LEWIS PENALISED FOR CADDIE BUNKER BLUNDER, MIYAZATO LEADS BY FOUR
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Ai Miyazato is staring down her 10th career LPGA Tour victory as she fired a flawless 5-under 67 to regain the lead at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup heading into Sunday’s final round.
The Okinawa, Japan native only missed one green on Saturday and recorded her second bogey free round of the week with five birdies.
Despite feeling uncomfortable at the start of her round, Miyazato kicked it into gear and drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to gain momentum heading into tomorrow.
“I didn't hit any bad shots and I had a few chances, a few birdie chances out there but I couldn't make it,” said Miyazato. “But still towards the end I started to feel more comfortable with my putting. The last putt was really clutch, I think, so that's going to be good momentum to tomorrow.”
Trailing four shots behind Miyazato is 2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis and Jee Young Lee.
Overcoming Obstacles… During Ai Miyazato’s seven years on the LPGA Tour she has notched nine career victories but to many people’s surprise the poised Okinawa, Japan native hasn’t always been confident.
During her first three years on tour, Miyazato found herself being consistently outdriven, forcing her to compensate her swing and lose her fluid tempo which she has become so infamous for today. During her rookie year in 2006, she finished 61st in driving distance, in 1007, 131st and in 2008, 99th.
“Yeah, the first three years was really stressful for me because I wasn't really hitting it long and all the players hit pass me like 50 yards away and I was like this is no fair,” said Miyazato. “After that I worked on my swing and I just lose my tempo and balance and everything. I lost my confidence, too.”
Knowing something had to change if she wanted to have a long, successful career on the LPGA Tour, Miyazato teamed-up with highly touted instructors Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, founders of Vision54 to regain her confidence.
“It wasn't a really good feeling and I thought my career was just finished,” said Miyazato. “But after that I met Pia and Lynn and they helped a lot, and now I know myself really well. Even though I'm not still hit long, but I know I can putt and my short game is pretty solid and I have confidence with that.
"So you don't have to really hit long to the fairway because the golf is not everything about distance. You can ‑‑ if you can control yourself really well out there, the result's going to follow. Now I know about that, so it's really comfortable right now.”
Two-stroke penalty…When Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis) finished her round on the 18th hole on Saturday, the 2012 Rolex Player of the Year thought that she trailed Rolex Rankings No. 9 Ai Miyazato by two shots heading into Sunday’s final round.
Soon after, Lewis learned that there had been an issue on the 16th hole when she was in a bunker and that a two-stroke penalty might be assessed under Rule 13-4 due to her caddie, Travis Wilson, testing the sand in the bunker.
Lewis, Wilson and two of the LPGA rules officials went to the TV trailer to review the film of the incident and the decision was made to assess the penalty.
“I didn't see Travis do anything when we were playing, I wasn't looking at his feet obviously,” Lewis said. “So we looked at the video and you have to slow it down, zoom in on his foot, he walks into the bunker, he kind of pushes ‑‑ he kind of bounces his knees a little bit and his foot turns. And that was kind of the big indicators that his foot turned and you could kind of hear the sand crunch a little bit. So that's deemed to be testing the sand.”
“It’s a ruling on intent, so our whole purpose of that shot was to find out how much sand was in the bunker,” she added. “That's the unfortunate part. It looks like he's going in there to see how much sand is in there when that really wasn't what he was trying to do.
"So more than anything I just feel bad for him because he feels awful, but he's the best caddie out here, so we'll be fine. We still have a chance to win tomorrow, so we'll be okay.”
Giving Back… Rolex Rankings No. 19 Angela Stanford is playing with a little extra incentive at this week’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. The five-time LPGA Tour winner recently announced she will donate 50% of her winnings to her foundation, the Angela Stanford Foundation.
“It would be really cool to ‑‑ you know, I don't even know what the winner's check is, but that would be really cool to give that amount to my foundation,: said Stanford. “Any birdie from here on in is just more money for the foundation, so that's kind of cool when you're out there thinking about it like that.”
Each year through her foundation, Stanford awards scholarships to Texas residents who have been diagnosed with cancer or whose parent or guardian has been diagnosed with cancer.
“I've always wanted to help kids and I always thought it would be pretty cool to do it, but to finally get to, I guess, put your money where your mouth is and getting to meet some of these kids is pretty cool,” said Stanford.
“They go through more than I ever have, so and they're only 17, 18 years old, so I think by being involved and getting to know these kids, it's helped my perspective also.”
Stanford is in prime condition to earn her foundation a large amount of money as she shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to move into a tie for fourth. Stanford contributed much of her successful round to watching her beloved Texas Ranges in a spring training game on Friday.
“Yeah, I was lucky enough to get an early time yesterday and the Rangers were playing right down the road in Scottsdale against the Giants, so made it there about the bottom of the third,” said Stanford. “I love sitting at a baseball game. I know I've taken some heat in the past for going to baseball games, but I love it. It's the one thing that I can just go sit and watch baseball and not think about anything. So it was great. I got out of here quick and just kind of mentally got away from it.”
Legendary advice: Nancy Lopez partnered with JoAnne Carner on Saturday morning to win a nine-hole Hall of Fame exhibition over Pat Bradley and Betsy King at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix. But Lopez’s biggest impact at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup on Saturday may have been the advice that she doled out to second-year LPGA Tour member Lizette Salas the previous day.
Salas shot a 6-under 66 in the third round to vault into a tie for fourth at 13-under-par and she credited a piece of putting advice that Lopez gave her on Friday as the key to her success.
On Friday afternoon, Lopez spent the day following all 18 holes of Salas’ second round.
Salas, who is the youngest daughter of Mexican immigrants, has looked up to Lopez for a long time and the two got a chance to meet in person for the first time at last year’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. But this meeting was certainly a special one as Salas had her mentor following her golf round all day and then had dinner with Lopez later on that evening as well.
“It was one of the best days of my career so far,” Salas said. “I was kind of struggling on the front nine yesterday and she pulled up in her cart and she said, ‘Am I going to have to show you how to do this?’ And I was like ohhhh. I shifted into gear and I shot 32 on my back nine. She said, ‘Yeah, that works.’
“It was such an honour for her to watch my game and to get compliments from her is so important to me. We had dinner, my dad came too, my caddie, we all had dinner, shared stories. She's just a lovely person, not just a great golfer, but she's an amazing woman with lots of good stories. She told me her Solheim Cup stories and it was a great, great day for me and my dad.”
LPGA “Drops the Ropes” on Sunday… After the final group tees off on the 18th hole Sunday, approximately 50 girls from the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program will be let inside the ropes to enjoy LPGA action up close and personal. The girls will be escorted by chaperones and LPGA Foundation staff and they will walk along the left side of the 18th hole behind the LPGA players. The girls will continue to follow the final group and they will sit just off the left side of the green to watch the final putts drop.
Quotable… “It’s too quiet in here – it’s not that sad.” – said Stacy Lewis to the Media Center after a press conference regarding her two-stroke penalty.
TO VIEW THE SCOREBOARD
CLICK HERE
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Ai Miyazato is staring down her 10th career LPGA Tour victory as she fired a flawless 5-under 67 to regain the lead at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup heading into Sunday’s final round.
The Okinawa, Japan native only missed one green on Saturday and recorded her second bogey free round of the week with five birdies.
Despite feeling uncomfortable at the start of her round, Miyazato kicked it into gear and drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to gain momentum heading into tomorrow.
“I didn't hit any bad shots and I had a few chances, a few birdie chances out there but I couldn't make it,” said Miyazato. “But still towards the end I started to feel more comfortable with my putting. The last putt was really clutch, I think, so that's going to be good momentum to tomorrow.”
Trailing four shots behind Miyazato is 2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis and Jee Young Lee.
Overcoming Obstacles… During Ai Miyazato’s seven years on the LPGA Tour she has notched nine career victories but to many people’s surprise the poised Okinawa, Japan native hasn’t always been confident.
During her first three years on tour, Miyazato found herself being consistently outdriven, forcing her to compensate her swing and lose her fluid tempo which she has become so infamous for today. During her rookie year in 2006, she finished 61st in driving distance, in 1007, 131st and in 2008, 99th.
“Yeah, the first three years was really stressful for me because I wasn't really hitting it long and all the players hit pass me like 50 yards away and I was like this is no fair,” said Miyazato. “After that I worked on my swing and I just lose my tempo and balance and everything. I lost my confidence, too.”
Knowing something had to change if she wanted to have a long, successful career on the LPGA Tour, Miyazato teamed-up with highly touted instructors Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, founders of Vision54 to regain her confidence.
“It wasn't a really good feeling and I thought my career was just finished,” said Miyazato. “But after that I met Pia and Lynn and they helped a lot, and now I know myself really well. Even though I'm not still hit long, but I know I can putt and my short game is pretty solid and I have confidence with that.
"So you don't have to really hit long to the fairway because the golf is not everything about distance. You can ‑‑ if you can control yourself really well out there, the result's going to follow. Now I know about that, so it's really comfortable right now.”
Two-stroke penalty…When Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis) finished her round on the 18th hole on Saturday, the 2012 Rolex Player of the Year thought that she trailed Rolex Rankings No. 9 Ai Miyazato by two shots heading into Sunday’s final round.
Soon after, Lewis learned that there had been an issue on the 16th hole when she was in a bunker and that a two-stroke penalty might be assessed under Rule 13-4 due to her caddie, Travis Wilson, testing the sand in the bunker.
Lewis, Wilson and two of the LPGA rules officials went to the TV trailer to review the film of the incident and the decision was made to assess the penalty.
“I didn't see Travis do anything when we were playing, I wasn't looking at his feet obviously,” Lewis said. “So we looked at the video and you have to slow it down, zoom in on his foot, he walks into the bunker, he kind of pushes ‑‑ he kind of bounces his knees a little bit and his foot turns. And that was kind of the big indicators that his foot turned and you could kind of hear the sand crunch a little bit. So that's deemed to be testing the sand.”
“It’s a ruling on intent, so our whole purpose of that shot was to find out how much sand was in the bunker,” she added. “That's the unfortunate part. It looks like he's going in there to see how much sand is in there when that really wasn't what he was trying to do.
"So more than anything I just feel bad for him because he feels awful, but he's the best caddie out here, so we'll be fine. We still have a chance to win tomorrow, so we'll be okay.”
Giving Back… Rolex Rankings No. 19 Angela Stanford is playing with a little extra incentive at this week’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. The five-time LPGA Tour winner recently announced she will donate 50% of her winnings to her foundation, the Angela Stanford Foundation.
“It would be really cool to ‑‑ you know, I don't even know what the winner's check is, but that would be really cool to give that amount to my foundation,: said Stanford. “Any birdie from here on in is just more money for the foundation, so that's kind of cool when you're out there thinking about it like that.”
Each year through her foundation, Stanford awards scholarships to Texas residents who have been diagnosed with cancer or whose parent or guardian has been diagnosed with cancer.
“I've always wanted to help kids and I always thought it would be pretty cool to do it, but to finally get to, I guess, put your money where your mouth is and getting to meet some of these kids is pretty cool,” said Stanford.
“They go through more than I ever have, so and they're only 17, 18 years old, so I think by being involved and getting to know these kids, it's helped my perspective also.”
Stanford is in prime condition to earn her foundation a large amount of money as she shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to move into a tie for fourth. Stanford contributed much of her successful round to watching her beloved Texas Ranges in a spring training game on Friday.
“Yeah, I was lucky enough to get an early time yesterday and the Rangers were playing right down the road in Scottsdale against the Giants, so made it there about the bottom of the third,” said Stanford. “I love sitting at a baseball game. I know I've taken some heat in the past for going to baseball games, but I love it. It's the one thing that I can just go sit and watch baseball and not think about anything. So it was great. I got out of here quick and just kind of mentally got away from it.”
Legendary advice: Nancy Lopez partnered with JoAnne Carner on Saturday morning to win a nine-hole Hall of Fame exhibition over Pat Bradley and Betsy King at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix. But Lopez’s biggest impact at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup on Saturday may have been the advice that she doled out to second-year LPGA Tour member Lizette Salas the previous day.
Salas shot a 6-under 66 in the third round to vault into a tie for fourth at 13-under-par and she credited a piece of putting advice that Lopez gave her on Friday as the key to her success.
On Friday afternoon, Lopez spent the day following all 18 holes of Salas’ second round.
Salas, who is the youngest daughter of Mexican immigrants, has looked up to Lopez for a long time and the two got a chance to meet in person for the first time at last year’s RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. But this meeting was certainly a special one as Salas had her mentor following her golf round all day and then had dinner with Lopez later on that evening as well.
“It was one of the best days of my career so far,” Salas said. “I was kind of struggling on the front nine yesterday and she pulled up in her cart and she said, ‘Am I going to have to show you how to do this?’ And I was like ohhhh. I shifted into gear and I shot 32 on my back nine. She said, ‘Yeah, that works.’
“It was such an honour for her to watch my game and to get compliments from her is so important to me. We had dinner, my dad came too, my caddie, we all had dinner, shared stories. She's just a lovely person, not just a great golfer, but she's an amazing woman with lots of good stories. She told me her Solheim Cup stories and it was a great, great day for me and my dad.”
LPGA “Drops the Ropes” on Sunday… After the final group tees off on the 18th hole Sunday, approximately 50 girls from the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program will be let inside the ropes to enjoy LPGA action up close and personal. The girls will be escorted by chaperones and LPGA Foundation staff and they will walk along the left side of the 18th hole behind the LPGA players. The girls will continue to follow the final group and they will sit just off the left side of the green to watch the final putts drop.
Quotable… “It’s too quiet in here – it’s not that sad.” – said Stacy Lewis to the Media Center after a press conference regarding her two-stroke penalty.
TO VIEW THE SCOREBOARD
CLICK HERE
Labels: LPGA TOUR
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