JESSICA KORDA TAKES LEAD IN MOBILE BAY LPGA CLASSIC
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Jessica Korda shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Friday to take the second-round lead at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic and heads into the weekend at 13-under par.
It was Korda’s second-consecutive bogey-free round in Mobile and was firing on all cylinders to take a one-shot lead over LPGA and World Golf Halls of Famer Karrie Webb. Webb had quite the day herself, finishing with a 9-under 63 which included three-consecutive birdies to close out her round.
But the round of the week so far went to second-year LPGA Tour member Sydnee Michaels who beat the tournament record by two strokes with a 10-under 62.
It was Michaels’ career-best round by three shots and was a 10-stroke improvement from her first-round 72. The UCLA product jumped from T63 to a tie for fourth at 10-under par alongside Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum and Thidapa Suwannapura.
Chella Choi of South Korea held the lead for most of the morning and afternoon wave and followed up a first-round 67 with a 6-under 66 to finish at 11-under. She sits two shots off the lead in solo third.
Korda, who carded four birdies on the front nine and four on the back, said that it’s hard to go into a round on the Crossings Course with a certain number in mind to go low. Players have been putting up showy numbers and know a very low total will be needed to come out on top on Sunday.
“Yeah, I saw Sydnee, I saw she was like 8‑under through 12,” said Korda. “Like dang, that's getting it done today. But no, not really, I kind of just went out here with really no mindset. Just come out here, try and hit good shots and convert when you can and kind of take your punishments when you have to.”
Playing her first 36 competitive holes since taking a two-week break to nurse a wrist injury, Korda said she feels like she’s in prime form heading into the weekend. She hit every fairway and only missed one green in regulation on Friday.
“I feel really comfortable out here,” said Korda. “This is definitely one of the stops I wanted to come back to and I hope we can keep this event as long as possible out here because I really like it…I feel good. Today actually I didn't have one shot where I was kind of kind of windstedded or anything so it was good, it's definitely moving in the right direction.”
Webb played alongside Korda the first two rounds and said she’ll need to continue her solid play to keep up with the 20-year old
“I think I'll need to do that for the weekend playing with Jess,” said Webb. “She played really solidly for two days.”
Webb has shown she can win at Magnolia Grove when she won the AFLAC Tournament of Champions in 2000. She beat Dottie Pepper in a one-hole playoff which earned her a second Rolex Player of the Year title and second Vare Trophy. The Aussie said her mistake-free play on Friday helped her get into a groove.
“I'm not sure the last time I had a bogey‑free round, so I'm really happy about that,” said Webb. “That's sort of been my problem is I have bogeys at the wrong time and it really kills momentum. That's what happened yesterday, I turned at 2‑under and then doubled 1 and bogeyed 2 and all of a sudden I'm at 1‑over. I just was really happy with that fight back yesterday to finish at 3‑under and I think that really carried over into today and it was nice to play today without any bogeys.”
Webb will carry even more momentum into Saturday after she finished her second round with three-consecutive birdies to close out at 9-under par.
Rolex Rankings No. 2 Stacy Lewis shot her second 2-under 70 of the week and is nine shots off the lead at 4-under par.
“I just made a bunch of birdies and just didn't ‑‑ made too many mistakes and you can't do it when people are shooting lights out,” said Lewis.
Time for a breakthrough: Sydnee Michaels has been looking for a breakthrough. The Californian is coming off four-straight missed cuts and has spent all of her recent practice time trying to return to a care-free swing. She said she has spent hours looking at video and trying to get back to being comfortable over the ball.
Michaels looked every bit comfortable on the Crossings Course on Friday when she broke the tournament record by two strokes.
“It feels so good to finally have a good round because I've been struggling the last few weeks and going through some swing changes, and the week off last week I just said, you know what, I'm just going to go back to what feels good,” said Michaels.
“So I hit a lot of balls and just kind of got back to where I was feeling good over the ball again, so it feels so good to finally have a good round.”
Her previous best round came during the first round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola last season, where she also recorded her career-best finish, a tie for seventh. She said her iron game gave her plenty of scoring chances and she took advantage with eight birdies and an eagle.
“Probably my irons, you know, I hit it on line every time, I don't think I hit one that I was like, ohhhh,” said Michaels. “But I drove the ball fantastic, too, I hit it long and straight. All around I was very pleased with my game.”
Tough transitions: After recording back-to-back rounds of 67 in the first 36 holes this week in Mobile, Thidapa Suwannapura felt a sense of relief and happiness to be in contention for the first time at an LPGA event heading into the weekend. The Thailand product, who was a rookie last season but only made one start, admitted to having a tough time adjusting to competing with the level of talent on Tour.
She earned full status for this season by finishing 4th on the Symetra Tour money list last year and had her fair share of successes on the Road to the LPGA.
“Pretty tough between the feelings between Symetra and here,” said Suwannapura. “In Symetra you play and you're still like Top 10, Top 20, but here (on the LPGA Tour) everybody's playing good so you have to try harder.”
She got her first win last year at the Vidalia Championship and added five additional top-10 finishes in 2012. She led the Tour in scoring average and rounds under par.
She said an ailing back, which started at the Kraft Nabisco, has also deterred her development this season. But has since made a strong recovery and hopes to keep her mistake-free play going into the final two rounds.
Not missing out: 2013 LPGA Tour rookie Lisa McCloskey (@LAM7SC) had a whirlwind of 24 hours in Mobile following her first round when she and her mother, Maria, were involved in a multi-car accident on their way home from Magnolia Grove. It was not a pretty scene at the site of the accident where the McCloskey’s car had considerable damage and showed how severe the impact was of the collision. With an array of scrapes from the airbags and a sore thumb, McCloskey decided she wasn’t giving up the chance to play on Friday.
“You know, I think I came out here with no expectations, just make‑the‑cut kind of thing,” said McCloskey. I probably would have been happy with even par or a couple over. But I don't know, the putter was really working for me on the front nine, and then the back nine things kind of slowed down, I think I kind of got a little bit tired. But I finished with two really good pars, so I'm happy.”
Playing on just a half hour of sleep, McCloskey showed no signs of distress and carded a four birdie, bogey-free 4-under 68 and marked a career-best round for the University of Southern California product. She’s currently in a tie for T15 at 7-under par.
“You know, I'm just happy to be able to play today and tomorrow and the day after, so I'll just kind of take it as it comes and hopefully put two more good rounds out there,” said McCloskey.
Cheers to the weekend: A total of 80 players made the cut which fell at even-par 144.
Quotable: “Yeah, we give Webby a hard time. She did outdrive me on the 1st hole today and she's like, ‘What's going on?’ And I'm like, ‘Did you work out last night?’” –Jessica Korda on some friendly banter with playing partner Karrie Webb whom she and fellow group member Brittany Lincicome consistently outdrove.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
Players from USA unless stated
131 Jessica Korda 66 65.
132 Karrie Webb (Australia) 69 63
133 Chella Choi (South Korea) 67 66
SELECTED OTHER SCORES
135 Lexi Thompson 65 70, Azahara Munoz (Spain) 71 64 (T7)
136 Becky Morgan (ales) 71 65 (T11).
140 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 72 68 (T35)
MISSED THE CUT (144 and better qualified)
146 Felicity Johnson (England) 74 71
149 Michelle Wie 74 75.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Jessica Korda shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Friday to take the second-round lead at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic and heads into the weekend at 13-under par.
It was Korda’s second-consecutive bogey-free round in Mobile and was firing on all cylinders to take a one-shot lead over LPGA and World Golf Halls of Famer Karrie Webb. Webb had quite the day herself, finishing with a 9-under 63 which included three-consecutive birdies to close out her round.
But the round of the week so far went to second-year LPGA Tour member Sydnee Michaels who beat the tournament record by two strokes with a 10-under 62.
It was Michaels’ career-best round by three shots and was a 10-stroke improvement from her first-round 72. The UCLA product jumped from T63 to a tie for fourth at 10-under par alongside Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum and Thidapa Suwannapura.
Chella Choi of South Korea held the lead for most of the morning and afternoon wave and followed up a first-round 67 with a 6-under 66 to finish at 11-under. She sits two shots off the lead in solo third.
Korda, who carded four birdies on the front nine and four on the back, said that it’s hard to go into a round on the Crossings Course with a certain number in mind to go low. Players have been putting up showy numbers and know a very low total will be needed to come out on top on Sunday.
“Yeah, I saw Sydnee, I saw she was like 8‑under through 12,” said Korda. “Like dang, that's getting it done today. But no, not really, I kind of just went out here with really no mindset. Just come out here, try and hit good shots and convert when you can and kind of take your punishments when you have to.”
Playing her first 36 competitive holes since taking a two-week break to nurse a wrist injury, Korda said she feels like she’s in prime form heading into the weekend. She hit every fairway and only missed one green in regulation on Friday.
“I feel really comfortable out here,” said Korda. “This is definitely one of the stops I wanted to come back to and I hope we can keep this event as long as possible out here because I really like it…I feel good. Today actually I didn't have one shot where I was kind of kind of windstedded or anything so it was good, it's definitely moving in the right direction.”
Webb played alongside Korda the first two rounds and said she’ll need to continue her solid play to keep up with the 20-year old
“I think I'll need to do that for the weekend playing with Jess,” said Webb. “She played really solidly for two days.”
Webb has shown she can win at Magnolia Grove when she won the AFLAC Tournament of Champions in 2000. She beat Dottie Pepper in a one-hole playoff which earned her a second Rolex Player of the Year title and second Vare Trophy. The Aussie said her mistake-free play on Friday helped her get into a groove.
“I'm not sure the last time I had a bogey‑free round, so I'm really happy about that,” said Webb. “That's sort of been my problem is I have bogeys at the wrong time and it really kills momentum. That's what happened yesterday, I turned at 2‑under and then doubled 1 and bogeyed 2 and all of a sudden I'm at 1‑over. I just was really happy with that fight back yesterday to finish at 3‑under and I think that really carried over into today and it was nice to play today without any bogeys.”
Webb will carry even more momentum into Saturday after she finished her second round with three-consecutive birdies to close out at 9-under par.
Rolex Rankings No. 2 Stacy Lewis shot her second 2-under 70 of the week and is nine shots off the lead at 4-under par.
“I just made a bunch of birdies and just didn't ‑‑ made too many mistakes and you can't do it when people are shooting lights out,” said Lewis.
Time for a breakthrough: Sydnee Michaels has been looking for a breakthrough. The Californian is coming off four-straight missed cuts and has spent all of her recent practice time trying to return to a care-free swing. She said she has spent hours looking at video and trying to get back to being comfortable over the ball.
Michaels looked every bit comfortable on the Crossings Course on Friday when she broke the tournament record by two strokes.
“It feels so good to finally have a good round because I've been struggling the last few weeks and going through some swing changes, and the week off last week I just said, you know what, I'm just going to go back to what feels good,” said Michaels.
“So I hit a lot of balls and just kind of got back to where I was feeling good over the ball again, so it feels so good to finally have a good round.”
Her previous best round came during the first round of the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola last season, where she also recorded her career-best finish, a tie for seventh. She said her iron game gave her plenty of scoring chances and she took advantage with eight birdies and an eagle.
“Probably my irons, you know, I hit it on line every time, I don't think I hit one that I was like, ohhhh,” said Michaels. “But I drove the ball fantastic, too, I hit it long and straight. All around I was very pleased with my game.”
Tough transitions: After recording back-to-back rounds of 67 in the first 36 holes this week in Mobile, Thidapa Suwannapura felt a sense of relief and happiness to be in contention for the first time at an LPGA event heading into the weekend. The Thailand product, who was a rookie last season but only made one start, admitted to having a tough time adjusting to competing with the level of talent on Tour.
She earned full status for this season by finishing 4th on the Symetra Tour money list last year and had her fair share of successes on the Road to the LPGA.
“Pretty tough between the feelings between Symetra and here,” said Suwannapura. “In Symetra you play and you're still like Top 10, Top 20, but here (on the LPGA Tour) everybody's playing good so you have to try harder.”
She got her first win last year at the Vidalia Championship and added five additional top-10 finishes in 2012. She led the Tour in scoring average and rounds under par.
She said an ailing back, which started at the Kraft Nabisco, has also deterred her development this season. But has since made a strong recovery and hopes to keep her mistake-free play going into the final two rounds.
Not missing out: 2013 LPGA Tour rookie Lisa McCloskey (@LAM7SC) had a whirlwind of 24 hours in Mobile following her first round when she and her mother, Maria, were involved in a multi-car accident on their way home from Magnolia Grove. It was not a pretty scene at the site of the accident where the McCloskey’s car had considerable damage and showed how severe the impact was of the collision. With an array of scrapes from the airbags and a sore thumb, McCloskey decided she wasn’t giving up the chance to play on Friday.
“You know, I think I came out here with no expectations, just make‑the‑cut kind of thing,” said McCloskey. I probably would have been happy with even par or a couple over. But I don't know, the putter was really working for me on the front nine, and then the back nine things kind of slowed down, I think I kind of got a little bit tired. But I finished with two really good pars, so I'm happy.”
Playing on just a half hour of sleep, McCloskey showed no signs of distress and carded a four birdie, bogey-free 4-under 68 and marked a career-best round for the University of Southern California product. She’s currently in a tie for T15 at 7-under par.
“You know, I'm just happy to be able to play today and tomorrow and the day after, so I'll just kind of take it as it comes and hopefully put two more good rounds out there,” said McCloskey.
Cheers to the weekend: A total of 80 players made the cut which fell at even-par 144.
Quotable: “Yeah, we give Webby a hard time. She did outdrive me on the 1st hole today and she's like, ‘What's going on?’ And I'm like, ‘Did you work out last night?’” –Jessica Korda on some friendly banter with playing partner Karrie Webb whom she and fellow group member Brittany Lincicome consistently outdrove.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
Players from USA unless stated
131 Jessica Korda 66 65.
132 Karrie Webb (Australia) 69 63
133 Chella Choi (South Korea) 67 66
SELECTED OTHER SCORES
135 Lexi Thompson 65 70, Azahara Munoz (Spain) 71 64 (T7)
136 Becky Morgan (ales) 71 65 (T11).
140 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 72 68 (T35)
MISSED THE CUT (144 and better qualified)
146 Felicity Johnson (England) 74 71
149 Michelle Wie 74 75.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Labels: LPGA TOUR
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