Round 4 - Katherine Kirk wins third title at Thornberry Creek

June 09, 2017

Katherine Kirk (AUS) closed the day at 2-under 70 to secure her third Tour victory at the inaugural Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Her last win came 152 Tour starts ago at the Navistar LPGA Classic in 2010. Kirk closed the tournament at 22-under 266, her lowest four-round tournament total.

“To make that putt (on 18) was huge,” said Kirk. “All wins are good. Winning out here is hard, and it's gotten a lot harder out here since I first did it, that's for sure. There is so much talent out here now and it makes it so much harder to win. I think I'm the 15th-oldest player on Tour, so if you're looking at age it's more in favour of the younger generation these days… but hard work pays off. I'm grateful for the opportunity to still be playing, and I still love it.”

Kirk had mixed results along the way on Sunday with four bogeys and six birdies but it was enough to hold off her challengers, Sei Young Kim (KOR) and Pornanong Phatlum (THA) among them who finished third (20-under) and fourth (19-under) respectively. Ashley Buhai (RSA) finished second at 21-under, her best result ever on Tour.

“It was awesome. I felt I relished on it. From the first hole I started out with a birdie, and I just tried to keep feeding off it,” said Buhai of her first experience in a final group. “I really enjoyed the support, and yeah, it was a lot of fun out there.

Kim had another great week notching her fifth top-5 finish of the season.

“It was a great day because my shots were solid, and I (didn't make) any mistakes today,” said Kim.

Phatlum closed the tournament with her career-best finish on Tour and her 10-under 62 was the best score of her professional career.

“(My) tee shots (were) pretty good and also putted very well today,” she explained. Really fantastic (round). Just tried to do my game, work on my game plan, and then it worked very good today.”

Crisite Kerr (USA) came in fifth after a 6-under 66 on Sunday playing seven birdies and a single bogey.

“I thought it was great to play. Obviously I played well, so it's always good to be playing well going into a major,” said Kerr. “I played really, really well... It's a birdie-fest out there, so you've got to shoot about a 10-under to really climb up there. But I played really well.”

It was her fifth top-5 finish of the season including her win at the LOTTE Championship.

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Round 3 - Kirk increasing lead in Thornberry

July 08, 2017

Katherine Kirk held on to her form and the lead on Saturday firing a 7-under 65. She heads into Sunday with a four-shot lead over Ashleigh Buhai at 16-under.

“I like this golf course. It suits my eye, and I think it's going to take another low one tomorrow,” Kirk said. “I said to my caddie, ‘I feel like 4-under is about even par out there just because you get so many good birdie opportunities and a lot of wedges into holes, a couple reachable par-5s.' I'll be trying to get a couple under my belt early just to kind of give me some breathing room. A lot of golf still to be played.”

Buhai, who has yet to win on Tour fired a career-low round of 7-under 65 on Saturday.

“I hit the ball really solid. I made a bogey on my first hole, and after that I hit 17 greens in a row. I just kind of favored to the side of the pin that you had to, and I rolled in a few 15-footers. I was cautious at some times, and then I knew when I could be aggressive,” Buahi said of her round.

Ayako Uehara and Jodi Ewart Shadoff share third place at 13-under with rounds of 65 and 66 respectively.

“It was good,” Shadoff said of her day. “I was feeling calm, relaxed, just enjoyed the round, hitting the ball well, and some putts fell in the middle of the round, so it was nice.”

Seven players including Sandra Gal and Jaye Marie Green are tied for fifth place. Gal and Green were second and third after round 2.

Round 2 - Play suspended due to dangerous weather, Kirk leading

July 07, 2017

At the time play was supended Katherine Kirk was leading and Jaye Marie Green and Sandra Gal were tied for second place.

Kirk held on to her lead (13-under) heading to round 3 in the afternoon and Sandra Gal moved to solo second one shot behind her.

“I think it might be my best (round) on the LPGA,” said Kirk. “I felt like I was striking it well (Thursday), I just didn't really capitalize. I don't know if I had one of those points today. My philosophy was to just keep giving myself chances even if I'm 10-over par and still try and make birdies coming in.”

Kirk's best finish this year was T10 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

Jaye Marie Green sits three shots behind Kirk at 10-under.

“I couldn't really get a lot going and then kind of everything was going pretty well on the back,” said Green. “I was hitting fairways, hit it close, and then when I did, I made the putt. Shot 6-under on the back, which was cool.”

Round 1 - Escallon and Kim take Thornberry lead

July 06, 2017

Laura Gonzalez Escallon and Sei Young Kim both shot 7-under 65s on opening day to take the lead in Thornberry Creek at Oneida.

Kim has had a win (Citibanex Lorena Ochoa Match Play presented by AeroMexico and Delta) and three top-5 finishes so far this season including a tie for fourth last week at the LPMG WOmen's PGA Championship. .

It's been a long time since I played well in the first round, so I'm very blessed to have shot a 7-under. We have three more days, and I'm looking forward to the other days,” she said.

Her path to the top included eight birdies and a single bogey.

“My shots were solid today, and the greens were softer, so I was able to go after the pins and give myself a lot of birdie opportunities,” explained Kim. “And then putting was good, and I made a lot of birdies.”

Escallon is in her first year on the LPGA Tour and made top-10 in her debut and T5 at the Manulife LPGA Classic.

“I started with a top 10, so that was a dream come true, and I mean, I'm just learning and enjoying it here,” Escallon said about her 2017 season. “I have a great caddie… so that helps just to have fun and enjoy it and try to meet people and get to know the courses.”

Escallon benefited from a strong start and finish on Thursday but struggled through the middle of her round.

“I started really hot and then I kind of stumbled a little bit, so my goal was to finish strong, and I did that,” she explained. “It was great.”

Two rookies, Madeleine Sheils and Min-G Kim are tied for third at 6-under. Neith has made the cut so far this season.

“I had a really good session with my coach last weekend, and I felt like -- I played seven weeks straight, and then I had last week off, and as soon as I like rested and refreshed myself, it was like, oh, my gosh, I can do this, like I'm okay. I saw my coach, and I felt positive going into this whole week,” Sheils explained, as she went bogey-free. “I hit just about every fairway, and I think I might have hit every green for like the first time in my life, so that makes golf really easy, as it turns out.”

Kim's bogey-free 66 was her best round of the season.

"At the start of the year, I was like, ‘wait a minute, there are cameras everywhere.' People are screaming your name and everything, and I was kind of scared of that at first because it was overwhelming. But as I got through it, I started enjoying it more, and I was like, yes, this is what I wanted,” said Kim. “This is what I wanted to do as a young girl, and that's what really helped me, I think, enjoying the crowd.”

Scores

Preview

Back At It Again

Ariya Jutanugarn will compete as the top-ranked player in the field at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. The World No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings missed the cut at last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by a single stroke, her first missed cut since the first event of the 2016 season (six wins and 19 additional top-10s in that span).

“I had lots of time last week,” Jutanugarn said. “I know I had a bad day on Thursday, but I just like had a really good day on Friday, and I’m really proud of myself to be like trying to do my best and play better golf on Friday and be working on the same things. Just like last week, I didn’t really have good commitment, so this week just work on like trying to have a better commitment.”

Sister, Sister

In 2016, Ariya Jutanugarn set a new record for most birdies in a single season with 469, passing Stacy Lewis’ mark in 2014 by nine. At the midway point of the 2017 season, Ariya leads the Tour with 236 birdies, one ahead of her sister, Moriya. Aka “Mo,” the 2013 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year is having a breakout season in her own right with six top-10 finishes which already surpasses her career-high in a season by four.

“I’m really, really happy for her because she’s a really good player, and she keeps playing so good,” said “May” of her older sister. “She works so hard, and she deserves to play good. Maybe she played one more tournament more than me. I still beat her with birdies, though, so that’s a good thing.”

Danielson's Debut

Wisconsin-native Casey Danielson headlines a trio of Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic sponsor invites. She will be making her professional debut in Green Bay following a stellar collegiate career at Stanford University.

Her hometown of Osceola is five hours away from Green Bay, but the Danielson name is well known throughout the state of Wisconsin. Casey’s older sister Lindsay, became the first player in Wisconsin to win four Division 2 WIAA state high school championships while at Osceola High School, until her sister duplicated the feat in 2012. Making for eight straight state championship titles for the sisters. Casey’s older brother Charlie won two high school titles, giving the Danielson family a whopping total of 10.

While at Stanford, Danielson was team captain and a member of the 2015 NCAA Champion team, but she’s not putting any pressure on herself this week. “I’m just looking to learn,” she said on Wednesday. “I know I’ve got a lot to learn, both about how to handle myself on Tour, how to manage the media and manage getting around the clubhouse and practice rounds, that sort of thing, and then also on the golf course I want to learn how my game can improve and what area of my game don’t match up to other players and try to see where I can get the most use out of my practice.”

Danielson will tee off the first round on Thursday at 2:09 p.m. off of the first tee alongside Bronte Law and Stephanie Meadow.

Joining Danielson on the inaugural events sponsor invite list is Carly Booth and Selanee Henderson. Ladies European Tour player Booth, a native of Scotland, is a two-time winner on the LET. In 11 starts on the LPGA she has made five cuts.

Henderson is a Walla Walla Native American and a Symetra Tour golfer. Henderson has five career top-10 finishes on the Symetra Tour and a career-best finish of T2 in 2015.

Quotable

“I think this year is really, really competitive. Even when I played great golf in a few weeks, I still finish second or third. But it’s fun.”

- Ariya Jutanugarn on the state of the LPGA

“I think it’s great for women’s golf to be here to showcase our talents but also to be able to interact with the Oneida culture. It’s just been incredible. I think it’s a great sharing of cultures.”

- Casey Danielson on playing at the inaugural Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic and going on a tour of the Oneida Nation reservation

“I’m so proud of her for being out here and for doing this. She’s definitely been an inspiration.”

- Danielson on playing alongside Stanford teammate Mariah Stackhouse this week

Quick Hits

• Ariya Jutanugarn has the most wins on the LPGA of any player in the last two seasons with six – the next closest players are Lydia Ko and Ha Na Jang with four apiece.
• In 2017, Jutanugarn has nine top-10 finishes this season including a win at the Manulife LPGA Classic and three runner-up finishes.
• Jutanugarn leads the LPGA in birdies with 236 and is second in number of under-par rounds with 44.
• In May, Danielson received the Dinah Shore Trophy recognizing the most well-rounded female college golfer in the country.
• Danielson has also qualified to play the U.S. Women’s Open next week.
• 2017 LPGA rookie Mariah Stackhouse was teammates with Danielson at Stanford when they won the 2015 NCAA Championship.
• The last time a player won a tournament in their home state was Cristie Kerr at the 2015 CME Group Tour Championship.
• The last time a sponsor invite won an LPGA tournament was Lydia Ko at the 2013 CN Canadian Women’s Open.