Mehaffey hits the front on Symetra Tour with stunning 64; Davy Jones key as caddie
Olivia Mehaffey. Picture: Ali Palma/Symetra Tour
Amateur Olivia Mehaffey took full advantage of Davy Jones’ week off from caddying on the LPGA Tour to soar into a two-shot lead at halfway in the Symetra Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.
The Banbridge native (23), a standout college star for the Arizona State University and current world amateur number 20, followed her opening 69 by firing nine birdies in a sensational, eight-under-par 64 to lead on 11-under par on the LPGA Tour’s second-tier tour. Scores
Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, she arrived at Longbow Golf Club with high hopes having blasted a college record, 10-under par 62 at the same course last Sunday to end a run of poor form and lead her Arizona State Women’s Golf team to victory.
Mehaffey finished second individually in that event to her teammate Linn Grant and she was thrilled that Northern Ireland’s Davy Jones, who now caddies for world number 11 Sung-Hyun Park, agreed to tote the bag for her this week as he heads west for the LPGA Tour’s west coast swing from next week.
“I hadn’t played here in a couple of years. It’s always been a course I really enjoyed,” said Mehaffey, who leads by two shots from American Lauren Coughlin, China’s Ruixin Liu and France’s Celine Herbin.
“But last week I wanted to learn as much as I could about the course because this week was my priority. I think it definitely helped and having Davy is a great help too.
"I said before the week I wanted to enjoy it. I have Davy caddying for me, and we have been great friends for years. So, it has always been a dream to have him caddie for me.
“It just worked out this week that he could, so just coming into the week we were excited and having a good time. It’s been good weather and good company. I can’t complain.”
A former world amateur number 10, Mehaffey will tee it up in her second Augusta National Women’s Amateur later this month but she plans to turn professional later this year.
.@OliviaMehaffey cards her 7th birdie of the day on No. 15 and takes the lead at -10 thru 15. #CarlisleGolfClassic / @SunDevilWGolf pic.twitter.com/WoK0TjNRHI
— Symetra Tour (@ROAD2LPGA) March 19, 2021
She birdied the fifth, eighth and ninth to turn in 33, then picked up further shots at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th before following a lone bogey at the par-three 16th with two birdies to finish.
“It’s amazing, I am going to turn pro in just a couple of months,” she said. “I wanted to get as much experience as I could and to have this opportunity is amazing. I am so grateful to Carlisle Companies for giving me the invite. The more I can play with the pros the more I can learn about my game.”
Mehaffey revealed last week that she had been struggling mentally as she changed her swing with coach Jorge Parada and started receiving negative messages on social media.
“It’s been a tough couple of months on and off the course,” said Mehaffey, who was 39-over-par for her previous ten rounds before making 10 birdies in a bogey-free 62 in the Clover Cup at Longbow last Sunday.
“I’ve really been struggling mentally. A lot of things off the golf course have really been affecting me on it and I didn’t think they would. It’s been rough.
“There has been some family stuff, but college work has been tough as I finish my Masters and getting stuff organised to turn pro later this year had me stressed for a while.
“But I’ve had a lot of negative messages and comments by private message on Instagram about my swing changes which is really strange for me because I’ve never had that before.
“Maybe it will help me for when I turn pro but I’m getting comments like, ‘You were a great player before you made the changes, what happened blah blah blah’. It was a little bit strange but I’ve had multiple factors going on and all people see is the score and they don’t know what’s going on.
“I’d been telling Jorge that I feel like I can win any week. Looking on my scores you might think I’m crazy but I’m actually feeling really good about my game.”
