To say that Malaysian ladies No 1 Kelly Tan is excited about her 18th Major start in this week’s US Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco is putting it mildly.
With her game shaping up well after some intense online sessions with coach Gary Gilchrist last week, and having got in some extra practice rounds at The Olympic Club’s storied Lake Course, Kelly is super stoked to get her fourth US Women’s campaign started on Thursday.
“I’m excited to tee it up on Thursday! The golf course is in magnificent shape and there is nothing out of place … The Olympic Club is all decked up and ready for the 76th US Women’s Open,” said Kelly, whose best US Women’s Open finish of T32 came in 2016.
With the rough left extremely high and thick this week, Kelly noted that hitting fairways is imperative.
“I would say in a Major championship, the keys are hitting fairways and staying short of the hole locations to be able to have a more aggressive putt. The roughs here are very long and thick, so more likely than not pitching it out is not a bad play and then try and get up and down from 100 yards or so … or even bogey will not be bad,” noted the 27-year-old.
This is the first time that The Olympic Club will host a professional ladies event, although the Lake Course has hosted five men’s US Opens before. Located on a hilly stretch of land between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean, the par-71 layout features tight, tree-lined fairways, sloping fairways and tricky, elevated greens.
“I’m starting to hit the ball well this week as I’ve gone back to work on what I’m usually working on with my coach. I’m very happy with my off week training and seeing the progression,” said Kelly, who got into the elite US Women’s Open field with a runner-up finish in the qualifying tournament at Half Moon Bay Golf Club in California in late April.
Kelly is currently in 113th place on the LPGA Tour’s season-long Race To CME Globe standings. Despite finishing a career-high 37th in last year’s ranking following an abbreviated season, she has had to play herself into many events this year as player status is based mainly on 2019 due to Covid-19.
Kelly tees off in Thursday’s third round at 1.18pm (Malaysian time – Friday, 4.18am), grouped with Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg and Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn. The US Women’s Open will be broadcast ‘live’ on Fox Sports HD (Astro Channel 815).
