jamie in the rough

In 2005, Brittany Lang was a 20 year old rising junior at Duke playing in her first U.S. Women’s Open Championship. There Lang (along with fellow amateur Morgran Pressel) took the LPGA by storm nearly winning the event, before finishing T2 two strokes behind Birdie Kim. After the finish Lang quickly turned pro.

5 years later Lang returns to the top of the U.S. Women’s Open after being the only player to break 70 at Oakmont Country Club. 5 birdies and 3 bogeys led to her opening round 69, pretty good numbers considering she was only averaging 229 yards off the tee, only hit 8 fairways and 11 greens. Since her magical finish in 2005, Lang has gone 2 for 4 in made cuts at the U.S. Women’s Open with her best finish being a T31 in 2008.

Looking to do one better then Lang’s open debut is amateur Kelli Shean who turned in an impressive 1-under 70 to share second place with Amy Yang, M.J. Hur, and Inbee Park. Shean is a rising senior at the University of Arkansas. Shean impressed in her LPGA debut last year at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship where she finished T27 as a sponsor’s exemption.

Inbee Park looks to be finally shaking off the U.S. Open curse that afflicted her since her win in 2008. Park has had a phenomenal start to her JLPGA career (winning once in 2010), and has had 6 top 10s in 2010, and has made nearly $500,000, which is almost double what she made in all of 2009.

Amy Yang had an impressive career in Australia and the LET, and has been one of the best players on the tour in 2010. Yang is 13th on the money list and has had two top-10 finishes thus far.

2nd year member M.J. Hur has had a pretty good season in 2010 as well, coming off the heels of her successful rookie campaign that saw become a Rolex First Time Winner. Hur is in the top 20 on the money list and has two top 10s as well.

Of the 14 players at 1-over and T-8 only two of them have wins on the LPGA in 2010. #1 player in the world Cristie Kerr and KLPGA member Hee Kyung Seo.

The scoring at Oakmont was nothing drastically worse like expected. The big story at the bottom of the leaderboard is Michelle Wie’s opening round of 82, which had 3 double bogeyes, and no birdies. 

The tough test of Oakmont Country Club awaits the best and brightest of the LPGA this week as the ladies compete for the 65th U.S. Women’s Open Championship. Expect to see some tough scoring this week, as the course features the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history, the 8th could play 252-yards throughout the week.

Don’t expect the course this week to only be about the length. The USGA has the option to make a couple of the 4s reachable. It’s going to be a diabolical week, and with the few birdie opportunities that will be abound, I think the winner will be the player who takes the few chances that are given to them this week. Or to put it simply, who can sink those putts when it matters.

Don’t expect anything close to the Cristie Kerr blowout that we saw a few weeks ago at the LPGA Championship.

I would be shocked to not see Cristie Kerr in the thick of things come Sunday. It’s almost as traditional as apple pie to see Kerr somewhere near the top at the most coveted championship on the LPGA. In the past 9 years Cristie has had 6 top-15 finishes, including her victory in 2007. The question really isn’t whether she’ll be a factor (that’s a given), but whether or not she’ll succumb to the pressure on championship Sunday.

2010 has been a coming out party for Japanese sensation Ai Miyazato, and I don’t expect the Japanese star to look to end the festivities anytime soon. The list of career milestones Ai has achieved thus far in her 4-win season is superlative. In 2010 she’s had her first multi-win season, captured her first win on American soil, and ascended to #1 in the world. The one thing she’s missing both in 2010 and in her career is an LPGA major. A win this week would be a huge exclamation point as she attempts to end the year #1 in the world and on the LPGA.

Let’s not forget Jiyai Shin either, Shin was the first player to jump to #1 in the world when Lorena Ochoa retired, but Shin has been seemingly lapped in 2010. After posting 3 victories in both 2008 (as a non LPGA member) and 2009 (as a rookie), Miss Shin hasn’t been able to get into the winner’s circle in 2010. That isn’t to say Jiyai has been having a bad 2010 by any means. In her 8 starts this season she has finished top-10 6 times, and hasn’t finished outside the top 30 yet. It was a big question mark as to how Shin would play after her emergency appendectomy, and I think her back to back top 5 finishes answers that loud and clear.

Song-Hee Kim had the Jamie Farr Owens Classic in her hands on Sunday, and was unable to sink a putt on the 73rd hole to capture her first title. It’ll be interesting to see how she bounces back from that. In 11 events in 2010 Kim had finished in the top 10, ten times. That’s impressive stuff.

With her length and determination Suzann Pettersen may finally capture her first victory of 2010. Pettersen has 6 top 10s in 9 starts, and sits at #4 on the money list right behind Miyazato, Kerr, and Kim.

Na Yeon Choi will be looking to win back to back for the first time in her career. She finished T9 last year at Saucon Valley. In-Kyung Kim was in the hunt all day on Sunday last year at the open. She’s finished T3 the past two years at the U.S. Open and will be looking to get her first victory of 2010 also. 

Last year, fans and media alike were reeling when two of the LPGA’s most popular ladies Michelle Wie & Natalie Gulbis failed to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. This year there is no public outrage, but there are a few notable names who won’t be teeing it up at Oakmont.

Laura Davies

Davies will be missing the U.S. Open for the first time in 24 years. Yes, I said 24 years! After receiving a special exemption in the U.S. Open last year and finishing a solid T17, she didn’t do enough on the LPGA to get herself automatically in. She also chose not to attend qualifying, and will be a familiar face missing from the field. At least we will be saved from having to hear on Davies is 2 points shy from making the LPGA Hall of Fame this week.

Lori Kane

Watching (well reading) Song-Hee Kim struggle to close out her first victory this past week at the Jamie Farr conjured up memories of Lori Kane’s struggle to get into the winner circle. From 1996-1999 Kane had an astonishing 34 top 10s and 8 runner-up finishes. Finally she broke through in 2000, and the wins kept coming. Her 3-win season was one of the best she’s had on tour. Kane hasn’t seen a top 10 since 2007, and is trying to end a 2-year slide of finishing outside the top-130 on the money list. Kane was the old dog at the qualifying site at the Plantation Bay Country Club, where tweens Alexis Thompson and Yueer Feng qualified. She is an alternate into the field after losing out on a spot in a playoff. Kane hasn’t played a U.S. Open since 2007.

Mi Hyun Kim

Peanut had a shortened 2009 season after having her first child, and is trying to adjust and round back up into form. Kim’s last win came in 2007, which is also the last year she finished in the top 5 of the money list. She hasn’t done much in 2010 and may have the rest of July off as I don’t see her getting into the Evian or the British Open. Hopefully when the LPGA resumes domestically the 8 time winner will get back on track. Kim hasn’t played an open since 2008. In a stacked field at Hawke Pointe G.C., Kim failed to qualify by 4 shots. Jimin Kang & Soo Yun Kang were also in the field, and failed to qualify.

Grace Park

Grace’s 2004 Kraft Nabisco Win is a 7 year distant memory for the player who has struggled mightily over the years with back and other injuries. 2004, where she finished #2 on the moneylist was the peak for a player that looked poised to threaten for #1. Park is attempting to resume a full schedule in 2010, and after a promising finish at the Kraft this year, she’s been unable to find the top 10. Park hasn’t bettered her T6 at the open that she got 10 years ago (in her first year as an LPGA professional), and hasn’t been in the field since 2008. Grace attempted to qualify at Pinnacle Peak C.C. and missed out by three strokes.

Other notables missing are Permilla Lindberg, Paola Moreno, Haeji Kang, Angela Oh, Mariajo Uribe, Jane Park, Il Hee Lee, Young-A Yang, Karin Sjodin, Misun Cho, Whitney Wade, Leta Lindley, Allison Hanna,  and Diana D’Alessio.

Before you could finish saying the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger, the pairings for the 65th U.S. Women’s Open Championship have been released. You can check them out over here. Below are some of the most intriguing pairings in my mind:

Thursday Hole 1 7:33 a.m./Friday Hole 10 1:03 p.m.

Morgan Pressel
Maria Hjorth
Candie Kung 

All three of these ladies have famously finished runner-up at major championships (with Pressel being the only one who has been able to bounce back and win one). Morgan famously fell to the miraculous birdie bunker shot by Birdie Kim at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open. Candie Kung felt the heartbreak last year when Eun-Hee Ji managed to to sink a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to avoid a playoff. Maria lost at the 2008 LPGA Championship to a precocious rookie named Yani Tseng in extra innings. This group could feed off each other and set a good pace early.

Thursday Hole 10 7:33 a.m./Friday Hole 1 1:03 p.m.

Ai Miyazato
Jiyai Shin
Michelle Wie

Wow. I don’t think there’s much to add to this pairing. Wie was formally a given contender for any major championship, let’s hope she can bring that form this week.

Thursday Hole 10 7:44 a.m./Friday Hole 1 1:14 p.m.

Angela Stanford
Suzann Pettersen
Paula Creamer

Expect a log jam in the galleries around these two groups. Stanford, Pettersen, and Creamer are all looking for their first win of 2010 with Stanford playing good, not great golf, Pettersen playing great, but not winning, and Creamer just coming back from injury. Paula did well two weeks in her debut tournament, but failed to make the cut last week at the Jamie Farr.

Thursday Hole 1 7:44 a.m./Friday Hole 10 1:14 p.m.

Sakura Yokomine
Hee Kyung Seo
Brittany Lincicome

Let us not forget about Seo’s non-member win earlier in 2010 at the Kia Classic presented by J Golf. She chose not to accept membership on the LPGA tour for 2010, but is in the field this week. Sakura Yokomine is the highest money winner on the 2010 JLPGA so far this year, and Linciome is a former major winner, and conveniently forgotten when talking about the future of American golf. 

Thursday Hole 1 7:55 a.m./Friday Hole 10 1:25 p.m.

Kristy McPherson
Amanda Blumenhurst
Na Yeon Choi

Kristy is one of the best Americans on tour without a win, Blumenhurst has had an impressive rookie campaign and is in a tight race with Azahara Munoz currently for Rolex Rookie of the Year. Choi obviously is coming in hot after her victory at the Farr Owens.

Thursday Hole 1 8:06 a.m./Friday Hole 10 1:36 p.m.

Jennifer Song
Catriona Matthew
Eun-Hee Ji

The low amateur from 2009, paired with the Women’s British Open Championship, and the defending U.S. Women’s Open Champion. Song had an impressive professional debut on the Duramed Futures Tour winning her first event as a professional. Ji is slowly snapping out of her U.S. Women’s funk, and Matthew has had a solid if unimpressive year so far.

Thursday Hole 1 1:03 p.m./Friday Hole 10 7:33 a.m.

Alexis Thompson
Stacy Lewis
Amy Yang

Thompson, like Song recently turned professional. If any of these three were near the top of the LPGA five years from now, I would not be shocked.

Thursday Hole 1 1:14 p.m./Friday Hole 10 7:44 a.m.

Yani Tseng
Cristie Kerr
Anna Nordqvist

Tseng & Kerr won the first two majors of 2010, and Tseng is the next breath in the conversation for World #1 (just behing Kerr, Miyazato, and Shin). Nordqvist has two top 10s in 2010 coming off an impressive rookie year that saw her win the LPGA Championship and the Tour Championships.

Thursday Hole 10 1:14 p.m./Friday Hole 1 7:44 a.m.

Juli Inkster
Christina Kim
Jee Young Lee

Expect the hometown fans to be rooting squarely for Juli and Christina this week, and Jee Young Lee seems to always be smiling on course. This would be a very fun group to follow. 

In a dramatic finish, Na Yeon Choi captured her first wire-to-wire victory outlasting Christina Kim, In-Kyung Kim, & Song-Hee Kim in a 2 hole playoff to capture the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger. Choi was the only player to get a birdie during the playoff doing so on the par-5 17th hole. “The Big Apple” gets her first victory of 2010, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

World #3 Jiyai Shin’s recovery from an emergency appendectomy seem to be going well, she posted a scoring  7-under 64 to post 13-under. When Shin finished she was two behind NYC who held the lead at 15-under. Song-Hee Kim was a stroke behind that at 14-under, while Christina Kim was struggling a bit and was back at 12-under.

In the closing 5-holes it appeared none of the ladies wanted to take home the title. Choi, who was in control at this point, would bogey the 14th and 15th holes to drop back to Shin’s number at 13-under. Her near collapse at last year’s Samsung World Championship (which I talked about yesterday, and last fall) showed us that while wilting, she’d still be there to walk through the door if it was left open, and boy did these ladies leave it open.

In-Kyung Kim birdied her final hole to leapfrog Jiyai Shin and become the new clubhouse leader at 14-under.

Song-Hee Kim was at 14-under also before she herself bogeyed the the 16th hole. She would bounce back with a birdie on the 17th to also post at 14-under.

Christina Kim was still recovering a rough double bogey she suffered on the 10th hole, despite immediately following that double with three consecutive birdies. She parred 14-16 to be tied with Na Yeon Choi at 13-under. She took advantage of the par 5 17th, and got herself up with Inky and Song-Hee at 14-under going into Christina & NYC’s final hole.

Going into the par 5 8th Kim & NYC both needed birdies. Christina’s would give her the outright victory. Choi’s would get her into the playoff. It was up to Christina to shut the door on Na Yeon, but she was unable to do it. She chipped to 10 feet, and had that left to claim her first victory in 5 years. She didn’t get it. NYC did sink her birdie putt, and we were set for a four way playoff.

In a great display of golf, all four ladies were on the green in 3 on the 1st playoff hole (they replayed the par 5 18th). Not only were they on the green, but they were all within 12 feet.

Choi’s 12 footer was 1st, but she missed.
Inky had a 10 footer, but she failed to convert.
Christina Kim had just 7 feet, but again was unable to hole her birdie.

The tournament was now in Song-Hee Kim’s hands. She was 5 feet away from the maiden LPGA victory we were all expecting from her. With 15 top 10s in her last 18 events, it certainly felt like this was her time. I wholeheartedly believed that the next tweet from LPGA would be one saying that S-H finally got her first victory.

She missed.

It seemed to deflate Song-Hee who found the bunker with her 3rd shot on the par-5 17th on the 2nd playoff hole, and wasn’t down after 5 shots.

Choi chipped to 3-feet, and had a near gimme for her birdie on the 2nd playoff hole. There were two players left who could shut the proverbial door.

Christina Kim had two makeable chances in a row the past two holes, and again was unable to birdie. Her 20-footer failed to connect.

In-Kyung Kim was the only person left in the Big Apple’s way. 12 feet away to put pressure on her compatriot. She couldn’t do it.

NYC sunk her 3-footer and finally put an end to it. She walked back through the door she opened to the field.

What a disappointment for Christina Kim & Song-Hee Kim. This was Christina’s first top 10 of the season, and she had a chance to win it in regulation. Hopefully she’ll remember all the good things that got her to the playoff and not the putt she missed.

Song-Hee Kim gets another top 10 finish, and is still the best player on tour without a win. This was the first time she truly had the tournament in her hands, and her failure could do very bad things mentally. It’ll be interesting to see how she bounces back next week at Oakmont.

In-Kyung’s brilliant 64 should hopefully bring her season back into the positive after a mediocre start. She played amazing to get into the playoff, but never had the upper hand in the day’s proceedings.

Na Yeon Choi again showed that she’s not quite comfortable with the lead, but miraculously again she found a way to take the title anyway.

It’s a shame that such an exciting finish was not televised. Thankfully the LPGA had constant updates to get us through this exciting finish.

When Cristie Kerr became the new #1 ranked golfer in the world last week, the common theme amongst the media was the potential resurgence of American Ladies Golf. Kerr has been a consistent top 5/10 player, and it was no real shock that the she is leading the charge of Americans this year.

When journalists and bloggers alike delved deeper into the American talent they began to throw out names of other Americans who could potentially make an impact for the good of the LPGA.

Paula Creamer immediately came to mind, along with fellow top American pros Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford. Again, no shock here as these players are some of the highest ranked and most popular girls on tour.

Missing from the conversation was former major champion Brittany Linicome. If the big hitting blonde was going to be missing from the chatter, then it’s certainly no surprise that there was no mention to the spunky Californian Christina Kim. Well CK is looking to get her name back in the mix in a big way this week.

She is only one back of Na Yeon Choi playing her best golf of 2010 by far. Kim has struggled in a big way in 2010, her best finish is a T24 way back in March at the Kia Classic presented by J Golf. Kim’s 3 rounds in the 60s so far this week matches the number of rounds in the 60s she’s had so far in 2010.

Kim hasn’t won on the LPGA in 5 years. If she can do it this week it could really capitalize on the momentum of American golf going into the biggest event of the year next week, the U.S. Women’s Open.

With the LPGA in a big transition period, many casual fans are not warming up to a leaderboard crowded with talented Koreans and other foreign born players. A win by Kim or one of the other Americans in the hunt (Kristy McPhereson is 4 back, and Stacy Prammanasudh is 6 back) could continue the momentum that Kerr gave us last week, which would be just in time as we head into the biggest event on the LPGA next week, the U.S. Women’s Open.

That would be a sweet 4th of July for the LPGA. Although having television coverage of this event would certainly make this sweeter.

Last week I scanned the leadearboard of the LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans and did a double take when I didn’t see Na Yeon Choi’s name among the top 20. Using my trusty command + f, tool I typed her name to find her below the cut line for the first time in her career. 

I have a lot of faith in Na Yeon Choi’s game, so much so that I picked her to finish #1 on this year’s money list. Choi has been solid in 2010 (as always) sitting at #10 on the money list with over $341,000 in earnings over the year, but that’s a far cry from the top of the list (#1 & #2 Ai Miyazato and Cristie Kerr have nearly tripled her earnings), but she’s looking to close the gap this week at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger.

Choi enters the final round with a one shot lead over Christina Kim, and is looking to post her first ever wire-to-wire victory. A victory this week could prove momentous for NYC. Choi captured her first victory last year at the super exclusive Samsung World Championship, but it wasn’t easy. Choi held a whopping 7-stroke lead with 12 strokes to play, before seeing it deflate completely by the time she arrived on the last whole. A two shot swing (a birdie for Choi, with Ai Miyazato’s earlier bogey) on the 18th hole gave her first title, but it was certainly more of a barely hung on moment, then a cruise to the title victory we thought she was getting.

She showed a lot of gutso in her 2nd victory on tour, matching Yani Tseng’s birdie on the final hole to capture victory by one stroke and avoiding a three way playoff with Maria Hjorth. So, she’s certainly brushed off the nerves that almost saw her blow her maiden victory. Let’s see if she continue to hold her nerve tomorrow.

Dear Everyone,

For the 10 of you who read my blog, and specifically to the great staff over at SB Nation (especially Ryan Ballangee) I have to apologize for complacent laziness that have overcome my golf blog the past few months. I began working a lot of hours at a restaurant and completely neglected my online life.

Thankfully the bulk of it began during one of the many gaps in the LPGA schedule. Unfortunately when the LPGA resumed I wasn’t prepared or willing to start writing again. It’s so bad that I don’t even know the exactly when SB Nation pulled my blog offline, I hadn’t been paying attention. 

I think I’ve found a balance in my life, and will begin to post again. I unfortunately blew my chance to write semi-professionally, but I do miss it, and miss the little ol community that is the LPGA blogosphere. 

Sincerely,

Jamie R. Belyea