Charley Hull at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
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SAMMAMISH, Wash.- Three attitudes. Three situations. Three quotes that will get you thinking about golf, how it's played and how you can play it, too. And there are three golfers who could win the big tournament on Sunday.
Here.
Charley Hull arrived at Sahalee's 17th tee red-hot. It was Saturday at the KPMG Women's PGA and she was driving No. 10 and then No. 11 and then No. suddenly he was three under for the day, four under for the tournament and was kneeling near the top of the leaderboard. The gallery around him grew and he missed the green on No. 16 but he ended up there, too, holing an eight-footer from the flagstick and in; her wearing a pin is part of her image along with her Malbon fit and the occasional cloud of smoke.
However, when he reached the 17th, a par-3 surrounded by water, a disturbing thought came.
“Actually, yesterday I hit a shot on the green 30 meters from the pin. I didn't think anything about it,” said the woman from England later. “My spouse said yesterday, 'What happened to you on the 17th? You almost hit it in the water.' I was like, 'No I didn't.'
A strange encounter resurfaced as he contemplated his performance. It knocked him out at the time.
“So, I get to the tee box and I think, 'I've never they almost hit the water.'”
Hull's shot never stood a chance; The hole played about 190 yards but his iron shot flew 157 before splashing down short and right in the dry. He headed to the tee, hit the green and three-putted to reduce the triple-bogey 6.
“I just got fat,” Hull said regretfully. “He wasn't even in the shooting. It was annoying. It wasn't like me. I played well out there today, I didn't do a single bad thing and I went up and down when I needed to…”
Until a thought comes. And a gun. And three times. Thus 69 became 72.
What is the lesson? Don't listen to your stupid friends. Do not focus on water. Don't stop, because you have played 16 close holes. Keep the pedal down. Even a hot professional can let a strange, negative thought creep in.
“Yes, but I'm still hoping to get into tomorrow's round,” said Hull. He is now six shots back but is obviously in good form. “Anything is possible.”
–
Lilia Vu noticed something as she arrived at the scene this week: Her usual shooting situation was not going to be realized.
World No. 2 likes to work the ball from right to left; painting is his bread and butter. But Sahalee's bowling-alley fairways often require a different ball flight, one that goes from straight to straight. So Vu has had to adapt.
“I'm starting to see shots better off the tee,” Vu said after returning to contention with a third-round 68. “This course makes you hit both shots, and I think it was something I had to learn. early this week.”
The reporter followed up to ask when in his career he learned to use the ball on both sides. But Vu meant “this week” literally.
“To be honest, I think it was this week,” he said with a smile. “I like to remain a creature of habit with my push-draw. I'm not really going to do that if it's ten yards of trees right here on every tee box.”
Vu admitted that even when he tries to break, “it's like moving two yards from left to right.” A piece of banana is not on his list. But the one who works two meters does the job. And you're more comfortable trusting it down the narrow green corridors.
It's part of a larger theme in his game: Vu fixes himself over time. Last week he returned after a few months away due to injury. Although doubts returned with him, he showed no signs of rust and ended up making the playoffs. This week you are competing against the best players in the world. How would you describe it? He cited his attitude. And his hopes.
“I'm proud of the way I played the last two weeks,” he said. “Yes, expectations are low and I'm just here thanking the game more than ever.”
What is expected does not come easily; Vu has always held himself to a high standard. He knows from theory that golf is not a perfect game. He knows he has to give himself grace. Doing so works. But it's still hard to implement that.
“It's not as easy as you might think,” he said. “It is a work in progress. I feel like I fight that every week.”
Lesson: An open mind and low expectations are a powerful combination. Plus two yards off the tee.
–
Jin Young Ko stepped to the microphone after a second-round 4-under-par 68, among the lowest rounds of the tournament. He was not impressed.
“Yesterday was much better than today,” he said frankly. His irons were heard. Score is not everything.
It's been an interesting run for Ko, who spent a couple of years as a consistent player in the world and made history with his performance at World No. 1 but his form has been less reliable of late. He entered this week with four consecutive starts outside the top 10 – hardly a crime, but not something he's used to.
When Ko spoke to the media, she had just finished a round in the same group as Lexi Thompson, her equals in the game. A few times Ko heard his pleasures amid the chorus of Lexi happiness. He thanked them.
Thanks for the great golf, too. Here's how to put it:
“I'm very grateful for playing well,” said Ko. “Because the last few months I wasn't playing well, so I practiced a lot and I realized: golf is not easy but not too difficult.
“Everything comes out of my mind. When I think, like, 'let's play it easy,' it comes out really well. But like, this golf course is not easy; this golf course is really tough. So if I think too much, the result comes out badly. So I try to think simply.”
Ko started speaking English in 2019; now you can describe the game of golf as succinctly as anyone.
What is the lesson? That's just what he said. Golf is not easy but not too hard. If you think too much, the result is bad. Whatever. Think simply.
And seriously, don't think about water.
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