2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio

[18majors]

Another four bogeys day for Yealimi Noh; wild drivers and 3 putts were the culprits.

Missing fairways hurt her during the final round of 2019 Cambia Portland; it came back to haunt her.

Overall she had 13 bogeys, 13 birdies and one eagle.

Not a good week; but making the cut was nice.

 

[Toolrushfan96]

WOW ?

[ChronicSlicer]

Congrats to Madelene! Clutch putts, and a great tee shot on 17.

[ChronicSlicer]

She made 2 bogey's today, you better keep those wagers low..lol

[Stooch]

I was kinda wrecked by the news of Koby and his daughter, and really didn't pay attention to the end of this event but congrats to Madelene on her 1at victory.

[18majors]

Congratulations to Rolex First Time winner; Madelene Sagstrom!

[Stooch]

I do with picking the winners, it's a fools errand trying to nail it. But I did bet bigger amount on Lexi to defeat Inbee and Charley Hull to beat Brittany Altmore for the event and they paid off lol

[18majors]

Nasa Hataoka, a great player with a broken heart. Not only she lost today, she's been 0 out 3 in LPGA playoffs:

2020 Diamond Resorts2018 KPMG Women's LPGA2018 Kingsmill

[Argonne69]

Wow indeed. Excellent tournament. One doesn't want to see it end that way, but it went down to the last putt. Madelene was grinding today. Reminded me of Pernilla's win at the ANA with her clutch putting. She was a pleasure to watch. Great attitude.

Nasa shouldn't get down on herself. Back to back 2nds is pretty darn good. She's definitely come out swinging this season.

Danielle had a great week, but just didn't have the ballstriking today. Way too many long putts on her inward stretch. She looked worn out from being under the weather.

An off day for Sei Young as well. Again, playing with her B game she still manages a top 5. Impressive.

Celine quietly goes about her business. She's creeping up the world rankings.

Hey, I managed to get one rookie in the top 10. Lol. Good group this season. Should be a battle for RoY honors, but I think Yui made a big statement this week that she's the one to beat.

Hope this event sticks around for a while. Nice to have a few tournaments in January with plenty of sunshine. Thought the course was fine. Good birdie opportunities, but also a few tough holes.

 

[18majors]

@Argonne69

Yui could start the trend of winning LPGA's ROY for Japan, much like Sei Young Kim did it for Korea in 2015.
Hinako Shibuno will follow it up in 2021.

[Argonne69]

Going back to the end of last season, this was Danielle's 4th top 5 in five events (1st, 2nd, 3T, 3rd).Very nice. I've been a fan since watching her win her back to back U.S. Amateur titles. So glad to see her fulfilling her potential.

[ChronicSlicer]

Having Butch as a coach seems to have instilled some serious confidence in her game. I believe she has grown up, and is taking golf seriously. Looking at her Instagram, she has been surrounding herself with good things and positive people.

[Awsi Dooger]

Odds and ends:

While walking the course today I spoke to two members of Boco Rio. Both agreed it is uncertain the fellow members will want this event to return. They told me it is a 3 year commitment for the LPGA to hold a tournament in Boca Raton, and the LPGA really wants to establish an event in this area, but the contract for this specific course was only one year. One said he thought it would be a "battle royale" among some of the most vocal and influential club members, especially since the heavier than expected rains have chewed up the fringes of the course and undoubtedly will leave those areas muddied and trampled for far longer than the estimates beforehand. One guy said they were told one month to recover but now the estimates are two months minimum.Everyone on premises seemed to love the course as host. I only heard one guy all week complain about the course. This was on Saturday afternoon from some stuffy guy who somehow expected to be escorted back to the clubhouse in a cart from the 16th tee. He was rambling that it was nothing but a small members course and didn't compare to PGA National. While departing I told him...okay buddy, please don't mind if I laugh at your expense. Amidst Brooke Henderson's typically huge gallery I met a guy from Ottawa who is friends with Brooke's dad. We were discussing Brooke's putting. He said it is an increasingly common topic among Canadian golf fans, although he never feels comfortable saying anything about it to Brooke's dad. This guy told me the consensus among Canadian fans is that Brooke needs a putting coach but it probably won't happen as long as she continues to win 2+ times per year. If it drops below that level he expected some type of change. When I started to mention Brittany and reading the putts from behind the hole he quickly nodded his head and said that is oft discussed also. However, he said he doesn't expect the sister/sister player/caddie arrangement to last more than another year or two. He said the reports are that Brittany is in a very serious relationship and is likely to want to settle down and have kids. He told me that Brooke has always idolized her older sister so any type of change won't come from Brooke herself. It will have to be some type of decision or life change on Brittany's end.Maria Fassi cannot putt. I don't think it is a heck of a lot more complicated than that. She might occasionally be a factor on a challenging course where even par or thereabouts is a solid score. When I darted out there to watch the end of Madelene Sagstrom's great 62 on Friday, Fassi was in the same group. Very rare for a 20 shot differential among 2 rounds but Fassi was +10 to Sagstrom's -10. Fassi has a very powerful build, especially in midsection and lower body. Solid high ball flight, albeit an overly quick transition. However, as soon as I saw the crosshanded pathetic putting style I lost interest before I had any interest. Don't let anyone pretend that crosshanded is a strength. Far more often than not it is a patch. I never would have gone back out to follow Sagstrom on the weekend if she had a crosshanded style instead of the wonderfully high and relaxed conventional putting grip. Contrast to Fassi with the quick flinch crosshanded shove, one that instantly starts slightly off line. Cristie Kerr's dad was discussing the changes being made to his home. He is having a new bedroom and laundry room built, along with a lift. It is a 1000 foot addition. He said he and his wife have long had to deal with 13 steps down to the laundry room and 13 steps back up. Now that is too much at their age. Hence the lift. He said the permit process has been ongoing more than a year. I was impressed that he was not frustrated by that. He said it is a necessary aspect to make sure things are done correctlyThe Boca Rio course is very close to the north south toll road known as the Florida Turnpike. Holes number 10 and 11 run parallel to the turnpike. Road noise is easily heard on those holes but not elsewhere on the course. Spectator parking is 2 miles away at a huge '80s shopping mall. Since some of the major buildings of the shopping mall are now unoccupied it was easy to find open areas to use for LPGA parking, then a shuttle bus to the course. Parking was only $5 per day. Of course, it would have been no big deal to park elsewhere in the shopping mall and merely walk to the shuttle buses without paying. I heard other spectators bragging about that. I decided the pay the 5 bucks every day. At 10 bucks I concede my decision might have been different. The shuttle system really made me appreciate Disney from a week prior. Those people really know how to transport the public. There were small shuttles loaded quickly and departing quickly. At Boca Raton it was massive full sized buses and pot luck regarding how long you would have to wait. On Thursday I was 4th on the bus and had to wait more than 15 minutes for it to depart. There was a tournament volunteer on that bus who got antsy and told the driver she was going to be late for her assignment unless they got going. Once the bus arrived at Boca Rio it was a ridiculous requirement to fully loop the parking lot so the door of the bus could be facing the proper direction for departure. That sometimes meant we were on location and could watch players at the driving range for 5-10 minutes before actually being allowed to leave the bus. I don't doubt that type of thing will also play a role in discussions regarding whether or not this event will return. The huge buses sometimes blocked member cars who were attempting to enter or exit the property.

[Awsi Dooger]

It was so bizarre to follow and root for an LPGA player on the weekend, and have her actually win the tournament. I struggle to remember the last time.

And during the front nine I nearly walked away from that grouping, specifically on the 6th hole. That's how maddening the pace of play became, once Nasa Hataoka gained the honors on the third tee box. Let's just say I am not a fan. She may be a very good player and perfectly nice young girl. Who cares? She has zero comprehension of the requirements of this profession, specifically when she is hitting first. It totally changed the atmosphere on the course. It was sucking the energy out of the tournament. One lady standing next to me said, "What comes next? Are there penalties? The LPGA has to do something about this." A male spectator walked away from the group, just as I was contemplating it and had mentioned it. He said, "I am leaving. Why wouldn't I leave? I want to see some golf."

This is how bad it became. On that 6th tee Nasa was hitting first on the par 3. Roughly 160 yards. She was standing at her bag. The green was totally clear. I reached the tee markers at normal walking pace. I kept going. I knew darn well I would reach the green and Nasa still would not have hit her shot. In fact it was far beyond that. I reached the green and walked to the highest spot behind the pin. Nasa was just beginning her practice swings. Several of them. All of that followed her typical routine of looking at every yardage book, and checking the wind, and jumping up and down, and doing everything else conceivable to waste time and drain the energy from her playing partner. Madelene Sagstrom had been such a delightful bundle of grins and joy all week until that front nine on Sunday. Once paired with Nasa Hataoka everything changed. She was forced to stand and wait. Stand and wait. I knew darn well it would creep into her game. I was mentioning it to fellow spectators before it ever happened. How could the tempo and accuracy remain the same when instead of walking and joking with your caddie and your playing partner all of a sudden you are dealing with someone hiding behind dark shades, not communicating at all, and seemingly believing pace of play standards did not apply to her?

Madelene had the advantage on the first hole. Both had 30 yard pitches to the back left hole position on the par 5. Nasa leaked to the left collar. Sagstrom played it nicely to 8 feet pin high right. Nasa left her birdie putt on the lip. Madelene then missed left in very similar fashion to the late birdie fails on Saturday. On #2 is where everything began to change. Nasa took an inordinate amount of time on her second shot. But she stuck it to 4 feet below the hole. Sagstrom's swing looked fine but it was always short, and into the front bunker. Prior to the blast she used Aim Point to pick out the ideal spot for her uphill par putt. But it didn't turn out to be an uphill putt. She blasted it 4 feet past for a slicky downhill par putt. It was easily the most treacherous of all the short putts Sagstrom faced once I began following her late on Friday. It was also the only one she missed. Nasa converted the birdie for a 2-shot swing and tie at -14 apiece.

Only on the next tee box did it become obvious how much time Nasa would waste once she had control of the tee. Otherwise she can be slow but not ridiculously slow, except on moderate length putts when she studies from all angles including 90 degrees and once again is absurdly slow.

Once she was forced to wait so long before playing, Madelene's swing got noticeably worse on iron shots. Several pulls and an occasional push. One pull resulted in another bunker visit and bogey on #5.

A very key moment was #6 when Nasa stuck it to 3 feet and Sagstrom hit a horrid pull well left of the green and nearly on the pine straw 8 yards below the green. That appeared to be another 2 shot swing forthcoming. I was going to leave the group if Madelene fell 3 shots back. But she chipped nicely up the slope to within 6 feet and made the par putt. The tally was now reversed from the open, at Nasa -15 to Sagstrom -13. Danielle Kang was now second at -14.

BTW, behind that 6th green I heard a spectator mention somebody who was a former teammate of Kobe Bryant. I assumed it was merely an offhand reference. I don't bring my phone to the course. It wasn't until I returned home that I found out the sad news about Kobe.

On #8 there was another key moment when Nasa chipped in for birdie and Madelene faced a sharp boomerang left breaking birdie putt of about 15 feet. If that birdie putt misses it's going down the slope and will almost certainly lead to a 3 putt. It was like a roller coaster putt. The line and speed had to be perfectly blended. Maybe television covered that putt. I have not watched the replay yet. But I wanted to mention it because my impression is that the putt likely happened before Golf Channel coverage came on the air. If there was a vital but overlooked shot on Sunday, that was it.

I won't keep going through every hole. I'm sure the holed bunker shot on #10 was shown. I really perked up on that one because it meant Madelene finally had the tee box again. Rejoice. Nasa can no longer stand there and launch her Dean Smith Four Corners version of LPGA golf. I was hardly surprised that Sagstrom finally found her iron swing again with a superb second shot into #11 for a birdie to regain the lead.

I have to say that behind the 6th green I didn't think there was a 10% chance that Sagstrom would ever lead again outright.

I was still curious about Danielle Kang and Sei Young Kim to the point I would go forward and try to catch their shots as often as possible. That was finally manageable again once Sagstrom had the tee box. Now that group got going in a hurry and the gap to the Kang/Kim group was cut in half. It was weird to watch the new 3 minute lost ball rule come into play on #12 for Sei Young Kim. I'm sure TV covered this. She hit a fairway bunker shot well over the green on 12 into dense forest. Sei Young knew she didn't have time to look herself so she stayed back in the bunker while her caddie raced all the way to the green, checked for the ball, and then dashed back to Sei Young. She was yelling to him, "Is it out? Is it out?" He replied, "It's deep back there. It's a lost ball." I didn't understand that at all. Is it lost, or did he find it "deep back there?" A fellow spectator and I at ropeside were discussing that when Sei Young's caddie told us to shut up. Sei Young dropped a ball in the bunker and hit a great shot to 5 feet. But why wasn't a rules official called?

Once I saw Danielle Kang gesturing and complaining to her caddie on 12 I didn't think she was in a frame of mind to pull this out. She did have opportunity on the par 5 16th but the second, third and fourth shots were all less than they needed to be. Earlier in the day I saw Morgan Pressel eagle 16 with a piercing fairway wood into the breeze, then long putt from the front fringe.

Sagstrom tends to use too much loft on midrange chip shots. I saw her come up short on those all week. It was true on 16 -- into the bunker -- and again on 18. She'll have to work on that.

The 17th pin position was so daunting. It looked like a parody from the tee box, like it was sticking out of the water. Earlier in the day I was walking with the Marina Alex/Gerina Piller group. Marina's mom was so amazed by the pin position she decided to film a video of Marina tackling the shot. It paid off with a great shot just left of the hole and converted birdie putt. Gerina also played aggressively but missed her putt. By the end of the day when the final group reached 17 the spectators who had been there all day said that the later groups had been disappointing as a block, with virtually every player bailing out left, in unflattering comparison to players earlier in the day.

Sagstrom obviously was in no position to be cautious...while one down. As soon as it left the clubface I was thinking this is just like Marina's shot, only better. Some fans in the white grandstand couldn't see Sagstrom's ball behind the flagstick. They started reacting in delirium, as if they witnessed a hole in one. But other fans with a superior angle told them to calm down, that the ball was a few feet from the hole.

On 18 that was the strangest approach iron I saw Madelene hit all week, a sharp pull deep left. I thought it was in the bunker to essentially end the event. Once it ended up in the back fringe I predicted out loud she would use too much loft and come up short. But darn if the make/miss exchange didn't work out in her favor. Once Madelene sank her putt I wasn't totally surprised that Hataoka blew it. I was thinking it was well deserved, after those delaying absurdities on the front nine. I'm not apologizing for not being a fan of every player out there.

The victory ceremony went on and on. Madelene handed it superbly, thanking all the volunteers and organizers and spectators, etc, along with her support team. BTW, she repeatedly referred to her caddie as her boyfriend's father. I had been led to believe from Saturday's coverage it was her fiancee's father. She twice said boyfriend and not fiancee. One guy standing next to me on the 18th green had the gumption to walk up to him and ask if he was Madelene's boyfriend or fiancee. In quite blunt fashion he emphasized he was her boyfriend and not her fiancee. Okay pal. It was merely a question.

Given all the requirements of that half hour long victory presentation and subsequent interviews it really helps if the winner speaks English. Let's not deny or dance around that aspect. It wouldn't have unfolded nearly the same way if Nasa had won. As I walked to the shuttle bus back to the shopping mall Madelene was still going through all the ceremonies of holding the trophy to have her picture taken in front of the club logo at lakeside, then another round of interviews, then hustled to the autograph area with youngsters and oldsters lined up at least two dozen across.

 

[Argonne69]

Driving distances were really down for this event. A handful of players were hitting it long, e.g. Madelene, but many players struggled to average 250 yds for the week. Soft conditions?

 

[Seamus_McDuff]

With Sagstrom’s win, if the eight teams for International Crown weren’t already a forgone conclusion they could be now.

[MJ2712]

Interestingly, before Sagstrom's win, Sweden only held a very small lead over 9th place Germany but now they should have some breathing space.

 

Great to see Madelene hang on for the win. A fun personality who probably deserved that victory just for the tee shot on 17 alone.

[MagicClassic407]

In future when placing your bets analyzing percentages, odds, and probabilities, we must also factor in the positives of being a VIKING! Congrats Madelene!

[18majors]

The perquisite of a Champion

 

2020 Gainbridge LPGA Madelene Sagstrom Interview

[18majors]

Why did Dana Finkelstein play so well at this tournament?

Dana Finkelstein's one mission over the offseason? Get longer

[MelloYello]

 

Man, you're right. Still, Nasa is so uber-consistent she'll be fine. She's such an elite player. There's no doubt. She's really fun to watch and doesn't seem terribly affected by pressure.

 

Sometimes you just don't win.

 

I think Brooke Henderson knows the deal....play more, make that money and just be happy inside the top-10. It's not critically important to be #1 and if you play well often enough you'll cross the finish line first a few times along the way.