For Lydia Ko, small goals provide big boost at Kemper Lakes
It seems strange that a one-time world No. 1 player would just be concentrating on surviving the 36-hole cut in a major championship, but that was the case with New Zealand's Lydia Ko on Friday.
"That was the goal coming into today because I just couldn't roll anything (in Thursday's first round)," said Ko. "I try to take small goals, small steps. You want to go out there playing the best you can, but I tried to think small and not get too ahead of myself."
The goals may have been conservative, but the result wasn't as she posted a 6-under-par 66, same low for the opening round when conditions were much easier. That not only assured her of making the cut, it pulled her within two shots of the lead halfway through the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes.
Paired with stars So Yeon Ryu and Lexi Thompson, Ko rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt with a left-to-right break on the first hole. Then it was game on.
"Making a putt straight out of the gate was a big momentum changer," said Ko, who made eight birdies (three in a row from holes 11 to 13).
Just 21, Ko already has won two majors - the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration. Last year she went without a win and lost her No. 1 ranking, but an April victory in the Mediheal Championship in California - her 15th in less than five years on the circuit - started her comeback.
Ready for a breakthrough?
There are 12 players in the field who are seeking their first major title after finishing as runner-up in a previous one. That group includes Canadian Brittany Altomare and England's Charley Hull. Hull is among three players to finish in the top 10 of the first two majors contested in 2018.
Eight players have been the runner-up in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship but have yet to win the title. That group includes a trio of top American stars - Michelle Wie (2005), Stacey Lewis (2012) and Brittany Lincicome (2014).
A change in the booth
Paige Mackenzie, who saw her career as an LPGA player halted by a back injury, will make her major championship debut in the broadcast booth for Golf Channel and NBC as lead analyst for live coverage. NBC will carry the weekend rounds from 2-5 p.m.
Mackenzie, still an LPGA member, is quick to note how the tournament, once known as the LPGA Championship, has changed - particularly since KPMG took over as sponsor and the PGA of America assumed control in 2016.
"I think back to some of the days that we played the LPGA Championship, trying to find a sponsor and trying to find a home for the event and then thinking about where it is now," she said. "It feels like a world of difference for the LPGA Tour. Obviously it was a huge win for the PGA of America to join in with KPMG. It's reflective of our time, of our game and of our industry in that you're elevating women. You're putting them on the forefront."
Here and there
Thursday's aces by Lexi Thompson and Brittany Merchand made Kemper Lakes the third course to allow two holes-in-one in the tournament's 64-year history. The others were Pheasant Valley (Massachusetts) in 1974, and DuPont (Delaware) in 2001. Marchand won a 2009 Kia Sorento for hers. There have been 24 holes-in-one in the tournament since 1971.
• Payne Stewart, winner of the men's PGA Championship at Kemper in 1989, still has his name on a clubhouse locker. It's proven lucky for at least one player who has her locker next to it this week. Spain's Carlota Ciganda made a late charge and was a stroke off the lead on Friday.
• Kemper Lakes was set up at 6,648 yards for the second round, which was 13 more than the setup in Round 1. Biggest change was at the par-3 13th. It played at 205 yards on Thursday and 179 on Friday.
• The second round started minus one of the first-round players. Katelyn Dambaugh of Charleston, S.C., withdrew citing an undisclosed injury. She shot 80 in Round 1.
• Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa was disqualified in Round 2 for using a damaged club. She slammed her sand wedge into a stake and didn't realize it had been damaged until after she used it again.
• The inaugural Girls in the Game Golf Academy concluded Friday with a scramble event at Countryside in Mundelein. The event involved 35 girls, ranging in age from 8 to 15 from 22 Chicago area schools, playing with members of the Network of Exelon Women.
• Twitter: @ZiehmLen