Lorena Ochoa Invitational
Club de Golf México
Mexico City
Round Two Notes
November 14, 2014
Rolex Rankings No. 76 Christina Kim (-10)
Rolex Rankings No. 18 Paula Creamer (-9)
Rolex Rankings No. 5 Shanshan Feng (-5)
After an opening round 65, Christina Kim came back today with a 69 and heads into the weekend with a one stroke lead over Paula Creamer (-9). Kim is looking for her first win since The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions in 2005.
Kim began the round exactly where she left off yesterday with birdies on three of the first four holes, before two bogeys on 7 and 9. She finished strong after making the turn with a bogey-free back 9.
“Yesterday I was lucky enough to have two eagles so that immediately made the score a lot better. And I had no bogeys yesterday.” Kim described. “Today I had 2 bogeys. It’s just difficult when you’re in the lead and there’s such a fantastic field and everyone’s coming after you. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. And just trying to get back into it. Just enjoying myself.”
Kim hasn’t lead or co-lead after the second round since the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship, when she finished 7th. It has been a while since she’s been in this position but she pretended once again today that it was Sunday. She put up another low score to make for an exciting weekend of golf.
“Before I teed off my caddy, TJ Jones said, you know, let’s pretend like it’s Sunday again. Still finished under par. I got a one shot lead over Paula, so it’s going to make for a very exciting weekend hopefully. And it’ll be a tough weekend, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Kim will be paired with Creamer tomorrow and is looking forward to battling her friend.
I’ve known Paula since I was maybe 12 or 13 years old so she and I, we go a long way back. We’re very good friends and I’m a very big fan of hers, so I just have to make sure that I’m making sure to play my game and not watching hers all day.” Kim said.
Putting the Work In
Paula Creamer has been working with her coach, David Whelan lately. Creamer and Whelan have been working together since Creamer was 16 years old and he knows her swing as well as she does. She’s been working on a number of things but has been seeing results out there on the course.
One area in particular is with her putting. Today, she needed just 27 putts on her way to the low round of the day at the Club de Golf Mexico in Mexico City.
“I switched to left hand low and I switched my whole putter at Evian and that’s been probably the greatest thing that I’ve done.” Creamer said. “I just have a lot of confidence. I’m really, my routine and what I do when I’m over the ball is the same every time. It’s more about speed instead of thinking about my stroke or thinking about this. I know that it’s solid and we’ve been working really hard on that. It’s more of a confidence and seeing the ball go in the hole.”
Last Chance to Qualify for CME
The Lorena Ochoa Invitational marks the final week for players to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship. It also marks the final week for players to jump into the top-9 or top-3 spots in the Race to the CME Globe for a chance at $1 million. Only the top-9 players have a chance to win the $1 million prize, while the top-3 control their own destiny with a win at CME.
Visit www.lpga.com/race-to-cme-globe for more information on how the Race to the CME Globe works and the points breakdown.
Top 3 Scenarios
• Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park will go into the CME Group Tour Championship No. 1 and No. 2 in the Race to the CME Globe when the points are reset.
• Michelle Wie must win this week, and Lydia Ko must finish 5th-or-worse for Wie to have a chance of taking her place inside the top-3.
Top 9 Scenarios
• There are only 14 players left in contention for the top 9 positions. Na Yeon Choi and Jessica Korda were eliminated after not winning at the Mizuno Classic.
• Karrie Webb has jumped into the top-9, which forces Azahara Munoz to finish at least 4th in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational to have a chance of falling inside the top-9.
• Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, and Suzann Pettersen each must win to have a chance of getting inside the top-9.
Top 72 Scenarios
• Juli Inkster could earn her way into the CME Group Tour Championship field with a top-3 finish this week.
• Alejanda Llaneza could jump into the CME Group Tour Championship field with a 1st or 2nd place finish this week.
• Natalie Gulbis could jump into the CME Group Tour Championship field with a 1st place finish this week.
Of Note
If Azahara Munoz finishes in the top-4, Karrie Webb is automatically dropped out. It wouldn’t guarantee Azahara a spot if one of the other three player’s wins. Azahara would have to finish 3rd-or-better to guarantee herself a spot because a third-or-better would push Chella Choi and Karrie Webb below her.
Numbers to Know
-7 Low round of the day by Paula Creamer
2 - Number of career wins for Christina Kim
3 - The number of players who control their own destiny in the Race to the CME Globe and its $1million prize
7 - Number of years that Lorena Ochoa has hosted the Lorena Ochoa Invitational
10 - Current ranking for Azahara Munoz in the Race to the CME Globe
13 - Number of players still in contention for the top 9 positions in the Race to the CME Globe with one week to go
27 - Putts for Paula Creamer and Pornanong Phatlum today
40 - Number of consecutive events Lydia Ko has played without missing a cut
76 - Rolex Ranking for Christina Kim
299.5 - Driving Avg. for Brittany Lincicome during the second round today
2005 - Year of Christina Kim’s last win on the LPGA Tour
Quotes of the Day
“Well I’m really happy about my performance this year. Although I know in the beginning of the year, I said I wanted to win three times this year. I still have two more to go. So technically, physically, we still have chance.”
- Shanshan Feng talking about her 2014 season thus far
TV TIMES
Golf Channel will air each round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Below are the airtimes the rest of the week.
Saturday 5:00-7:00pm ET (Tape Delay)
1:30-3:30am ET – Round 3 (Re-air)
Sunday 5:00-7:00pm ET (Tape Delay)
1:30-3:30am ET – Final Round (Re-air)
SOCIAL SCENE
Michelle Wie had a good sense of humor with a tweet that Golf.com sent out today. It was a pictures of Michelle from 2000, when she looked much different than she does today.
“This week’s #FBF brought to you by Golf.com...thanks guys! So Embarrassing #serious flashback #babyfat #PublicLinks2000”
- Michelle Wie on Instagram (@themichellewie)
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations continuing as the number one in the Lorena Ochoa tournament. What's the champion about?
CHRISTINA KIM: I feel great. It was getting a little sketchy in the middle of the round. I just kind of hung through it and just tried to enjoy myself and, again, tried to see if I could be the best Lorena that I could be. Overall it was a good day, it was just very stressful.
THE MODERATOR: What is the principal difficult today? Yesterday, 7 and today, 3. What is the principal difference just the round today?
CHRISTINA KIM: Yesterday I was lucky enough to have 2 eagles so that immediately made the score a lot better. And I had no bogies yesterday. Today I had 2 bogies. It's just difficult when you're in the lead and there's such a fantastic field and everyone's coming after you. It's been a while since I've been in this position. And just trying to get back into it. Just enjoying myself.
THE MODERATOR: The play between Paula Creamer and you is very very important for the fight today?
CHRISTINA KIM: Yea, I've known Paula since I was maybe 12 or 13 years old so she and I, we go a long way back. We're very good friends and I'm a very big fan of hers, so I just have to make sure that I'm making sure to play my game and not watching hers all day.
THE MODERATOR: What do you think of all the Mexican people?
CHRISTINA KIM: I love Mexico. Everything about it - the culture, the food. It's amazing. To see how much support this tournament gets. I know it's Friday but it's still the work week, so just seeing the amount of support we get is fantastic.
MODERATOR 2: Yesterday you said that you played it like Sunday.
CHRISTINA KIM: Yes, I just didn't have the best Sunday out there. But before I teed off my caddy, TJ Jones and I, you know, let's pretend like it's Sunday again. Still finished under par. I got a one shot lead over Paula, so it's going to make for a very exciting weekend hopefully. And it'll be a tough weekend, but I'm really looking forward to it.
MODERATOR 2: As is there anything you've been working on lately leading up to this tournament?
CHRISTINA KIM: My patience. I've been working on my putting a lot. I like to think I'm a good putter, but the scores don't necessarily reflect what it is that you're doing and what you're working on. But I've been working on everything in my game. I've had to rebuild from the ground up. It's been a long journey, but it's one that I would never trade anything for the world.
THE MODERATOR: Paula, what a fantastic round of golf today. I know we were talking earlier about you struggling with your irons over in Asia, and you've made some adjustments. What were those adjustments?
Paula Creamer: I worked with my coach, David Whelan, who I've been with since I was 16. He knows my swing in an instant. But I was really early releasing my hands, which is not like me. More the opposite of that, and I just was losing so much distance. I'm really working on retaining my angle and my golf swing. But it's kind of a hard thing to do. It's taken some while. Colin has been very patient with me. But it was good to see some nice results with my irons.
THE MODERATOR: And I also noticed, how could anyone not notice, how well you putted today. And you're one of the players that I regard as burning the edge so often. How do you remain patient and what are you doing this week that's different?
PAULA CREAMER: I switched to left hand low and I switched my whole putter at Evian and that's been probably the greatest thing that I've done. I just have a lot of confidence. I'm really, my routine and what I do when I'm over the ball is the same every time. It's more about speed instead of thinking about my stroke or thinking about this. I know that it's solid and we've been working really hard on that. It's more of a confidence and seeing the ball go in the hole.
THE MODERATOR: You really are on fire and long may it continue. Well done. Thank you.
PAULA CREAMER: Thanks.
THE MODERATOR: So you're obviously in a great position right now for next week to win the million dollars. You are, yes! You're 7th.
SHANSHAN FENG: I'm top 9, but.
THE MODERATOR: So you have a mathematical chance of winning.
SHANSHAN FENG: Yes I know.
THE MODERATOR: So this shows that you had a really good year, but if you did win the million... I know it's hard to get it out of your brain. But if you did, what would you do with it?
SHANSHAN FENG: It's not hard to get out of my brain. This is never in my brain.
THE MODERTOR: You never think about it.
SHANSHAN FENG: I mean, I knew it's a really good thing that we actually have the race. It's the same as the guys now - even though we're 1 million and they're 10 million, it's getting there. So I think it's a really good move that we have the race. And I mean, you know, at the end of the year, there's only going to be one girl that actual million, so I never put it in my mind. But now, of course, I know I still kind of have a chance to win. But the top 3 has to finish really bad. So I would still, it's still not in my mind. My mind is thinking about next week going back as the defending champion. I know I played well there last year, the course. But you know always as the defending champion, you have more pressure. And there will be more people supporting you though. I think what I'm going to do is just keep up the good playing and try to do the same thing last year. And I'm not going to set any goals.
THE MODERATOR: Overall your year. You're playing well. You've played well, especially of late. Are you satisfied? Are you happy? What makes you have a good finish?
SHANSHAN FENG: Well I'm really happy about my performance this year. Although I know in the beginning of the year, I said I wanted to win three times this year. I still have two more to go. So technically, physically, we still have chance.
THE MODERATOR: It's like the million dollars.
SHANSHAN FENG: I know, but what my dad told me, you know, he told me just don't give yourself that much pressure, like, to say I have to win three times this year. He said, just keep winning. If you win every year, that's good enough. I think I'll keep that in mind. But I think at least I got one down, so I'm really happy about it.