Queensland’s Emily Mahar bows out at US Women’s Am

Emily Mahar in action in today’s quarter -final – photo USGA Darren Carroll

Queenslander Emily Mahar has bowed out of the US Women’s Amateur Championship at the Westchester Country Club in New York after a quarter final loss to American Jensen Castle.

Mahar went 1 down early after her opponent birdied their first hole and although she drew level with a birdie of her own at the 2nd it was one way traffic from there with Castle going on to win at the 13th by a 6&5 margin.

It ends a good run for Mahar who has attended college at Virginia Tech following her early game development as a member of the Keperra Country Club in Brisbane.

The growth in Mahar’s game since moving to the US is highlighted by her progress this week and that she recently qualified for and played the US Women’s Open.

Mahar returns to Virginia Tech where she is due to complete her senior year.

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Ko and Green’s Olympic medal hopes at mercy of weather

Australia’s Hannah Green – currently tied for third ahead – photo Stan Badz PGA Tour / IGF

Australia’s Hannah Green and New Zealander, Lydia Ko, find themselves in at least bronze medal contention through 54 holes of the Olympic Women’s event in Saitama north of Tokyo but their fate in securing a medal of any colour may well be determined by the potentially stormy weather due on Saturday.

American Nelly Korda leads by three shots over India’s Aditi Ashok, the current world number one adding a third round of 69 to have her four shot overnight lead reduced by one.

Ko was round in 66 today while Green produced a 4 under round of 67, the pair tied in 3rd position alongside Japan’s Mone Inami and Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen, that group five shots from Korda.

If weather does cause the final round to be abandoned then the four players tied for 3rd will receive bronze medals.

Green recovered from an early bogey at the 4th to record four birdies before the turn and added another at the 15th to reach 10 under par for the tournament.

It may yet be however that it will be the 12 foot par saving putt at the last after finding the rough and coming up short with her approach that will play a crucial role in whether or not she becomes Australia’s first Olympic Games medal winner.

“I’m very happy to have finished with a par after not hitting a good tee shot,” said Green. “From what I have heard we might be able to have a 72 hole tournament so it was a big moment.” she added referring to the par saving putt.

Lydia Ko – can she equal or better her Rio silver medal? photo Stan Badz PGA Tour/ IGF

Ko produced a mistake free 5 under 66, the second-best round of the day after Daniela Darquea’s 65, and is well placed to equal if not improve on her silver medal at the Rio Olympics.

“To me like where I am today,” said Ko, “I’m just more having fingers toes and everything crossed to say that the weather gods will allow to us play tomorrow.

“I feel like the Olympics itself has gone through so much and Tokyo’s gone through so much to host us and have the Olympics on and I think for it to be cut short I think it would just, I feel like it will sum up the whole situation, but I hope like we get to play another golf round and I think it will be so exciting.”

“I would love to have one more chance to be hopefully on the podium. Because I’m not just playing for myself but I’m playing for my country and even though I do that on a daily basis I think it’s a very different feel. So I would love to play. Sometimes there are going to be days I’m like, man, I don’t want to play in this heat, but in this situation I would love to play.

“Rory Sabbatini shot 10-under on the last day last week to become the silver medalist. Sometimes I just don’t think you can count yourself out of it and if you feel like you’re playing good golf, you’re going to have opportunities and at points when you’re playing from behind that you know that really it’s only gold, silver and bronze, maybe I end up attacking pins that I normally wouldn’t in any other situation. So I think it changes the tactics, but for me I’m just praying to the weather gods that we get to play.”

While Korda is the clear favourite to take out the gold medal, it should be remembered, and as Ko suggested, that Rory Sabbatini began last Sunday’s final round seven shots behind Xander Schauffele and failed to catch him by just one.

Minjee Lee is the other Australasian in the event but perhaps surprisingly struggled to a round of 73 to be in a share of 34th place.

If play is abandoned tomorrow then Korda wins the gold medal but she is planning on playing 72 holes.

“My mindset is 72 holes so I’m sticking to that. I’m trying to give myself opportunities and make them, that’s all. I’m trying to stay as present as possible and see how it goes.”

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Marc Leishman reunites with parents after 18 months

Marc Leishman – file photo

It was a nice round that got him right in the thick of it despite having traveled across 14 time zones.

But Marc Leishman’s 5-under 65 in the first round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, two back of leader Harris English, wasn’t the story. Not in and of itself.

More significant was that Paul Leishman, his father, identifiable by the sponsor logos on his shirt and cap that matched his son’s, watched it all. Pelita, his mother, took in about nine holes with Audrey Leishman, Marc’s wife.

His parents hadn’t seen him in almost a year and a half amid the pandemic, but after several written appeals the Australian government allowed them to leave for America and what became a tearful reunion at the Memphis airport on Monday night …. Read more

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Brisbane’s Emily Mahar reaches quarter finals at US Women’s Am

Emily Mahar in action today – photo Darren Carroll USGA

Brisbane’s Emily Mahar has advanced to the quarter finals of the US Women’s Amateur Championship at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, north of New York City.

The 22 year old, rising senior at Virginia Tech, won her morning round of 32 match against Sophie Guo of China after being 2 down with just four to play before playing her last four holes in 2 under to win with one final birdie at the last.

Her afternoon encounter against Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines was equally as tense and although never behind in her match, Mahar was required to produce dramatics at the last to win 1 up after being 3 up with three to play.

Mahar holed a lengthy chip from off the green at the 18th for birdie to hold off the fast finishing Malixi who, at the age of 14, was the second youngest player in the event.

“I had the exact same shot this morning in my first match,” said Mahar referring to her dramatic finish.

“So I mean [my caddie] walked up to me and she said, ‘At least you know how this one goes,’ even though this morning it was for eagle and this time it was to close it out. I just felt really confident in that spot on the green and knew that at worst I would get up and down; went in.”

“It’s really, really awesome,” she added referring to the position she finds herself in. “I’ve played three — two or three other Ams and this is the furthest I’ve ever made it. Each day, each round from here is another win, so, yeah.”

The recently married Mahar had her husband Jackson caddying for her as he had when she qualified and played the US Open Championship in June.

Mahar reached the round of 32 in last year’s US Women’s Amateur and is playing her third US Women’s Amateur in addition to her US Women’s Open appearance so she is developing significant experience at this level.

Tomorrow Mahar takes on Jensen Castle of South Carolina in an attempt to advance to the semi-finals. Mahar is ranked considerably higher than the 20 year old Castle in terms of world ranking.

In the morning round of 32, Sydney’s Grace Kim, the only other Australian to make it to the second round, was bundled out of the event by a surprising margin when losing 7&6 to Rachel Heck of Texas.

Grace Kim – suffered a heavy loss in her round of 32 match – photo USGA

 

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Nelly Korda leads by four in Tokyo, Hannah Green improves sharply

Nelly Korda on her way to a round of 60 today – photo Stan Badz IGF / PGA Tour

American and world number one, Nelly Korda, has opened up a commanding four shot lead at the Olympic Women’s event in Tokyo, a stunning round of 62 leaving her clear of Denmark’s Nana Koerstz Madden and Emily Kristen Pedersen and India’s Aditi Ashok.

First round leader, Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden, is another shot back in 5th place.

The round included nine birdies and an eagle, but, in search of a birdie at the last hole to become only the second woman to break the magic number of 60 in competition, she took double bogey to perhaps keep the outcome of the event alive especially given that the initial 72 holes may yet be reduced to 54 due to stormy weather in the forecast.

Once again, hot, sticky conditions faced the 60-player field but despite a relatively slow start to her round when just even par through her opening four holes, Korda opened up a six shot gap on the field over her next 13 holes before the disappointment at the last.

Had Korda been thinking about the possibility of a sub 60 round?

“I mean, no, not really,” she responded. “I wasn’t thinking about it at all I was like, oh, cool, I have a pretty good lead going into 18. But unfortunate that double on 18, but that’s golf and that’s just how it goes sometimes.”

Asked if she was thinking at all about the possibility of a reduced number of holes this week, Korda was quick to dismiss that thought.

“I’m going to have the mindset that it’s going to be a 72-hole golf course and whatever happens, happens. But I’m not going to set my mind on that it’s just going to be less than 72 because right now it is.”

Korda was asked if she felt any differently about this event given it is the Olympics compared to majors and other events she plays Korda

“I think I honestly feel the same. I’m wearing USA across my chest, I think that’s really cool, huge honor, but other than that I’m approaching it as I would any week. I think when people ask me if I prepare more or put more meaning to normal or majors or Olympics or whatever, I say no, because I go into any type of event with the same demeanor and the same goal.”

Hannah Green leads the Australians in a share of 8th place at 6 under, Green’s round of 65 improving her from her overnight 23rd place to a share of 8th.

Given this is her first competitive event after a five week break back in Perth, Green was delighted with the improvement form her first round of even par 71.

“I felt like yesterday was just a matter of getting the rust off and it was pretty hot yesterday so I felt like it was hard to stay in the moment,” said Green.

“Today I gave myself a lot more opportunities for birdie and managed to roll a couple really important putts in and it kind of just gave me some motivation and some confidence with the putter. I hit the ball a lot better. I hit a lot more greens. Gave myself good opportunities. So, I did exactly what I wanted and hopefully I can keep doing that for the next couple rounds.”

There has been some discussion as to whether the event might become of a 54 hole event given the possibility of inclement weather as a result of the hot conditions but Green is for as much golf still to be played as possible.

“Yeah, I really hope it is four, I would like two more days to get back up there. I feel like now that I’ve had a good round I can see what’s capable and yeah there’s no reason why I can’t keep climbing. So I haven’t heard anything and I really hope that this weather stays away and let’s us have a 72-hole tournament.”

New Zealander, Lydia Ko, was positioning herself well until bogeys at her 17th and 18th holes for a round of 67 saw her slip from 5th to 9th although it was an improvement of seven places from her overnight standing.

Minjee Lee struggled to fully recover from a bogey at her opening hole and although three birdies in her last six holes led to a round of 68 on a day where low scoring was the norm she was unable to make any progress from her overnight 23rd place despite a round of 3 under and is now tied for 24th.

“I feel like I had a lot of missed opportunities, definitely early in the round,” said Lee. “I couldn’t really get the pace of the shorter putts today for some reason, but finishing, I finished strong, so that balances it out, I guess.”

“I think if we were playing two more rounds then I could still have a chance. But, they said it might miss us, I just talked to the people inside. So, fingers crossed. But I do need to post some low scores.”

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Grace Kim and Emily Mahar advance at US Women’s Am

Grace Kim – photo Darren Carroll USGA

At least one of the three Australians to have made the knockout phase of the US Women’s Amateur Championship at the Westchester Golf Club in Rye, New York, was guaranteed a place in the second round.

As it turned out two would advance, although one was at the expense of another.

Brisbane’s Emily Mahar faced West Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard in their opening rounds, Mahar getting home after overcoming a two hole deficit with four to play to win 2 up at the 18th.

Hinson-Tolchard, a student at Oklahoma State University, had been the leading qualifier of the three and appeared to have the match in safe keeping when, after being 1 down at the turn, won three of the next five holes to go 2 up with four to play.

Mahar who has been studying and on the golf programme at Virginia Tech in the US, won the last four holes as Hinson-Tolchard bogeyed three of those four and the 22 emerged the winner.

The other to get through was the current Australian Women’s Amateur champion, Grace Kim from the Avondale Golf Club in Sydney.

Kim survived an extremely tight and tense encounter to win 1 up with a par at the last after being 2 down through ten holes.

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Lydia Ko leads Australasians after day one in Tokyo

Lydia Ko – photo LET

Lydia Ko leads the Australasians after round one of the Women’s Olympic competition in Saitama north of Tokyo, a 1 under par round of 70 in blistering hot conditions leaving her in a share of 16th place and four shots from opening round leader, Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden.

Minjee Lee bogeyed two holes late in her round of 71 at the Kasumagaseki Country Club to be at even par and in a share 23rd, a score equaled by her fellow West Australian Hannah Green.

New Zealand’s Ko, reached the turn at 2 under but a double bogey at the 11th hole would prove costly in her quest to move closer to the lead before a birdie at the 14th had her solidly placed after day one.

“There was some good and there was some bad as well,” said Ko reflecting on her round. “But I think when I was out of position for the most part I was able to recover really well and there was a lot of golf ahead of you, so even though that’s the case you don’t want to be making clumsy mistakes.

“So I think for the most part I was able to kind of tidy that up. Hopefully I’ll be able to tidy up the game a little bit better overall and just give myself more opportunities the next few days.”

“I’m very proud to represent New Zealand on a daily basis, playing on Tour,” said Ko when asked the feeling the Olympics provides to represent the country in which she was raised. “Representing New Zealand in 2016 was probably one of the biggest highlights of my life, not as a golfer but as a person as well. So I cherish those moments, I even got the Olympic rings tattoo with the fern.

“So I feel like New Zealand is just always there and even though I don’t get to go back home a lot, people always support me and I feel the love, so I’m just trying to hopefully do everyone back at home all the Kiwi’s proud and even if things don’t go well smile and just have a good time because it a huge honor to be able to represent your country.”

Lee recovered from an early bogey to reach 2 under par on two occasions but bogeys at the 14th and 17th holes saw her finish at even par.

“I feel like I had a lot of birdies, but a lot of bogeys as well,” said Lee reflecting the frustration of her day. “So if I can get rid of the bogeys then I would have posted a good score. So that’s golf. I think I’m just going to take it day by day because it’s so hot. Yeah, hopefully take the positives into tomorrow.

“It was bloody hot. Yeah, it was really hot. I feel like I felt it most, I mean I felt it more today than any other days. Maybe because we were playing 18 holes not like the other day where I played nine. But I think everybody’s in the same boat, so it’s hot for everyone so I can’t really complain, I guess.”

When asked if she was content with a round of even par, Lee responded, “Yes and no. I mean, I have high expectations for myself, so I think that’s why I’m so disappointed in the even par, but if you look at it overall I think it’s probably not too bad of a start. So, yeah, I’m like 50/50.

Green has not played a tournament in five weeks and early in her round it showed with a double bogey at the 3rd hole but she did well to recover for a round of 71 to share 23rd place.

Green was happy how she had managed her round, “Yeah, I mean I felt like I played a lot worse than the score. So to have even par pretty happy with. I have no idea where that’s on the leaderboard. I wasn’t really watching too much out there because it’s only round one.

“But I missed a lot of greens and a lot of fairways today so I think that’s something I got to fix on the range after this round. Hopefully, yeah, hit more on the next few days.

“I definitely felt the rust. I don’t think I’ve ever been one to really get, have a great round the first round back. I think I’ve always kind of been the person that climbs on the weekend. So I hope tomorrow that I can hit more greens, hit more fairways and just make easy birdies and slowly climb up the leaderboard

Green also struggled with the hot conditions especially have spent the last few weeks in a Perth’s winter.

“I think it’s even more difficult because I come from Perth and we’re in our winter. Not that it really gets that cold, but because it was rainy it was cooler than usual. I have to adjust to this and, yeah, I’m not the greatest in humidity, I’ll admit that.

“I certainly feel it a lot more than I think others do. So I think I did a good job today with my hydration I just need to find the shade as much as possible but not with my tee shot.”

Sagstrom leads by one over the world number one golfer, Nelly Korda and India’s Aditi Ashok. Sagstrom is currently ranked 75th in the Rolex Rankings and is a winner of one title in her five seasons on the LPGA Tour.

Madelene Sagstrom with caddie / manager today after heat and humidity cost her regular caddie from seeing the round out

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Three Australians reach knockout stage of US Women’s Am

Maddison Hinson-Tolchard – photo USGA Darren Carroll

Three Australians have played their way into the match-play phase of the US Women’s Amateur Championship being held at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.

West Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard finished the 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying in 20th place, Queensland’s Emily Mahar is 40th and New South Wales Grace Kim is 45th, all three safely inside the top 64 who begin head to head encounters tomorrow.

Hinson-Tolchard began round two in great fashion and was actually 3 under through 5 holes before a series of dropped shots saw her finish with 73 but she is continuing to show the benefits of a collegiate career at Oklahoma State and recent success in US amateur events.

Emily Mahar – photo USGA

Mahar has also played collegiate golf in the US where she has been attending Virginia Tech and she recently qualified for and played the US Women’s Open.

Mahar recovered from an opening round of 77 with a second round of 70 to advance to the knockout phase.

Kim, a Gold Medallist at the Junior Olympics in Buenos Aires in 2018, also recovered from a slow start with a round of 72 which included a double bogey at her 14th hole which potentially cost her a chance of getting through, but she steadied the ship to make the cutoff by two shots.

Kim, a member of the Avondale Golf Club in Sydney, has been playing both amateur and professional events in the US this year with some success and is currently Australia’s highest world ranked amateur.

All three will be keen to emulate the deeds of their fellow Australian Gabi Ruffels who won this event in 2019 and finished runner-up in 2020.

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Lee, Ko and Green amongst Olympic favourites

With a first major (Evian) now to her name, can Minjee Lee become Australia’s first Olympic Medal winner? – photo LET

Following the impressive debut Olympic showing of Cameron Smith at last week’s men’s Olympic golf competition, two further Australians have their chance to become the first Australian to win a medal of any colour when Minjee Lee and Hannah Green tee it up at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

Lee, fresh from her breakthrough major victory at the recent Evian Championship, gets the chance to improve on her 7th place finish in Rio in 2016 while for Green she debuts in the event.

With the confidence and knowledge that her significant win in France has created, Lee must now enter the event as one of the favourites while Green, who also has a major title on her resumé, has played nicely in 2021 with three top three LPGA Tour finishes in 2021.

Green, who has just returned form a five week break from competitive golf, replaces Australia’s second representative in Rio, Su Oh, Oh now outside the top 100 in the Rolex rankings while Green stands in 17th place and Lee 8th.

Both Lee and Green are feeling upbeat about their current form and their chances this week.

“I think we have great chance, we’re both in form,” said Green in a Tuesday media conference. “Minjee obviously won in her last event and I feel like my game is as good as it has been, I just need to make sure that I can score. So I don’t see why we can’t have a good week and we’re looking forward to it.

“I think the course is great. I had the chance to watch the men on Sunday for a few holes, so it was good to see them how they play it. But I’ve seen all 18 now and I think the biggest thing will be getting used to the heat as I have come back from Australia and it’s getting pretty chilly there.”

Lee was equally enthusiastic about what lies ahead; “I think I’m probably in the best place that I’ve been in terms of golf and mentally and just seeing the confidence place I think I’m in a really good place coming off the major championship,” said golf’s latest major championship winner.

“It was nice to have a week off to see my brother (Scottish Open champion Min Woo) and just kind of regroup. I’m just really excited to be here. We have such a great team with us and it’s been a lot of fun so far and just really looking forward to getting tournament started.”

Lee was asked how she felt so soon after her breakthrough major victory and how that might impact on her performance this week.

“After I won Evian that was just, like obviously I had a celebration last week and I sort of — I let myself rest a couple days and things like that. But I think in terms of preparation the last couple days I practiced like normal and sort of put that behind me.

“Obviously I’m taking the positives out of that week, but I feel like every week I go in it’s like a new week, a new opportunity, so I’m just going to take it as a new week. So I’m not — yeah, I’m pretty focused, yeah.

Due to Covid issues and an enforced quarantine period back in Australia it has been five weeks since Green last played (she did not play the Evian won by Lee) which is perhaps not the ideal preparation but the success of fellow Australians in both men’s and women’s golf of late has kept her motivation high.

“I guess that’s probably the hardest thing,” she said. “I had two weeks in a hotel and so about two and a half weeks back in my hometown, Perth. And, unfortunately, I didn’t get to play at all while I was home because the weather was so bad, which is something I didn’t really factor in as we are usually pretty lucky in Australia.

“So yeah, in the five weeks we have had winners on PGA TOUR, European Tour, LPGA, so seeing everyone win really motivated me and I wanted to get back out here as soon as possibly.

“So it’s been nice. Kind of felt like an off-season almost coming back and seeing everyone again. So I’m definitely motivated and I hope that I haven’t collected too much rust in these past five weeks but, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

Australasia’s other representative is the world number ten, Lydia Ko, who won the Silver in Rio and whose form in 2021 has included a victory in and two runner-up LPGA finishes.

The New Zealander was also 6th at her most recent start at the Evian so she brings realistic expectations of an improvement on her second place finish behind Inbee Park in Rio.

“Obviously, with everything that’s happened in the last year and a half I think as athletes we’re all grateful for the opportunity to be able to represent our country and be here in Tokyo.

“I know that this wasn’t an easy decision or process for the games to be on itself, so, yeah, I’m super excited.

“Shanshan, Inbee and I (the three medal winners in Rio) actually played together at the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this year and after that I didn’t think that we would have the first two days’ parings as the gold, silver, and bronze medalists all playing together. Which is exciting and hopefully we’ll be able to represent the Rio medalists well and kind of start off the games in a solid way.”

Ko relishes representing her country and the chance to play the Olympics.

“I always say that technically the silver medal, I came second to Inbee, is probably the most prestigious and honourable silverware that I got.

“It meant like a win for me and I think the great thing about being here at the Olympics is no matter if you end up standing on the podium at the end of Saturday or not, just being here and to be able to represent your country and to say that you’re an Olympian – a select few athletes are able to say that and that’s a win itself.

“So I think we’re all champions just being here, so I’m just trying to enjoy and be grateful for my second opportunity at the Olympics.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Annika Sorenstam reminds us just how good she was

 

Annika Sorenstam and family – Photo Darren Carroll USGA

In 1994 Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam won her first professional tournament when winning the Women’s Australian Open at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

14 years later in 2008 she retired from competitive golf with an amazing record behind her including a massive 95 professional wins, amongst them ten majors, 72 LPGA Tour titles and a host of other victories too extensive to mention here.

Today the 50-year-old displayed the brilliance which made her arguably the greatest of all female golfers with an eight-shot victory at the US Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield in Connecticut.

Sorenstam dominated the event from the start although, after an eagle by her nearest pursuer  and fellow countrywoman Liselotte Neumann at the opening hole today, the pair were briefly tied but she would soon draw clear and win in a canter over Neumann with Laura Davies a shot away in third place.

“It’s really hard to describe,” said Sorenstam of winning her fourth USGA championship, after U.S. Women’s Open victories in 1995, 1996 and 2006. “When we came here, I just loved the place from the start.

“Everything felt so good, and then obviously you have to go out there and finish it up, and today I really felt like I played very, very well. To come in here on Sunday knowing what I had to do and I did it, obviously I’m very happy.”

Sorenstam is the mother of two children and has dedicated herself to motherhood and was keen to get the children’s approval before setting out on the mission to win this title.

“When I turned 50, we had a discussion. I said, do you want to see Mama play? And they said, ‘Yeah, we want to see Mama play.’ I said, to do that I have to put in some time. You can’t just go out there and compete with the women out here. They have seen me hitting the balls, they’ve seen me go out there and really put sweat and tears into it, so it’s really paid off. Without them this would not really happen. It’s certainly a team effort.”

Victorian amateur Sue Wooster made the cut but finished well back while Jan Stephenson missed the weekend.

 

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