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Defending champion Lee6 back for more Women’s Open glory (nationthailand.com)

Defending champion Lee6 back for more Women’s Open glory

Dec 09. 2020 JEONGEUN LEE6  The 2019 U.S. Women’s Open was a breakthrough moment for Jeongeun Lee6. After introducing herself to the golfing world with a tie for fifth at the 2017 championship, the Korean star captured her first LPGA Tour victory last year with a two-stroke victory at the Country Club of Charleston.

“I’m a bit of a nervous, but I’m just trying not to think about it too much,” said Lee6, who is attempting to become the first back-to-back winner U.S. Women’s Open winner since Karrie Webb in 2000 and 2001. “I just want to feel kind of loose when I play on the course, so I don’t feel super tense and then feel nervous all the time.”

This is Lee6’s fourth LPGA Tour appearance of 2020, having returned to Korea following the Tour’s two weeks in Australia in February. While the LPGA Tour resumed play in July, Lee6 opted to stay home and keep her game sharp on the KLPGA Tour. In 13 competitions, she had five top-10 finishes, including back-to-back runner-up showings at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters and the IS Dongseo Busan Open. She returned to LPGA Tour competition with a tie for 16th at last week’s Volunteers of America Classic.

“It feels weird being in Korea for that long, but I really did enjoy staying at home with my family,” said Lee6. “Then got to play on the KLPGA Tour, and my goal was to win one of the tournaments on the KLPGA Tour, but I’m glad that I got to play all the tournaments in Korea. Coming back to the States, it just makes me more excited and I’m happy about it.”

DANIELLE KANG WELL-PREPARED FOR OPEN CHALLENGE

It’s hard to believe, but when Danielle Kang made her U.S. Women’s Open debut in 2007 at age 14, she had only been playing golf for a year and a half. Fast forward to 2020 and she’s become one of the best golfers on the planet, with two LPGA Tour victories in 2020 and a major title at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to her name.

Kang comes to Champions Golf Club on fresh legs, last teeing it up at the LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee in late October. After a scouting visit to Champions in early November, the two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion feels as prepared as she can be to take on the Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit courses.

“I came here during the Houston Open, during the men’s event, and played three rounds just to get familiar with the golf course. But I actually didn’t play on Monday here, and today I played nine holes,” said Kang, whose best U.S. Women’s Open finish is solo fourth in 2018. “I think being able to calibrate between the golf courses back and forth will be really key, because they’re both rolling differently, the greens. They break differently, speed is different, and grass is a little different.”

Kang is known for tinkering with her game, working hard to dial in her numbers and clubs with coach Butch Harmon. Using the phrase “titter tatter” to describe her play at Lake Oconee, Kang used the last month of downtime to really focus on what she needs to do to contend for a second major title.

“When I played this golf course, I knew I needed my distance, I needed the height, my speed, I need that, and that’s very important to me,” said Kang. “I didn’t quite have that in Georgia when I played at Lake Reynolds, and I hit my driver like 225, about 225, and I was hitting things lower. That’s something that I wanted to change when I came out here, or at least have in my bag because Cypress Creek is a big golf course. There’s a lot of cover numbers, like 230. There’s going to be a lot of 4-irons in and 5-woods, and if I could kind of capitalize on that 10, 15 yards, I think it’ll benefit me just a little bit. I wanted to tune that in during the few off weeks.”

SEI YOUNG KIM’S ROLL COULD WELL CONTINUE AT THIS U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN

From holing an 8-iron out of the fairway to beat Inbee Park in a playoff in Hawaii, to setting an all-time LPGA Tour scoring record; from making a 22-footer on the final green at the CME Tour Championship to capture the largest payday in women’s golf history, to picking apart a difficult Aronimink Golf Club to win her first major title, Sei Young Kim has always shown a flair for the dramatic. It would surprise no one if she was hoisting the U.S. Women’s Open trophy at the end of the week.

“I didn’t prepare to get myself into those dramatic situations but I’m glad I was able to overcome (the pressure) and perform,” Kim said in typical understated fashion.

As humble as she is, she loves the spotlight. She is our game’s Tom Brady and Michael Jordan, the latter of whom she does know; the former, not so much. But sports history aside, Kim is one of those rare athletes whose game gets better as the pressure mounts. She is the person you want holding the ball for the final shot, the one you want taking snaps on the final drive.