Malaysian ladies No 1 Kelly Tan is feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and eager to get her 2021 LPGA Tour campaign going in this coming’s week’s Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.
Kelly, 27, is gearing up for her return to competition after a well-deserved two-month break in Malaysia, during which she was able to spend Chinese New Year at home in Batu Pahat with her family. She flew back to the US early this month and has spent the last two weeks in Florida working on her game with coach Gary Gilchrist.
“I’m really excited to get the season started. It was a good off-season for me as I was back in Malaysia during MCO 2.0 and was able to stay at home and spend time with my family,” said Kelly.
“I’ve been fine-tuning my game with Gary and it has been feeling really good! I’m excited to bring it with me into tournament play. We’ve been working on gaining a little more speed and technically we like what we are seeing. Hopefully this will give me more confidence and an advantage on the course,” she added.
Following the Kia Classic, Kelly will tee up in the season’s first Major, the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. She finished T37 in last year’s event, played in September on the 2020 LPGA Tour schedule, which had to be revamped and shortened due to Covid-19.
Unfortunately Kelly is currently not on the starting list for any of the three limited-field events on the LPGA’s Asian swing from late April through May (HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, Honda LPGA Thailand and Blue Bay LPGA in China), despite her excellent 2020 season when she finished 37th on the season-long Race To CME Globe standings. Player status for this year is still mainly based on the 2019 season due to the abbreviation of the 2020 schedule.
