WATERLOO, Ont. — Shooting even par would be quite the accomplishment for most golfers, but not for a pro.
Morgan Pressel flirted with par over four rounds at the Manulife LPGA Classic at the Grey Silo Golf Club, shooting rounds of 70, 71, 72 and 71, good for even par but only 59th place overall.
Pressel, a native of Boca Raton, Fla., finished 16 strokes behind tournament winner Brittany Lang, who won the event in a playoff. Pressel took home $3,189 for her efforts.
Along with Anna Nordqvist and Na Yeon Choi, Pressel had her share of spectators follow her during the second round at the Grey Silo course, including this reporter.
They weren’t disappointed if what they were looking for is length and accuracy off the tee. In nine holes that I watched, none missed the fairway.
With wide and flat fairways, this was a second shot course, and in round two, that’s where Pressel’s game seemed to lag. Pressel is ranked 90th on the LPGA tour for greens in regulation, with 62.4 per cent, but in the back nine, she failed to hit a single one, despite good lies.
Nevertheless, all three showed good ability to get up and down, with Pressel’s chipping a major asset.
What the ladies were lacking, at least on day two, was the ability to make a putt. There were lots of oohs and aahhs after near misses, but you didn’t see the consistency that gets you into the winner’s circle.
Pressel’s stats are actually not bad; she’s 45th on tour in “putts per green in regulation,” with 1.83.
She’s also 41st in scoring with an average round of 72.35.
So far this season, she’s earned $249,573 (all figures US) but she’s finished in the top 10 only once. Since she joined the tour in 2006, she’s won two events and taken home $4.64 million.