LOTTE Championship

[sjmcampbell]

The Monday Qualifier for next week's LOTTE Championship will be held tomorrow (Sunday).

https://qs.lpga.com/reports/?tourn=0004&report=https://preq.lpga.com/tic/tmentry.cgi?tourn=0004~season=2017~alphaorder~

There are only 24 players in the field. Canadians Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Vivian Tsui are among them.

This is the second-last event before the first reshuffle of the season (Anne-Catherine is eligible for reshuffling if she can make a cut).

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Qualifiers: Hanule Seo (69), Eun Jeong Song (71)

https://qs.lpga.com/reports/?tourn=0004&report=https://preq.lpga.com/tic/tmresult.cgi?tourn=0004~season=2017~result=PF~

Anne-Catherine missed by one (72). Vivian shot 78.

[tonyj5]

Re: LOTTE Championship

The LPGA moves to Hawaii this week for the playing of the Lotte Championship Presented by Hershey.

This will be tournament #8 of 34 on this year's LPGA schedule.

Here are the key details:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2017/04/lotte-championship-presented-by-hershey.html

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Canadian Pairings

Wednesday: http://www.lottechampionship.com/s/LOTTE_Pairings1.pdf
Thursday: http://www.lottechampionship.com/s/LOTTE_Pairings2.pdf

All Canadians are playing from the 10th tee today.

Brooke Henderson: with Michelle Wie and In Gee Chun.
Wednesday, 7:44am (from the 10th)
Thursday 12:39pm

http://www.lpga.com/news/2017-lotte-championship-presented-by-hershey-opening-rounds-featured-groups

Alena Sharp: with Britney Yada and Dori Carter
Wednesday 12:06pm (from the 10th)
Thursday 7:11am

Maude-Aimee Leblanc: with Min Seo Kwak and Tiffany Joh
Wednesday 12:17pm (from the 10th)
Thursday 7:22am

Jennifer Ha: with Brittany Altomar and P.K. Kongkraphan
Wednesday 1:56pm (from the 10th)
Thursday 9:01am

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

While Brooke (-2, T31) and Alena (--5, T3) had solid days, Jennifer (+1, T86) fell a couple of strokes short of the cut-line and Maude-Aimee (+3, T116) has some serious work to do if she wants to make the weekend.

The fortunate thing for all of them is that they all have solid cards and are in no danger or being reshuffled out of fields until the fall (beyond majors, match-play, etc) no matter how well they do.

EDIT: One short-term consideration is entry into the Lorena Ochoa match play event in a few weeks. They are taking the Top-20 Rolex, 2 sponsor invites and then current year money list (on Apr 25th) to fill the field to 64. Maude-Aimee is currently on the bubble at 61st on the money list ($41,000) and Alena is 72nd, about $10,000 behind M-A. Jennifer has $6000 in 129th, so would need a top finish to have a chance to make the list.


Brooke should be on the telecast today (12:39pm start Hawaii time) The others all start pretty early. In Gee is tied with Brooke at -2 and Michelle is one back at -1, so I'm sure it will be one of the featured groups, especially since most of the players ahead of them are playing early or are relative unknowns (Stacy Lewis -4, Austin Ernst -2 and Sung Hyun Park -2 will likely be another is my guess).

Interview with Alena:

April 12, 2017

Alena Sharp

Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii

Q. You got it rolling there; rain came.
ALENA SHARP: Long delay. It was okay. I mean, we had -- we just played two holes. It was fine. I played well today. I putted well. Everything was right there.

It was nice to get off to a good start.

Q. What do you do to try and stay sharp when you're standing around for 45 minutes?
ALENA SHARP: Keep it light. Dory and I were talking. Talking to my caddie. Talked to some of the other girls that we were on the same tee.

It's weird. We don't usually stay in position like that, so it was different. Normally we come in and then go back out, so it was just like a waiting game. I went to the bathroom. Just tried to keep myself busy so I wasn't just sitting there thinking about what I had to do coming in.

Q. Tough to ramp it up again after that?
ALENA SHARP: Well, I didn't hit the right club on 8. I think just sitting there for that long I probably should hit one more club, because I was not loose, I guess. It was in a good position and I had two good putts at it.

Coming in I was happy to make two pars coming in because the wind switched so it was playing longer. Normally it's the other way on 9, so it was definitely a lot longer. With the rain too it was wet, so it wasn't an easy finishing hole.

Q. Put yourself in a good position going into tomorrow?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, lots of golf to be played. I just feel I worked hard in the off week. I didn't have the last -- this last month hasn't been great, but I really practiced hard and worked on my weaknesses last week, and I feel positive going into this week.

It's nice to see the hard work already starting to pay off. I worked hard on my putting and I started making putts today. It's always good walking off the golf course feeling that.

Q. You said your weaknesses. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
ALENA SHARP: I've been hitting it well, playing well, just not getting ball in the hole. Looked at my stats, talked to my coach, and we looked -- from 4 to 12 feet I haven't been making as many as I usually do. That's what I worked on a couple hours a day, just doing drills and making them until I got kind of like to the point where, Okay, I need to stop practicing now because I'm not concentrating.

So I putted a lot. Megan Khang was in Phoenix last week, so we were practicing together. We played a couple like little competitive games, too. That got me into it more. Just needed to spend the time, and I did. It's nice to see putts going in today, and hopefully tomorrow, too.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Another interview with Alena (T4, -8, one off the lead).

April 13, 2017

Alena Sharp
Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii

ALENA SHARP: Hit it better today. I just left my -- well, the pins were tough, so I was in a couple spots where I couldn't really run at birdies.

Kind of coasted down there on 8 and 9. Had a lot of chances, so it was good.

Q. Course playing a little bit different today?
ALENA SHARP: Not really. I mean, the wind is picking up a little more now. I feel like it's playing the same. It's a little wet so you have to be careful.

Like 18, I would never hit a 3-wood, but I need to hit 3-wood now because it's wet, so -- to get it down there, because you don't want a long iron into this green. It's tough.

Q. Just a good feeling making a cut after having missed a few the past few events?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah. Obviously I had really no expectations coming into this week. I just know that I practiced hard. You just kind of have to let it happen, and I did.

I'm glad I had a week to regroup. Caught up on sleep and just recharged and kind of just went back to my old mental processes that I've had. You can't force it and being positive.

I was struggling with my putting and didn't have a positive outlook on it in general. Coming into this week I did because I worked hard on it last week and I felt like what I was working on, it was showing up. It was showing up on the practice green, and then I played a couple rounds on my home course and I started to make putts.

I just came in feeling more positive to start the week.

Q. A lot of it too just getting more prepared?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, a little bit. And then I always love coming here. It's almost zen-like when you land. It's just different. You have that slow-down, slow-paced kind of feel.

Q. Hard to be in a bad mood?
ALENA SHARP: Exactly. Look around. You can see the ocean from most holes, so...

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Looks like Round 2 is now done.

Alena T4, -8 starts round 3 at 11:54am with Becky Morgan and Stacy Lewis
Brooke T18, -5 starts round 3 at 10:59am with In Gee Chun and Hye Jin Choi (a)
Cutline: -1
Maude-Aimee (E) - missed cut
Jennifer (+6) - missed cut

[Ignatius Reilly]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Just watching a bit of round 3 now.

Alena is on fire! She's playing so quickly, with no hesitation or doubts. Great to see.

There's a creek that runs through the course that's in flood. Only one bridge over it and that's now under a couple of inches of water coloured red by mud. They're ferrying players across the bridge in carts, but the whole thing looks tenuous.

Poor Michelle Wie. She's got to have the most uncomfortable and unorthodox posture I've ever seen. So tight and tense and unnatural, then a sawed-off backswing and a powerful lash at the ball. Same with putting - her new stance may be even uglier than the table-top. Yikes.

The new Tiger ads for Bridgestone aren't working for me. They're trying to make a point that the most popular ball (i.e. Titleist) may not be the best. But then they show this old washed-up guy who can't even stand long enough to make a trophy presentation and imply "this is the sort of guy who plays this ball". That's maybe a little harsh, but he's starting to look more like Nicklaus or Norman in terms of being a current competitive player. Not sure that works...

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

After Round 3:

Alena T2 (-14) - starts final round at 12:56pm with In Gee Chun
Brooke T15 (-7) - starts final round at 11:36am with Eun-Hee Ji

Two Canadians in the top 20 on Day 4!
EDIT: Along with 3 of the Canadian men in the top 20 (2 in top 10) at the RBC Heritage on Day 4. With a player in 2nd place on both sides.

It's really nice how on both the men's side and the women's side we now have multiple people to follow every week. It wasn't that long ago when it was an unusual day when we got to say "woohoo! a Canadian! on TV!" or a glimpse of the third page of the leaderboard might briefly show a Canadian flag on Day 1 or 2. We don't even really know who the top Canadian on either side will be this year. How often does that happen?

I wonder how much we need to thank Golf Canada...they've certainly given a lot of help and guidance to most of the top Canadians playing these days through their Team Canada program and the past couple of years their "Young Pro Squad" program, which includes Jennifer Ha, Augusta James, Anne-Catherine Tanguay, Corey Conners, Albin Choi and Taylor Pendrith this year. http://golfcanada.ca/team-canada/

The next step is to get some players into the President's Cup and International Crown.

EDIT: Alena has played 240 LPGA events. That is the 2nd most starts without a win in the field. Becky Morgan has 315 starts without a win. Adding in Stacy Lewis to their Round 3 group, that was a lot of starts without winning in that group.


April 14, 2017


Alena Sharp


Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii

Q. I know it didn't end up the way you wanted it to, but pretty good otherwise.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, it was really good.

Q. Apparently a little rain doesn't bother you at all. Does growing up playing in Canada help in that regard?
ALENA SHARP: I guess, because now I live in Arizona and it doesn't rain much, so...

Q. My niece went to Chandler High School. Familiar with that area. A lot of athelic stuff going on. Good base of operation.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah.

Q. So I read how you had a really good week of practice, especially in the putting.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah.

Q. Paid off again today.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, did.

Q. A lot of those mid-range ones.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah., made some good par saves, some good birdie putts to start of the day. Yeah, very happy with how I played.

I didn't even know what I was shooting really. Just kind of on autopilot. Hit a lot of good shots. Got tougher when I it got wet because had a lot of backspin. It was tough on some of the hole locations to get it close today because of that.

Q. You played here all five years of this tournament.
ALENA SHARP: Uh-huh.

Q. You probably got a good Rolodex, so to speak, of how to play here.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, I mean, it's different this year because there is no trade winds. Normally it's blowing 20 miles an hour and makes it really difficult. Now it's wet and you got to control your spin.

I think tomorrow is supposed to be not windy, so going to have to go shoot a low number to catch the leader.

Q. And there so many girls playing well.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah. The greens are good. I feel like I have a good read on them. Like when I just stand up to the putt, because I've been here so many times, I just know how they're going to break or how much they're going to break. I feel confident with that.

Q. You're a veteran, yet no wins on the LPGA Tour at this point. That's got to make you hungrier.
ALENA SHARP: Definitely. Obviously I would love to win tomorrow, but if I don't I'm really proud of how I played this week coming back from having a rough month in March.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q. Through all those years of no victories on the LPGA Tour, did you ever think of doing something different or maybe just not -- does the travel get tiring after a while?
ALENA SHARP: No. I still love traveling. It's hard to win out here. You have to play good golf. I just love playing golf, so I don't think about it as I need win. I just love the competition. I love traveling to all the different places we play and the amazing courses we play. I just have a lot of passion for the game itself.

Q. Talked to Brooke a little bit about you, and she said she looks forward to returning the favor of giving you a little water shower tomorrow.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, that would be nice. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you approach it any differently being a few shots off the lead going into tomorrow?
ALENA SHARP: Well, I know I'm going to have to take advantage of my length tomorrow and really think about what kind of shots I got to hit into these pins when I have a wedge in my hands.

I was spinning it a lot, and it's just so wet it's easy to do. So either you throw it way past or try and hit it with no spin. That's where I'm going to approach it differently.

But sometimes being in the rough is better. It doesn't spin as much. Like I had a few shots in the rough today where I made birdie because I didn't have the backspin like I did in the fairway. The rough is not very thick, so...

Not like I'm going to aim for the rough, but when you hit it in the rough you shouldn't get upset because it's actually helpful.

I'm just going to go at it like I did the last three days and see what happens tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Two Canadians in the top 20 on Day 4!
EDIT: Along with 3 of the Canadian men in the top 20 (2 in top 10) at the RBC Heritage on Day 4. With a player in 2nd place on both sides.

And Stephen Ames is winning the Mitsubishi Electric Classic

[Johnrw]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Mr. Campbell is so right. Lots to cheer about in Canadian golf. Golf Canada does deserve a

Sadly a bogey to end Alena's round but she is playing so much better in the last couple years Im sure the nerves won't be as great the more she finds herself at the top of the leader board.

My guess is this tie for 5th should net her in the range of $80K. I really just wish she was a bit of a better interview.

[wlorcb]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Alana got hosed. How can that final group play the last 15 holes of the event 1 to 1 1/2 holes behind the group in front without getting penalized for slow play? They were warned once, but they never did catch up. Sharp should have played the last 2 holes tied for the lead, and who knows what difference that might have made?

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

April 15, 2017


Alena Sharp


Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii

Q. Still got to feel good, right?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, I mean, started off really well. Adrenaline was flowing. I hit some long shots that got me into trouble. Like on 8 I hit a pitching wedge 138 yards, which I don't hit it that far. I thought it was good and then it was up top and it's tough to two-putt from there. That kind of was a drag.

Other than that, I was right there all day. Last hole hit a good drive and kind of hit in the rough and stayed there and had mud on it; my shot went dead right, which sucks to end the tournament like that. It was nice to be that position and know that I could do it, you, know, that I was in there all day and never gave up, just kept fighting, and kept hitting it close and trying to make those putts.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

[tonyj5]

Re: LOTTE Championship

Here are the final standings:

1 Cristie Kerr -20
2 Lydia Ko -17
2 In Gee Chun -17
2 Su-Yeon Jang -17

For morescores:

http://www.tonyslpgareport.com/2017/04/lotte-championship-presented-by-hershey.html

[sjmcampbell]

Re: LOTTE Championship

My guess is this tie for 5th should net her in the range of $80K.

Alena 5th $82,830
Brooke T11th $33,151

Brooke is now 17th on the money list (192,386)
Alena is 31st ($115,182)
Maude-Aimee is 71st ($42,231)
--> next week is last chance for her to get into the Lorena Ochoa match play. (probably needs about $9000-10000).
Jennifer is 137th ($5,956)

Brooke just passed the $2,000,000 mark in career earnings and is now at $2,017,100 (137th). Alena is in 150th at $1,868,112.

Dawn Coe-Jones is the next Canadian ahead of them in 84th ($3,315,478). It took her 513 starts to earn that. Brooke currently has 51.