They’ll square off on Friday for their final match in group play but for now, Gaby Lopez and Inbee Park are basking in the glory of dominating victories Thursday afternoon at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek.
“Made a couple mistakes on the front nine and three-putt bogey on No. 1 to obviously get off to a tough start [1-down],” said Park, who won 5-and-3 over Celine Boutier. “After that, I had some great up and downs and made couple of really good birdies out there. Played a bit better than yesterday, so I'm really glad how I played.”
At the 2020 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Lopez and Park came about as close to a match-play format in a stroke-play event as possible. Joined by Nasa Hataoka in a three-way, sudden-death playoff, Park bowed out on the third extra hole and Lopez went on to win in a Monday finish.
Facing the Rolex Rankings No. 2 will be no easy task for Lopez, but her strategy and mentality for the week is undoubtedly paying dividends.
“Well, I don't know if I know how to beat the queen one-on-one in 18 holes, but I know for sure that if I stick to my game, if I play Gaby's game, I'm going to have a pretty good chance. That's all I can control,” said Lopez, who defeated Jennifer Chang today, 4 and 2. “She's playing great. You can expect anything from her, so focusing on my game to get my chances when I have them, and make some putts, I think that's all it takes. Tomorrow, anyone has a chance.”
Park and Lopez will head to the first tee on Friday at 10:50 a.m. PT.
BRONTE LAW WINS DAY TWO MATCH WITH WALK-OFF ACE
Day Two of the inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek had some fireworks courtesy of Bronte Law. The Solheim Cup Team Europe standout found the bottom of the cup on the par-3 17th with an 8-iron from 147 yards for a walk-off 2-and-1 victory over Austin Ernst.
“I was actually in between clubs, so I had to hit a really controlled 8-iron,” said Law, who is 1-0-1 overall. “It's a tricky hole and the wind really gets up there, so it's quite tough to judge given that you can't really feel the wind. It kind of shoots up over the tee box. Plan was to aim a little right, pitch it just past on the right-hand side. Caught it flush, it landed a little further than I was trying to, but I guess obviously didn't judge it right to begin with if that's the best result. Never really thought about it going in the hole.”
For the ace, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The 2021 season has six aces for a total of $120,000 donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Heading into the final match of round robin, Law has positioned herself to advance to the Round of 16 with a win tomorrow and some help from Ernst against Amy Olson.
“You just want to put yourself in a good position and that's what I've done. Business as usual tomorrow. Preparing the same and taking each match as I have done because I'm doing something right,” Law said. “Hoping to continue that. The other match is out of my hands, so I can only go take care of my match.”
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