explained. “But after [the] move to ranking 2, I was thinking I had a lot of pressure when I was world ranking No. 1.”

After a slight pause, Ko joked, “But I’m still alive, so it’s fine.”

Castren’s second-place performance, after coming into the week ranked 74th in the world, would normally have put in position to secure a spot on Team Europe for the upcoming Solheim Cup. However, there’s a wrinkle for the LPGA rookie: She’s not a member of the Ladies European Tour, and that’s a must for inclusion on the European squad.

“I’ll definitely do Q-school the next time it comes around,” Castren said. “Solheim Cup is one of my biggest goals and biggest dreams, so I’ll do whatever I can to get in.”

Gaby Lopez and Emma Talley vaulted up the leaderboard on Sunday with 65 and 63, respectively, to finish third and T-4. Talley’s 63 was her career best, matching the tournament record Ko tied Thursday.

With Ko turning 26 in three days and her father celebrating his birthday on Thursday, Ko and family left Old American to celebrate her fifth consecutive year with an LPGA victory. Her grandmother was no doubt there in spirit at her new Dallas home.

The post Jin Young Ko had to work extra hard for her eighth LPGA victory 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 Ryan Herrington
Cristie Kerr has competed in the U.S. Women’s Open every year since 1998. But the 2007 winner’s status for next week’s championship at Champions Golf Club in Houston is unclear after Golfweek reported that she was involved in a golf cart accident on Friday.

Kerr, 43, was set to play in the second round of the Volunteers of America Classic at Old American Golf Club outside Dallas when she and her caddie, Matt Gelczis, were hurt in an early-morning accident. The two went to the emergency room for treatment and were discharged several hours later, Kerr’s husband Erik Stevens confirmed with Golfweek.

The extent of the injuries to Kerr and Gelczis is unknown. Kerr was forced to withdraw from the LPGA event after shooting a one-over 72 in the first round.

LPGA officials had no comment about the report. Kerr’s representatives have been contacted by Golf Digest and have not yet responded.

If Kerr, a 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour, were to play in the Women’s Open, she would take over as the golfer with the longest active streak of consecutive appearances at 23. Karrie Webb has played in 24 straight but is not in next week’s field. In addition to her win in 2007 at Pine Needles, Kerr has seven other top-10 finishes in the Women’s Open. — Additional reporting from Keely Levins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Keely Levins
Entering this week’s Volunteers of America Classic, LPGA rookie Cheyenne Knight knew she was in jeopardy of losing her tour card. The former University of Alabama All-American was 114th on the money list and needed a top-five finish in this, the final full-field tournament of the LPGA season, to get inside the top 100 and avoid a return to the LPGA Q-Series. That’s a big ask for any LPGA player, particularly a 22-year-old who had missed nine cuts in 2019 and whose best finish of the season was a T-29.

But Knight did the unlikely at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. With a closing 66, after earlier rounds of 66-67-67, Knight wound of the winner by two strokes over Jaye Marie Green and Brittany Altomare.

RELATED: Watch the awesome reaction LPGA Tour player makes a long birdie putt to keep her card for 2020

Though the final result sounds like a somewhat comfortable victory, Sunday’s play was closer than that would lead on. The leader board had been tight throughout the tournament, and the back nine in steamy Texas was no different. Knight, Altomare and Green separated themselves from the rest of the field, but weren’t able to separate themselves from one another until the final hole.

WATCH NOWALL HAIL DANIEL JONES, THE FUTURE KING OF NEW YORK

While Knight was on the 16th hole, Altomare, playing in the group ahead, birdied the 17th to take a share of the lead at 17 under. Knight made her par on 16, and on the short par-5 17th, matched Altomare with a birdie of her own to retake the outright lead. All the while, Green hovered two shots back.

Walking to the 18th tee, Knight’s concerns about keeping her card had been overtaken by thoughts of whether she could hold on for her maiden win. Finishing in the top five was as good as guaranteed; now she needed to focus on how to finish off the victory.

Knight hit the fairway and caught a break when Altomare up ahead made bogey, her approach going through the green and her notoriously hot putter failing to help her convert a must-have up and down. Once Knight hit the green with her approach (albeit more than 30 below the hole), and Green missed the putting surface, she could relax—slightly. A nice lag and quick two-footer later, the native of Aledo, Texas, was crying as friends sprayed her with champagne and her parents rushed on the green to hug her. Surprisingly, she had just become the first Alabama player to win an LPGA title.

“I’ve always dreamt of a putt to win an LPGA event. I said when I got my card that this was the event I was most looking forward to and who would have thought this helped me like secure my card,” said Knight, who’d played in this event, a little more than an hour from where she grew up, as an amateur in 2016. “It’s just been such a good learning experience because I thought I was planning on going back to Q-School and with this win, it just means everything knowing that I can persevere and knowing that I’m strong enough to do anything.”

Chuck Burton

Knight finished with a 33 on the back nine. That’s a number that holds great significance to her, as it was the one her late brother Brandon, wore as a high school football player. Brandon was killed in a car accident in 2008 when Cheyenne was 12, when his vehicle was struck by a drunk driver.

“I think I had a second caddie out there, and I know he’s watching in heaven, just so proud of me,” Knight said.

The post Cheyenne Knight closes out emotional first LPGA victory on home turf in Texas appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
A standout college career at the University of Alabama and a third-place finish at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open in her professional debut left Stephanie Meadow with understandably big expectations as she began her LPGA career. But the 27-year-old from Northern Ireland has struggled since her fast start at Pinehurst.

Meadow finished 131st on the LPGA money list in 2015, distracted off the course by the passing of her father and golf mentor, Robert, from pancreatic cancer. It was more of the same in 2016 and 2017, when Meadow finished 115th and 153rd, respectively, as she dealt with back issues that kept her from playing consistent, pain-free golf. She competed on the Symetra Tour in 2018, finishing sixth on the money list to return to the LPGA. Her fortunes on the LPGA Tour in 2019, however, have continued to be mixed, as she had missed 10 cuts in 20 starts and sat in 112th place on the money list entering this week’s Volunteers of America Classic.

As the last full-field event of the 2019 season, Meadow had to find a way to earn enough at the Old American Golf Club outside Dallas to move inside the top 100 on the money list to retain her card for 2020.

Meadow was on track after an opening-round 63 staked her to an early lead and topped her career-best score by three strokes. Rounds of 71-73 kept her on the leader board, knowing she needed an eighth-place finish or better to win enough cash to keep her card.

Playing the first 16 holes on Sunday in two under par, Meadow looked like she’d need two more birdies to accomplish her goal. Painfully, she left a 12-footer for eagle on the 17th three inches short, but at least got her first birdie.

On the 18th hole, Meadow hit her approach to 25 feet for a must-make putt:

Passion ?

Fighting to make Top 100 on the money list, @StephMeadow20 finishes birdie-birdie in Texas.

Watch the conclusion of the @VOAClassic now on @GolfChannel! pic.twitter.com/VfVUqY7ltQ

— LPGA (@LPGA) October 6, 2019

Suffice it to say, she didn’t leave this one short. That capped a Sunday 67 and a T-6 finish, which moved her into the 99th spot on the money list at the end of the tournament.

Meadow gives Doug Ghim a run for his money for the coolest reaction to a made putt that secures a tour card after Ghim holed this putt in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to earn a PGA Tour card.

For a @PGATour card…. pic.twitter.com/x7wdT33Dqu

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) September 2, 2019

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