Latest news with #StandardPortlandClassic
Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Juli Inkster wanted a tune-up for Senior Open. She nearly set an LPGA record
PORTLAND, Ore. — Juli Inkster went to The Standard Portland Classic to face some competition ahead of the U.S. Senior Women's Open. The 65-year-old Hall of Famer nearly wound up setting an LPGA record. Inkster opened with a 69 and was poised to become the oldest player in LPGA history to make a 36-hole cut until consecutive bogeys on her back nine led to a 74. She was at 1-under 143, and it was looking unlikely for her to be among the top 65 and ties to make the weekend.
RTÉ News
21 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cernousek leads in Portland as Meadow battles back
Adela Cernousek, a 22-year-old French rookie, turned in an exceptional second nine on Thursday and charged into the lead of the Standard Portland Classic with Ireland's Stephanie Meadow among those left trailing in her wake following a level-par 72. Meadow actually finished her round strongly, playing the final three holes in two-under-par to make up for two earlier bogeys on her card. Having dropped a shot on the par-four fourth, not much happened for the Jordanstown woman until she dropped her second shot of the day on the 11th. However, a badly needed deuce on the par-three 16th was backed up with a super birdie on the last to get her into the clubhouse on even par. Meadow sits in tied-72nd heading into Friday's play. Cernousek shot an eight-under-par 64 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, leaving her one stroke ahead of Gurleen Kaur, China's Miranda Wang, two-time Portland champion Brooke Henderson of Canada and the South Korean duo of Jeongeun Lee and Sung Hyun Park. After starting on the back nine and making one birdie and eight pars before the turn, Cernousek birdied the firsth, fourth, fifth and sixth to charge up the leaderboard. "No, I was just trying to do the same thing," Cernousek said when asked if she played more aggressively closer to the greens on the back nine. "Like hit the fairways, get close to the pin and try to make the putts, like have good speed on the putts." She then registered an eagle at the par-five seventh before closing with another birdie at the ninth to break a six-way tie for first place. "I think I was hitting the ball very well," Cernousek said. "My caddie really helped me with distances. I think I always had like very close putts for birdie. I was able to make a lot of them, so it was great. I felt very good with my whole game, yeah." The 2024 individual NCAA champion for Texas A&M, Cernousek is making her 13th LPGA start. She has made cuts as a pro just three times, never ending up in the top 20. South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai, Sweden's Linn Grant, South Korea's Haeran Ryu, Thailand's Arpichaya Yubol and France's Perrine Delacour are two strokes back at 66. Eight players, including past Portland winner Jin Young Ko of South Korea and amateur Kiara Romero, are tied for 12th at 67. Henderson, the Portland champion in 2015 and 2016 at ages 17 and 18, opened and closed her round effectively on Thursday. Starting on the back nine, she birdied her first four holes, and she concluded her bogey-free rounds with birdies on three of the final five holes. "It was a really awesome start, four birdies in a row," Henderson said. "I mean, that's an ideal start any week, especially here. I love coming back to this place. I do have a lot of the great memories. A lot of good things happened to me here. "So just tried to keep it rolling after that great start and was able to capitalize with three birdies on the back nine to get a little bit closer to the top of the leaderboard." Lee's round included six birdies, a bogey and an eagle on her 10th hole of the day, at the par-4 first. Wang didn't have a bogey on her card, and she ran off five birdies in a six-hole span on the back nine near the end of her round. "My swing was very pure and I had so much trust in my swing," Wang said. "That's really helpful. I see the number and hit my shot and it just turn out really good. My putting was improved a lot over ... the last few weeks. I was happy with it." Park and Kaur had just one bogey apiece. Defending champion Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand is tied for 97th at 73.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
65-year-old Juli Inkster dusted off her putter and is playing the LPGA event in Portland
Portland has always held a special place in Juli Inkster's heart. Back in 1999, Inkster won in Portland at what was then the Safeway LPGA Golf Championship, her fifth victory of that season, which earned her a place in the LPGA Hall of Fame by virtue of her 27th career point. The 31-time LPGA winner hasn't been back to play in Portland in years, but with the U.S. Women's Senior Open in San Diego next week, Inkster has been brushing up her game in hopes of making her mark. After a T-3 at the Toledo Classic a few weeks ago — an event that had both Epson Tour players as well as those from the Legends of the LPGA circuit Inkster is in the field for this week's LPGA stop, the Standard Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The Portland event is the longest-standing non-major event on the LPGA and Inkster is happy to be back in support it. She's one of seven past champs in the field as Moriya Jutanugarn (2024), Chanettee Wannasaen (2023), Jin Young Ko (2021), Hannah Green (2019), Stacy Lewis (2017) and Brooke Henderson (2015, 2016) are also scheduled to play. "It's always been one of I think a lot of people's favorites because it's really family-oriented and caddie-oriented. Stan the caddie master does a heck of a job for all the caddies. Makes everybody feel welcome," she said. "It's just a great area, the Northwest, to have a tournament. I know they've gone through some rough times trying to get sponsors, ups and downs, but I hope everybody just continues to support it because it is a legacy." Of course, the timing had to work out. First, Inkster Award winner Carolina Chacarra was scheduled to play after winning the award back in June. And while the seven-time major winner has been known for truly mentoring the winner of her annual award, she's happy to impart her knowledge on as many players as possible. In fact, during the Toledo event, which was hosted by Stacy Lewis, Inkster recently took part in a summit between players, young and old. It's something she hopes to see more of in the future. "It was great. It was really nice of them. They came up and asked a lot of questions," Inkster said. "You know, I think it would really behoove the LPGA to do more of those Senior Epsons. It's really the first mandatory meeting I've ever been in that no one was on their phones and they were all really engaged in what we had to say. "Try to get them to learn more about the LPGA and what we need from them coming up as they progress through their journey." The now 65-year-old Inkster, who was a nine-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member (1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011) and three-time captain (2015, 2017, 2019), said she's happy to do her part in terms of touting the LPGA, but she feels like younger players also need to understand why it's so important they feel the same passion for carrying that torch. "We've had a lot of great leaders leading us to this, but this is an organization where we're individual employees. If we want this to continue we have to work at that. That's doing your part in the pro-am, doing your part in the sponsor's dinners," she said. "And the fans. We need to get more fans out here. Girls golf is growing rapidly and there are idols. They look up to us. Well, maybe not me, but the generation that are playing right now. "We've got to make golf look fun. I think that's our next thing, is improve a little bit on being a little more emotional out there and just enjoying the game. Everybody would kill to be able to do what we do for a living, and to be able to go out there and play golf and compete against the best in the world on the LPGA is something not to take for granted."
