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Navistar LPGA Classic – Final-Round Notes and Interviews

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Navistar LPGA Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Capitol Hill, Senator Course
Prattville, Alabama
September 18, 2011
Final-round notes and interviews

Lexi Thompson -17, Rolex Rankings No. 124
Tiffany Joh -12, Rolex Rankings No. 135
Brittany Lang -10, Rolex Rankings No. 31

Lexi Thompson became the youngest winner in the 61-year history of the LPGA Tour by capturing a five-shot victory at the Navistar LPGA Classic. Thompson, who is 16 years, 7 months and 8 days old, shot a final round 2-under 70 to help secure her victory over Tiffany Joh, who finished in second at 12-under-par.

Before Thompson’s win, Marlene Hagge had held the distinction as the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour. Hagge was 18 years, 14 days when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open, which was an 18-hole event. Hagge won two 18-hole events at the age of 18. The youngest winner of a multi-round event on the LPGA Tour had been Paula Creamer, who captured the 2005 Sybase Classic when she was 18 years, 9 months and 17 days.

Thompson is no stranger to breaking records. In 2007, she became the youngest person to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at the age of 12. That same year she won the Westerfield Junior PGA Championship to become the youngest winner in Junior PGA Championship history.

Golfing is a way of life in the Thompson family. Lexi’s oldest brother Nicholas, 28, is a member of the Nationwide Tour this season and spent the past three years on the PGA Tour. Her other brother Curtis, 18, is a freshman on the Louisiana State University men’s golf team and her father, Scott, was her caddie this week on the Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Capitol Hill.

“Just being there with my dad, he was like, Lexi, just enjoy that walk,” Thompson said of coming up the 18th to a huge ovation from the crowd. “He told me, ‘I am going off to the side because I might cry.’ You know, I definitely cried after I finished. Just finishing that with my dad on the bag, it was the best experience. I wouldn’t be out here without my dad ‑‑ and my mom, of course.”

Thompson, who carried a five-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round, held steady for the majority the day on the course. She went through one tough stretch when she made two straight bogeys on No. 11 and 12. But the 16-year-old held her composure as her lead was cut to three shots thanks to four s, making back-to-back birdies on No. 16 and 17 to increase her lead back to five shots heading into the 18th hole. After just missing her birdie putt that would have given her four straight rounds in the 60s, Thompson tapped in her par putt to complete her impressive victory and during the trophy presentation, Thompson announced that she will donate $20,000 of her $195,000 first-prize check to the tournament’s official charity, The Wound Warrior Project.


Tiffany Joh

Video star: Tiffany Joh has become well-known on the LPGA Tour recently for the musical talent that she has shown in her You Tube videos, but the rookie has also been impressing with her golf. Joh shot a 4-under 68 in Sunday’s final round to record a career-best runner-up finish.

Of course, Joh’s success on the golf course should only bring m

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Navistar LPGA Classic – Third-Round Notes and Interviews

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Navistar LPGA Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Capitol Hill, Senator Course
Prattville, Alabama
September 17, 2011
Third-round notes and interviews

Lexi Thompson -15, Rolex Rankings No. 124
Tiffany Joh -8, Rolex Rankings No. 135
Karen Stupples -8, Rolex Rankings No. 61
Becky Morgan -8, Rolex Rankings No. 167
Stacy Lewis -7, Rolex Rankings No. 11
Juli Inkster -6, Rolex Ranking 47

Lexi Thompson

16-year-old Lexi Thompson will take a five-stroke lead into the final round of play at the Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday outside of Montgomery, Ala. Thompson shot a 5-under 67 during Saturday’s third round and currently sits at 15-under-par for the tournament. She leads Rolex Rankings No. 58 Meena Lee, who sits at 10-under-par, heading into the final round of the 72-hole event at the RTJ Trail Capitol Hill’s Senator Course.

Thompson got off to a hot start in her round on Saturday, recording four straight birdies on holes No. 6-9 en route to shooting a 31 on the front nine. Thompson didn’t miss a green on Saturday until the 10th hole and over the course of the first three rounds, she has missed a total of just four greens. In Thompson’s first round she hit an impressive 18 greens in regulation.

This will be the second time that Thompson has carried a lead into the final round of an LPGA event. She was tied for the lead with Song-Hee Kim entering the final round of the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala. back in April, but went on to shoot a 78 on Sunday and finish in a tie for 19th.

“It definitely helps having that experience,” Thompson said. “Definitely going to try to play a lot better. But I learned a lot from there. I probably got a little fast and jumbled up my thoughts. I’m just going to free swing tomorrow and just take one shot at a time and take it slow.”

If Thompson can hold on to win, she would become the youngest champion in LPGA history. Thompson will be 16 years, 7 months and 8 days on Sunday. Marlene Hagge was 18 years, 14 days when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open, which was an 18-hole event. Hagge won two 18-hole events at the age of 18. The youngest winner of a multi-round event on the LPGA Tour was Paula Creamer, who captured the 2005 Sybase Classic when she was 18 years, 9 months and 17 days.

Karen Stupples

Age is just a number: Thompson is certainly drawing a lot of attention based on the fact that she’s only 16 years old, but it’s not just the youngsters who are near the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round.

There is a trio of players over the age of 38 who currently sit in the top-10 at the Navistar LPGA Classic. They are Karen Stupples (38), Pat Hurst (42) and Juli Inkster

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Navistar LPGA Classic – Second-Round Notes and Interviews

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Navistar LPGA Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Capital Hill, Senator Course
Prattville, Alabama
September 16, 2011
Second-round notes and interviews

 
Lexi Thompson -10, Rolex Rankings No. 124
Stacy Lewis -8, Rolex Rankings No. 11
Becky Morgan -8, Rolex Rankings No. 167
Hee Kyung Seo -6, Rolex Rankings No. 26
Jennifer Johnson -6, Rolex Rankings No. 208

 
Sixteen-year-old Lexi Thompson will take a two-stroke lead into the third round of play at the Navistar LPGA Classic outside Montgomery, Ala. Thompson sits at 10-under-par after shooting a 68 in Friday’s second round and she’ll be paired in the final group on Saturday with Rolex Rankings No. 11 Stacy Lewis and Wales native Becky Morgan.
 
Thompson followed up her first-round 66 with another impressive round, tallying five birdies and one bogey on Friday. It’s the second time that Thompson has held the lead after two rounds at the Navistar LPGA Classic, as she also did it back in 2009.
 
This week marks Thompson’s eighth start on the LPGA this season. Her best finish in those starts this season was a T19 at the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala., which is also played on one of the courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. She entered the final round of the Avnet LPGA Classic this year holding sole possession of the lead but went on to shoot a 78 on Sunday.
 
"I’m going to try to forget about Avnet, what I did the last day," Thompson said. "I’m just going to try to go into the weekend and play like I did the last two days:  just relax and calm and just swing freely."
 
Thompson is having a good summer, which included her winning the first stage of LPGA Q School by 10 shots back in July. Now she’ll try to see if she can improve upon her career-best finish, which was a tie for second at the 2010 Evian Masters. This will be the third time in Thompson’s career that she’s been paired in the final group on the LPGA Tour. And helping with Thompson’s comfort level is the fact that she is familiar with her playing partners, having even been paired with Lewis for a few rounds during the Ladies European Tour’s Irish Women’s Open this summer.
 
"They’re great players so I’m looking forward to it," Thompson said. "Just going to try to play consistently like I did the last few days."

 
Finding that consistency: Stacy Lewis is tied for second with Becky Morgan at 8-under-par after shooting her second straight round of 68 on Friday. But finding herself near the top of the leaderboard is nothing new for Lewis this season.
 
Since becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in early April, Lewis has tallied six top-8 finishes. Four of those top-8 finishes have come in Lewis’ last five tournaments and twice during that stretch she recorded a runner-up finish (Evian Masters and the CN Canadian Women’s Open). Prior to her win at Kraft, Lewis had recorded a total of 10 top-10 finishes in her career since 2007. 
 
"My friends are like, I’m not going to tell you good playing anymore.  We’re tired of hearing it," Lewis said with a laugh. "But it’s so nice to be there [near the top of the leaderboard].  It’s getting comfortable there, and I think the more I’m there the more comfortable I’m

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Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco RV Pre-tournament Notes and Interviews

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Navistar LPGA Classic
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Capital Hill, Senator Course
Prattville, Alabama
September 13, 2011
Pre-tournament notes and interviews

 
Yani Tseng, Rolex Rankings No. 1
Katherine Hull, Rolex Rankings No. 33

 
The LPGA returns to Prattville, Alabama, this week for the fifth playing of the Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco RV. An elite field of 144 players will compete for a total purse of $1,300,000 and a first place prize of $195,000 on the Robert Trent Jones Trail’s Capitol Hill Senator Course.
 
The star studded field features 13 of the top 15 players in the Rolex Rankings including Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, No. 3 Cristie Kerr, No. 4 Na Yeon Choi, No. 8 Paula Creamer, No. 9 Brittany Lincicome, No. 10 I.K. Kim, No. 11 Stacy Lewis, No. 12 Michelle Wie, No. 13 Karrie Webb and No. 14 Inbee Park. Tseng, who looks to capture her sixth LPGA tournament and ninth tournament victory world-wide this year, is coming off a win at last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G.
 
Headlining this week’s field are former champions including defending champion Katherine Hull, Maria Hjorth, LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame members Juli Inkster and Se Ri Pak. Last year, Hull earned a one-stroke victory over Brittany Lincicome to claim her second career LPGA title
 
Sweet Home Alabama: Defending Champion Katherine Hull might be from Australia but the Aussie feels right at home with the southern hospitality in Prattville, Alabama.
 
“It’s always nice to be back here,” said Hull.  I love this golf course, and we’re fortunate we play down in Mobile, as well, and I think the southern hospitality, you can’t beat it.  It actually reminds me of home, like the laid‑back kind of personality of people.”
 
Hull is in the midst of an up-and-down 2011 season that includes four top-21 finishes and a season-best tie for sixth at the Avnet LPGA Classic. While the two-time LPGA Tour champion feels confident about her game, she admits several off-the-course issues have stood in the way of her hoisting her third trophy.
 
“I’ve kind of had a rough year off the golf course, and it’s affected what’s going on on the golf course, so it’s been hard to kind of get that in check,” said Hull. “Swing‑wise it feels pretty good. ”
 
Playing for a cause: LPGA Tour rookie Jennifer Johnson has made the most of her first-year campaign and now she is taking the time to give back. Earlier this season, Johnson played for the Wounded Warrior Project at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup and she has since partnered with Navistar to help raise awareness for the cause.
 
On Tuesday, Johnson played a practice round with two Wounded Warriors – Dan Nevins and Joe Caley – both who suffered brain injuries in Iraq. Nevins continues to play golf despite the loss of both his legs. Johnson will also donate half of her Navistar LPGA Classic earnings to the cause. Johnson, who began the season with Category 20 status, has moved her way up the list via some good play and the reshuffle. Johnson has made six of nine cuts this year with a season-best tie for 12th at the CN Canadian Women’s Open. She currently sits No. 70 on the LPGA money list.
 
“It’s an honor to be playing with

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Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco RV Tournament Preview

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Defending Champion Katherine Hull

The LPGA returns to Prattville, Alabama, this week for the fifth playing of the Navistar LPGA Classic. An elite field of 144 players will compete for a total purse of $1,300,000 and a first place prize of $195,000 on the Robert Trent Jones Trail’s Capitol Hill Senator Course.

The star studded field features 13 of the top 15 players in the Rolex Rankings including Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, No. 3 Cristie Kerr, No. 4 Na Yeon Choi, No. 8 Paula Creamer, No. 9 Brittany Lincicome, No. 10 I.K. Kim, No. 11 Stacy Lewis, No. 12 Michelle Wie, No. 13 Karrie Webb and No. 14 Inbee Park. Tseng, who looks to capture her sixth LPGA tournament and ninth tournament victory world-wide this year, is coming off a win at last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G.

Headlining this week’s field are former champions including defending champion Katherine Hull, Maria Hjorth, LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame members Juli Inkster and Se Ri Pak. Last year, Hull earned a one-stroke victory over Brittany Lincicome to claim her second career LPGA title. This year, Hull has earned four top-21 finishes including a season-best tie for sixth at the Avnet LPGA Classic. Gearing up for next week’s Solheim Cup, all 12 U.S. Solheim Cup team members and six of the 12 European Solheim Cup team members are in the field.

Making their return to the LPGA this week are sponsor invites Charlotte Mayorkas and 16-year old professional Lexi Thompson. Thompson finished tied for 16th in the event last year. She held a share of the 36-hole lead at the 2009 event as a 14-year old amateur to finish in an eventual tie for 27th. Thompson, who recently won Stage I of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament by 10 shots, looks to improve on her LPGA season-best T-19 at the Avnet LPGA Classic. Her LPGA career-best is tie for 2nd at the 2010 Evian Masters.


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