Not being in the limited fields for the LPGA Tour’s two-week Asian swing will give Malaysian ladies No 1 Kelly Tan more time to prepare for her fourth US Women’s Open appearance in the first week of June.
Kelly qualified for the season’s second Major through the recent qualifying tournament at Half Moon Bay Golf Club in California, carding successive 72s to finish one shot behind medalist Kathleen Scavo.
“I have a few weeks off and then will play in Kingsmill on the East Coast before coming back to the west to prepare for the US Women’s Open,” said Kelly, whose next event is the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill Resort in Virginia on May 20-23.
As she is not in the 64-player field for the inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Hosted by Shadow Creek the week before the US Women’s Open, Kelly will be using that period to fine-tune her game even more. While she does not plan to meet coach Gary Gilchrist, Kelly noted that they communicate online frequently.
“We communicate daily, just to keep working through things and focus on building confidence,” said the 27-year-old.
This will be Kelly’s fourth US Women’s Open appearance, with her best finish being a T32 performance in 2016 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California. She missed out on the weekend at Champions Golf Club in Houston last year.
Despite a missed cut at last week’s Hugel Air-Premia LA Open, Kelly stressed that her game is shaping up well. “Honestly, I’ve been playing really well. I was disappointed that I didn’t make more putts in LA, but I guess I used them all up in Hawaii (at the Lotte Championship where she finished T22).
“But hey, that’s how golf works! I just really prepared myself for the US Women’s Open qualifier and used the extra days I had to get ready for it. I know that it helped and I’m proud that I executed my game plan!”
Kelly has never played at this year’s US Women’s Open venue, the storied Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. Designed by Willie Watson in 1924, the Lake Course has hosted numerous big events including five US Opens … but never a US Women’s Open, until now.
“Each year when we play at Lake Merced, people would point across the trees and say there is Olympic Club … but honestly, other than its history and the US Open for men, I don’t know much. I’m really excited to get there and play such an old, traditional course with so much history,” said Kelly, who is currently in 98th spot on the LPGA Tour’s 2021 Race To CME Globe standings after four events.
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. Although she finished a career best 37th on the Race To CME Globe in 2020, Kelly has to play herself into many events this year as player status is based mainly on 2019 due to Covid-19.
