ShopRite LPGA Classic
Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club, Bay Course
Galloway, New Jersey
Pre-tournament notes and interviews
May 31, 2012
Yani Tseng, Rolex Rankings No. 1Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club, Bay Course
Galloway, New Jersey
Pre-tournament notes and interviews
May 31, 2012
Stacy Lewis, Rolex Rankings No. 7
Cristie Kerr, Rolex Rankings No. 5
The LPGA Tour heads back to the Garden State for the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey where action will unfold on the famed Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club. This week’s field will feature 144 players competing for a $1.5 million purse with $225,000 to the winner.
Rolex Rankings No. 12 Brittany Lincicome returns to Galloway to defend her title after posting a 5-under-par 66 on Sunday to defeat then- Rolex Rankings No. 3 Jiyai Shin and No. 4 Cristie Kerr. This week’s event also features 21 of the top-25 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. This includes every winner from each event so far in the 2012 season: No. 1 Yani Tseng, No. 4 Ai Miyzatao, No. 7 Stacy Lewis, No. 14 Sun Young Yoo, No. 15 Angela Stanford, No. 79 Jessica Korda, No. 81 Pornanong Phatlum and No. 20 Azahara Munoz, who is coming off her first career victory two weeks ago at the Sybase Match Play Championship in Gladstone, New Jersey.
Hard work never stops…Yani Tseng has held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for 68 straight weeks, but it doesn’t mean the top-ranked LPGA Tour player is willing to slack off in her game.
After delivering what she called a “disappointing” performance at the Sybase Match Play Championship two weeks ago when she lost in the third round to fellow Taiwan native Candie Kung, Tseng put her focus on sharpening her game.
“I came back home to see my coach [Gary Gilchrist] the next day and didn't give me any day off and just kind of practiced every day to get a rhythm back,” Tseng said. “But I feel good. I'm enjoying to practice and I'm enjoying to do the things that I like, so I don't feel I was very tired. So it was exciting to have a tournament like this week and to see how good I can be this week.”
Tseng said that she cried and was very upset following her loss at the Sybase Match Play. Tseng was asked during her press conference if she remembers the last time she was that upset with her performance in an event.
“It’s been a long time I've even felt that way that I'm disappointed that much,” said Tseng, who has recorded a top-10 finish in all eight of her LPGA events this season. “Because most of the time maybe I didn't play well, but I feel like my game is still there -- I feel like I can do better.
“I don't know that I could do better than that. I feel I was very lucky to still be in the third round. It doesn't feel like my game is there. Just like everything is kind of -- it's just not listen to my mind, like the way I want to do it. It was just not listening, so I was very disappointed, and I really couldn't remember what was the last time I had that feeling. It must be a long time, because last couple years I've been playing pretty good. I'm fine about that tournament. I'm okay. But I was just disappointed with the game I played.”
Role Model: No one likes telling the same story over and over again. But Stacy Lewis has found a way of embracing the opportunity of inspiring young people when they hear about her overcoming the challenge of having scoliosis and wearing a back-brace for much of her childhood.
“It definitely gets tiring telling the same story over and over again,” said Lewis. “I'm not going to lie, but it's really cool that every year I can go to the same tour stop and find another kid that hasn't heard my story before that really inspired them.”
Lewis has also gone through the transition of becoming a role model, for both golfers and non-golfers alike. The No. 7 player in the world has come to the realization that others, especially a young crowd, get a star-struck feeling when they get to meet the two-time LPGA Tour winner and major champion.
“I went to the Women's NCAA Championship a couple weeks ago, and all these college girls they were so nervous to meet me, and I was like ‘I was just here three years ago,’” said Lewis. “I was like ‘you shouldn't be that nervous to meet me. “But it's really cool that even kids in college are looking up to me and looking at what I'm doing and I inspire them.”
Finding new ways to give back…Cristie Kerr continued delivering positive announcements of her work outside the ropes today when she received a $5,000 check from ShopRite and Coca-Cola for her Birdies for Breast Cancer charity. The donation will help fund the Cristie Kerr Women’s Health Center located in New Jersey. Kerr spoke about her partnership with both companies which has produced a platform for her to promote living a healthy lifestyle.
“Through ShopRite's LiveRight program we've developed a campaign where you will see pop-up ads in the stores, pop-up me actually, cardboard cutouts of me,” said Kerr. “There are different fitness tips and recipes, and you know, kind of little secrets of what I do to stay healthy and hydrated and happy.”
The top-ranked American in the Rolex Rankings referred to her own weight loss as an inspiration to try to help others do the same.
“I was pretty heavy when I was younger and decided to really dive in and change my lifestyle to become healthy,” said Kerr. “Through the end of my high school career and the first couple of years on tour I really struggled with my weight and decided to really change my eating habits and my exercise. Over the next two and a half years I lost over 70 pounds.”
Through the avenue of living healthier, Kerr is also supporting a cause close to her heart: the fight against breast cancer. Her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and affected Kerr like the millions of Americans with family members who are afflicted with the disease.
“With my mom getting diagnosed with breast cancer really changed my life,” said Kerr. “And it's kind of put me on like a lifelong quest to do everything I can to try and beat this disease for not only myself, my family, but for other people. And the health center's only been open for just under two years, and we're going to have treated 10,000 women this year, basically a thousand women each month now.”
With the center’s growth, Kerr is excited to see the money going toward improving the services of facility.
“It's great to know where your money is going,” said Kerr. “Anybody that wants to go visit our center can go and take a walk through, see what we're doing; and funds that are raised. ShopRite's helping us to raise funds, they go to buy new equipment that's for diagnostic and testing.”
Honoring Joy…The LPGA Tour was saddened by the news last week that Ladies European Tour member Melissa Reid’s mother, Joy, was killed in a car accident in Germany. Both of Reid’s parents were in Germany to be with her while she was playing in the LET’s UniCredit Ladies German Open. In her honor, LPGA Tour players, caddies and staff will wear a purple ‘Joy’ patch the next couple weeks. Reid, who was a member of the victorious European Solheim Cup team last fall, is scheduled to play in the U.S. Women’s Open in July.
Tweet of the Day: “Saw one of my favorite mascots today :-). The Philly Phanatic. Love that costume!!! “ -- @Brittany1golf.
Of Note…Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Belen Mozo will pull double duty on Saturday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. The duo will leave the golf clubs behind after the second round in favor of jobs with Golf Channel. Munoz will try her hand at producing while Mozo will sit in the director’s chair for the telecast. Tune into second-round coverage of the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Saturday from 2:30-6:00 p.m. Eastern…There was a special guest on hand at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club on Thursday when the Phillie Phanatic made an appearance. The Phillie Phanatic took photos with many of the LPGA players and even showed off some of his putting skills on the green.
