Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic
The Links at Stoney Point
Greenwood, South Carolina
May 8, 2015
Second-Round News & Notes
GREENWOOD, S.C., May 8, 2015 - There is no doubt that Lacey Agnew (Jonesboro, Ga.) will continue to lean on the advice of friend and LPGA Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez after carding a 3-under 69 to take sole possession of the 36-hole lead at 7-under 137.
Agnew will take a one shot lead over Alejandra Llaneza (Mexico City, Mexico), 6-under 138, into the weekend. Jimin Kang (Seoul, South Korea) and Emily Talley (Napa, Calif.) are two shots back at 5-under 139.
The cut was made at 5-over-par 149 and a total of 72 players will tee off on Saturday.
“I spoke with Nancy over text last night and I’ll probably give her another phone call and see what other advice she has,” said Agnew, who struck up a relationship with Lopez two years ago. “Obviously what she says works so I will absolutely be calling her again soon.”
Agnew started relatively slow with a bogey on the fourth hole, but made the turn at 4-under with a birdie on nine. She tied Kang for the lead with a birdie on 13 and seized the lead with birdies on 14 and 15.
“I was getting nervous on the front nine when things weren’t going as planned,” said Agnew. “After making birdie on the ninth hole, I just told myself to settle in and be patient and then I made three straight birdies.”
The last time Agnew held a 36-hole lead was the Island Resort Championship in 2014. She struggled on the final day and finished in a tie for ninth.
Agnew is excited to erase the demons of Harris, Michigan and earn her first professional win this weekend.
“To walk off 18 and see my name on the leaderboard with a one-shot lead is very exciting.”
Agnew is the only player in the field to post two rounds in the 60’s.
LLANEZA FINISHES WITH A BANG: Alejandra Llaneza was having a ho-hum type of round with one birdie and one bogey through her first 14 holes. Then, she caught fire with a birdie on 15, an eagle on 16 and another eagle on 18 to move from 2-under to 6-under in a matter of four holes.
“It was really exciting and I have to give my caddie some credit because I was having an OK round and right after 13 he said ‘let’s just find a good feeling and finish strong’,” said Llaneza. “After my 3-putt bogey on 17 I wasn’t happy, but I saw the tees up on 18 and knew there was a chance for eagle and I hit a good drive and good 7-wood and then made the putt.”
On the 16th hole, Llaneza holed out from 154-yards out with a 6-iron. She couldn’t see the pin so only knew it went in when she heard the fans screaming. Last year at the LPGA Kingsmill Championship, Llaneza also holed out for eagle and her caddie picked her up and spun her around.
“Ivan (caddie) and I were laughing because last year at Kingsmill I holed out for eagle and the reaction was he picked me up and spun me around,” said Llaneza with a wide smile. “When it happened on 16, he was like ‘I need to pick you up again’ and he spun me around.”
Llaneza plays both LPGA Tour events and Epson Tour events. Last week, she missed the cut at the
Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout. She has played a partial LPGA schedule since 2013. Her best finish is a tie for 12th at the 2013 Kingsmill Championship.
Llaneza is currently the top ranked player from Mexico at No. 271 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. The next closest is Epson Tour player Margarita Ramos, who ranks No. 504.
COULDN’T WALK OR BREATHE AND NOW IN HUNT: Two years ago, Jimin Kang (Seoul, South Korea) couldn’t even walk or breathe on her own. On Friday, she carded a 4-under 68 to move into a tie for third at 5-under 139.
“When you play well, everything is working,” said Kang, who carded five birdies against just one bogey. “I hit the ball on the fairways, hit them close and then rolled them in. It was as simple as that.”
The three-time Epson Tour winner and two-time LPGA Tour winner missed nearly the entire 2013 season when her immune system failed. According to Kang, she was misdiagnosed with asthma and allergy symptoms that made the simplest things like breathing difficult.
“I’m just thankful to be out here and be able to walk and breathe on my own,” said Jang. “Breathing on your own is not an easy job, I learned that because I’ve been there before. I’m just thankful that I can breathe on my own without any medication.”
At one point, she was taking 15 shots a week and taking nine pills a day to try and solve the problem.
“I was too busy chasing a doctor around and getting shots, I couldn’t compete on the LPGA Tour,” said Jang. “My friend who is a good doctor told me that I need to do something else so I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.”
When she went to the Mayo Clinic, doctors got her off the medication and she had to work to rebuild her immune system completely.
“Doctors told me I’d have to learn how to walk again,” said Jang. “I said ‘let’s fast forward, when are my going to be able to play golf again? The doctors told me a few years, but I didn’t have much time.”
Jang tried to push herself back onto the LPGA Tour in 2014 and played in 15 events, but now realizes that she needed more time. She is currently No. 173 on the LPGA Tour priority list so she has played in two Epson Tour events this year with hopes of returning to the LPGA full-time in 2016.
“The Epson Tour gives me a great opportunity to get back onto the LPGA Tour,” said Kang. “I decided to come back out here to rebuild my immune system, health, golf game and really everything. I’m really starting all over again.”
Kang won the 2005 LPGA Corning Classic and the 2010 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. She has 14 career top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour.
Kang earned her LPGA Tour card in 2005 after leading the Epson Tour’s money list in 2004. She will go for her fourth career Epson Tour win this weekend.
“It will be great if I can win this week because it will be rewarding with all this work I’ve put in.”
TALLEY GETS UNEXPECTED GOLF HELP FROM BOYFRIEND: After a strong start to the year with
consecutive top 30 finishes, Emily Talley missed the cut at the last two events. Advice came from the most unexpected places, her boyfriend Andreas, who occasionally caddies for her but has limited knowledge of golf.
“Confidence was really low (after missing the cuts), but this last week was great because I got to spend some quality time with my family and played a lot of golf with my dad and boyfriend,” said Talley. “Of all people, my boyfriend fixed my golf swing and he doesn’t know anything about golf. He said ‘Emily, you’re aimed in the trees’ and sure enough he has been lining me up and I have been hitting them dead straight ever since.”
Talley closed her round with an eagle on the 18th hole to move into a tie for third.
“It was a fantastic finish, a little nerveracking because I didn’t hit the best drive, but Marta (Silva) told me it was safe and I believed her,” said Talley. “I had about 185 yards to the pin with downwind so I chocked down a little 5-iron and it trickled to 6-feet and Lacey (Agnew) said ‘common and make it so we can play together tomorrow’ and I’m really glad I did.”
The former Colorado standout is really looking to the weekend in part because she didn’t play the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic last year.
“I hear there are fireworks and I love fireworks,” said Talley. “It makes it that much better that I get to play and enjoy the festivities.”
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