In the days leading up to the 36-hole qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, Garren Poirier is balancing the realities of working for a living with the dream of playing in a major.
As the final round looms, one of the three main contenders is a two-time major winner who seems to have ice running through her veins, another is a child star whose success on the professional circuit seems inevitable, and the last is a 31-year-old who had so little confidence in her game that she expected to shoot 80 and miss the cut, hates pressure and doesn’t think she handles it very well, seems dead tired from the hard walk at Lancaster Country Club, and has been coping with the fear of a ghost.
To help the rest of us determine what our target scores would be on various championship layouts, we’ve used the USGA’s new tool to plug in a variety of handicaps for the setups at the US Open, US Women’s Open and US Senior Open.
It was another difficult day full of high scores at the US Women’s Open, where West Australian Minjee Lee again displayed patience and top quality ball-striking to sit one-under and in a share of third place at the halfway mark.
Thompson may be only 29 years old, but she’s been playing competitive professional golf since she was 15 and has the equivalent of what would be a full career in many other sports under her belt before her 30th birthday. What seemed clear, as she explained her decision, is that the lifestyle has worn on her.
Perhaps that’s not the best example to set for impressionable young fans, but Hull is just following in the footsteps of John Daly, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan. That’s mighty fine company to be in.
Australian Golf Digest
