Author: Len Ziehm
It
didn’t seem to fit so well early in her round. After two birdies in the
first four holes Johnson missed a three-foot putt at No. 5 and made double
bogey on the next hole. Then the good times rolled. Johnson bounced back
from the double with a bogey at No. 7 to get back in red numbers then birdied
11, 14, 15 and 18 No. 15 came on the shot of the ay, a chip-in.
``The
Senior LPGA Championship is a combination of so many years of hard work
striving to get the support from the LPGA,’’ said Blalock. ``Obviously
this tournament is because of French Lick and Mr. Ferguson (Steve Ferguson,
chairman of Cook Group). I wish I could take credit, but we’re going to
capitalize. I believe the world will now know that we exist, and maybe
the phone will even ring.’’
Monday’s
first round of the Senior LPGA Championship was more about history than
anything else.
Winds
gusting to 33 miles per hour prevented spectacular scoring – with one exception.
Scotland’s Trish Johnson, no stranger to the Pete Dye Course at French Lick
Resort, made five birdies in her last 12 holes to shoot a 5-under-par 67.
That was good for a 4-stroke over Carolyn Hill, one of the early starters in
the 81-player field. Johnson and Hill were the only players under par after Day
1.
Carolyn Hill Photo By: Rick Sharp |
Johnson,
a late starter, was the 2016 winner of The Legends Championship on the same
course when she beat Juli Inkster in an epic six-hole playoff. Inkster is
on broadcast duty at the U.S. Women’s Open and not competing in this first
major championship for senior women.
Johnson,
though, was glad to be back on the Pete Dye design that is filled with dramatic
elevation changes, spectacular views and confounding greens.
``I
don’t really feel like the defending champion,’’ said Johnson. ``I just
love this golf course. It just fits my eye.’’
Trish Johnson Photo By: Rick Sharp |
The
other players weren’t nearly as sharp as Johnson, but they weren’t complaining
after finally getting their first major championship for women in the over-45
age group.
``I
never thought this day would come,’’ said Nicole Jeray, an LPGA veteran from
Berwyn, Ill.,who shot 75. ``And, to think for this to be televised.
That’s incredible.’’
Jeray
was especially happy for the older players who meant so much to the development
of the LPGA.
``These
women are true legends, Hall of Famers,’’ said Jeray. ``They paved the
way for all the youngsters and I still walk around looking up to all of them –
Betsy King, Joanne Carner, Sandra Palmer. And to think I’m one of them.
Who would have thought that.?’’
None
of the players were more appreciative than Jane Blalock, at 71 the oldest
player in the field. She played in the Honors tournament held in
conjunction with the Symetra Tour’s Donald Ross Centennial Classic on Sunday at
the nearby Donald Ross Course.
Blalock
created the Legends Tour and usually just plays in the small division for older
members at its tournaments. She wanted to go all three rounds of the
first Senior LPGA Championship, however, because of its significance to women’s
golf. She also wants to compete in the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open, an event
put on by the U.S. Golf Association at Chicago Golf Club in 2018.
It’s
all part of the boost that women’s golf expects to get from finally getting a
major championship. This week’s has live coverage from The Golf Channel
all three days and a $600,000 purse with the champion receiving $90,000.
By
comparison, The Legends Championship – its predecessor at French Lick since
2013 –was by far the biggest event on The Legends Tour. When Johnson won
last year it was a 36-hole tournament with $75,000 in prize money and a
winner’s purse of $37,700.
Photo By: Rick Sharp |
Mike
Whan, commissioner of the LPGA Tour, joined Alice Dye, wife of course designer
Pete Dye, in hitting the ceremonial first tee shots before Monday’s
round. Whan sees big things ahead for women’s golf as well. French Lick
has a five-year agreement to host both the Senior LPGA Championship and Donald
Ross Centennial Classic.
``We’re
lucky to be here,’’ said Whan. ``We’ve been launching a lot of new things
and this is one that will only build with time. This is major on all
kinds of fronts.’’