Stats and Stuff: Scoreboard watching not needed at Manulife

Scoreboard watching not needed at Manulife
           
During her win last week at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, winner Hee Young Park made a pact with her caddie to not look at the scoreboard. They wanted to play free of concern about the tournament standings.

“My caddie and I, just one rule when I play, no matter if I play well or not, don’t look at the leaderboard and any number,” Park said after a third-round 61.
           
For Park, it wasn’t necessary to look at the scoreboard as birdies were the story all week. Park and Angela Stanford each finished at 26-under par, one stroke off the LPGA record in relation to par (27-under by Annika Sorenstam in 2001), and tied the mark for raw score (258, tying Karen Stupples from 2004).
           
Park made 26 birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in regulation and then made three birdies in the three-hole playoff, leaving her 29-under par over 75 holes. She played the final 37 holes of regulation without a bogey. Stanford made 27 birdies and a bogey in regulation and two birdies in the playoff to total 28-under in 75 holes. Stanford went the final 39 holes of regulation without a bogey. Add in third-place finisher Catriona Matthew (23-under par with 26 birdies, an eagle, three bogeys and a double bogey) and the top three finishers totaled 81 under-par holes on the week. Their 27 sub-par holes each during the week was two off the LPGA mark of 29.

“If somebody would have told me you're going to shoot 64 (in the final round) and not win, I would have thought they were crazy,” Stanford said. “So for me to shoot 64-64 on the weekend, it’s good for me but it’s not a W, so you play to win.”

Additionally, Park’s third-round 61 matched the lowest score of the year on the LPGA, established by Anna Nordqvist in Mobile, Ala.
Here are the scoring categories impacted by last week’s birdie-fest:

72 holes
     
In relation to par
           
-27, 261 (65-59-69-68) Annika Sorenstam, Moon Valley Country Club, Phoenix, Ariz., 2001 Standard Register PING, par 72
           
-26, 262 (63-67-64-68) Karrie Webb, Royal Pines Resort, Ashmore, Goldcoast, Queensland, Australia, 1999 Australian Ladies Masters, par 72
        
-26, 258  (65-67-61-65) Hee Young Park, Grey Silo Golf Course, Waterloo, ON, 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, par 71
    
-26, 258 (63-67-64-64) Angela Stanford, Grey Silo Golf Course, Waterloo, ON, 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, par 71
           
Raw score
     
258, -26 (65-67-61-65) Hee Young Park, Grey Silo Golf Course, Waterloo, ON, 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, par 71
        
258, -26 (63-67-64-64) Angela Stanford, Grey Silo Golf Course, Waterloo, ON, 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, par 71
           
258, -22 (63-66-66-63) Karen Stupples, Dell Urich Golf Course, Tucson, Ariz., 2004 Welch’s/Fry’s Championship, par 70
           
259, -21 (65-62-67-65) Wendy Doolan, Dell Urich Golf Course, Tucson, Ariz., 2003 Welch’s/Fry’s Championship, par 70
           
261, -23 (71-61-63-66) Se Ri Pak, Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio, 1998 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, par 71
           
261, -27 (65-59-69-68) Annika Sorenstam, Moon Valley Country Club, Phoenix, Ariz., 2001 Standard Register PING, par 72
           
261 -23 (63-64-68-66), Catriona Matthew, Grey Silo Golf Course, Waterloo, ON, 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, par 71
           
262, -26 (63-67-64-68) Karrie Webb, Royal Pines Resort, Ashmore, Goldcoast, Queensland, Australia, 1999 Australian Ladies Masters, par 72


Matthew at home in Scotland
           
Catriona Matthew was on a plane headed home on Sunday night after finishing third at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. In store for the Scotland native are three weeks at home watching and then playing golf.
           
A North Berwick resident, Matthew lives only five miles from Muirfield, site of this week’s British Open. She will attend the competition. In two weeks (Aug. 1-4), she is just two hours’ drive from The Old Course at St. Andrews, site of the Ricoh Women’s British Open, the fourth major on the 2013 LPGA schedule.
           
“Maybe go with Adam Scott again,” Matthew said of this week’s competition. “I just think it's going to be a positional course, it's playing hard and fast without any rain at home. He's obviously playing well.”

Inbee Park’s streak ends, plays this week
           
Even though Inbee Park’s three tournament winning streak ended last week at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, the world’s No. 1-ranked player is still on quite a roll entering this week’s Marathon Classic.
           
Park shot four rounds in the 60s in Canada to extend her run to 11 rounds in the 60s over the last 15 rounds. That stretch includes eight rounds at major championships, the Wegmans LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open, traditionally more difficult course setups.
           
Park will be among the favorites again this week. She has played Highland Meadows in four tournaments, with 10 of the last 12 rounds in the 60s and only one round over par in 14 trips around the course. She has finished sixth and T3 in the last two tournaments in Sylvania, Ohio.


Lewis goes back to birthplace
           
Stacy Lewis enjoyed a college homecoming in Arkansas earlier this season and will have another one this week. Lewis was born in Toledo and moved to Texas when she was age 2. Three years ago, she was followed by the “Lew Crew,” a group of friends and extended family who still reside in Toledo. This will be her fifth Farr appearance and she is searching for her first top-10 finish. Lewis’ best finish was a T11 last year.


Highland Meadows’ finish
           
Highland Meadows Golf Club has a dramatic finish with consecutive par 5s. The 17th is a reachable par 5 at 513 yards and the finishing hole is a true three-shot hole at 532 yards. There is only one par 3 on the back nine, the 14th; therefore, players come home on a par-37 nine. The front nine plays to par 34 with three par 3s and one par 5.

Even though 2012 champion So Yeon Ryu finished 20-under, the South Korean only played the last two par 5s in 1-under. That included a birdie on the final hole to complete a final-round 62 and a seven-stroke victory margin.
           
Highland Meadows, located in Sylvania, Ohio, has been the site of an LPGA event since 1966 when the Glass City Classic, a one-year event, was won by Sandra Haynie. When the Marathon Classic debuted in 1984, Glengarry Country Club in Toledo was the site until 1988. Highland Meadows became the site in 1989.

Solheim Cup update

There will be two tournaments scheduled with Solheim Cup points this week – the Marathon Classic on the LPGA and the Open de Espana on the Ladies European Tour. The teams will be finalized on Aug. 4 at the conclusion of the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

Last week, Angela Stanford earned 30 points with her runner-up finish at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic and stays in fourth place on the U.S. points list with 381. Stacy Lewis continues to lead the Americans with 834.5 points after earning 30 points with her tie for sixth finish last week.

The current standings (Through July 15):