Volunteers of America Classic R2

October 03-06
Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas
$1,300,000
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

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“Play Cheyenne Knight golf. You don’t need to be anybody else.”

That is the simple mentality the 2019 LPGA Tour rookie has for the Volunteers of America Classic. She finished Friday in a tie for the lead at -9 alongside Alena Sharp and Brittany Altomare, the first time she has led in her LPGA career. Knight said she finally found something in her swing at the Indy Women in Tech Championship that has contributed to the recent success.

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“I hit a draw and I haven’t been able to hit a draw, so I’ve been like just shallowing out my club a little bit, trying to hit kind of a hook and it’s been drawing. That’s like my normal shot shape,” said Knight. “I’ve really been hitting my numbers good because I’m hitting it solid, not mis-hitting it, so it’s been good. And my driver’s straight. In college like I never missed a fairway, rarely missed a green, made a few putts. Just doing that.”

The Aledo, Texas, native said one of her greatest assets this week is her mindset. “I’ve been working really hard on like my mental game and putting things into perspective,” she said. “I’m just going out there and living my dream. I mean, like coming full circle. I remember I played in the Volunteers of America when I was still in college and now as a pro, doing what I love every day. I think it’s just like more of like appreciation like about my mindset.”

Sharp finished with a bogey on the 18th for a 65, and Altomare fired a second bogey-free 66 to reach 9-under 133 at Old American Golf Club. All three leaders are yet to win on the LPGA Tour.

“I hit the ball really well,” Altomare said. “I gave myself some really close opportunities and I was lucky enough to make them. I was putting well and I just didn’t make any mistakes, which was really nice.”

Green learns major lessons

Jaye Marie Green entered the final round of the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open one stroke off the lead. Her first win, let alone her first major victory, was well within her grasp. But derailed by three bogeys on the back nine, her final-round 74 dropped her out of contention and into a tie for fifth.

Green fully admits that the disappointment got to her. Since that week in Charleston, she has missed six of 11 cuts and only cracked the top 25 once. Throw in a move and all the trappings of a hectic traveling life, and it’s understandable that the 25-year-old Floridian would be frustrated. So two good rounds at the Volunteers of America Classic, paired with an inspirationally sunny outlook on life, were exactly what she needed. 

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“I think about that Open almost every day. That was a tough one for me,” said Green after her second-round 68 at the Volunteers of America Classic. “You know, people say, oh, great top-five, but in my heart, I won that thing. I learned a lot just to stay patient. And there’s more to life than golf. It helps keep my attitude good because at the end of the day we’re all people and I’m more about, like, I want people to feel good.”

That patience paid off in the blistering weather conditions at Old American Golf Club. Green has only carded two bogeys in her first 36 holes, something she attributes to throwing her game back a few months, when things were clicking at the U.S. Women’s Open.

“Honestly, I’ve been working on not changing. Sometimes when I want to get better, I’m like, you could get better without changing things,” said Green, who is tied for fifth at -7 heading into the weekend. “So that’s what I’ve been really working on is just kind of swinging my swing, playing my own game, because that’s what got me close at the U.S. Open, so I’ve been trying to just like harness that energy.”

Perry playing under pressure again

Katherine Perry rolled into her third Volunteers of America Classic with one goal: avoid Q-Series. Perry, who ranks No. 118 on the Official Money List, knows she needs a high finish to miss the two-week event in her home state of North Carolina. She inched closer to her goal after posting a second-round 68 to comfortably make the cut at -7 and head into the weekend tied for fourth.

“I felt really good about yesterday and today. I feel like I’m swinging really well,” said Perry. “I feel like I’m trending in the right direction. Putting has felt really good, just a mistake here or there, but I feel like emotionally I kind of stayed pretty constant, which is the goal.”

Perry knows what it is like to play with mounting pressure on her back. She posted her career-best finish of T5 at the 2019 Pure Silk Championship after Monday qualifying. The result catapulted her up the LPGA Priority List, earning enough official money before the first reshuffle of the season to jump from Category 18 to 13.

“It has been a career year. It’s been a little up and down, just the excitement of the Pure Silk and then playing pretty well, making a lot of cuts there,” said Perry. “I didn’t keep moving forward like I really wanted to, but I feel like my game’s in a good spot right now. Just keep getting better.”

With two rounds of play left to determine her full Tour card fate, Perry reminded herself what all the time off the course could bring. “In October I want to take my nephew to the fair and hang out with him,” said Perry. “That would be great.”

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Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	Total
T1	Alena Sharp	-9	68	65	133
T1	Brittany Altomare	-9	67	66	133
T1	Cheyenne Knight	-9	66	67	133
4	Stephanie Meadow	-8	63	71	134
T5	Jaye Marie Green	-7	67	68	135
T5	Katherine Perry	-7	67	68	135
T7	Caroline Hedwall	-6	69	67	136
T7	Jane Park	-6	69	67	136
T7	Georgia Hall	-6	68	68	136
T7	Wei-Ling Hsu	-6	68	68	136
T7	Ariya Jutanugarn	-6	68	68	136
T12	Maria Fassi	-5	70	67	137
T12	Daniela Darquea	-5	70	67	137
T12	In Gee Chun	-5	68	69	137
T12	Sei Young Kim	-5	68	69	137
T12	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	-5	68	69	137
T12	Inbee Park	-5	67	70	137
T12	Jeongeun Lee6	-5	67	70	137
T12	Dori Carter	-5	65	72	137
T20	Brooke M. Henderson	-4	71	67	138
T20	Pavarisa Yoktuan	-4	70	68	138
T20	Hyo Joo Kim	-4	70	68	138
T20	Sakura Yokomine	-4	69	69	138
T20	Pornanong Phatlum	-4	68	70	138
T20	Jennifer Song	-4	68	70	138
T20	Kristen Gillman	-4	67	71	138
T20	Amy Olson	-4	65	73	138
T28	Eun-Hee Ji	-3	72	67	139
T28	Mina Harigae	-3	71	68	139
T28	Dana Finkelstein	-3	69	70	139
T28	Ruixin Liu	-3	66	73	139
T32	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	-2	74	66	140
T32	Aditi Ashok	-2	69	71	140
T32	Youngin Chun	-2	69	71	140
T32	Gerina Piller	-2	69	71	140
T32	Sung Hyun Park	-2	69	71	140
T37	Ashleigh Buhai	-1	72	69	141
T37	Madelene Sagstrom	-1	72	69	141
T37	In-Kyung Kim	-1	70	71	141
T37	Lauren Kim	-1	69	72	141
T37	Dottie Ardina	-1	68	73	141
T37	Peiyun Chien	-1	68	73	141
T37	Lizette Salas	-1	68	73	141
T37	Gaby Lopez	-1	67	74	141
T45	Klara Spilkova	E	73	69	142
T45	Yu Liu	E	72	70	142
T45	Ayako Uehara	E	72	70	142
T45	Charlotte Thomas	E	72	70	142
T45	Sarah Schmelzel	E	71	71	142
T45	Jenny Haglund	E	71	71	142
T45	Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras	E	70	72	142
T45	Tiffany Joh	E	69	73	142
T45	Jasmine Suwannapura	E	68	74	142
T54	Sarah Burnham	1	73	70	143
T54	Morgan Pressel	1	70	73	143
T54	Brittany Lang	1	70	73	143
T54	Isi Gabsa	1	69	74	143
T54	Chella Choi	1	69	74	143
T54	Lindy Duncan	1	68	75	143
T54	P.K. Kongkraphan	1	68	75	143
T54	Angela Stanford	1	68	75	143
T54	Mi Jung Hur	1	68	75	143
T54	Moriya Jutanugarn	1	66	77	143
T64	Pajaree Anannarukarn	2	75	69	144
T64	Wichanee Meechai	2	74	70	144
T64	Celine Boutier	2	74	70	144
T64	Austin Ernst	2	72	72	144
T64	Jeong Eun Lee	2	72	72	144
T64	Hee Young Park	2	72	72	144
T64	Gabby Lemieux	2	71	73	144
T64	Mirim Lee	2	71	73	144
T64	Ally McDonald	2	71	73	144
T64	Na Yeon Choi	2	71	73	144
T64	Jenny Shin	2	71	73	144
T64	Cydney Clanton	2	69	75	144
T64	Hannah Green	2	68	76	144
T77	Alana Uriell	3	73	72	145
T77	Lee Lopez	3	73	72	145
T77	Charley Hull	3	72	73	145
T77	Lauren Stephenson	3	72	73	145
T77	Jennifer Kupcho	3	72	73	145
T77	Elizabeth Szokol	3	71	74	145
T77	Kim Kaufman	3	71	74	145
T77	Savannah Vilaubi	3	69	76	145
T77	Haeji Kang	3	69	76	145
T77	Pernilla Lindberg	3	68	77	145
T77	Cristie Kerr	3	68	77	145
T88	Kendall Dye	4	77	69	146
T88	Tiffany Chan	4	76	70	146
T88	Anne van Dam	4	74	72	146
T88	Celine Herbin	4	74	72	146
T88	Bronte Law	4	74	72	146
T88	Jing Yan	4	73	73	146
T88	Linnea Strom	4	73	73	146
T88	Ryann O’Toole	4	73	73	146
T88	Clariss Guce	4	72	74	146
T97	Brittany Marchand	5	75	72	147
T97	Katherine Kirk	5	73	74	147
T97	Louise Ridderstrom	5	73	74	147
T97	Kris Tamulis	5	69	78	147
T101	Sarah Kemp	6	74	74	148
T101	Emma Talley	6	73	75	148
T101	Christina Kim	6	72	76	148
T101	Maria Torres	6	72	76	148
T101	Suzuka Yamaguchi	6	71	77	148
T106	Laura Gonzalez Escallon	7	77	72	149
T106	Xiyu Lin	7	74	75	149
T106	Karine Icher	7	73	76	149
T106	Lindsey Weaver	7	73	76	149
T106	Jacqui Concolino	7	71	78	149
T111	Su Oh	8	78	72	150
T111	Marissa Steen	8	77	73	150
T111	Lee-Anne Pace	8	76	74	150
T111	Giulia Molinaro	8	76	74	150
T111	Brianna Do	8	74	76	150
T111	Nicole Broch Larsen	8	74	76	150
117	Gemma Dryburgh	11	77	76	153
118	Marissa Chow	15	79	78	157
WD	Paula Creamer		72
WD	Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong		77