Latest news with #AIGWomen'sBritishOpen
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Yani Tseng, now putting left-handed, qualified for first U.S. Women's Open in nine years
Yani Tseng, now putting left-handed, qualified for first U.S. Women's Open in nine years Five-time major champion Yani Tseng will make her first U.S. Women's Open appearance since 2016. The former No. 1 advanced out of a five-for-one playoff at Arizona Country Club on May 5 along with former Wildcat golfer Yusang Hou, who took medalist honors at 4-under 140. Tseng, who recently switched to putting left-handed to combat the yips, shot 70-71 in the 36-hole qualifier to finish at 3 under along with Ryann O'Toole, Hira Naveed, Dottie Ardina and Laetitia Beck. Currently ranked 979th in the world, Tseng spent 109 weeks as the No. 1 player at the height of her career. Now in the midst of trying to make a comeback on the LPGA, Tseng missed the cut at the Chevron Championship in her first LPGA start of 2025. She also missed the weekend at the Black Desert Championship in Utah. Tseng began putting left-handed five months ago and when asked why after the first round of the Chevron, she didn't sugarcoat. 'Long story short, I've just been really having trouble with my right-handed short putts,' Tseng told Golfweek. 'To be honest, I had the yips. I just couldn't make the short putts.' More: Chevron: Five-time major winner tried everything before beating yips putting left-handed The 2010 Kraft Nabisco champion tried everything, switching hands, moving her legs around, and using a long putter. Actually, the long putter didn't make it into competition because she couldn't keep her hands from shaking. Tseng, 36, said she has struggled off and on with the yips for five years and hoped that hip surgery might fix it. It's not brain surgery, good friend Suzann Pettersen quipped. Tseng's new instructor, Brady Riggs, was the one who first suggested she try putting left-handed. After she hit the ball well at the AIG Women's British Open last summer but missed the cut, Tseng came to the conclusion that she'd never win another golf tournament putting right-handed. The 2025 U.S. Women's Open will be contested at Erin Hills Golf Course for the first time May 28-June 1 in Wisconsin. As a past champion of the KPMG Women's PGA and British Open, Tseng is eligible for those major championship fields as well.
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chevron: Five-time major winner tried everything before beating yips putting left-handed
Chevron: Five-time major winner tried everything before beating yips putting left-handed THE WOODLANDS, Texas – About five months ago, five-time major winner Yani Tseng started putting left-handed. When asked why after the first round of the 2025 Chevron Championship, she didn't sugarcoat. 'Long story short, I've just been really having trouble with my right-handed short putts,' she said. 'To be honest, I had the yips. I just couldn't make the short putts.' The 2010 Kraft Nabisco champion tried everything, switching hands, moving her legs around, a long putter. Actually, the long putter didn't make it into competition because she couldn't keep her hands from shaking. 'I can't even hold the putter," she said laughing, "I don't know how." Tseng, 36, said she has struggled off and on with the yips for five years and hoped that hip surgery might fix it. It's not brain surgery, good friend Suzann Pettersen quipped. Yani Tseng's new instructor is who first suggested putting lefty Tseng's new instructor, Brady Riggs, was the one who first suggested she try putting left-handed. After she hit the ball well at the AIG Women's British Open last summer but missed the cut, Tseng came to the conclusion that she'd never win another golf tournament putting right-handed. The first time Tseng putted lefty was at a tournament in Taiwan late last year, and she couldn't believe she left herself a dreaded 3-footer on the first hole. 'I'm like shit! I was so nervous,' recalled a smiling Tseng. 'So I stood over it, and I'm like, 'Oh wow, I feel good.' The feeling was gone, right away. On that day I didn't miss any putt inside 5 feet. That's how stupid our brain is. It's so easy to trick.' Tseng actually reads putts from the right side before stepping over to hit it from the left. She still needs to work on speed control and sometimes gets confused on left-to-right or right-to-left. 'I feel like I've given myself a second hope that I can still go out and win a tournament,' said Tseng, who opened with a 2-over 74 playing alongside No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and clubhouse co-leader Haeran Ryu, who shot 65. Ryu told the media after the round that when she was younger, Tseng was her father's favorite player. A 15-time winner on tour, Tseng spent 109 weeks atop the world rankings from 2011 to 2013 and is four points shy of the LPGA Hall of Fame. One of four active players with three different major championship titles, she needs to win the U.S. Women's Open or Amundi Evian Championship to achieve the career grand slam. Golf Channel's Karen Stupples played against Tseng during her peak years and was out following her group on Thursday reporting on Ryu's red-hot round. 'Honestly, it was remarkably similar to what I was used to seeing from Yani of old,' said Stupples of her game from tee to green. Tseng was a club longer than Ryu and Thitikul and still capable of hitting it a mile off the tee when it made sense. 'When she had a straightaway hole, she hit one drive that was 20 yards past the other two,' said Stupples. 'The shot shape itself is every similar to how I remember watching Yani play in her prime.' The commitment and the confidence isn't the same as it was a dozen years ago, but Tseng hopes that comes with repetition. She'll play next week's event in Utah and then hopes to improve her status in the reshuffle. She can play the KPMG Women's PGA and British Open as a past champion and will play in a U.S. Women's Open qualifier on May 5 in Phoenix. "When TV was following me today, I played much better than when I'm by myself,' she said. 'I just feel more pumped up, like I want to show you. I just feel like I still have that inside of me, that I really want to show what I've got, but that takes a little time.'
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lydia Ko wasn't going to let a manicure appointment keep her from watching Rory's slam
Lydia Ko wasn't going to let a manicure appointment keep her from watching Rory's slam THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lydia Ko wasn't going to miss Rory McIlroy's quest for the career grand slam. She kept up with his front nine on Sunday of the Masters Tournament while playing her own round of golf, and when McIlroy and Justin Rose went into a playoff, Ko kept watching while getting a manicure. 'In all honesty, I got pretty teary,' she told Golfweek ahead of this week's Chevron Championship. After Ko won the AIG Women's British Open at St. Andrews last summer, on the heels of winning Olympic gold and getting into the LPGA Hall of Fame, rather than talk about retirement, she talked about the goal of achieving the career grand slam. Currently one of four active players on tour with three different major titles, Ko would need to win either the U.S. Women's Open or KPMG Women's PGA to achieve the LPGA's definition of a career grand slam. While the tour maintains only four different majors are required, Ko believes she needs to win all five to make it really count. The LPGA recognizes seven women as having achieved the career grand slam. Ko was 18 years, 4 months and 20 days old when she won the Evian Championship in 2015, making her the youngest major winner in LPGA history. The following year she added the ANA Inspiration (now Chevron) title. 'I don't know if I'll ever be able to experience what he experienced,' said Ko, 'but to some extent, I kind of had that a little bit when I had the Hall of Fame, the last point, and the Olympics. 'It's very different but relatable in some aspects. It was honestly very inspiring.' Ko, who won the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore last month, comes into the LPGA's first major of the season at the Club at Carlton Woods battling an injury that first appeared when she woke up Sunday morning with a neck spasm. She played nine holes in Tuesday's pro-am and is hopeful the unusual sensations in her right arm clear up by Thursday, which happens to be her 28th birthday.
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Here are the 7 LPGA players recognized as career grand slam winners
Here are the 7 LPGA players recognized as career grand slam winners There's been a lot of grand slam talk since Rory McIlroy's heart-pounding Masters victory. While McIlroy became the sixth man to achieve the feat, the LPGA recognizes seven players as career grand slam winners. Louise Suggs (1957) was the first to player in LPGA history to achieve the career grand slam and Inbee Park (2015) was the most recent. Mickey Wright (962), Pat Bradley (1986), Juli Inkster (1999), Karrie Webb (2001) and Annika Sorenstam (2003) round out the impressive group. Webb is the only player to have won the super career grand slam. That happened in 2002 when she won the Weetabix Women's British Open. She'd previously won the McDonald's LPGA Championship, U.S. Women's Open, Nabisco Championship and du Maurier Classic. Webb was 26 years old when she completed the career grand slam and 27 when she achieved the super career grand slam. After the LPGA added a fifth major, tour officials deemed that players who have won four different majors available in their careers will have accomplished the career grand slam. Those who have won five different majors will have won the super career grand slam. The dictionary definition of a grand slam is a clean sweep, making the LPGA's notion that only four is required somewhat of a controversial take. While Park is on the list, she won the Evian before it became a major, giving her four different majors. The LPGA website has a page devoted to the subject, and its statement includes the following: "The term grand slam was translated to golf 20 years before the LPGA was founded and the LPGA has not always had four majors. We began our major history with three. In some years we competed for two, in some years three, in some years four and now five. "The LPGA did not add a fifth major championship to change history, alter discussion or make the accomplishment of a 'grand slam' more difficult. We added a fifth major to create an incremental opportunity for the women's game." Lydia Ko, the LPGA Hall of Fame's newest member, is one of four active players to have won three different majors: 2015 Evian, 2016 ANA Inspiration (now Chevron) and 2024 AIG Women's British Open. She's still chasing the U.S. Women's Open and KPMG Women's PGA. Ko, who turns 28 on April 24, won't break Webb's records as the youngest to accomplish both feats, though the former prodigy already has plenty of those kind of accolades to her credit. Anna Nordqvist broke through with her first LPGA major victory as a rookie when she claimed the 2009 LPGA Championship (now KPMG Women's PGA). She added the Evian in 2017 and AIG Women's British Open in 2021. She'd need either the Chevron Championship or U.S. Women's Open to complete the LPGA's definition of the career grand slam. South Korea's In Gee Chun broke through with her first LPGA major title before she even joined the tour, winning the 2015 U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club. The next year she added the Evian Championship and in 2022, she won the Women's PGA. She needs either the Chevron of the AIG Women's British Open. Yani Tseng, a five-time major winner, is the fourth active tour player with three different major titles to her credit. She needs the U.S. Women's Open or Evian to make it four different major titles.
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Madelene Sagstrom opens with 65 at LA Championship after closing with first tournament ace
Madelene Sagstrom opens with 65 at LA Championship after closing with first tournament ace Madelene Sagstrom ended the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship with her first – ever – tournament ace. The recent winner of the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas opened the LA Championship with a 7-under 65. The hole-in-one occurred on the par-3 ninth from 120 yards. "It got really cold our last three holes so I was – I have the shot that I play, we call it a 2-2-2, and it's like a little lower wind shot," said Sagstrom. "I'm like, you know, I don't think I can reach with my pitching wedge right now. Let's hit a little 2-2-2-9. It was perfect. I hit it really well. It would've been good anyway, but I was like, nope, it went in, and I was like, oh, did that just happen?" And the celebration? "I wish I was that athletic but I'm not," she said. "Well, I think I threw my hands up in the air and I was very excited. No, I don't know. It's weird because I actually got to see it. That's the best part. You get to see it go in." While her driver isn't as dialed in as she'd like, Sagstrom said momentum on the greens has carried over from Vegas. She's also trying to carry on a "match play mentality" of letting go of bad shots and moving on quickly. Sagstrom trails former AIG Women's British Open champion Ashleigh Buhai, who shot 63, by two strokes and sits tied with three-time major winner In Gee Chun. World No. 1 Nelly Korda trails by four. Amateur Asterisk Talley, 16, opened with a 69 at El Caballero Country Club, where she was a finalist at the U.S. Girls' Junior last summer.
