Sophia Popov shoots 64 to lead Pelican Women’s Championship
Haley Moore tees off on the first hole during the first round of the LPGA Pelican Women's Championship golf tournament Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in Belleair, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)BELLEAIR, Fla. – Women's British Open winner Sophia Popov left top-ranked playing partner Jin Young Ko and everyone else behind Thursday in the Pelican Women’s Championship. Popov shot a 6-under 64 in windy conditions to take a two-stroke lead over Ashleigh Buhai, with Ko eight shots behind after a 72 in her first LPGA Tour start of the year. Ally McDonald, playing alongside Popov and Ko in an afternoon threesome, was at 67 with Women’s PGA champion Sei Young Kim, the No. U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6, also making her return to the LPGA Tour, had a double bogey and two bogeys in a 73. She last played the Women’s Australian Open in February before the tour began shutting down its Asia swing because of the pandemic.
Sei Young Kim, eyeing 1st major, leads by 2 at Women's PGA
A 10-time LPGA Tour winner, the 27-year-old South Korean has the unwanted title of winningest active player without a major championship. Kim was runner-up at the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and tied for second at the Evian Championship in 2018. Henderson, who won the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship, tied her career-best 18-hole score at a major championship with a 65 to stay within striking distance. Park is a three-time winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and would tie Mickey Wright for the most in a career with a win. “If I knew the answer to how to make clutch putts, I would have won so many more times,” Kim said.
Lincicome, Tan share Women’s PGA lead at windy Aronimink
Lincicome and Kelly Tan each shot 3-under 67 on Thursday in windy conditions at challenging Aronimink to share the lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Lincicome was sensational after missing the cut by one shot this past weekend at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Lincicome, a two-time winner of the major ANA Inspiration eight LPGA Tour victories, played bogey-free to stay even with Tan and keep her first Women’s PGA title in sight. Tan’s previous best finish in a major came in 2016 when she tied for 30th at the Women’s PGA. The 2009 champion, Nordqvist is one of eight Women’s PGA Championship winners in the field that also includes all 11 winners this year on the LPGA tour.
Mirim Lee wins a stunner in a playoff at the ANA Inspiration
Mirim Lee, of South Korea, receives the championship trophy after winning the LPGA's ANA Inspiration golf tournament at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Sunday Sept. 13, 2020. How she even got to that point as the ANA Inspiration champion was shocking even to Lee. That got her into a three-way playoff, and Lee ended it quickly. Asked on television off the 18th green if she was in disbelief, Lee was too busy wiping away tears to answer, so the translator finally offered, “Yes.”So was everyone. Lee chipped in for birdie on No.
Henderson charges into a share of lead at ANA Inspiration
Brooke M. Henderson watches her tee shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the LPGA's ANA Inspiration golf tournament at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Saturday Sept. 12, 2020. Chiu)RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Brooke Henderson kept pouring in birdies as she tried to erase as much as she could from a six-shot deficit in the ANA Inspiration. Nelly Korda was trying to let off steam in the desert heat after dropping three shots in two holes. Korda, the 22-year-old daughter of Grand Slam tennis champion Petr Korda, rallied with three birdies on the back nine for a 71 and joined Henderson at 12-under 204. 3 player in women's golf, Korda has never had a better shot at her first major.
Final birdie gives Nelly Korda a 1-shot lead in LPGA major
That set her up for a wedge to 3 feet below the hole for birdie and a 6-under 66, giving her a one-shot lead. Two-time major champion In Gee Chun had to scramble for par on the 18th for a 67. 1 in the world with a victory at Mission Hills, and Brooke Henderson of Canada were among those two shots behind. It was still exhausting for Korda, who described her start as "good, but tired, for sure.”Imagine how her father felt. That got the attention of the golfing sisters, with Nelly rushing home from Arkansas last week to watch on TV.
LPGA finale a sprint toward a $1.5 million prize
NAPLES, FL – Jin Young Ko won twice as many tournaments as anyone else on the LPGA Tour this year. And with $1.5 million available to the winner in the season finale, none of that matters. “Hopefully getting better, but then this week is the last, so it will be fine.”It’s a conclusion unlike any other in the LPGA Tour. And she still has the inside track to the LPGA money title. Nelly Korda, one of seven players with multiple victories this year, summed up the chase for the $1.5 million prize in the simplest of terms.