Marathon Classic 2017

DATES: July 20-23
SITE: Highland Meadows GC, Sylvania, Ohio
PRIZE MONEY: $1,600,000

Round 4 - In-Kyung Kim wins Marathon Classic

July 23, 2017 In-Kyung Kim has won the Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I, her second win this year after the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by ACER in June. Kim fired the best round of the day at 8-under 63 to tie for low round of the tournament and take a four-shot victory over Lexi Thompson with a closing 21-under 263. “I think today the pin positions were a little bit comfortable for me,” she said of the key to her sizzling finish. “I've been hitting little draws this week, and when the pin is tucked on the left side, I was having a hard time, but I think just knowing what I'm doing kind of helped me to plan out the round.” Thompson's runner-up position is her fifth second-place finish of the year, she also won the Kingsmill Championship presented by JTBC. “I put up a good score. I had a little bit of a rough stretch there… but overall I'm very happy with the way I played,” said Thompson. “I was hitting a cut around the golf course, and that's usually not what I do. But I managed to put up some good scores, which I'm very happy about.” Gerina Piller who led after 36 holes finished tied for third place with Peiyun Chien at 15-under, their best finish of the year. “I feel like my game, I played really well. To start off 8-under, that's huge. But I didn't come away with the win, but it doesn't mean I didn't have a winning performance,” said Piller. Chien was very proud of her game this week. “Very proud because a lot of Taiwanese… a lot of Taiwan fans really care about this tournament, and I played well,” she stated.
Pos. Player Scores Total To Par Prize Money
1 In-Kyung Kim 65 - 67 - 68 - 63 263 -21 $240,000.00
2 Lexi Thompson 67 - 65 - 69 - 66 267 -17 $148,877.00
3T Peiyun Chien 64 - 68 - 69 - 68 269 -15 $95,773.00
3T Gerina Piller 63 - 68 - 70 - 68 269 -15 $95,773.00
Click here for full scores & prize money.

Round 3 - Rookie Korda takes 2-shot lead heading into final

July 22, 2017 Rookie Nelly Korda is heading into the final of the Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I with a two shot lead over In-Kyung Kim after a third round 5-under 66 that pur her at 15-under. “I've learned a lot my rookie year out here,” explained Korda. “It's definitely a key to stay patient and really to take it shot by shot. I've been in a couple positions where I've been on top of the leaderboard, and I just really got ahead of myself, started thinking too far ahead, and I just told myself I need to calm down really, take it shot by shot and stay calm, breathe a little bit more and just stay calm.” Korda will have to contend with a tight pack players trailing close behind with Kim at 13-under and a further 6 players at 12-under including 36-hole leader Gerina Piller and Sung Hyun Park (US Women's Open).
Pos.
 Player
To Par
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
 Nelly Korda
-15
68
64
66
198
2
 In-Kyung Kim
-13
65
67
68
200
T3
 Sandra Changkija
-12
66
70
65
201
T3
 Sung Hyun Park
-12
64
70
67
201
T3
 Aditi Ashok
-12
65
68
68
201
T3
 Lexi Thompson
-12
67
65
69
201
T3
 Peiyun Chien
-12
64
68
69
201
T3
 Gerina Piller
-12
63
68
70
201
9
 Brittany Lincicome
-11
67
67
68
202
10
 Chella Choi
-10
67
67
69
203

Round 2 - Piller keeps lead 1 ahead of four players

July 21, 2017 Gerina Piller played a solid round of 68 on Friday to get to 11-under and hold on to her lead one shot ahead of Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, In-Kyung Kim and Peiyun Chien. “I feel like I was pretty steady. I kind of had a par streak going there. But I gave myself chances for birdie, and at that point, you've just got to be patient, and there's some birdie holes out there. I stayed patient, not one on my front nine and then reeled off three in a row on the back. It is difficult, but if you can just kind of plug along and hit fairways and greens and keep it simple, that's what I feel,” said Piller. “It's tough to follow up an 8-under. The conditions were great out there. The course is in great shape. I got off to a slow start, just made some pars, but I was giving myself chances, and that's kind of all you can ask for.” This is the first time Piller has held a 36-hole lead on the Tour. “I felt like I played great. You know, I missed some birdie opportunities, but I made some longer putts today. Ball-striking feels great. Putting feels great. It was just a matter of staying patient and just letting the results come,” she explained.
Pos.
 Player To Par R1 R2 Total
1
 Gerina Piller -11 63 68 131
T2
 Nelly Korda -10 68 64 132
T2
 Lexi Thompson -10 67 65 132
T2
 In-Kyung Kim -10 65 67 132
T2
 Peiyun Chien -10 64 68 132
6
 Aditi Ashok -9 65 68 133
T7
 Brittany Lincicome -8 67 67 134
T7
 Chella Choi -8 67 67 134
T7
 Laura Diaz -8 67 67 134
T7
 Sung Hyun Park -8 64 70 134

Round 1 - Piller takes opening lead in Marathon Classic

July 20, 2017 Gerina Piller has taken the opening lead in the Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I with an 8-under 63 that included nine birdies and a single bogey. “I birdied my first three holes and any time you can start off three in a row, it's pretty good,” said Piller. “I just kept hitting it close and had some close birdie putts here and there, and I did make a bogey, but I just told myself like I'm doing great things and just keep doing what I'm doing.” Piller's best finish so far this season was solo fourth at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, she has also had fourth other top-15 finishes. One shot behind Piller are last week's U.S. Women's Open winner Sung Hyun Park and Peiyun Chien. Park has not missed a single cut this season and has had five top-5 finishes. “My feeling today was so awesome,” said Park. “It was a good start after the major championship winning, and first of all, I need to focus more on the Marathon Classic and want to keep my (major) happiness behind (me) from now on. Chien is also a rookie but has only made six cuts this year. Her 7-under 64 on Thursday only had one bogey and was her best round of the season. “I did well today because I changed my playing. I'm always thinking the swing on the golf course, so today I just played freely,” said Chien. “I tried to find some feeling and play, and it's worked. I'm very happy.”
Pos.
 Player To Par R1
1
 Gerina Piller -8 63
T2
 Peiyun Chien -7 64
T2
 Sung Hyun Park -7 64
T4
 Aditi Ashok -6 65
T4
 In-Kyung Kim -6 65
T4
 Kelly Shon -6 65
T7
 Angel Yin -5 66
T7
 Sandra Changkija -5 66

Scores

Pos. Player Scores Total To Par Prize Money
1 In-Kyung Kim 65 - 67 - 68 - 63 263 -21 $240,000.00
2 Lexi Thompson 67 - 65 - 69 - 66 267 -17 $148,877.00
3T Peiyun Chien 64 - 68 - 69 - 68 269 -15 $95,773.00
3T Gerina Piller 63 - 68 - 70 - 68 269 -15 $95,773.00
5 Sandra Changkija 66 - 70 - 65 - 69 270 -14 $67,245.00
6T Kim Kaufman 73 - 67 - 66 - 65 271 -13 $50,536.00
6T Sung Hyun Park 64 - 70 - 67 - 70 271 -13 $50,536.00
8T Angela Stanford 70 - 69 - 68 - 65 272 -12 $33,745.00
8T Angel Yin 66 - 71 - 68 - 67 272 -12 $33,745.00
8T Brittany Lincicome 67 - 67 - 68 - 70 272 -12 $33,745.00
8T Aditi Ashok 65 - 68 - 68 - 71 272 -12 $33,745.00
8T Nelly Korda 68 - 64 - 66 - 74 272 -12 $33,745.00
13T Perrine Delacour 70 - 68 - 69 - 66 273 -11 $24,452.00
13T Alena Sharp 69 - 69 - 68 - 67 273 -11 $24,452.00
13T Hyo Joo Kim 68 - 69 - 69 - 67 273 -11 $24,452.00
13T Amy Yang 68 - 68 - 69 - 68 273 -11 $24,452.00
17T Katie Burnett 70 - 68 - 67 - 69 274 -10 $20,269.00
17T Alison Lee 67 - 69 - 68 - 70 274 -10 $20,269.00
17T Kelly Shon 65 - 71 - 68 - 70 274 -10 $20,269.00
20T Jaye Marie Green 68 - 71 - 72 - 64 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Simin Feng 67 - 72 - 68 - 68 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Mirim Lee 68 - 69 - 70 - 68 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Lydia Ko 73 - 68 - 65 - 69 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Laura Diaz 67 - 67 - 71 - 70 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Emily K. Pedersen 69 - 68 - 67 - 71 275 -9 $16,826.00
20T Chella Choi 67 - 67 - 69 - 72 275 -9 $16,826.00
27T Marina Alex 70 - 67 - 72 - 67 276 -8 $13,591.00
27T In Gee Chun 70 - 68 - 70 - 68 276 -8 $13,591.00
27T Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras 71 - 70 - 66 - 69 276 -8 $13,591.00
27T Eun-Hee Ji 69 - 67 - 68 - 72 276 -8 $13,591.00
31T Jane Park 69 - 68 - 74 - 66 277 -7 $11,574.00
31T Giulia Molinaro 71 - 67 - 72 - 67 277 -7 $11,574.00
31T Tiffany Joh 68 - 73 - 66 - 70 277 -7 $11,574.00
31T Mo Martin 69 - 68 - 70 - 70 277 -7 $11,574.00
35T Austin Ernst 70 - 71 - 70 - 67 278 -6 $9,428.00
35T Annie Park 70 - 70 - 71 - 67 278 -6 $9,428.00
35T Madeleine Sheils 75 - 66 - 67 - 70 278 -6 $9,428.00
35T Haeji Kang 68 - 71 - 69 - 70 278 -6 $9,428.00
35T Nontaya Srisawang 68 - 70 - 70 - 70 278 -6 $9,428.00
35T Jacqui Concolino 68 - 70 - 68 - 72 278 -6 $9,428.00
41T Lizette Salas 72 - 68 - 69 - 70 279 -5 $7,662.00
41T Dani Holmqvist 69 - 70 - 70 - 70 279 -5 $7,662.00
41T Brianna Do 68 - 70 - 70 - 71 279 -5 $7,662.00
41T Megan Khang 68 - 68 - 72 - 71 279 -5 $7,662.00
45T Olafia Kristinsdottir 71 - 70 - 72 - 67 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Ally McDonald 69 - 71 - 72 - 68 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Stacy Lewis 69 - 71 - 71 - 69 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Mariajo Uribe 70 - 71 - 69 - 70 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Min Lee 68 - 70 - 72 - 70 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Prima Thammaraks 68 - 68 - 74 - 70 280 -4 $6,206.00
45T Thidapa Suwannapura 67 - 70 - 70 - 73 280 -4 $6,206.00
52 Brittany Lang 69 - 68 - 73 - 71 281 -3 $5,380.00
53T Allyssa Ferrell 69 - 72 - 71 - 70 282 -2 $4,972.00
53T Dori Carter 67 - 71 - 73 - 71 282 -2 $4,972.00
53T Min-G Kim 70 - 70 - 70 - 72 282 -2 $4,972.00
53T Emily Tubert 69 - 69 - 69 - 75 282 -2 $4,972.00
57T Morgan Pressel 70 - 71 - 72 - 70 283 -1 $4,255.00
57T Demi Runas 69 - 71 - 73 - 70 283 -1 $4,255.00
57T Ilhee Lee 71 - 68 - 74 - 70 283 -1 $4,255.00
57T Wendy Doolan 70 - 71 - 71 - 71 283 -1 $4,255.00
57T Candie Kung 68 - 72 - 72 - 71 283 -1 $4,255.00
57T Linnea Strom 68 - 71 - 73 - 71 283 -1 $0.00
63 Paula Reto 73 - 68 - 74 - 69 284 E $3,912.00
64T Bronte Law 70 - 70 - 77 - 68 285 1 $3,668.00
64T Belen Mozo 71 - 70 - 75 - 69 285 1 $3,668.00
64T Sadena Parks 73 - 68 - 73 - 71 285 1 $3,668.00
64T Kelly Tan 70 - 69 - 74 - 72 285 1 $3,668.00
64T Dottie Ardina 70 - 71 - 70 - 74 285 1 $3,668.00
69 Kris Tamulis 72 - 67 - 74 - 73 286 2 $3,423.00
70 Cindy LaCrosse 69 - 72 - 72 - 74 287 3 $3,342.00
71 Mariah Stackhouse 73 - 68 - 75 - 72 288 4 $3,261.00
CUT Katherine Perry 74 - 68 142 E $0.00
CUT Karen Chung 73 - 69 142 E $0.00
CUT Monica Vaughn 73 - 69 142 E $0.00
CUT Amy Olson 72 - 70 142 E $0.00
CUT Laetitia Beck 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Augusta James 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Min Seo Kwak 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Leona Maguire 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Ayako Uehara 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Cheyenne Woods 71 - 71 142 E $0.00
CUT Sakura Yokomine 70 - 72 142 E $0.00
CUT Nannette Hill 75 - 68 143 1 $0.00
CUT Cydney Clanton 74 - 69 143 1 $0.00
CUT Mina Harigae 73 - 70 143 1 $0.00
CUT Mindy Kim 73 - 70 143 1 $0.00
CUT Marissa Steen 73 - 70 143 1 $0.00
CUT Regan De Guzman 72 - 71 143 1 $0.00
CUT Alison Walshe 72 - 71 143 1 $0.00
CUT Brittany Altomare 71 - 72 143 1 $0.00
CUT Karlin Beck 71 - 72 143 1 $0.00
CUT Silvia Cavalleri 68 - 75 143 1 $0.00
CUT Yani Tseng 76 - 68 144 2 $0.00
CUT Azahara Munoz 74 - 70 144 2 $0.00
CUT Jing Yan 73 - 71 144 2 $0.00
CUT Na Yeon Choi 72 - 72 144 2 $0.00
CUT Xiyu Lin 72 - 72 144 2 $0.00
CUT Alejandra Llaneza 72 - 72 144 2 $0.00
CUT Sydnee Michaels 72 - 72 144 2 $0.00
CUT Lee Lopez 71 - 73 144 2 $0.00
CUT Meghan MacLaren 71 - 73 144 2 $0.00
CUT Jennifer Song 71 - 73 144 2 $0.00
CUT Mika Miyazato 69 - 75 144 2 $0.00
CUT Justine Dreher 74 - 71 145 3 $0.00
CUT Vicky Hurst 74 - 71 145 3 $0.00
CUT Briana Mao 74 - 71 145 3 $0.00
CUT Lauren Kim 73 - 72 145 3 $0.00
CUT Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong 73 - 72 145 3 $0.00
CUT Amelia Lewis 71 - 74 145 3 $0.00
CUT Hee Young Park 71 - 74 145 3 $0.00
CUT Pavarisa Yoktuan 71 - 74 145 3 $0.00
CUT Emily Collins 70 - 75 145 3 $0.00
CUT Brooke M. Henderson 70 - 75 145 3 $0.00
CUT Therese O'Hara 69 - 76 145 3 $0.00
CUT Becky Morgan 75 - 71 146 4 $0.00
CUT Heather Bowie Young 74 - 72 146 4 $0.00
CUT Wichanee Meechai 73 - 73 146 4 $0.00
CUT Celine Herbin 72 - 74 146 4 $0.00
CUT Lorie Kane 72 - 74 146 4 $0.00
CUT Jackie Stoelting 72 - 74 146 4 $0.00
CUT Dana Finkelstein 71 - 75 146 4 $0.00
CUT Samantha Richdale 71 - 75 146 4 $0.00
CUT Jenny Coleman 70 - 76 146 4 $0.00
CUT Nasa Hataoka 77 - 70 147 5 $0.00
CUT Danah Bordner 72 - 75 147 5 $0.00
CUT Britney Yada 72 - 75 147 5 $0.00
CUT Stephanie Meadow 71 - 76 147 5 $0.00
CUT Julieta Granada 74 - 74 148 6 $0.00
CUT Stephanie Kono 73 - 75 148 6 $0.00
CUT Krista Puisite 73 - 75 148 6 $0.00
CUT Sarah Kemp 72 - 76 148 6 $0.00
CUT Jennifer Ha 78 - 71 149 7 $0.00
CUT Nicole Broch Larsen 77 - 72 149 7 $0.00
CUT Rachel Rohanna 77 - 72 149 7 $0.00
CUT Ji Young Oh 76 - 73 149 7 $0.00
CUT Kristy McPherson 69 - 80 149 7 $0.00
CUT Julie Yang 76 - 74 150 8 $0.00
CUT Maria Parra 76 - 75 151 9 $0.00
CUT Hannah Burke 81 - 71 152 10 $0.00
CUT Jessy Tang 73 - 79 152 10 $0.00
CUT Michelle McGann 75 - 78 153 11 $0.00
CUT Ssu-Chia Cheng 75 - 80 155 13 $0.00
WDC Jenny Shin 71 71 E $0.00
WDC Christina Kim 73 73 2 $0.00

Rookie roundup

This week, fans in Sylvania, Ohio, will get to see 30 of the 37 2017 LPGA rookies tee it up. The rookie core is led by recently crowned U.S. Women’s Open champion Sung Hyun Park, who also leads the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race. In 2014, Lydia Ko took home the Marathon Classic title and a few months later was crowned the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year (youngest winner ever).
Top Rookies in the Marathon Classic Field (Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Points)  
Player Points (Rank) Starts Best Finish
Sung Hyun Park 997 (1) 14 1
Angel Yin 359 (2) 15 T5 (twice)
Nelly Korda 256 (3) 14 T5
Emily Pedersen 152 (6) 5 T17
Aditi Ashok 132 (7) 11 T25

NCAA Champs make Maration Classic debuts

Arizona State teammates Linnea Strom and Monica Vaughn are teeing it up this week at the Marathon Classic after their performances at the NCAA Women’s Division I Golf Championship earned them both sponsor exemptions. Vaughn, the NCAA individual champion, is making her first LPGA Tour start and her first start as a professional, and the thought of her debut has her anxious for the first round. “The mix of the two brings a lot of nerves but good nerves,” Vaughn said. “Productive nerves, learning curve nerves. I’ve learned a lot out here. I’m really gaining a lot of knowledge off what it’s like to be a Tour player, and those nerves have got me through the NCAA championship, so I hope they can carry me this week.” For winning the NCAA title, Sun Devils coach Missy Farr-Kaye got to select a member of her team to represent ASU at the Marathon Classic, selecting All-American first-teamer Strom. The native of Sweden is playing in her first LPGA event since she qualified for the 2015 Ricoh Women’s British Open, and while she missed the cut there, she’s hopeful that experience will bode well for her this week. “I think that helped me coming here,” Strom said of the Women’s British Open. “It’s new for everything and it’s a new environment for me, and there’s a lot of things going on. There are all the best players in the world playing, and there’s just a lot of new things going on that we are not used to. So I think every opportunity we get to play at this level of golf with those players is going to help us very much for the future.” Leona Maguire, the No. 1 amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, joins Strom and Vaughn as the three sponsor invites this week. Maguire was the runner up for the 2017 NCAA individual title, and she has also received the ANNIKA National Collegiate Player of the Year award the past two years.

Quotable

“I think when you’ve had 17 or 18 different winners in the last 19 events or something, it’s kind of crazy to think that, but it just shows that the amount of talent on the LPGA and not only these certain amounts of players are going to win, you just never know who could be holding the trophy at the end of the week.” - Lydia Ko on how hard it is to win on the LPGA right now “That’s one thing I said, I said, I think I got an invite into an LPGA tournament. This is my first event that I’ve ever played as a professional. This is the first professional event I’ve ever played in. It was huge for me, and that was the first thing on my mind kind of when I won.” - Monica Vaughn on realizing she got a sponsors invite immediately after winning NCAAs “I was just talking to Bronte Law on the putting green, and a year ago we played with her in college, and I played with her a lot back in Europe, back at home for like five, six years now, and she has told me like, hey, there is no difference, like it’s you and your golf bag, you’ve just got to go out and play golf. It’s so true, but at the same time like all the players that are here, they have more experience. They are better golf pros. So I’m just going to learn from everybody and try to have fun and enjoy.” - Linnea Strom on advice she’s gotten from 2017 LPGA rookie Bronte Law QUICK HITS In four starts at the Marathon Classic, Lydia Ko has two wins and two additional top-seven finishes. This season, Ko’s best finish is a runner-up finish at the LOTTE Championship Presented by HERSHEY. Ko has finished inside the top 10 seven times in 14 starts this season. Se Ri Pak is the only back-to-back winner of this event; she won in 1998 and 1999. The last player to successfully defend an LPGA title was Brooke Henderson, who won the Cambia Portland Classic in 2015 and 2016. Six LPGA members attended Arizona State University, including Giulia Molinaro and Azahara Muñoz who are both here this week. At ASU, Munoz was the 2008 NCAA individual national champion, and she also led the Sun Devils to the team national championship in 2009. The last time an amateur won was Lydia Ko at the 2013 CN Canadian Women’s Open. The last time a non-LPGA member won was Sun-Ju Ahn at the 2015 TOTO JAPAN CLASSIC.