Rookie Race
Minjee Lee is in the hunt for Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors and a win this week would push her to the front of the pack of talented first-year players. Lee would also become the first LPGA Tour rookie to win a major since Anna Nordqvist won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in 2009. She currently trails Sei Young Kim (1,104 points) and Hyo Joo Kim (1,048 points) in the standings but would add 300 points to her current total of 840.
The Perth, Australia native played in four majors last season, three as an amateur and made her professional debut at this event a year ago and finished T16. She said having just the slightest familiarity on the complicated greens here makes a huge difference.
“I played last year so I kind of know what the course is like and just where the breaks are on the greens,” said Lee. “Yeah, it’s helping me putt a lot better now… Just the breaks on the greens. I kind of know where they are to get your ball back into the holes and just where to hit them on the fairways to keep them on the fairways. So just little things like that.”
She’s coming off her best career finish in a major, a tie for ninth at the RICOH Women’s British Open, and said she’s gotten to the point of feeling comfortable enough for a major breakthrough. Lee already has a win under her belt this season and captured her first LPGA title in May at the Kingsmill Championship.
“I mean, yeah. I think I’m getting more comfortable playing in these major championships,” said Lee. “In any event you get nerves on the first tee, but that’s just every event that you get that. So, yeah, I’m getting there.”
Keep It Simple
Gerina Piller got the week started off on a strong note with a round of 4-under 67 on Thursday and sits just one shot off the lead. The 30-year old New Mexico native said her driver and putter were key.
“I hit my driver really well and I had some pretty -- I hit my irons good, so I was hitting it close,” said Piller. “But the bogeys, there are just some spots on this course you cannot get in. Coming out I think the key this week is staying away from the big numbers, and I hit it a couple times where you just can’t really miss it and didn’t get up and down. But I think overall, my driving was really good today and my putting.”
Piller led the field with eight birdies and said that a minor swing tweak last week with her coach in Texas made all the difference. She’s playing for her first LPGA Tour victory this week.
“I saw my coach, Mike Wright, out at Shady Oaks, and he was -- I went to my lesson and it was like this is easy,” said Piller. “As a player you love when they say this is easy. So he took me in the video room and it was just a simple I was letting my right knee float a little bit on the back swing, and that’s why I really like him because he just keeps it simple. Something like that I’m not trying to work on my swing path, my face or anything like that. It’s just so simple and it clicked. Yeah, hitting it good.”
Numbers to Know
4 - Today marks the fourth time in Lexi Thompson’s career to hold at least a share of the lead after the first round and second time in a major. Her best finish was a runner-up at the 2012 Navistar LPGA Classic
25 - Players under par after the first round; 42 players broke par during the first round in 2014
6 - Different countries currently represented in the top-10 after the first round
66 - Lexi Thompson’s second-lowest round in a major, a score she has now posted three times in major championships
23 - players within four shots of the lead
8 - birdies by Gerina Piller to lead the field on Thursday
278 yards - Lexi Thompson’s and Paula Reto’s driving distance average to lead the field
20 - Number of players in the top-25 are playing for their first career major title
Rolex Scenarios
There is a chance that Lydia Ko can overtake current World No. 1 Inbee Park atop the Rolex Rankings this week. Here is what needs to take place in order for that to happen.
- Lydia can only take No. 1 if she wins AND Inbee finishes in in a tie for 17th or worse.
- No one else has a shot at No. 1 this week.
Note: Multi-way ties can complicate the situation. For example, Inbee would retain No. 1 regardless with a three-way tie for 16th but not a tie for 17th. Please check with the LPGA communications team on Sunday for updated scenarios.
Quick Hits
- Inbee Park clinched the Rolex Annika Major Award (RAMA) after her win at the RICOH Women’s British Open. She enters this week with 138 total points, a number that no other player can match, even with a win.
- Inbee Park has won 6 of the last 14 LPGA majors.
- Lexi Thompson has one win and three top-10 finishes in her last five starts.
- Karrie Webb is the only player to have won five different majors (Kraft Nabisco Championship, Women’s PGA Championship, du Maurier Classic, U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open).
Quotable
“Everything besides golf (laughing). I don’t really know. I mean, I’m a very laid back, goofy person once you get to know me. It’s just golf, I’ve matured at a young age. I’ve always played in older age divisions as a young kid, and growing up with two older brothers has made me mature at a lot younger age. But off the golf course, I’m just a regular person.”
Lexi Thompson on whether there is anything in life she acts younger than she does on the golf course
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