2023 Lotte Championship (Apr 12 - 15)

[Argonne69]

Steady Eddie golf by most of the players. No real fireworks, but Linnea really shot herself in the foot on the 14th. Still plenty of holes left to grab the lead again. 

 

Some really good putting, but at the same time there have been some real head stratchers. 

 

Yeah, compelling stuff. Too close to call, but it'll be interesting if Yu Liu grabs the clubhouse lead. Will the lead groups stumble or hang tight? 

 

[gsrjc]

Very exciting finish. Pulling for grace kim 

[Argonne69]

Sigh. $100 to any local fan who goes and punctures the tires on the vehicle with the backup beeper. Oy. 

 

[8602081]

3 way tie..

very exciting..

 

[Argonne69]

Nice. Bonus golf. The 18th should set up nicely for some drama. 

 

Georgia didn't quite have the day many expected, but she's been on a real tear. She might not be the favorite next week at the Chevron, but she's definitely in the conversation. 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Argonne69

[woahnelly]

Wow congrats Grace 

[Argonne69]

Heck of a finish by Grace. Birdie, birdie, birdie finish was impressive. Book a flight to Houston. 

 

Yu Jin got a bit unlucky with the lie near the green, but a wonderful week for the young player. I'm sure we'll see her again. 

 

Tough for Yu to sit for an hour and come out firing. Great final round, though. Certainly made it interesting. 

 

[JungleJimbo]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Heck of a finish by Grace. Birdie, birdie, birdie finish was impressive. Book a flight to Houston. 

 

Yu Jin got a bit unlucky with the lie near the green, but a wonderful week for the young player. I'm sure we'll see her again. 

 

Tough for Yu to sit for an hour and come out firing. Great final round, though. Certainly made it interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[iBanesto]

[JungleJimbo]

24 minutes ago, iBanesto said:

 

 

 

[18majors]

 

Congratulations to the Epson Tour, they've a banner year thus far this year.  Lilia Vu (2021 graduate), Celine Boutier (2017), and now Grace Kim (2022) have won three of the six LPGA tournaments.

 

Hopefully, their success will eventually lead to increased TV exposure and much higher purses for the Tour.

Edited April 16, 2023 by 18majors

[JungleJimbo]

10 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

Congratulations to the Epson Tour, they've a banner year thus far this year.  Lilia Vu (2021 graduate), Celine Boutier (2017), and now Grace Kim (2022) have won three of the six LPGA tournaments.

 

Hopefully, their success will eventually lead to increased TV exposure and much higher purses for the Tour.

Was Ruoning Yin = also an LPGA winner and graduate of the Epson Tour?

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

https://www.youtube.com/@LPGA

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pmcuk]

The Lotte was a weak field, so it will be interesting to see how many of the top 10 or so will get sponsor invites or further good finishes. Vongtaveelap is definitely knocking on the door. 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited April 16, 2023 by pmcuk

[postfold]

3 hours ago, pmcuk said:

. Vongtaveelap is definitely knocking on the door. .

 

My takeaway from watching this event is that Vongtaveelap with a putter in her hands is a ticket to adventure.  A couple times she hit one of the worst putts you're going to see from a pro and then made a lengthy comebacker.  Maybe it was just these greens, but she did not look comfortable to me.  Certainly has all the other tools though.

 

Good win for Grace Kim, won't be her last.  I was hoping that Yu Jin would close it out but it was not to be.  Glad she birdied 18 to get into the playoff.

 

Too bad the scheduling made for a "weak" field but that weak field made for an excitiing week of golf and exposure to some new names.  Love seeing the entire rookie class having a chance to get into an event.

 

Used to be that chatter was that Brooke played too many events, is Georgia Hall now playing too many?  She's on a heater, obviously, but at some point you have to think she's going to run out of gas.  Maybe she'll take a little time off after the Chevron.

[Argonne69]

5 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

Was Ruoning Yin = also an LPGA winner and graduate of the Epson Tour?

 

No, Ruoning played on the China LPGA, and then earned her LPGA card in Q Series. 

 

[18majors]

2 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

No, Ruoning played on the China LPGA, and then earned her LPGA card in Q Series. 

 

 

 

@JungleJimbo

 

Both Yin's, Ruoning and Xiaowen, finished inside Top-5 at Stage II of 2021 Q-School; Xiaowen was too young for Q-Series but Ruoning went ahead and qualified for LPGA through Q-Series.

 

I thought Xiaowen, two years younger than Ruoning, is the more talented of the two.  It would be interested to see who has the better career five years from now.

[postfold]

Just now, 18majors said:

 

 

@JungleJimbo

 

Both Yin's, Ruoning and Xiaowen, finished inside Top-5 at Stage II of 2021 Q-School; Xiaowen was too young for Q-Series but Ruoning went ahead and qualified for LPGA through Q-Series.

 

I thought Xiaowen, two years younger than Ruoning, is the more talented of the two.  It would be interested to see who has the better career five years from now.

 

I also look forward to seeing how they compare to the career of Amy Yang.

[North Texas]

7 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Congratulations to the Epson Tour, they've a banner year thus far this year.  Lilia Vu (2021 graduate), Celine Boutier (2017), and now Grace Kim (2022) have won three of the six LPGA tournaments.

 

Hopefully, their success will eventually lead to increased TV exposure and much higher purses for the Tour.

 

Grace Kim also won as an amateur on the Women's All Pro Tour in 2021 at my home course here in Texas. She had a 9 shot lead going into the back nine on the final day and ended up winning by 2 after a wild back nine. 

 

Here was her back nine that day. 

Par

Triple Bogey

Birdie 

Par

Bogey

Eagle

Par

Double Bogey

Bogey

[Rapidcat]

Fantastic to see Grace Kim win, she's been one Aussies expected to win on the LPGAT sooner rather than later, not that means that a player always does (Su Oh).

 

No real weaknesses in her game: enough length off the tee, a real shot-maker, an aggressive instinct yet good decision-maker, lovely putting stroke, decent chipper and like most Aussies very good from the sand.

 

She played a few events in Oz over Xmas/New Year and she looked so ready.

 

Plays with a real enjoyment for what she is doing, really well liked by her fellow Aussies, lovely to see a player loving her work.

 

Will be fun to watch her progress.

 

Oh, and she should be in the Oz International Crown team - I'll post about that in the appropriate thread.

[BadgerLin]

I just listened to Grace Kim’s presser after the playoff  (posted earlier here). Wow - what a poised, articulate young woman!  She actually said something in her answers.  

[Rapidcat]

11 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Nice. Bonus golf. The 18th should set up nicely for some drama. 

 

Georgia didn't quite have the day many expected, but she's been on a real tear. She might not be the favorite next week at the Chevron, but she's definitely in the conversation. 

 

 

For whatever reason, Georgia got in her own head, her play slowed up significantly. She can be deliberate, but I've never seen her this indecisive. Her ball striking went off.

 

All the hallmarks of a player that will regress for awhile until they find their best game again.

 

She's quality though, won't be for long.,

[Hawkeye77]

1 minute ago, Rapidcat said:

 

For whatever reason, Georgia got in her own head, her play slowed up significantly. She can be deliberate, but I've never seen her this indecisive. Her ball striking went off.

 

All the hallmarks of a player that will regress for awhile until they find their best game again.

 

She's quality though, won't be for long.,

Didn't she have pretty much the same issue at the end of an event very recently?  I think even with the lead/playoff situation or potential playoff in terms of letting it slip away.  Definitely seemed to slow down because of the pressure a bit and maybe accumulating some scar tissue, hope it isn't long term.

[North Texas]

3 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

 

For whatever reason, Georgia got in her own head, her play slowed up significantly. She can be deliberate, but I've never seen her this indecisive. Her ball striking went off.

 

All the hallmarks of a player that will regress for awhile until they find their best game again.

 

She's quality though, won't be for long.,

 

I saw the same thing and even commented to the wife about how "deliberate" Georgia Hall was. Especially on the back nine. 

[Rapidcat]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Didn't she have pretty much the same issue at the end of an event very recently?  I think even with the lead/playoff situation or potential playoff in terms of letting it slip away.  Definitely seemed to slow down because of the pressure a bit and maybe accumulating some scar tissue, hope it isn't long term.

 

Interesting point, I didn't notice it over the last couple of events when she has been in contention but it may be a pointer to how she is currently handling pressure.

 

There's a caddie sub-plot in all this. Her long-term male caddie was her fiancée, they split and she has had a couple of new caddies, could that be an issue? I don't know.

 

She's been playing great golf, just not quite getting the wins. 

[Rapidcat]

12 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Sigh. $100 to any local fan who goes and punctures the tires on the vehicle with the backup beeper. Oy. 

 

 

You wonder why the on-site broadcast director (or whatever the on-site boss is called) let this issue run for 4 days.

 

On day 1 I went outside my house to see if there was some construction work happening that I wasn't aware of. Nope, it was this event.

 

Surely get the vehicles stopped, sound-proof or near such the broadcast booth or just move the thing to a quieter location.

 

So many duds in these roles these days, no initiative.

[HMHS]

First post here. Follower of forum/LPGA/PGA for quite some time... couple of observations from this wk's tourney:

 

a) Vongtaveelap -- certainly athletic, Sim300 has the tools, but will she have the mental gumption?  Always floundered on the final round - data points?  Asia Pac Amateur, etc... Lost to Hashimoto and Huang (one despite a "sizeable lead".  Some can say luck, but I'd say lack of mental fortitude.  She's young so has the time...

 

b) Kim is a deserving winner! Congratulations.   Adds to an increasing list of first time winners. 3rd "first time winner" for 2023 and dare I say more to come with this crop of rookies (Katsu etc.)

 

c) Clearly the commentators looked biased for a Hall victory.  They need to do a tad more work on the international players.  And as rightly pointed out already, what's with the "I'm backing up the truck" beep.  Irritating to say the least. 

 

d) as with most R4 LPGA tourneys, hot putter and comebacks from 5 strokes make it exciting - eg Minjee Evian win, Yu Liu last night, etc

 

 

[Rapidcat]

Some random observations......

 

I enjoyed the commentary team mix:

• Angela is spot-on, nice insight and pleasant voice, knows her stuff. More of her, please. 
• Enjoy Mark Rolfing doing the Hawaii events (female and male), refreshing to hear him call a shot for what it is "that was a poor shot" rather than the usual commentators' efforts of "that wasn't what she wanted", "she won't be happy with that" etc. Others should take note. He loves pronouncing Hawaiian names, sort of fun.
• Grant Boone is like a comfy pair of slippers in front of a warm fire on a wintry night whilst enjoying a cocoa or whiskey with a Labrador at your feet. Just needs to ditch his 6 factoids every event that he repeats ad nauseam eg Christina Kim is on her 21st season on the LPGAT etc. Love to have a $ for every time he uses the term 'major champion'.
• Karen talked a little less than usual (good), Kay was her decent self.

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap: why show mainly her putts when we all want to see her hit her driver (Sim 300)?

[Rapidcat]

14 hours ago, bcjim said:

Not a Lotte US gals in contention...

 

This guy will be happy then (this is a reply on Grant Boone's twitter feed):