Maguire and Meadow nine behind in Greensboro
Leona Maguire. Picture by Pat Cashman
Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow opened with two-over 74s to share 70th place in the LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee near Greensboro.
Maguire turned for home in level par but dropped two strokes on her back nine as Meadow mixed three birdies with three bogeys before running up a double-bogeyed the par-three 17th.
They were nine shots adrift of Jennifer Song and Danielle Kang, who shot seven-under 65s at Great Waters Course to claim a one-shot lead over American compatriot Ally McDonald.
Kang’s bogey-free 65 is her lowest 18-hole score since she recorded her last 65 in the final round of the Cambia Portland Classic.
Song, starting off No. 10, got out to a hot start Thursday with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-15 with another on No. 18. Her front-nine 31 ties her season-best nine-hole score, as she went to fight through one bogey on No. 5 and add three more bogeys to end day one tied for the lead.
“I feel great. This course is really tough and in the afternoon the greens got really crusty, so there was a lot of calculation,” said Song, who hit 14 of 14 fairways and 18 of 18 greens today. “The wind picked up a little bit so it was kind of confusing, but I managed it pretty well. I'm really happy about 7-under par today. I didn't think that was possible to shoot that score out there, but I had a great round.”
Song, who has three top-10 finishes since the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open in August, knows keeping consistent is a major key to stay on top this week. “For the rest of the tournament I just want to keep doing what I'm doing,” said Song. “I want to play great rounds the next three rounds, but I'm not going to change anything. Just stay positive and just keep one shot at a time and I think everything will be handled.”
Following Kang and Song in third is fellow American Ally McDonald at -6. McDonald, who has two consecutive T13 finishes in her last Tour events, carded six birdies on the day and felt good about her play after the first competitive round in Greensboro, Ga.
“I mean, overall I've been playing really solid. I feel like I drive the ball well. I rely heavily on my ball striking. And then today I was just able to get some putts to fall, which is -- that's good to see,” said McDonald. “It's what I been working the most on, just trying to see the ball go in the hole. I feel like I've been hitting really good putts but they just haven't been going in. That helps when you hit the ball close, which my ball-strike was probably one of the best days I've had this year.”
Two-time major champion Ariya Jutanugarn, despite hitting the water on her finishing hole for a bogey,
and Lindsey Weaver are tied for fourth at -5, with a trio of players – Marissa Steen, Bianca Pagdanganan and Pernilla Lindberg – in a tie for sixth at -4. Lindberg said today proved that she had truly felt her game start coming together at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after finishing in a tie for 18th at Aronimink Golf Club.
“I really did feel that little kind of click, and especially in my long game, off the tee but also with my irons. Just few technical calls things I been working on, and it finally kind of clicked. And then you kind of just want to preserve that,” said Lindberg. “It's always hard to do in golf, but I feel like I'm close to being there again.”
DANIELLE KANG IS READY TO PUTT HER WAY TO FINISH LINE
Winner of the Tour’s inaugural LPGA Drive On Championship in late July, Rolex Rankings No. 5 Danielle Kang is at the top of leaderboard once again after a first-round 65. The only player to have won twice this season, there is no question that the 28-year-old, who celebrated her birthday on Monday, has been grinding, especially on the putting green.
“Recently just like my friends have been helping me out with my putting and I saw another putting coach, so I think having putts drop for me just kept me going and kept the good feel -- I don't know,” said Kang. “I'm trying. I'm trying.”
Kang also had a special visitor following her group today - LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, who made his on-course commentary debut giving insight on Kang, Stacy Lewis and Mel Reid. “He just has really positive vibes all the time. I think it was really fun to see him out there just to be a little bit different. Did a little interview with him. Think only the commissioner can pull me aside middle of the round and do things like that,” she said with a chuckle, “I thought it was very fun for us and for people at home and fans at home.”
EUBANKS: MCDONALD SHOOTS CLAYS ON WEDNESDAY AND BIRDIES ON THURSDAY
Sometimes a comfortable environment makes all the difference.
“I feel like Georgia has a lot of the similarities with Mississippi,” said Ally McDonald, who recently moved into a new house with her new husband, Charlie Ewing, in Starkville, Miss., a par-5 distance from her alma mater, Mississippi State. “Just the grass and the bermuda greens - it kind of feels comfortable out here.”
McDonald shot a bogey-free 66 on Thursday, one shot behind leaders Jennifer Song and Danielle Kang.
“Of course, you can never be too comfortable out here because (you have) stellar play (from the field) every week,” McDonald said. “But just having my parents out this week and being five and a half hours from home is a lot of fun.”
McDonald also had a lot of fun Wednesday afternoon at the Sandy Creek Sporting Grounds, a 20-station sporting clay course she visited with Amy Olson and Katherine Kirk. “Amy was the best shot,” McDonald said. “That’s no surprise. She hunts pheasants (in North Dakota with her husband, Grant). My husband is a bow hunter, so I’ve been shooting crossbows.”
“We had a great time,” Olson said. “Ally started getting a little bit bruised (on the right shoulder) from it so she had to stop halfway through (the course) so she could play today, which obviously worked given how well she played.”
To read more of Steve Eubanks column on Ally McDonald on LPGA.com, click here: https://www.lpga.com/news/2020/mcdonald-shoots-clays-on-wednesday-and-birdies-on-thursday
YOUNGER JUTANGUARN STARTING TO GAIN CONFIDENCE AT GREAT WATERS
Ariya Jutanugarn went into this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee with little expectations. She said with it being a new venue for the Tour, she didn’t expect to shoot low. But the two-time major champion excelled under the Georgia skies after a first-round 67, her lowest 18-hole score since her third-round 66 at the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship.
“I would say I love here. Like the weather is like perfect to play golf the golf course is like the most beautiful I ever see. Just have to thank the LPGA put everything together and have chance to come here. Soon as we got here we rent a house and my sister say, I think we should move here. They love here to much,” said Jutanugarn. “When I play around this nice golf course just make me so joy, so happy, and can't be better.”
Jutanugarn, whose highest finish this year is a tie for 22nd at the AIG Women’s Open, said she’s been working on her commitment to shots. The 10-time LPGA Tour winner and two-time major champion is trying to find the magic again as she looks for her first win since the 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open. She said she still tries to smile before every shot, a strategy she’s learned from working from VISION 54.
“I still try to do that because like when I smile not only like got up and smile, but I have to create some good feeling,” said Jutanugarn. “It's pretty tough right now when you don't really have that much confident and don't feel like you can have good commitment sometimes.”
WEAVER “WEAVES” HER WAY INTO CONTENTION AFTER DAY ONE IN GEORGIA
Carding a 67 after the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee, Lindsey Weaver sits in third place heading into Thursday. She played alongside Ariya Jutanugarn and Ally McDonald, who also went low, shooting 5-under and 6-under, respectively. For Weaver, keeping up with her group was necessary. “It feels good to get a solid round under my belt. I was just trying keep up with the girls in my group today because they were making birdies left and right,” said Weaver. “I think between the three of us we really pushed each other to keep making birdies. It was pretty cool.”
Fully rested after a week off, Weaver feels good about her game both physically and mentally. She said seeing her two puppies and fiancée definitely helped take her mind off of competitive pressures.
“Right after Philly, I went to Ohio to pick up my two dogs from my parents' house. They take care of them while my fiancée and I are on the road,” said Weaver. “We brought them back to Dallas with us because my fiancée is done with his season now on Korn Ferry, so we have them back in our house. It's just so much fun with them. I'm such a crazy dog person, so having them with me makes me so much happier.”
PLAYER NOTES
Rolex Rankings No. 5 Danielle Kang (65)
She hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens, with 29 putts
This is Kang’s 11th event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season; she has two wins at the Drive On Championship and the Marathon Classic presented by Dana as well as two additional top-five finishes
This is her ninth season on the LPGA Tour; she has won five times, including one major championship (2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)
Kang crossed the $5 million mark in career earnings with a T3 finish at the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship
She is a two-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team (2017, 2019), with a 4-4-0 overall record
She won the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship
Rolex Rankings No. 76 Jennifer Song (65)
Song’s front-nine 31 ties her season-best nine-hole score
She hit 14 of 14 fairways and 18 of 18 greens, with 30 putts
Her 65 is her second-lowest career-best 18-hole score; her best is a 64 from the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio
This is Song’s 13th event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is third at the ShopRite LPGA Classic
This is her 10th season on the LPGA Tour; her best finish is a tie for second at the ANA Inspiration when she and Inbee Park lost to Pernilla Lindberg in a playoff
She earned two victories on the Symetra Tour in 2010 and was named the Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year
Song played collegiate golf at the University of Southern California, where she recorded 12 top-10s that included two wins
She was a member of the victorious 2010 U.S. Curtis Cup Team
In 2009, Song won the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship; U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and was the low amateur at the U.S. Women's Open.
Rolex Rankings No. 62 Ally McDonald (66)
Her first-round 66 ties her third-lowest 18-hole score; her career-best is a 63 from the 2019 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic
She hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens, with 30 putts
This is McDonald’s 11th event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is T11 at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in January
This is her fifth season on the LPGA Tour; her career-best finish is third, recorded at the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic and the 2018 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
She was a member of the 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup Team, with a 1-3-0 overall record
McDonald payed collegiate golf at Mississippi State and was a two-time First-Team All-American
She played on the 2014 U.S. Curtis Cup Team
CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
108 players; 72 holes, stroke play, cut to top 70 and ties after 36 holes
PURSE
$1.3 million USD; winner’s portion is $195,000
