Malaysian ladies No 1 Kelly Tan is looking forward to teeing up in the season’s first Major, the ANA Inspiration, which starts at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California this Thursday.
Now that she’s shaken the rust off her game and has one event under her belt for 2021 in last week’s Kia Classic (where she missed the cut after rounds of 74 and 71), Kelly is confident of a good showing at one of her favourite courses, Mission Hills’ Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
“I’m very excited about this week. It is one of the events that’s tough to play your way into and it’s nice to be rewarded from last year’s result,” said Kelly, who had a two-month break in Malaysia during which she spent Chinese New Year with her family in Batu Pahat.
“I was definitely a little rusty last week. Had a couple of hiccups in round 1 but I managed to play much better in the second round. I was definitely more comfortable and most shots were well executed,” she added.
Kelly will be making her third appearance in the ANA Inspiration thanks to her T37 finish in last year’s edition. The 27-year-old noted that she has good memories from last year when she was in the top five for the first two rounds before settling for T37 place.
“I love Mission Hills and playing well there last year definitely brings back some good memories. I’ll try to do better over the weekend this time! The fairways are cut pretty narrow with hard greens that are tough to hold, so I definitely have to make sure I hit the fairways and give myself the best chances,” Kelly explained.
Kelly finished a career high 37th on the LPGA’s Race To CME Globe standings in 2020, following a superb comeback season after two years playing mainly on the second-tier Symetra Tour. She registered five top-20s and just two missed cuts in 15 starts on the abbreviated 2020 schedule, highlighted by a T13 performance at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship which is the best ever finish by a Malaysian in a Major.
