Jennifer Kupcho Gets Candid After Ending 3-Year Drought
Jennifer Kupcho Gets Candid After Ending 3-Year Drought originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The ShopRite LPGA Classic once again lived up to its legacy, delivering thrilling moments on a rain-soaked Seaview Bay Course in Galloway, New Jersey. Known as a 54-hole sprint, the event has a strong tradition of major champions taking the crown 20 in the last 27 editions and this year was no different.
Advertisement
Jennifer Kupcho clinched her fourth LPGA title with a closing 5-under 66, finishing at 15-under 198, one shot ahead of South Korea's Ilhee Lee.
The 28-year-old golfer hadn't won since her three-title run in 2022. She entered the week following a missed cut at the U.S. Women's Open but quickly rebounded.
Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
"So like random stuff like that just to like keep my mind off of it," Kupcho said.
At no.2 of the tournament, Ilhee Lee was playing her first event of 2025 and reminded everyone of her talent despite limited play in recent years. Her 68 wasn't quite enough, but she left a mark with her inspiring comeback story.
Kupcho said she stayed in her zone and was simply trying to hit a target. 'I think in my mind I had set on 14 under, so I was really just trying to get to that number. Obviously did a little better,' she said per ESPN.
Advertisement
Even while leading, she found ways to lighten the mood. 'Halfway through the round we were trying to figure out the difference between an otter and a beaver,' Kupcho laughed. 'Just random stuff like that to keep my mind off it.'
Earlier this year, Kupcho had tough conversations with her support team. 'I felt like I had completely lost what I was doing,' she admitted. But on Sunday, with the rain falling and nerves calm, she rediscovered her rhythm, and her smile.
Related: World's No. 1 LPGA Golfer Sends Clear Message Ahead of Final Round of ShopRite Classic
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jon Rahm Gets Brutally Honest on LIV Golf at U.S. Open
Jon Rahm Gets Brutally Honest on LIV Golf at U.S. Open originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Jon Rahm, one of the top golfers signed with LIV Golf, will be teeing off at Oakmont on Thursday. He sat in front of the media on Tuesday and, while discussing various topics, made an honest revelation about LIV. Advertisement Talking about his top 10 streak, he went on to express the current shortcomings of LIV fields. "I'm a realist in this case. I've been playing really good golf, yes, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't easier to have top 10s with a smaller field." He said. "That's just the truth, right? Had I been playing full field events, would I have top 10s every single week? No." "But I've been playing good enough to say that I would have most likely been inside the top 30 every single time. Maybe even top 25, which for 21 straight tournaments I'd say that's pretty good." LIV Golf events feature a 54-player field competing across 13 teams with no cut format. By contrast, most PGA Tour tournaments start with up to 156 players, with a 36-hole cut reducing the field for weekend rounds. Jon Rahm of team Legion XIII reacts while walking off.© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Rahm stressed that Oakmont Country Club's notorious setup requires more than just ball-striking. Advertisement "Oakmont is an extreme challenge... It's quite iconic. And it's one of those things that makes it a great venue and a great championship." He said. "It's going to be a challenge. A lot of unfortunate things are going to happen. It's hard for us to hit... It's going to be a nice test, a difficult test. And I think one of those truest representations of what a U.S. Open is all about." He added He'll open alongside Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth at 1:14 PM. Related: Dustin Johnson and Wife Paulina Gretzky's Revealing Photos Go Viral Before U.S. Open This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rory McIlroy Makes Major Revelation Before US Open
Rory McIlroy Makes Major Revelation Before US Open originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Rory McIlroy has been struggling in recent tournaments. Before arriving at Oakmont, he competed in the RBC Canadian Open, where he carded rounds of 71 and 78 to miss the cut. It was one of his worst 36-hole performances in recent years. Advertisement However, the world No. 2 sprinkled some optimism on Tuesday. He revealed that he shot an 81 in a practice round at Oakmont last week, which included two birdies in the final holes. 'I didn't even feel like I played that bad.' He expressed about that practice session. Despite shooting 11-over par, he feels that the round was a good one, which speaks volumes about the field. This event is going to be tough for golfers. Rory McIlroy looks down the tenth fairway during a practice round.© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images His fans will be further relieved by the fact that McIlroy is bringing out an old driver this week. After struggling with his driver and facing significant backlash, he might tee off using the Qi10 club, the same one he used during the Masters. Advertisement He is grouped with Justin Rose and Shane Lowry for the first two rounds, teeing off at 7:40 AM and 1:25 PM on respective days. The man to beat in this event will be World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. He is enjoying a very successful period with three wins in four appearances in the last 30 days. Scheffler also won the PGA Championship in April and already holds two green jackets from previous years. His next goal is clearly the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, scheduled for next month, as he aims to complete the career Grand Slam. Related: Jon Rahm Gets Brutally Honest on LIV Golf at U.S. Open This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bryson DeChambeau returns to defend U.S. Open title as golf's YouTube king
OAKMONT, Pa. — Bryson DeChambeau returns to the 2025 U.S. Open as the defending champion and golf's YouTube king, at least among the pro ranks. From his 2 million YouTube fans watching him try to "Break 50" with the likes of Donald Trump, various influencers and athletes to joining Johnson Wagner as he tried to reproduce his remarkable bunker shot at 18 at Pinehurst No. 2 during Golf Channel's "Live From," people love DeChambeau's content creation. The latest example was on display at Oakmont, site of this week's 125th U.S. Open, when DeChambeau showed up for a practice round on May 31 and filmed every shot. It was riveting stuff that no other player had done before. 'He's done a heck of a job using social media channels to connect with viewers, connect with golfers, and show his true personality because I think he probably didn't do a great job of that early on in his career,' NBC's Kevin Kisner said. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt took his analysis of DeChambeau's reboot as a YouTube star – he's got nearly 3 million Instagram followers and another 2 million on TikTok, too – one step further. 'I think he's now kind of figured out where he wants to be. He's almost reinvented himself in some ways,' he said. 'He's grown as a human, it seems to me. Last year he came and sat down in the Butler Cabin with me on Thursday and Friday, and he's been sort of this — he's played very different characters in a movie. It's almost like he's been many different versions of himself. 'And when he sat and visited with me last year, I just remarked to a number of people, he just seems like a different guy. He seems more at ease with himself. I don't know if it's the tour he plays, I don't know if it's just part of growing up, which is part of all of our lives, but he seemed comfortable, entirely comfortable with himself.' DeChambeau, 31, finally is becoming comfortable in his own skin, and YouTube has helped him let his guard down, he said, 'showing the fans a side of me that was locked up for so long.' 'What's funny is as much as my guard has been let down, I feel like I'm more strategic in how I deliver things and how I give perspective on things. Before, I was pretty up front and would just say things the way I wanted to whenever I wanted to,' he explained. 'Now it's more strategic in the way I do it and deliver it because I think there's a lot of good that can come from that.' DeChambeau has said he's taken a page out of the playbook of MrBeast, whose viral content are the most-watched videos on YouTube. Asked whether any of his peers have turned to him for advice on how to launch a YouTube channel, DeChambeau highlighted Phil Mickelson. Lefty said he'd always seen what he called the playful, fun, intelligent and interesting side of DeChambeau. 'He's able to showcase that and not have who he is be filtered by a middle person,' Mickelson said. 'He controls what content he puts out there and what he wants to shoot and so forth. So his personality comes out. It's been remarkable to see the evolution of it and the way the public has responded to him because he's always been like that. It just hasn't been able to be noticed, I guess, properly.' In discussing the tips he has passed along to Mickelson, DeChambeau said he reads the comments section and tries to give the people what they want. 'We've grown our channel to over 2 million followers now and couldn't be more thankful, and it's literally by listening to the comments section, by looking at the comments and seeing what they want,' he said. Major champion. Long driver. YouTube star. A case could be made that the latter has become what drives DeChambeau. 'It's a new space. I'm learning how to become a little bit more entertaining,' he said. 'It's not just golf, golf, golf, trying to win every really what gets me up in the morning and gives me a lot of passion for this game." This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Open 2025: Bryson DeChambeau, the YouTube star at Oakmont
