Malaysian ladies No 1 Kelly Tan will spend her week off preparing for the 76th US Women’s Open, which tees off on June 3-6 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.
As this will be the first time that she is playing at The Olympic Club’s storied Lake Course, Kelly will be heading to San Francisco early and get in some extra practice rounds this weekend. This will be the 27-year-old’s 18th Major and fourth US Women’s Open appearance.
“I’m heading to San Francisco on Friday and will get a couple of looks at the course this weekend. I’ve never played at The Olympic Club but have heard nothing but great things about the course,” said Kelly, who did not get into the 64-player field for this week’s inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek.
Once called ‘the best in the west’ by Bobby Jones, The Olympic Club’s Lake Course has hosted five men’s US Opens but never a professional ladies event before. So named because it is located on a hilly stretch of land between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean, the par-71 course actually has no water in play but challenges golfers with tight, tree-lined fairways, sloping fairways and tricky, elevated greens.
“As the Lake Course is right by the water, it’ll probably play longer than the estimated yardage and it can be windy,” noted Kelly. “So I definitely need to practice some knock-down shots and also get used to the visual of the course with its elevated greens.
“I’m excited to see it this weekend!”
In 17 previous Major appearances, Kelly’s best finish is T13 at last year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Her best US Open performance was T32 in 2016 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California.
Coming off a roller-coaster performance in last week’s Pure Silk Championship where she finished T74 after rounds of 67, 77, 72 and 74, Kelly will be working on her swing virtually with coach Gary Gilchrist over the next few days.
“Everything was clicking nicely in Round 1 especially my putting, but the rest of the week it seemed like I was just a little bit off with my ball-striking. And my putting speed was off as it was very grainy on the greens. I have a week off here and plan to work on my swing and get it ready for the US Open,” shared Kelly.
After five starts this year, Kelly is in 113th place on the LPGA Tour’s season-long Race To CME Globe standings. Last year, she finished a career-high 37th in the ranking following an abbreviated season, but has to play herself into many events this year as player status is based mainly on 2019 due to Covid-19.
