With two weeks remaining in the points race, Jennifer Johnson, Beatriz Recari and Jodi Ewart Shadoff are getting closer to debuts on the Solheim Cup teams.
Johnson, a first-time LPGA winner earlier this year, moved to 51st this week in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, one spot ahead of Morgan Pressel, after a T7 at the Marathon Classic. The top eight players in LPGA Solheim Cup points make the American team, two spots are reserved for the top players in the Rolex Rankings who are not already qualified via Solheim Cup points and the final two spots are determined by U.S. Captain Meg Mallon.
The European side could include three Spaniards. Recari virtually secured a spot with last week’s victory in the Marathon Classic as she moved up eight spots to No. 18 in the world. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda is already on the team and Azahara Munoz could make it with her Rolex ranking.
England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff is flying up the list after finishing T4 at the U.S. Women’s Open and a career-best T3 last week at the Marathon. She moved up 14 spots to No. 46 in the Rolex Rankings this week and needs a good performance at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
The European team is composed of the top four in Ladies European Tour Solheim Cup points, the top four in the Rolex Rankings who don’t qualify via the Solheim Cup points and four players chosen by Captain Liselotte Neumann.
There will be one tournament scheduled with Solheim Cup points this week – the ISPS Handa European Ladies Masters in England on the Ladies European Tour. European team contenders Gwladys Nocera, Caroline Masson and Sandra Gal are entered in the tournament. The teams will be finalized on Aug. 4 at the conclusion of the Ricoh Women’s British Open, which awards double points.
The current standings: Through July 21
| United States Solheim Cup points (top eight) | European Team Solheim points (top four) |
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| 1 | Stacy Lewis | 857 | 1 | Suzann Pettersen, Norway | 163 | |
| 2 | Paula Creamer | 526.5 | 2 | Carlota Ciganda, Spain | 138.13 | |
| 3 | Cristie Kerr | 484.5 | 3 | Catriona Matthew, Scotland | 136.75 | |
| 4 | Angela Stanford | 406.5 | 4 | Caroline Masson, Germany | 111.50 | |
| 5 | Brittany Lincicome | 269 | --------------------------------------------- | |||
| 6 | Lexi Thompson | 261 | 5 | Caroline Hedwall, Sweden | 93.25 | |
| 7 | Jessica Korda | 247.5 | 6 | Gwladys Nocera, France | 100 | |
| 8 | Brittany Lang | 241 | 7 | Giulia Sergas, Italy | 91.38 | |
| --------------------------------------------- | 8 | Anna Nordqvist, Sweden | 79.50 | |||
| 9 | Jennifer Johnson | 185 | ||||
| T10 | Gerina Piller | 174 |
Rolex Rankings (top four |
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| T10 | Lizette Salas | 174 | ||||
| 12 | Morgan Pressel | 164.5 | *3 | Suzann Pettersen, Norway | 7.90 | |
| 13 | Michelle Wie | 160.5 | *10 | Catriona Matthew, Scotland | 5.44 | |
| 18 | Beatriz Recari, Spain | 4.08 | ||||
| Rolex Rankings (top two, excluding Solheim’s top eight) |
23 | Anna Nordqvist, Sweden | 3.54 | |||
| 25 | Karine Icher, France | 3.40 | ||||
| *2 | Stacy Lewis | 8.07 | 27 | Azahara Munoz, Spain | 3.33 | |
| *11 | Paula Creamer | 5.39 | *28 | Carlota Ciganda, Spain | 3.12 | |
| *14 | Cristie Kerr | 5.28 | 29 | Caroline Hedwall, Sweden | 3.05 | |
| *16 | Angela Stanford | 4.45 | 45 | Jodi Ewart Shadoff, England | 2.31 | |
| 21 | Lizette Salas | 3.75 | 54 | Sandra Gal, Germany | 2.01 | |
| *26 | Lexi Thompson | 3.40 | 58 | Giulia Sergas, Italy | 1.99 | |
| *30 | Jessica Korda | 3.01 | *60 | Caroline Masson, Germany | 1.92 | |
| *37 | Brittany Lincicome | 2.76 | 91 | Alison Walshe, Ireland | 1.30 | |
| *43 | Brittany Lang | 2.41 | *- Currently in top four of European Solheim Cup points. |
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| 51 | Jennifer Johnson | 2.11 | ||||
| 52 | Morgan Pressel | 2.10 | ||||
| 56 | Gerina Piller | 1.99 | Solheim Cup points available | |||
| 75 | Nicole Castrale | 1.56 | Place | ISPS Handa | Ricoh Women’s British | |
| 76 | Mo Martin | 1.56 | ||||
| 1 | 40 | 80 | ||||
| 78 | Danielle Kang | 1.55 | 2 | 24 | 60 | |
| 80 | Michelle Wie | 1.48 | 3 | 18 | 40 | |
| *- Currently in top eight of U.S. Solheim Cup points. |
4 | 16 | 36 | |||
| 5 | 14 | 32 | ||||
| 6 | 12 | 30 | ||||
| Solheim Cup points available at Ricoh Women’s British Open (Doubled for major championship) |
7 | 10 | 28 | |||
| 8 | 8 | 26 | ||||
| 9 | 6 | 24 | ||||
| Place | Points | 10 | 4 | 22 | ||
| 1 | 120 | 11 | NA | 20 | ||
| 2 | 60 | 12 | NA | 18 | ||
| 3 | 57 | 13 | NA | 16 | ||
| 4 | 54 | 14 | NA | 14 | ||
| 5 | 51 | 15 | NA | 12 | ||
| 6 | 48 | 16 | NA | 10 | ||
| 7 | 45 | 17 | NA | 8 | ||
| 8 | 42 | 18 | NA | 6 | ||
| 9 | 39 | 19 | NA | 4 | ||
| 10 | 36 | 20 | NA | 2 | ||
| 11 | 33 | |||||
| 12 | 30 | |||||
| 13 | 27 | |||||
| 14 | 24 | |||||
| 15 | 21 | |||||
| 16 | 18 | |||||
| 17 | 15 | |||||
| 18 | 12 | |||||
| 19 | 9 | |||||
| 20 | 6 | |||||
It’s just a name
At first, Spain’s Beatriz Recari was a bit concerned about the Marathon Classic tradition of naming a street near Highland Meadows Country Club after the winner of the LPGA tournament.
“Normally in Spain, it’s like you don’t name a street until that person is dead, so I don’t know,” Recari said. “I’m a bit superstitious, so I don’t know. I’m cool with it. If that happens, that would be an honor for sure.”
One year till International Crown debut
Most of the eyes on women’s golf are focused on Inbee Park and the Ricoh Women’s British Open next week and the Solheim Cup in Colorado Aug. 16-18. But one year from now a new international tournament debuts: the International Crown July 21-27, 2014 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
The competition will include 32 players representing eight countries with four players per country. The field of eight countries will be set based on the Rolex Women’s World Rankings on Monday, Nov. 25, 2013 and the 32 players will be finalized after the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. The competition will take place over four days with three days of four-ball competition and one day of singles matches on Sunday. Five of the eight countries will advance to the Sunday singles matches based on the outcome of the four-ball matches.
Currently, the eight teams include (in order of the standings) South Korea, United States, Japan, Spain, Australia, Sweden, Thailand and Chinese Taipei. England and France are outside of the cut line presently. In order to qualify, a country must have four players in the Rolex Rankings.
Etc.
Last Sunday was quite a day for the Thompson family. Lexi Thompson aced the 14th hole (to win a car) and finished birdie-birdie in the final round to finish T3 at the Marathon Classic. Older brother Nicholas, 30, was tied for the third-round lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour (opposite the British Open) and finished birdie-birdie to place fourth, his career best. Bill Kratzert and Cathy Gerring and Jackie Gallagher-Smith and Jim Gallagher are the only brother-sister combinations who have won on the LPGA and the PGA Tour. … Paula Creamer has gone 68 events and three years without a victory but has placed seventh, fourth and second in her last three starts. … Yani Tseng missed the cut at the Marathon Classic last week, her third consecutive missed cut, the first time she has missed three in a row in her career. She also dropped out of the top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, down to No. 12. … Inbee Park finished T33 last week and took 117 putts on the week including two rounds with more than 30 putts. When she won the Wegmans LPGA Championship, the first of three consecutive wins, Park took only 109 putts and did not have more than 29 in a single round. She goes for the fourth leg of the LPGA Grand Slam in two weeks at St. Andrews.
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