Kelly Tan may feel a little hard done by the draw at the AIG Women’s Open but the Malaysian No 1 is taking the positives from her outing at Royal Troon, where she narrowly missed the cut by one shot in testing weather conditions.
Kelly caught the wrong side of the draw in both the first and second rounds, which saw her facing the brunt of the brutal conditions with sheeting rain and gusting winds wreaking havoc on distance and direction control
“It was absolutely brutal! I felt like I was definitely on the bad side of the draw. On Thursday when we teed it up, it was blowing the strongest with rain and wind at the end. On Friday, we had to warm up in the rain and were soaked before heading to the first tee – and it poured pretty hard the first couple of holes,” said the 26-year-old, who boards a flight tomorrow to head back to the US for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Arizona.
“It’s just so hard to play with the wind gusting, especially putting. If you have a left edge putt with a 40mph wind from the right, you have to start the ball outside right and trust that the wind will bring it back. It was a shame that on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather was so calm and we didn’t get a taste of any wind. Come tournament day, Royal Troon played completely different!”
Kelly noted that she is proud of the way she fought to the end. “I never gave up. Had a few unlucky bounces but that’s links golf. Obviously things could have gone differently but this is only my third Open and I’m still learning,” she shared.
Following the Walmart event, Kelly will have a week-long break before the next Major of the abbreviated 2020 LPGA Tour season, the ANA Inspiration on September 10-13 at Mission Hills Country Club in California.
Kelly noted that while the ANA Inspiration field has not been fixed yet, she should get in on the weight of a number of strong performances since her return to action in late July.
“This coming week will be my fifth tournament in a row, so I’m looking forward to a few good days of rest. The field for the ANA Insiration is not out yet but by the looks of things, I think I’ll get in with a few good finishes a couple of weeks ago,” she said.
“So I’m definitely looking forward to it!”
Photos courtesy of Kelly Tan
