No player enters this weeks’ inaugural LPGA Volvik Championship in as good of form as Ariya Jutanugarn who is coming off of back-to-back victories at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and the Kingsmill Championship.
“I didn’t feel pressure anymore,” Jutanugarn said. “I didn’t feel like I really, really want to win my first tournament, and the only goal before final round is I really want to enjoy and happy with every single shot.”
While Jutanugarn has been on fire as of late she still sees Travis Pointe Country Club as a great test for her golf game.
“To me this course great, great shape, great golf course. It’s really challenge for me because I can’t hit my driver, so I had to take my driver out and I just have to keep like game plan,” Jutanugarn explained. “So put my ball in the fairway and hit second shot even, I’m going to have second shot longer than normal so that’s my challenge.”
Jutanugarn’s game seems to be peaking at the right time with the season’s second Major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a mere two weeks away.
“I have more confidence so right now to be honest, I won LPGA already so I looking forward to win some major,” Jutanugarn admitted. “Even one major in my life, that be great. So every major I have to prepare a lot and work harder and harder.”
LYDIA KO EXCITED TO BE IN MICHIGAN
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko is excited to be teeing it up with some of the world’s best golfers this week at the LPGA Volvik Championship.
“I think this is a great event and we see a lot of the top names are out here, girls that have played really well here and Ariya, who just came off back to back wins, are here, so I think it’s a great field,” Ko said. “We’re all supporting it, but, you know, for the girls that aren’t here, it’s not necessarily they’re not supporting the event, it’s because of the busy schedule that we had before this and also that are coming up. That’s why we can’t play it all, as we say. But I think like I said before, Volvik has been a great sponsor and a supporter of our tour so we also would like to support them.”
Ko is coming off her first start in over a month where she finished tied for 18th at the Kingsmill Championship.
“Coming back to Kingsmill, the first day I did feel a little rusty but fortunately I was able to play pretty solid the next three days to kind of put myself in good positions,” Ko said. “But now I feel like even though I did feel a little rusty on that first day, you do need that time off. You can’t be playing for 365 days and just every event. I almost feel like you need to balance it out and I think that’s a way when you’re playing better in the next event, because you need the rest for you to energize and perform at your best.”
The 19-year-old will look to shake off the remainder of the rust and post a solid showing this week at Travis Pointe.
“I mean, obviously when you come to a new course and you haven’t played that course many times, you don’t really know what the course plays like exactly until the tournament really starts,” Ko explained. “But in saying that, there’s no advantage on any player because it’s not like some players have played here in the years before and we’ve come back, so I think everybody’s just trying to get used to it the most we can.”
LOCAL SARAH HOFFMAN EXCITED FOR OPPORTUNITY
Ann Arbor native Sarah Hoffman could be working as a nurse in a hospital somewhere this week, but instead she’ll be teeing it up in her hometown in the LPGA Volvik Championship. Hoffman played golf and earned her nursing degree at Grand Valley State, and will be taking advantage of a sponsor exemption from Volvik to compete at a familiar site in Travis Pointe Country Club. In February, she decided to put her nursing career on hold and attempt to make a living on the golf course.
“I had taken a year and a half off for golf,” Hoffman explained. “I still know I missed it but I didn’t know if I missed the team aspect of it, the traveling aspect, or if I just really wanted to make that my profession. So I decided to go into nursing and play amateur events and see how they went while staying at home and saving some money. So I enjoyed it, I still wanted to do it, I wanted to do it more and more, and so in February I quit my job and I moved down to Florida to start preparing for Q School in August.”
Hoffman was initially recruited by Grand Valley State for her talent as a basketball player. She told the media on Wednesday that some aspects of the two sports were transferrable, such as competitive edge, but she would be concentrated on her own game in her first career LPGA tournament.
“I just want to go up there and put a good score up on the board for myself,” said Hoffman. “I don’t want to get too worked up about what everyone else is doing, I just want to stay focused on my own game and see what happens.”
NUMBERS TO KNOW
30 - 30 players who would represent their countries in Rio at the 2016 Summer Olympics are in the field this week
23 - Not a single winner this year on the LPGA Tour has been over the age of 23
20.92 - Through the first 13 events of the 2016 LPGA season the average age of winners is 20.92
9 - There have been nine different winners this year (four players – Ha Na Jang, Lydia Ko, Haru Nomura, Ariya Jutanugarn – have two wins each)
6 - Different countries represented amongst winners this year: South Korea, United States, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Thailand
5 - Out of the top-10 in the world, five are 23 years old or younger (No. 1 Lydia Ko (19), No. 3 Lexi Thompson (21), No. 4 Sei Young Kim (23), No. 6 Brooke Henderson (18), No. 7 In Gee Chun (21)); all five are in the field this week
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