Golf Channel Notable Quotes

ANA Inspiration

Final Round, Sunday, April 3, 2016

Mission Hills Country Club

Rancho Mirage, Calif.

 

Lydia Ko, 2016 ANA Inspiration champion, speaking with Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples following her victory

Lydia Ko – “This has been a long week. I am proud that I was able to make those clutch putts, especially on the back nine. It’s a pretty amazing feeling and to be able to jump in Poppie’s Pond is pretty surreal.”

Ko – It has always been my dream to play on the LPGA Tour. For these amazing things to be happening it is unbelievable, but it also motivates me to work harder and try to put myself in good position and contention whenever I can.”

 

Ko, speaking with Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz before jumping into Poppie’s Pond

Ko – “This is an unbelievable moment. I’ve always walked out on the bridge and have seen Poppie’s Pond and said, ‘Wow that is super clear and how amazing would it be to just jump in there.’ Earlier this week, Abby [Wambach] jumped in there after Danielle [Kang] chipped in for eagle. I thought, ‘Hey, how do you beat that kind of jump?’ It is an amazing moment. Being here with the team makes it even more special.”

 

On Lydia Ko, 2016 ANA Inspiration champion at 12-under par (3-under 69 on Sunday)

Judy Rankin – “She wasn’t looking like someone who was knocking the flagstick down and making birdies, but what she did was she saved herself several times at such important times. She locked it up with that little wedge at 18.”

Terry Gannon – “Precision to the end. That is Ko, number one in the world.”

Rankin – “She is one of the most amazing players I’ve ever seen, and I’ve only been seeing her since she was 15, so I’ve had a short history. She is really beautiful to watch and she has the kind of swing, the kind of stroke, that I think people can imagine when they swing the club how they would like it to be.”

Rankin – “This young player was made for what she’s doing. She has the most ideal temperament I have ever seen.”

Karen Stupples – “She is a bit of a magician and visualizes better than anybody out here.”

Rankin – “People talk about what you learn by losing. You learn an awful lot winning. Lydia Ko has learned a lot of that, how to make that happen and how to handle it.”

Gannon – “She was relentless today. Would not go away.”

Rankin – “She carries this number one title really, really well. She is an ambassador for golf wherever she goes.”

 

On Charley Hull, T2 at 11-under par (3-under 69 on Sunday)

Tom Abbott – “Charley Hull tried to make this interesting in the last stages.”

Rankin – “She doesn’t have any fear in her game. She lets it rip regardless.”

 

On In Gee Chun, T2 at 11-under par (2-under par 70 on Sunday)

Abbott – “She has been very focused today and has been really solid with the putter.”

Rankin – “She is a young woman who is mentally strong. We have seen that all day today and all week for that matter.”

 

On Ariya Jutanugarn, 4^th place at 10-under par (1-under par 71 on Sunday, which included three straight bogeys on 16, 17 and 18)

Gannon – “What must it be like and feel like, to have two hands reaching out and be within inches of that trophy, to see it all fall away.”

Rankin – “You are trying to put on the face you know you have to put on, but your stomach has fallen out. It is so hard and such a deflated feeling.”

Rankin – “Heartbreaking finish for somebody who played so consistent. She was just so stable and so unemotional all day.”

Rankin – “The pressure. You want it too badly and your body will just not cooperate.”

 

On Lexi Thompson, 5^th place at 9-under par (1-over par 73 on Sunday)

Rankin – “I think when you get off poorly like she did with the tee shot on the first hole, unless you recover quickly from that, you kind of worry about driving the ball all day. It is really hard when you are under the pressure of the final round in a big championship to always be fighting your way back.”

 

-NBC Sports Group-

 

Golf Channel Notable Quotes

ANA Inspiration

Third Round, Saturday, April 2, 2016

Mission Hills Country Club

Rancho Mirage, Calif.

 

**Thursday’s live coverage of the ANA Inspiration was the most watched round one morning (207,000 viewers, up 38% year over year) and afternoon (240,000 viewers, up 62% year over year) telecasts at this event ever on Golf Channel.

 

**Live coverage of Sunday’s final round airs at 5 p.m. ET.

 

On the crowded leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round

Judy Rankin – “You never know when somebody might just light it up in the final round that you are not expecting, because with this many people in contention, we certainly expect some fireworks.”

Rankin – “I think it could end up being a contest between Lexi [Thompson] and Lydia [Ko], but there are too many good players up there.”

 

On Lexi Thompson, leader at 10-under par (3-under 69 on Saturday, including an eagle on 18)

Rankin – “She is about as accurate of a driver as we have seen in a long time for someone who is really long.”

 

On Thompson’s struggles mid-round

Jerry Foltz – “It is not a good feeling. Every golfer has lived it. It is not a good feeling when you can’t get anything to drop.”

 

On Lydia Ko, T2 at 9-under par (3-under par 69 on Saturday)

Rankin – “If you look at the game overall, the number one player in the world has got to be a favorite.”

 

On Ariya Jutanugarn and her missed birdie on 18, finishing, T2 at 9-under par (5-under par 67 on Sunday)

Rankin – “It might be costly but it might be the best thing for her…she is not a player w a lot of experience and a lot of good pressure experience.”

 

On Ai Miyazato, T5 at 8-under par (1-under par 71 on Saturday)

Rankin – “She is so good at playing within herself and not trying to do what other people do that she doesn’t do well. I really admire that kind of discipline and that kind of patience.”

 

On Michelle Wie, T7 at 7-under par (2-under par 70 on Saturday)

Terry Gannon – “She has worked very hard for this round today.”

Tom Abbott – “Michelle Wie in contention at a major championship always brings a little extra energy on Sunday.”

 

On Wie’s putting stroke

Rankin – “Right now she has sold me on this putter.”

Karen Stupples – “I think her stroke is better the new way. She seems to be freer with it, gets through the ball better.”

 

On Charley Hull, T5 at 8-under par (3-under par on Saturday)

Rankin – “That really is an impressive finish and puts her in a great position in the final round.”

 

On Stacy Lewis, T16 at 5-under par (1-under 71 on Saturday)

Rankin – “I have been urging and wanting to see Stacy Lewis have a little stronger looking body language, but after our talk the other day, I’m kind of rethinking it. I think she should quit trying to be what everyone wants her to be and be who she is.”

Terry Gannon – “Some positive, some negative. In the end a 1-under-par 71.”

 

On Mission Hills Country Club

Rankin – “It is very score able if you put the ball in the right place off the tee.”

Rankin – “It has such history. There have been so many great shots played at this 18^th hole and so much good golf played on this golf course, period.”

Rankin – “It is what has brought so many little girls to the game. It has what kept so many of us who are no longer little girls really loving this place.”

 

-NBC Sports Group-

 

 

GOLF CHANNEL TO AIR NEARLY 25 HOURS OF TOURNAMENT AND NEWS COVERAGE OF GOLF’S FIRST MAJOR OF 2016,ANA INSPIRATION

 

ORLANDO, Fla.,  (March 24, 2016) – Golf Channel will deliver comprehensive news and tournament coverage of golf’s first major championship of 2016, the ANA Inspiration, next week in Rancho Mirage, Calif., when Brittany Lincicome headlines a field of 110 of the world’s best female golfers, the strongest field to date in 2016.

 

20 HOURS OF TOURNAMENT COVERAGE: Golf Channel will air 20 hours of live tournament coverage of the ANA Inspiration from Mission Hills Country Club Thursday-Sunday, March 31-April 3. Coverage includes a one-hour pro-am special on Wednesday; 12 combined hours of early round coverage on Thursday and Friday that features two broadcast windows each day to show the morning and afternoon waves; and a combined eight hours of live tournament coverage in primetime Saturday and Sunday.

 

BROADCAST TEAM: Terry Gannon and Hall-of-Famer Judy Rankin will call the action from the broadcast booth, joined by hole analyst Tom Abbott and course reporters Jerry Foltz, Jim Gallagher Jr., and Karen Stupples. Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam also joins Golf Channel’s live tournaments team next week as lead analyst during Thursday and Friday’s early coverage. Lisa Cornwell will conduct interviews and report for Golf Central, and Palm Desert’s Nicole Castrale will serve as a studio analyst from Golf Channel’s headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

 

Golf Channel / ANA Inspiration Airtimes (all times Eastern)

Wednesday (Pro-Am Show)             11 p.m. - Midnight

Thursday                                           Noon-4 p.m. / 7-9 p.m.

Friday                                                 Noon-4 p.m. / 7-9 p.m.

Saturday                                            5-9 p.m.

Sunday                                               5-9 p.m.

 

NEWS CONFERENCE SHOWS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY: Golf Channel will air pre-tournament press conferences Tuesday and Wednesday from the media center at Mission Hills Country Club, including an Olympic Golf press conference on Tuesday and a press conference from the Ladies European Tour (LET) on Wednesday, where they will announce the 2017 European Solheim Cup captain.

 

DIGITAL: GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell will report on-site at Mission Hills throughout the week with daily blogs, features and columns.

 

STREAMING ON GOLF LIVE EXTRA :  All the news and tournament action surrounding the ANA Inspiration can be accessed at any time on any mobile device and online through the help of Golf Channel’s Golf Live Extra.

 

-NBC Sports Group-

 

IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE…with HA NA JANG

 

HSBC Women’s Champions

Sentosa Golf Club - Serapong Course

Singapore

March 6, 2016

 

Birthplace/Hometown – Seoul, South Korea

Birthdate – May 2, 1992 – currently 23 years, 9 months, 4 days

Qualified for LPGA Tour – Tied for 6th at the 2014 LPGA Final Qualifying School

Rookie Year – 2015

Turned Professional – 2010

 

VICTORIES

LPGA: Second career victory: 2016 Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers

• Second victory in last four starts

KLPGA: Has six career victories in five seasons on the LPGA of Korea

 

RACE TO THE CME GLOBE

• Earns 500 points toward the Race to the CME Globe standings and remains 1st in the race with 1,290 points

 

ROLEX RANKINGS

• With her victory, Ha Na is projected to jump from No. 10 to No. 5 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings

• Will be the second-highest ranked South Korean player in the world, trailing only No. 2 Inbee Park

• Ha Na will move from the outside looking in to holding a spot on the current Korean UL International Crown and Olympic teams

 

MONEY

CAREER: With the $225,000 first-place check, Ha Na moves from 188th to 162nd on the LPGA Career Money List with $1,443,700

SEASON: Ha Na has earned $560,668 this season and remains first on the 2016 LPGA Tour Official Money List

 

TOURNAMENT SPECIFIC

• Wins the HSBC Women’s Champions in her first appearance at the event

• Joins Lorena Ochoa (in the event’s inaugural year of 2008) and Jiyai Shin (2009) as the only players to win in their debuts in the tournament’s nine-year history

• Ha Na becomes the third South Korean player to win this event, joining Jiyai Shin (2009) and Inbee Park (2015)

• Sets the tournament scoring record at Sentosa Golf Club with a 19-under par 269  four-day total, besting the 15-under par mark set by Stacy Lewis (2013) and Inbee Park (2015). Lorena Ochoa finished at 20-under par in 2008 at Tenah Merah Country Club

 

OF NOTE

• Becomes the first two-time winner of the 2016 season; marks the third win by a South Korean player in the first five events of the season

• Finished fourth in the 2015 Rolex Rookie of the Year standings and 15th on the 2015 LPGA Money List

• Was the KLPGA’s 2013 Player of the Year and money list title winner

 

2016 IN A NUTSHELL

• 5 events played,  5 cuts made, $560,668, 2 wins, top-10 finishes in all five starts

 

2015 RECAP

• 24 events played, 21 cuts made, $883,032, four runner-ups, and 4 additional top-10s

• Four runner-ups on the LPGA Tour before securing her first win last month

 

Meghan Flanagan

Manager, Tour Media & Special Projects