CME Group Tour Championship notebook: Captain Juli Inkster makes early Solheim Cup visit
Juli Inkster was energized after watching the recent Ryder Cup, so spent the day playing the role of recent U.S. captain Jim Furyk at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples.
Inkster spent a day at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort meeting with possible 2019 Solheim Cup players in preparation for the biannual matches.
“We have a lot of talent here in the U.S. and a number of good, young players on the scene,” Inkster said. “Then the veterans who have played a lot of Solheim Cups want to be a factor in the points race next year to make the team.”
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Next year, the American team will be aiming for its 11th Cup win in 16 matches Sept. 13-15 at the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, located an hour from either Glasgow or Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 2017, the U.S. team won 16 ½ to 11 ½ over Europe in West Des Moines, Iowa, with Inkster winning her second Solheim Cup.
Inkster met with the players at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort for a dinner. Nancy Lopez and Pat Hurst are presently two of the assistant captains.
“Nelly Korda is a good example of a good young player who is going to be on many Solheim Cup teams,” Inkster said. “She was strongly considered two years ago because she has a lot of talent. Marina Alex is another player with spunk, something I like, and her energy level is very high. Both Nelly and Marina won this year facing final-round pressure.”
Korda and Alex currently ranked fifth and sixth in the Cup points standings. Lexi Thompson, slated to reappear in Naples in three weeks in the QBE Shootout, also at Tiburón Golf Club, leads the standings with Nelly’s older sister Jessica second and Danielle Kang third.
Eight players will make the team on points, two off the Rolex Women’s World Rankings and two as captain’s picks.
Inkster does not want any unexpected surprises next summer, and started communicating with a number of players last summer during a dinner at the Portland, Oregon, tournament.
“I want them to feel comfortable being around me, talking with me,” she said.
Inkster will face the same hard choices for her picks as Furyk faced two months ago. Veterans Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller, Cup team members in 2017, both had babies in 2018 and will not return to the tour until 2019.
“I know both Stacy and Gerina are coming back next year then I don’t know how players like Paula (Creamer) and Morgan (Pressel) are going to be playing,” she said. “The players have two years to make the team and I will do what is best to make us successful."
Slow start for the Race: Ariya Jutanugarn, Minjee Lee, Sung Hyun Park and Brooke Henderson -- four of the top five in the season-long Race to the CME Globe -- got off to slow starts Thursday. Japan's Nasa Hataoka, who came in fourth, has the projected lead after shooting an 8-under 64 and tying for second.
Jutanugarn and Lee shot 2-under 70s and are tied for 24th for the tournament. Park shot a 71 and is tied for 35th. Henderson, who has a residence in Miromar Lakes, shook off a rough start by making birdies on three of her last five holes to get to 1 over and a tie for 56th.
LPGA players raising money for wildfires: LPGA professional Tiffany Joh is organizing her fellow players at the CME Group Tour Championship to donate money for the people who have been devastated by the historic California wildfires.
Joh sent out a tweet asking for $20 for every birdie a player made Thursday through Sunday, asking in a tweet “if you can please donate your Starbucks money and/or share this link because I’m sure a lot of you have been following the fires.”
Players immediately accepted the challenge and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said he would donate $20 for every birdie Jane Park makes. Park was the first player to accept the challenge.
LPGA fans can also donate by going to: gofundme.com/mark-and-lizriehlmanrenewalfund.
Up and down for Mo: Naples resident Mo Martin, who plays out of The Club Pelican Bay, could not escape an erratic back nine during the opening round and she finished tied for 63rd, shooting a 2-over 74. She had only two pars on the back nine, including one from 12 feet on 18, while also recording four bogeys and three birdies.
“Today was this and that, an up-and-down round with both birdies and bogeys,” she said. “One example of round was the lie I had in a bunker on 16, it was plugged, nasty and it looked like they did some work on the bunker and where my ball landed looked like it was in the bottom of a pillow.”
Martin has also noticed the improved play by U.S. players throughout the year and this week three Americans are in the top four after the first round.
“We had a strong finish at the Evian Championship in France with nine Americans in the top 10 and of course next year is a Solheim Cup year,” she said. “I want to be on that team, that’s my plan.”
Brotherly caddie love: Curtis Thompson, one of two older brothers of Lexi Thompson, attempted to qualify for this week’s PGA Tour stop at the RSM Classic on Sea Island, Georgia.
Thompson, 25, shot 65 and missed qualifying by one shot.
“Amazing, you shoot 65 and it’s not good enough so I called Lexi and she said come down to Naples and caddie,” said Thompson, who will play the Web.com and Canadian tours in 2019. “I’ve had a tough 18 months but I’m young and will not give up."
So he's helping his sister and had a good day doing it Thursday, with a 7-under-par 65 that has her in fourth place.
"It was just awesome," Lexi Thompson said. "We get along so well on and off the golf course. He knows my game very well and he was helping me read my putts, so it helped out."
First-round leader Amy Olson also has her brother, Nathan, on her bag after her regular caddie, Taneka Sandiford, got sick. The two have worked together before.
"I don't let him retire," Olson said, joking. "He's trying to leave and I keep bringing him back every once in a while.
"I'm super comfortable with him on the bag. We have a great time out there."
Sports Editor Greg Hardwig contributed to this article.
Friday's tee times
No. 1 Tee
8:30 a.m. -- Dani Holmqvist, Gaby Lopez, Angel Yin
8:41 a.m. -- Haeji Kang, Ariya Jutanugarn, Minjee Lee
8:52 a.m. -- Katherine Kirk, Sarah Jane Smith, Austin Ernst
9:03 a.m. -- Emma Talley, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Mi Hyang Lee
9:14 a.m. -- So Yeon Ryu, Sei Young Kim, Anna Nordqvist
9:25 a.m. -- Marina Alex, Hee Young Park, Ashleigh Buhai
9:36 a.m. -- Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko
9:47 a.m. -- Jessica Korda, Charley Hull, Jaye Marie Green
9:58 a.m. -- Bronte Law, Chella Choi, Lizette Salas
10:09 a.m. -- Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras, Yu Liu, Cristie Kerr
10:20 a.m. -- Lexi Thompson, Carlota Ciganda, Lindy Duncan
10:31 a.m. -- Amy Olson, Brittany Lincicome, Nasa Hataoka
No. 10 Tee
8:30 a.m. -- Megan Khang, Su Oh, Jeong Eun Lee
8:41 a.m. -- Eun-Hee Ji, Caroline Masson, Georgia Hall
8:52 a.m. -- Mariajo Uribe, Tiffany Joh, Sung Hyun Park
9:03 a.m. -- Wei-Ling Hsu, Ryann O'Toole, Azahara Munoz
9:14 a.m. -- Jenny Shin, In Gee Chun, Jane Park
9:25 a.m. -- Aditi Ashok, Mirim Lee, Moriya Jutanugarn
9:36 a.m. -- Sakura Yokomine, Thidapa Suwannapura, Brittany Altomare
9:47 a.m. -- Pornanong Phatlum, Ally McDonald, Hannah Green
9:58 a.m. -- Maria Torres, Peiyun Chien, Brooke Henderson
10:09 a.m. -- Annie Park, Mo Martin, Ayako Uehara
10:20 a.m. -- Celine Boutier, Wichanee Meechai, Pernilla Lindberg
10:31 a.m. -- Jacqui Concolino, Mariah Stackhouse, Jin Young Ko