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Mamiko Higa of Japan Holds Top Spot

2019 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship

First Round completed

Mamiko Higa won her first two Japan LPGA tour titles in 2013. She has earned JLPGA Tour titles every season since 2017. Higa leads LPGA winners such as Sei Young Kim, Azahara Munoz, Inbee Park and Celine Boutier. Kim, Munoz, Park and Boutier are all under par after round one of the 2019 Women's Open in the United States of America.

Higa exited the 2018 British Open in a tie for fourth place. Higa played in California earlier this spring at the first major of the 2019 golf season. She competed in the 2018 UL International Crown representing Japan.

The United State Golf Association posted its pairings for the major event several days before Monday's practice round. There were two pairings each of American professionals, South Korean professionals and Japanese professionals. Those six pairings included 18 women. 18 women all played with compatriots that happened to be also be professionals on Thursday. Pairings remain the same for Friday's round except players that had afternoon tee times will occupy morning tee times for the subsequent round.

One of more than a dozen alternates in this week's major, Esther Henseleit of Germany, is one stroke behind Higa. An alternate with a 66 in round one, what a statement. Henseleit, a Ladies European Tour member, has been playing well since earning a first alternate position in a open qualifier earlier in this spring. The Ladies European Tour often has LPGA players teeing up at their events. Some players have status on both tours. To be included on the European Solheim Cup team without a wildcard, a European must play in a minimum number of LET events every year or two years for eligibility. Players who earn spots through the world rankings must still enter LET events. Henseleit has competed alongside Symetra Tour and LPGA Tour members in the 2019 LET season.

US Open qualifier Gina Kim is one stroke behind Higa. Kim earned one of the two spots in a qualifier after defeating LPGA champion Heather Young in a playoff. Kim won the 2019 NCAA Team Championships earlier this month in Arkansas as a freshman at Duke University. Kim will make history as an American amateur qualifier if she were to beat the course on Sunday in South Carolina.

Major champions Morgan Pressel and Lexi Thompson are five strokes behind after 18 holes. Inbee Park posts a one-under 70 in the opening round to match the one-under rounds by Pressel and Thompson. With rounds of 71, So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park have won major championships on multiple tours as well as match-play victories as part of team and individual competitions. Ryu and Park have LPGA major titles after playoffs too.

LPGA champion Boutier of France is two strokes back after round one. Boutier became a Rolex first-time winner on tour in 2019. Boutier's LPGA breakthrough earns her spots in other major championships on the LPGA Tour.

Higa leads Henseleit and Kim in Charleston. There are three more days of action in South Carolina. There could be a new major winner or perhaps another woman lifting their second or a magical eighth major trophy after 72 holes in regulation.

Higa -6 (65), the leader after the opening round

Henseleit -5, (a) G. Kim -5 (66)

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Next stop: PGA Championship

LPGA Tour is in Arkansas this weekend for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

The third major championship of the 2018 season is only a handful of days away. Danielle Kang is the defending champion. Kang earned her maiden LPGA Tour title at one of the most treasured majors in LPGA history. This year, a long list of women have realistic chances to have their names etched on the winner’s trophy. I find there to be five women in 2018 that are heavy favorites to win next week. And they are, in descending order of their fantastic performances:

5. American Lexi Thompson

Thompson’s name is noticeable and bold on any leaderboard. Thompson is on the hunt for her 10th LPGA victory. She hasn’t won in 2018.  What she has accomplished though is having better showings at tournaments in 2018 that many of her fellow tour winners and talented competitors. Thompson has Top 10 finishes in Michigan, the Bahamas and Thailand. She finished in the Top 5 at the U.S. Women’s Open. Thompson finished in the Top 20 at the ANA Inspiration and had a Top 15 result in Los Angeles, California. Since Thompson is still looking for a victory, next week could be a week to at least come close to holding some metal.

4. American Michelle Wie

Before Arkansas, Wie recorded five Top 20 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2018. She began her season with two 11th place results and was victorious in Singapore. Wie, a U.S. Women’s Open champion, tied for 10th place in Alabama. She went to college as an LPGA member and has five victories in 10 seasons as a member. Her win in Asia was her first LPGA win in three years. This season is going terrifically for this LPGA winner who has a long history of competing against generations of women and continually posting fantastic results.

3. Korean Inbee Park

Park is a seven-time LPGA major winner. She won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship back-to-back-to-back joining Swede Annika Sorenstam who has done the same. Park is the world no. 1 golfer. After tying for second place in Los Angeles, she overtook Shanshan Feng in the Rolex Rankings. She finished in a tie for second place at the 2018 ANA Inspiration and solo ninth place at the U.S. Women’s Open. She has more top three finishes including her win in Arizona and her result in Oahu, Hawaii. What’s a surprise is that Park hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour other than her clear statement victory on the west coast in the USA. Park has a great chance to win next week, and she will be ready to show us why she is a hall of famer when she tees it up on Thursday.

2. Canadian Brooke Henderson

Henderson is probably the best Canadian golfer that the LPGA Tour has ever seen. And I think many of us can say with certainty that the LPGA knows that they are fortunate and blessed to have her competing weekly. Henderson posted a runner-up finish at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA. She is the 2016 champion. Last season, Henderson won twice on tour. This year, she has five top 10s including her win in Hawaii. She won as a nonmember is 2015, accepted LPGA membership, and won twice in 2016 including a successful defense in the northwest. She tied for second place in Singapore and recorded a solo 4th place finish at the Kingsmill Championship. This wonderful winner is on her way to holding more LPGA trophies and surpassing other major champions before her in total wins on the LPGA.

1. Thai Ariya Jutanugarn

Ariya Jutanugarn is a nine-time LPGA Tour champion. Jutanugarn won in Virginia and later in Alabama for her second LPGA major victory. She is the 2016 Rolex Player of the Year and a five-time LPGA winner in 2016. Jutanugarn has recorded 10 top 10s in 2018 and has leads in many races and statistics this season. Her older sister won her first title this season before younger sister won her eighth and ninth LPGA titles. Jutanugarn has had a better season so far than any other member. Her results are marvelous and she is the no. 1 contender for the next couple of major tournaments on the LPGA. This Thai winner and star is looking for her third win in 2018.

Other players to mention: In Gee Chun and Sung Hyun Park

Chun is a Vare Trophy winner and Park is the reigning Player of the Year with compatriot So Yeon Ryu. Chun and Park are both tournament match-play and U.S. Women’s Open champions. If given the opportunity to take control of a major championship, Chun and Park are without a doubt likely to happily try to add another championship to their golfing resumes.

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Naomi Osaka defeats Radwanska of Poland in the second round. After Osaka’s straight sets win, she will play Sachia Vickery in the third round in California.

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Naomi Osaka eliminates Russian grand slam champ Sharapova in CA.

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2017 LPGA Tour

Mentally tough, passionate, gifted. These adjectives describe the women that compete on the number one women’s golf tour in the world.

The LPGA Tour has a striking history of women that have acquired tournament wins, altered the level of play, and have been presented with outstanding awards both by the tour and by other organizations.

Fans watch female golfers’ lives within the boundaries of the highest levels of action which involves players striving for career boosts, prize money for themselves, associates, and family, and a true desire to destroy their competition.

Brittany Lincicome won the Pure Silk - Bahamas LPGA Classic in a playoff over compatriot Lexi Thompson. Lincicome last won in the spring of 2015 at the long running but new ANA Inspiration.

Just a handful of additional playoffs occurred during the 2017 LPGA Tour season. In the spring, So Yeon Ryu was the clubhouse leader when Suzann Pettersen and Lexi Thompson had chances to meet Ryu in extra holes. Pettersen was not present in the sudden-death playoff in California, but Thompson was. During the playoff, Ryu attempted to hit her second shot to the Par 5 18th green. Her ball flew right and a little further right. It looked like Ryu’s ball was flying towards Poppie’s Pond. Her ball landed short of the pond, and she got up and down for a birdie to win her second major title on tour.

Other playoff winners included Haru Nomura, Anna Nordqvist and Ariya Jutanugarn.

Nordqvist won in Arizona, USA and in Europe. Nordqvist won her first LPGA major championship in her rookie year on tour. The Swede would win an unofficial LPGA event in Jamaica in 2010 before finding a path back to the winner’s circle four years later. She has won on tour in every season since 2014. Her victory at the heavily respected Evian Championship, because of its history at the same venue and fabulous prize purses, was her eighth LPGA victory.

Both Nordqvist and Ryu are known for the consistent results. They are tough women who have genuine respect for their fellow tour players and have mammoth and supreme games that prevent other women on tour from achieving their own goals.

Inbee Park outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn in Singapore to win her 18th LPGA Tour title. Park won in the 2015 LPGA Tour season in Mexico City, where she won her fifth LPGA Tour title in that season. Park would post a Top 10 finish at the 2016 ANA Inspiration, a week after her runner-up finish at the Kia Classic. Both tournaments were won by teenager Lydia Ko, who won back-to-back LPGA major championships. Ko would finish runner up in Brazil to Park in the summer of 2016.

Ha Na Jang won in Australia in February of this year. Jang made a decision to spend more time with her parents in South Korea in late May. People near and far away from Jang can assume the decision to leave the LPGA Tour was a grueling choice but by no means waves a flag that calls an end to her LPGA career. Not only is she young, but she is determined to achieve more in her profession which likely includes more titles around the world. Jang won all of her matches in the LPGA vs. KLPGA match play tournament last autumn. She was competing with the KLPGA Tour squad.

Cristie Kerr won LPGA Tour titles number 19 and 20 in 2017. Kerr won in Hawaii, USA and in Malaysia. She last won on the LPGA in the autumn on 2015 in Naples, Florida.

Brooke Henderson also won two LPGA Tour titles this season. Henderson won in Michigan, USA and in New Zealand. On the last two days of the Meijer Classic, a Par 5 hole was shortened to a Par 3 hole. This change, due to course flooding, affecting every player remaining in the competition, made the course play as a Par 69 setup. Several players recorded rounds in the 60s on Saturday and Sunday because of the course flooding. Henderson would later win in New Zealand, the last full-field LPGA event of the 2017 Tour season. Not one player finished their final round on Sunday in New Zealand. Instead of wrapping up the tournament and letting players catch their flights, check out of hotels, and make other reservations, a decision was made to have all players who made the cut return on Monday to complete the fourth and final round, the next morning. Henderson finished runner up to Danielle Kang at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Kang, a player with an excellent short game, played a familiar course close to her family. Her brother won at the venue of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She trusted her sibling to help in her preparations for the major championship. In Illinois, Kang and playing competitor Chella Choi were put on the clock very quickly in the final round. Remarkably, Kang and Choi maintained their steady play, despite the absurdity of being put on the clock in the final pairing on a Sunday. Choi finished in third place. Kang finished the back nine and the final hole in style to win her maiden LPGA Tour title and first LPGA major championship.

Shanshan Feng and In-Kyung Kim tied for the most LPGA Tour victories of the 2017 LPGA season. Feng won back-to-back titles during LPGA’s Asian Swing, and Kim won in Ohio, Scotland and New Jersey. Kim had never won more than one LPGA title in a season before 2017. Feng finished 2017 as World Number One, succeeding Sung Hyun Park after Park’s one week reign.

Park won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump Bedminster and the 2017 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, following the 2017 Solheim Cup. Team Europe fastened their seatbelts for a Sunday Singles comeback that almost came true. Team USA would retain the cup, next to be contested in Europe in 2019.

Ryu won the Rolex Annika Major Award and accepted the 2017 Rolex Player of the Year award alongside LPGA Rookie of the Year Park. Lexi Thompson earned the Vare Trophy award, and Park topped the 2017 LPGA money list.

Eun-Hee Ji and Katherine Kirk won titles in Chinese Taipei and Wisconsin, respectively. Kirk missed out on qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open in a sudden-death playoff in a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier. North Irishwoman Stephanie Meadow won that playoff. Kirk won in a thrilling week in the Green Bay area. Although some elite names were missing in action in Wisconsin, the final round and most of the week were very pleasant. Kirk beat Ashleigh Buhai by one shot to win her third LPGA Tour title and qualify for the Trump Bedminster and additional events. Ji also won her third LPGA Tour title, her first since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open.

Ariya Jutanugarn won her second LPGA Tour title of the 2017 season with a birdie putt on the Par 4 18th hole in Florida. Jutanugarn won five LPGA titles during the 2016 season. Thompson won the Race to the CME Globe and the $1,000,000 bonus with her tie for second place finish in the southeast.

The LPGA Tour season next year begins in the Bahamas. Lincicome is the defending victor.

Correction: I noted that Danielle Kang’s brother was victorious in Illinois, USA before her maiden win on tour. That was an error.

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Four-stroke win for Su Yeon Jang

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Eighteen+ holes on Sunday Morning

ISU Group KLPGA Championship

round 3

The last two threesomes did not complete their rounds on Saturday. Yoon Kyung Heo is four under for the round with three holes to play. Ha Na Jang was the sole leader of the 2017 ISU Group KLPGA Championship after play was suspended. Jang is five under for her round and 17 under par overall for the major tournament. There are some players that are currently six strokes behind Jang’s lead. Heo is Jang’s closest challenger. She is three strokes behind Jang. They are in the same group in the third round and will very likely be grouped in the final round.

Jang won on the LPGA Tour in February. She came from behind to collect her fourth LPGA Tour title. She will most likely be playing with at least a two-stroke lead when the third round of the major championship is completed early Sunday morning in South Korea.

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Major Tournament To Play Catch-Up

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ISU Group major on KLPGA Tour

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2017 LPGA squad in OR

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Lee Mi-rim (Mirim Lee) wins LPGA Tour's Kia Classic.

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Meet Cute - SNL

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Will try not to tweet for a decent amount of time! Holding back on tweeting :-)

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Photo by David Cannon, Getty Images

Felicity Johnson shoots a bogey-free eight under 64 in round two. Johnson is at seven under par and leads by two strokes over round one leader Florentyna Parker. Aditi Ashok and Emily Pedersen are three back. Lynn Carlsson and Angel Yin are at 3 under. Shanshan Feng is at 2 under. There’s is one more day of this 2016 tournament.

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Photo by David Cannon, Getty Images”

Florentyna Parker of England leads after 18 holes. Parker shoots a five under 67 in round one in United Arab Emirates. Cheyenne Woods of the United States and Sophie Giquel Bettan are one back. Emily Pedersen of Denmark is at 3 under. Aditi Ashok of India is at 2 under. This year’s event is 54 holes.

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photo by David Cannon, Getty Images “

Round one of the tournament in United Arab Emirates was suspended on account of a horrible situation.

Half of the 108-player field did not begin the tournament. The event will not be 72 holes Shanshan Feng is a two-time defending winner. Feng was also victorious in 2012.

Half

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The LPGA Swing in Asia

KLPGA and LPGA Tours LPGA KEB - Hana Bank Championship Preview

There are 15 competitors in the field who do not have full-time LPGA status, excluding two amateurs. Three of those 15 players have won a KLPGA tournament within the last 30 days. Within the last 30 days, there have been two majors on the KLPGA Tour. The Evian Championship, a major championship on the LPGA and Ladies European Tours, was won by Rolex Rookie of the Year points leader In Gee Chun. Chun competed in Japan two weeks ago and in South Korea last week. She recorded back-to-back top five finishes since her victory in France.

In addition to Chun, the winner in China, In Kyung Kim, and the champion in Chinese Taipei, Ha Na Jang, are teeing up this week at the co-sanctioned event. Evian runners-up Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu, Reignwood runner-up Mi Jung Hur, and Fubon runner-up Shanshan Feng will be present this week for the four-day tournament.

Absent from competition in the last one to two weeks, Sei Young Kim (one week), Suzann Pettersen and Gerina Piller will play the course in Incheon, South Korea.

2014 champion Q Baek will not be there, but defending champion Lexi Thompson definitely is not absent. Thompson finished sixth in early September at the incredibly competitive Hanwha Finance Classic. Thompson notched two victories earlier this year on the LPGA and JLPGA Tours.

All of the 2016 LPGA major winners are in South Korea this week. Brooke Henderson, Ariya Jutanuagrn, Brittany Lang and Lydia Ko battled for the Rolex Annika Major Award last month, and Ko was the recipient. Jutanugarn leads Ko by four points in the Rolex Player of the Year award countdown. Ko leads Chun in the Vare Trophy race. Ko also leads Jutanugarn in the Race to CME Globe.

The LPGA KEB - Hana Bank Championship will showcase a sizzling week of golf. The LPGA Tour is remarkably competitive in 2016, and there are several women on the KLPGA Tour that want to show others that they are more than capable of pocketing this particular LPGA title.

The Par 4 15th hole on the Sky 72 course may be a reachable hole. The 18th hole is a Par 5.

After this week, LPGA members compete on Hainan Island in China then Malaysia. Sei Young Kim is the defending victor at Blue Bay LPGA, and Jessica Korda is the reigning champion at Sime Darby.