2019 Hugel-Air Premia LA Open Apr 25 - 28

[Mellow]

It was neat to see MJ for a shot. Also So Yeon during one of the no commentary breaks.

 

I wish that one bad hole for Minjee hadn't happened. She'd be in a more comfortable spot. Some killer competition behind. Ah well. She had some great shots, and the key difference here is her putts are dropping better.

 

This is it, you can do it Minjee!

[95124hacker]

Hate the split screen/dual coverage of the PGA & LPGA events. And no, I don’t want to go watch it online, because I DVR’d it and time-shifted. GC/NBC needs to give LPGA viewers dedicated screen time.

[URStillAway]

Is this the third tournament in a row where the LPGA coverage has been bumped?

 

The worst was that awful playoff on the Champions tour.

 

The split screen coverage doesn’t work for me. Can’t really see or pay attention to either.

[manku]

Wilshire CC is much more narrow than it appears on TV...if you're driver isn't working it's going to be a long day. And your bunker play better be sharp as well. Personally, as a bogey golfer, I don't find it a lot of fun...just too tight off the tee.

These women hit it very straight which is what you need to be to score there.

Did anyone see Park's shot at 18 (17) yesterday...I have that shot down pat!

 

 

[18majors]

Final round has been playing for more than 5 hours, scoring average is under par with most leaders have yet to tee off.

Mi Jung Hur is -5 through 14; will some leaders shoot -8 today to gather the spotlight?

[BadgerLin]

> @URStillAway said:

> Is this the third tournament in a row where the LPGA coverage has been bumped?

>

> The worst was that awful playoff on the Champions tour.

>

> The split screen coverage doesn’t work for me. Can’t really see or pay attention to either.

 

 

The Champion’s Tour better end on time today! No play off. ?

 

[ChronicSlicer]

Congrats to Minjee on the win! And for making my second prediction in the last 3 events come true. Too bad Nanna had a bad day, she played a hard fought round yesterday. Looks like Sei Young might be coming around as well.

[Stooch]

Very happy for Minjee she was definitely due a win with her consistent and stellar play this season.

[18majors]

With the win, Minjee Lee will vault over Sung Hyun Park and Ariya Jutanugarn and rise to her highest ranking ever: World No. 2.

It didn't take long, 4 months, before Jin Young Ko (23) and Minjee Lee (22) climbed to the top of LPGA totem pole.

The Korean (and Korean descent) dominance is stronger than ever; sweeping the Top Three positions.

[Mellow]

Woooo Minjeeeee!

 

Yes, she was very due! This one made it to a win after so many close calls this year.

 

Thought this was going to be much closer when this started than it ended up being. With Inbee and Jin Young near, thought it would be a battle. But Minjee was near flawless. Had that one bunker bounce-back, and that was about the only thing that went wrong. She was super smooth from both far and near!

 

Happy to see Sei Young doing great again. Also for Annie Park. Stooch, I am sorry for your Inky vs Amy matchup. Amy really poured it on today.

 

In true Minjee fashion, she was of course immediately poised and put together just moments after playing all day and getting soaked ... so happy for her and how great her game has gotten!

 

[Stooch]

Well, Mellow Lydia over Lexi worked out so I came out even. It serves me right cause I never go against Amy cause when she gets it going she's a beast ...........this was a good reminder of that lol

[Titleist_PT23]

Glad to see Minjee win. Will be interesting to see if she can have a multiple win season and maybe win a major this year.

 

I keep thinking she's on the verge of stepping up her game to the top top tier of players (tough comment being ranked #2 - I guess this has more to do with wins/a stretch of dominance than how she's hitting it /playing week after week). She's a few swings away from having 4 wins this year and the perspective would be a lot different. Realistically, I think the Honda was a jump ball, she probably should have won in Singapore based on where she was through #12, and Lotte was a long-shot but doable given she was a shot down to Brooke/Nelly. I.e. she's having a great year but had the cards fell just a bit different she could be ripping off one of these great 6 months stretches we've seen from a few of the top players.

 

Would be interested how others view Minjee's chances over the next ~2-3 seasons vs. the other top players that are sub-25 years old.

[Argonne69]

Yeah, nice to see Minjee hang in there for the win. For a short time there on the back nine it looked like she just might let it slip away again after being somewhat on cruise control. However, she had a nice bounce back on 13. It sure looks like she had a "don't lose it" game plan, and with all but Sei Young playing themselves out of it, it was the right call.

 

I really thought Sei Young was going to pull even, and put the pressure on Minjee.

 

With such a strong field, there's no way anyone picked Annie and Morgan to finish T3. 'Crazy.

 

 

 

[nostatic]

I walked the front nine with the last group. Minjee was bombing it straight and scaring a lot of pins. Fantastic to watch. Some pics

 

 

[preiter20]

Wonder how long Natalie Gulbis will continue trying to get back on tour full time? Gets in this week and WD after round one. That's got to be a tough decision.

[Raving Shanker]

> @18majors said:

> With the win, Minjee Lee will vault over Sung Hyun Park and Ariya Jutanugarn and rise to her highest ranking ever: World No. 2.

> It didn't take long, 4 months, before Jin Young Ko (23) and Minjee Lee (22) climbed to the top of LPGA totem pole.

> The Korean (and Korean descent) dominance is stronger than ever; sweeping the Top Three positions.

 

It is so flat at the top, and average points are so low. It could all change again in the blink of an eye. By the way, Minjee is not Korean!

[ChronicSlicer]

The amount of "accomplished" players who missed the cut is pretty crazy, wow.

[morganmonroe]

> @ChronicSlicer said:

> Minjee for the win. I like DK and Eun Hee Ji contending. Rolling the dice on Yu Liu for sleeper pick.

 

Great call from TUESDAY. You got any investment advice?

[18majors]

> @"Raving Shanker" said:

> > @18majors said:

> > With the win, Minjee Lee will vault over Sung Hyun Park and Ariya Jutanugarn and rise to her highest ranking ever: World No. 2.

> > It didn't take long, 4 months, before Jin Young Ko (23) and Minjee Lee (22) climbed to the top of LPGA totem pole.

> > The Korean (and Korean descent) dominance is stronger than ever; sweeping the Top Three positions.

>

> It is so flat at the top, and average points are so low. It could all change again in the blink of an eye. By the way, Minjee is not Korean!

 

Sorry, like you, Minjee is a proud Australian born in Perth, Australia.

However, there must be something magic about those Korean genes.

 

 

[18majors]

Kristen Gillman (225) trails Lucky 6 (348) by 123 points in Rookie of the Year Race.

It's still a long shot for Kristen to upset Lucky 6; but any girl who faced a career ending wrist injury at age 16 and came back to win her second US Women's Amateur and went 5 and 0 in 2018 Curtis Cup isn't a plain Jane.

By the way, Paula Creamer was the last American to win ROY in 2005.

Also, Moriya Jutanugarn, a non-Korean, won in 2013 with a point total of 480.

 

[tbowles411]

> @preiter20 said:

> Wonder how long Natalie Gulbis will continue trying to get back on tour full time? Gets in this week and WD after round one. That's got to be a tough decision.

As long as she keeps getting exemptions, I guess she'll keep trying. I can't imagine knowing you have the talent, but your body is betraying you. I'm sure that's awful.

[tbowles411]

> @Argonne69 said:

> Yeah, nice to see Minjee hang in there for the win. For a short time there on the back nine it looked like she just might let it slip away again after being somewhat on cruise control. However, she had a nice bounce back on 13. It sure looks like she had a "don't lose it" game plan, and with all but Sei Young playing themselves out of it, it was the right call.

>

> I really thought Sei Young was going to pull even, and put the pressure on Minjee.

>

> With such a strong field, there's no way anyone picked Annie and Morgan to finish T3. 'Crazy.

>

>

>

 

When I tuned in she was looking shaky but righted the ship with a little help from her competitors. It was a nice win. I'm hesitant to pick her because I find a way to jinx anyone I decide will win! :smile:

[Seamus_McDuff]

The 2015 rookie class is turning out to be pretty good.

[Stooch]

> @agolf1 said:

 

> Would be interested how others view Minjee's chances over the next ~2-3 seasons vs. the other top players that are sub-25 years old.

 

I've always viewed Minjee as one of the Top young players on tour, would she have liked to have closed out a few more wins, sure but I believe Minjee is 3 out of 4 in closing with the 54 hole lead, so that's pretty good. I'm not sure anyone of this generation are gonna be world beater like Annika or Lorena or even Yani for those few brief years. I think a bunch of players are gonna be going back and forth getting wins over the years. There are ebbs and flows within the year and year over year and some will rise while other fall but I think we'll have a group of players that grab most of the wins over the next 3 years. If any player separates themselves and is able to grab those 5-6 wins a season, I think Minjee has as good a chance as any to be the one(s) to do it.

[Argonne69]

Minjee needs to learn to come from behind as well. Sung Hyun is a good example of a player who's more comfortable playing from behind. 'Same with Sei Young.

 

The parity is amazing. One year ago the World's Top 10 was Inbee, Shanshan, Lexi, So Yeon, Sung Hyun, Ariya, In-Kyung, Cristie, Anna, and Hye Jin. One year later only half of those players are still in the top 10.

[Stooch]

Also a big congrats to Morgan Pressel, her finish is basically a card keeper so to speak, so good for her.

[18majors]

> @Stooch said:

> > @agolf1 said:

>

> > Would be interested how others view Minjee's chances over the next ~2-3 seasons vs. the other top players that are sub-25 years old.

>

> I've always viewed Minjee as one of the Top young players on tour, would she have liked to have closed out a few more wins, sure but I believe Minjee is 3 out of 4 in closing with the 54 hole lead, so that's pretty good.

 

Somehow you don't include 2018 Toto Japan Classic when she led by four (36 holes) going into the final round, and shot 78 to lose by 7.

What's the most striking, Minjee has three top ten in 25 major appearances and her best was a T3. By comparison, Brooke Henderson is almost 16 months younger, she has nine top ten, one win and a solo second.

Unquestionably, 2019 has been Minjee's best year on tour, but she's T21 at ANA Inspiration.

Minjee is a great player; but record-wise, she's a lot of catch up to do.

 

 

[Stooch]

> @18majors said:

> > @Stooch said:

> > > @agolf1 said:

> >

> > > Would be interested how others view Minjee's chances over the next ~2-3 seasons vs. the other top players that are sub-25 years old.

> >

> > I've always viewed Minjee as one of the Top young players on tour, would she have liked to have closed out a few more wins, sure but I believe Minjee is 3 out of 4 in closing with the 54 hole lead, so that's pretty good.

>

> Somehow you don't include 2018 Toto Japan Classic when she led by four (36 holes) going into the final round, and shot 78 to lose by 7.

> What's the most striking, Minjee has three top ten in 25 major appearances and her best was a T3. By comparison, Brooke Henderson is almost 16 months younger, she has nine top ten, one win and a solo second.

> Unquestionably, 2019 has been Minjee's best year on tour, but she's T21 at ANA Inspiration.

> Minjee is a great player; but record-wise, she's a lot of catch up to do.

>

>

 

Agreed Minjee's Major record is very poor when compared to other Top tier players and she'll have to improve on that, but I think all signs point to she will.

 

**Scoring Average 2016**

In Gee Chun 69.583 (1 win)

Lydia Ko 69.596 (4 wins)

ARIYA JUTANUGARN 69.870 (5 wins)

Shanshan Feng 69.877 (2 wins)

Ha Na Jang 69.976 (3 wins)

 

**Scoring Average 2017**

Lexi Thompson 69.114 (2 wins)

Sung Hyun Park 69.247 (2 wins)

In Gee Chun 69.415 (0 wins)

Stacey Lewis 69.609 (1 win)

Imbee Park 69.673 (1 win)

So Yeon Ryu 69.683 (2 wins)

MORIYA JUTANUGARN 69.752 (0 wins)

Shanshan Feng 69.785 (3 wins)

Lydia Ko 69.864 (0 wins)

Brooke Henderson 69.880 (2 wins)

Sei Young Kim 69.907 (1 win)

Christie Kerr 69.951 (2 win)

 

**Scoring Average 2018**

ARIYA JUTANUGARN 69.415 (3 wins)

Minjee Lee 69.747 (1 win)

Jin Young Ko 69.806 (1 win)

Brooke Henderson 69.990 (2 wins)

 

**Scoring Average 2019**

Jin Young Ko 69.000 (2 wins)

Brooke Henderson 69.533 (1 win)

Nelly Korda 69.600 (1 win)

Hyo Joo Kim 69.667 (0 wins)

Minjee Lee 69.686 (1 win)

Eun-Hee Ji 69.750 (1 win)

Jeonguen Lee6 69.917 (0 wins)

Sung Hyun Park 69.955 (1 win)

 

Of note in 2016 Minjee had a scr.avg. of 70.423 with 2 wins and Brooke was 70.372 with 2 wins and in 2017 Minjee was 70.183 with 0 wins. Outside 3 players in 2017 In Gee, Lydia and Moriya with sub 70 scoring averages without a win, you can see the sub 70 scoring average says you're gonna win and many times win more than once. Minjee's trend shows she's in the sub 70 scoring average, I would look for her strong play to continue and maybe even get a Major soon. Fans of "Six" should be happy and optimistic, the trend would show she's poised for a breakthrough win in her rookie season.

[Enduro59]

> @Stooch said:

> Also a big congrats to Morgan Pressel, her finish is basically a card keeper so to speak, so good for her.

 

I say good for her too.The first LPGA(besides the last few holes of Annika's 59)that I watched on TV was a match play between her and Munoz somewhere around the time that one of the BeeGees died.Even to my inexperienced and untrained eye Munoz was playing slower than smoke off a pile of fresh hot dog crap on a cold north Georgia January day.Still yet Pressel was up 2 late when an official named"smarty Marty" informed Morgan that she was accessed a 1 stroke penalty for her slow play.She could not shake it off and lost the match.I quit watching Lpga for a while after that injustice but I think Munoz went on to win the tournament.Certainly life is not fair.Since then I have held a very low opinion of ole Marty(high road would have been to inform ever who made the call to inform Morgan)Don't believe whoever was responsible could have looked her in the eye with a straight face and a clear conscience and rendered that judgement.Also to a lesser extent any opponent with any honor would not have let the officials get it so wrong.

[Titleist_PT23]

> @Stooch said:

> Of note in 2016 Minjee had a scr.avg. of 70.423 with 2 wins and Brooke was 70.372 with 2 wins and in 2017 Minjee was 70.183 with 0 wins. Outside 3 players in 2017 In Gee, Lydia and Moriya with sub 70 scoring averages without a win, you can see the sub 70 scoring average says you're gonna win and many times win more than once. Minjee's trend shows she's in the sub 70 scoring average, I would look for her strong play to continue and maybe even get a Major soon. Fans of "Six" should be happy and optimistic, the trend would show she's poised for a breakthrough win in her rookie season.

No doubt she could have won more than she has (not that her record thus far is bad), and so far her record in the majors isn't great.

 

5 wins is 5 wins, but the 2016 Blue Bay is the one tight situation against other top players she's pulled off. Not to minimize coming from behind twice and doing enough to win two other times, but like the majors so far she hasn't played her best in some of the higher pressure situations (she may have still lost some of these tournaments, but it would be nice to give it a better go).

-2015 Kingsmill: she came from two back with no big names on the leaderboard. This was also her first win/rookie year, so hard to say how much it matters now. A good first win for sure though.

-2016 Lotte: shot a final round 64 to come from 5 back and win by 1. I don't recall the dynamics of this final round. Chun got a T2 and started the final round 3 back.

-2016 Blue Bay: Tied with Jessica Korda and two shots up of Ariya going into the final round. Won by 1 shot.

-2018 Volvik: Started two shots clear of Stacy Lewis, IK Kim, and two others. Won by 1 shot (Did enough to win).

-2019 Hugel-Air: Lead by 1 going into the final round. Didn't have to do too much with Nanna Koerstz Madsen shooting 76.

 

So I guess I don't know if she's very close to breaking through or is just very very good but lacks the killer instinct to go out and win these things against the other best players. This year she's played in the final group four times (tied, 1 shot back, 1 shot back, 1 shot lead), which is great, but one win seems like it's (only) about what it should be (if we are talking about separating very very good from great). Late last year she also had the Toto Japan final round blow-up and didn't play particularly well in the final round of the KEB Hana (Chun shot -6, so it probably wouldn't have mattered but this was another chance to do something against a strong leaderboard).

 

Her scoring is still going in the right direction and her iron game is very good. I did have (incorrectly) in my mind that she had more distance than she does (I think this was based on her average/ranking when she came out in 2015). She's back up to 31st ranking this year but her accuracy ranking is also down quite a bit, and this is reflected in the rankings posted in the other thread (she said she was looking to pickup some yardage this year). So I wonder if stretching for distance is going to become an issue for her at some point. Of course, Jin Young Ko is doing it with only slightly above average distance off the tee right now, and winning is just putting it all together a couple/few time a year.

 

I hope she can continue to improve and win some big tournaments, but it's not obvious to me which way this will go (to the extent it ever is).