2015 U.S. Women’s Open Championship Conducted by the USGA
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes
July 8, 2015
PRESSEL IN GOOD MAJOR FORM
Morgan Pressel traded in her clubs for a mic three weeks ago at Chambers Bay for the U.S. Open and was part of the FOX Sports team broadcasting the event. Pressel said it was an eye-opening experience and joked that she won’t be giving up her regular day job just yet.
“I think I’m going to play golf for a little while now,” Pressel said. “It was a great experience. It was nice to join the FOX team to see how the tournament is covered from the other side, and learning how to ask an interview question, which you guys all know, have learned how to do, is not easy. I had to learn how to do that. But it was a lot of fun. And I’m not used to sitting down for that long. That was probably the hardest thing for me was sitting down for seven, eight hours a day.”
But this week Pressel has her sights set on her second major championship and feels that her game is in a perfect place to do it at Lancaster. She has already performed well in the season’s first two majors with two top 5s: a thirdplace finish at the ANA Inspiration and a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She’s trying to break back into the winner’s circle for the first time since 2008 when she won the Kapalua LPGA Classic.
“I think ten years later, at this point in my career, I kind of center my schedule and my preparation around major championships,” said Pressel. “I’ve been able to do that fairly successfully, especially this year so far with ANA and KPMG, and things like coming here in advance to practice. And maybe working a little bit more on my swing last week in northwest Arkansas so that I could play more freely here this week. I prepare mentally differently, I think, than I did maybe when I first came out on Tour, with a lot more emphasis on the majors with wanting to win.”
PREPARING FOR THE GRIND
Cristie Kerr will make her 20th appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open this week and while that number may seem large to many, Kerr was surprised it was so low.
“And I actually wasn’t aware that it was 20,” said Kerr. “I actually thought it was more. Pretty amazing. Yeah, I’ve had a great career and I feel like I’m kind of just in the middle part of my career. Hopefully I can get to 30.”
Kerr won this event at Pine Needles in 2007, one of her two major championship victories. The 37-year old said that after all of those years facing the toughest test in golf, she concentrates on not over preparing during the week.
“Yeah, any Open is a grind…You have to be careful not to over-prepare, because I’ve certainly been guilty of that in the past, where you can play three 18-hole practice rounds and think that helps you out and it just makes you tired,” said Kerr. “So I’ve got a good plan with my practice this week not to over-prepare.”
PLAYING TO HER STRENGTHS
Over the course of her career, Brittany Lincicome has consistently been one of the longest drivers on Tour. In 2014, she led the Tour in average driving distance (271.462) and this year she ranks second at 272.698, behind only Joanna Klatten (273.972).
Lincicome, known as “Bam-Bam” for her power off the tee, is a two-time winner (2012 and 2014) of the Kia Power Drive Award, given to LPGA member with the longest average driving distance of the season. Will Lancaster Country Club play into her strengths this week? Bam-Bam is hopeful it will and she’ll hoist her second major championship of the 2015 season and third of her career.
“I think just being a major, obviously it sets up more difficult,” Lincicome explained. “The scores aren’t as low, which I like. I love tournaments that just a couple under par wins. When it gets to like 15 or 20-under par, it brings in the rest of the field and more out of my reach. So 1, 2, 3-under par wins, it’s kind of up my alley. And being a longer hitter, this golf course is very long. It’s very wet, so we’re not going to get a lot of roll. Hopefully it fits into my game. I like when they’re playing longer. I wish there were more par 5s out there, so I could attack those. The longer the golf course, the better for me.”
TREAT IT LIKE JUST ANOTHER TOURNAMENT
Dealing with the mental aspects of golf is never easy. It is especially hard when tournaments become majors and the pressure is elevated. Lydia Ko understands that golf is a mental process and in order to be successful in the majors she must treat them as just another tournament.
“I think I’ve got a great team that has always tried to keep me more grounded, keep me more in the present,” said Ko. “I’ve just got to take it as just another tournament. I’m here. I didn’t prepare differently just because it was a major.”
After the Coates Golf Championship in January, Ko became the new World No. 1 and held that ranking for 19 weeks. Handling that pressure was hard but after holding the spot before she is motivated to gain it back.
“I had that ranking for longer than I expected,” admitted Ko. “Obviously there was pressure coming along with it, but it was fun. I think the greatest memory for me was playing in my national Open, The New Zealand Open, in front of the home crowd, being the world No. 1 that was a special moment for me. It does motivate me to play better, be a little more consistent.”
With a win this week in Lancaster, Ko would become the youngest major champion in LPGA history at 18 year, 2 months and 18 days old. If she wins any of the three remaining majors this year, Ko would unseat Morgan Pressel as the youngest major champion. Pressel won the Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18 years, 10 months and 9 days old.
ROLEX RANKINGS NO. 1 SPOT UP FOR GRABS
Inbee Park has held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for four weeks since overtaking Lydia Ko for the top spot after her win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship but her reign is at stake this week in Lancaster. Ko is the only player who can unseat Park for No. 1.
Lydia Ko can take over No. 1 if:
She wins AND Inbee Park finishes in a tie for 7th or worse.
KEY NUMBERS TO KNOW
4.5 - The purse this week is $4.5 million dollars, up from $4 million last year
7 - Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand are one of seven sets of sisters to compete in the same U.S. Women’s Open. Jessica and Nelly Korda, in 2013, were the last set of sisters to compete at the USWO.
9 - This will be the ninth U.S. Women’s Open conducted in the state of Pennsylvania
20 - Consecutive appearances (2015 included) at the U.S. Women’s Open for Karrie Webb, which leads all active players
27 – Number of U.S. Women’s Open appearances (2015 included) by Laura Davies, which leads all active players
74 - Rolex ANNIKA Major Award Points for Brittany Lincicome, who has a 14-point lead over Inbee Park in the RAMA points standings
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Going into a tournament I want to win every tournament, I don’t normally pay attention to the prize. But I thought that was very neat. Obviously women’s golf is going up, and it’s great that the USGA and Mike Davis and his team, we’re all going in the right direction. It’s amazing to see the purse go up that much. It’s gone up significantly over the last couple of years, which is pretty amazing. Women’s golf is going up, and it’s a great time to be a part of the Tour.” - Brittany Lincicome answering if player’s notice the fact that the purse this week was bumped up to $4.5 million
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