Kelly Tan may have a jam-packed schedule in the run-up to her second Olympics, but the Malaysian ladies No 1 is looking forward to the opportunity to build up momentum. She will play five LPGA events on the trot in the United States, including next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and – if she gets into them – two events on the tour’s European swing before the Olympic women’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe on August 5-8.
“I have five more tournaments in a row here before we hit the Europe swing. I do plan to play them and am really wanting to get some sort of momentum going like I did last year,” said Kelly.
Kelly is currently in 116th place on the LPGA Tour’s Race To CME Globe standings after seven starts, having finished a career-high 37th in last year’s ranking following an abbreviated season.
“This year has been a lot of weeks off after one tournament or two, so I’m really looking forward to this busy stretch coming up. I really am not focusing on the ranking … I just want to be able to enjoy myself on the course and have some fun with the game. I know if I do that the results will take care of itself,” noted the 27-year-old.
How she performs in the upcoming stretch of US events, beginning with this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will determine if Kelly gets into the LPGA’s European events. The European swing includes two Majors in the Amundi Evian Championship (July 22-25) and the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie (August 19-22).
Kelly will take heart from her impressive final round in last week’s LPGA Mediheal Championship, where she shot four-under-par 68 to finish T46 at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, California.
“It was a great round on a tough track! The past few events I’ve felt that I’ve been very close with my game and feeling good about the technical side of things. I just haven’t been free on the golf course at all … I’ve been trying to guide the ball a little too much instead of letting my skill take over,” shared Kelly.
“I was finally able to have more trust in myself on Sunday and, of course, the result showed.”
Kelly noted that it has been quite a tough task making arrangements for her second Olympic campaign. “Honestly, it has been a difficult process so far and I’m just trying to stay focused on my next tournament. Not a lot has been done as yet to get me really excited, but I am very proud of myself to qualify and represent my country.”
Currently in 41st place on the Olympic women’s golf ranking, Kelly is comfortably on course to make the field of top 60 players at the cut-off date of June 28. She finished 51st in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
2021 LPGA Schedule (June-August):
June 17-21: Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give / Blythefield Country Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 24-27: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship / Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Georgia
July 1-4: Volunteers of America Classic / Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas
July 8-11: Marathon LPGA Classic / Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio
July 14-17: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational / Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan
July 22-25: The Amundi Evian Championship / Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
July 29-August 1: ISPS Handa World Invitational / Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Massereene Golf Club, Antrim, Northern Ireland (joint sanctioned with Ladies European Tour and European Tour)
August 5-8: Women’s Olympic Golf / Kasumigaseki Country Club, Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan
August 12-15: Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open / Dumbarnie Links, Fife, Scotland
August 19-22: AIG Women’s Open / Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland
