LPGA Thread

[tonyj5]

After a very exciting start to the LPGA season, the LPGA will be staging its first major championship this week with the playing of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

This will be the first of 5 major championships on the 2014 LPGA schedule.

Winning a major championship can go a long way towards achieving the LPGA's most prestigious season ending awards. Player of the Year points and Rookie of the Year points are doubled for major championships. Twenty-five percent will be added to the normal value of points rewarded for the Race to the CME Globe and its one million dollar first prize.

This will be tournament #7 of 32 on this year's LPGA schedule.

Here are the key details:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

The pairings for the first two rounds have now been posted:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after round 1:

1 Shanshan Feng -6
T2 Michelle Wie -5
T2 Se Ri Pak -5
T4 Angel Yin -4
T4 Amy Yang -4
T6 Cristie Kerr -3
T6 Jennifer Rosales-3
T6 Jiyai Shin -3
T9 So Yeon Rye -2
T9 Haeji Kang -2
T9 Tiffany Joh -2
T9 Morgan Pressel -2

For full results and live scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after round #2:

T1 Se Ri Pak -7
T1 Lexi Thompson-7
3 Michelle Wie -6
T4 Cristie Kerr -5
T4 Shanshan Feng-5
T6 Catriona Matthew-4
T6 Morgan Pressel-4
T6 Anna Nordqvist-4
T9 Amy Yang -3
T9 Mo Martin -3

For full results and live scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after round 3:

T1 Michelle Wie -10
T1 Lexi Thompson-10
T3 Charley Hull -8
T3 Se Ri Pak -8
T5 Catriona Matthew-6
T5 Cristie Kerr -6
T7 Chella Choi -5
T7 Shanshan Feng-5
T9 Stacy Lewis -4
T9 Angela Stanford -4
T9 Jiyai Shin -4
T9 Azahara Munoz -4
T9 Gerina Piller -4
T9 Amy Yang -4

For full results and live scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

Final Results:

1 Lexi Thompson -14
2 Michelle Wie -11
3 Stacy Lewis -7
T4 Cristie Kerr -6
T4 Se Ri Pak -6
6 Shanshan Feng -5
T7 Azahara Munoz -4
T7 Angela Stanford -4
T7 Charley Hull -4
10 Amy Yang -3

For full results and live scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... eview.html

[tonyj5]

It was a great week for the LPGA.
Lexi Thompson winning the year's first major.
Paula Creamer tying Tiger Wood's record.
Golf Digest getting blasted for its cover.

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... -golf.html

[tonyj5]

Although the LPGA has completed only 7 of the 32 tournaments on the 2014 schedule, I don't think it is too early to take a look at some of the ladies who have been the biggest surprises and biggest disappointments of the year thus far.

As I do every year, I will do this again at the halfway point of the season and again at the season's end.

To further explain how I make my picks, the fact that Lydia Ko is doing so well and is not on my list is because I have such high expectations for her that this is not a surprise. The fact that the still slumping Yani Tseng, who was my biggest disappointment last year, is not on my list this year is because I have lowered my expectations so much that her continued poor play is no longer surprising.

With that in mind here are my early season choices:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... art-1.html

[tonyj5]

After a short one week break the LPGA moves to Hawaii this week for the playing of the LPGA Lotte Championship Presented by J Golf.

This tournament is very unique as it has a Wednesday start and ends on Saturday.
Some of you may remember last year's very exciting finish when Suzann Pettersen won a playoff against Lizette Salas.

This is tournament # 8 of 32 on this year's LPGA schedule:

Here are the Key details:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... rings.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after round 1:

1 Hyo Joo Kim -4
1 Se Ri Pak -4
1 So Yeon Ryu -4
4 Ayako Uehara -3
5 Ha-Na Jang -2
5 Amy Anderson -2
5 Michelle Wie -2
5 So Young Lee -2
5 Inbee Park -2
10 Pornanong Phatlum -1
10 Christel Boeljon -1
10 Katie Burnett - 1

For full scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... rings.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after round 2:

1 Angela Stanford-8
2 Michelle Wie -7
3 Cristie Kerr -6
3 Inbee Park -6
3 So Yeon Ryu -6
3 Hyo Joo Kim -6
7 Ha-Na Jang -5
7 Se Ri Pak -5
9 Haru Nomura -4
9 Katie Burnett -4
9 So Young Lee -4

For complete leaderboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... rings.html

[tonyj5]

Here are the leaders after the third round:

1 Angela Stanford-13
2 Hyo Joo Kim -9
2 Michelle Wie -9
4 Cristie Kerr -8
5 Amy Anderson -6
5 So Yeon Ryu -6
5 Inbee Park -6
8 Chella Choi -4
8 Katie Burnett -4
10 Julieta Granada-3
10 Amelia Lewis -3
10 Haru Nomura -3
10 Se Ri Pak -3

For complete scoreboard:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... rings.html

[PeteC]

I've been watching the LPGA primarily because the Golf Channel here in Thailand has been broadcasting since the major season has started. Although many of the ladies are shooting under par, I'm not sure how. Their second shot short game is generally not good, missing greens, bad chips and not so good putting. Perhaps the golf courses selected for these tournaments are not the standard we're used to when watching the men, therefore the under par scores. Michelle Wei has been an exception this Hawaii tournament to date, and last tournament, except after some great approaches her putting lets her down, even the 2' kind.

It's frustrating to see mistakes made that shouldn't happen after they see previous putting lines and approaches. The announcers seem to feel the same way. They don't hesitate to comment strongly.

Regardless, it's enjoyable, but don't expect the same quality that we see with the men. Pete

[tonyj5]

Michelle Wie shot a final round 67 to win the LPGA Lotte Championship by 2 strokes over Angela Stanford. It was a reversal of fortune for Wie, as just 2 weeks ago she finished runner up to Lexi Thompson at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

It certainly did not look like it was going to be Michelle Wie's day as Angela Stanford birdied the 3rd hole to take a 4 stroke lead over Michelle and Hyo Joo Kim of Korea. Then things started to change quite rapidly. Michelle would birdie holes 5 and 6, while Stanford bogeyed the 6th and 8th holes. Meanwhile Kim was looking very solid with birdies on the 1st, 4th, and 7th holes, and we had a 3 way tie at the turn.

From there on in it was all Wie, as she made medium length putts on 12, 13, and 16 to seal the victory.
Stanford could do no better than shoot even par on the back nine, and the pressure seemed to get to Kim as she shot a 2 over par 38 to fall out of contention.

For full Recap:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2014/04/ ... lotte.html

[PeteC]

^ Yes, it was a great result for her. At home and in front of family and friends. I think this was her first victory since 2009 thereabouts. I'd like to see her win the Pattaya Honda event In February, hope her game is still on then. Pete