HOUSTON – The topic of mud balls came up often during pre-tournament press conferences at soggy Memorial Park. On Thursday, in the opening round of the Chevron Championship, many LPGA players were surprised by the tour's decision to play the ball down.
Two-time Chevron winner Brittany Lincicome counted seven times during the course of her opening round that her ball had enough dirt caked on to impact the flight.
Linn Grant, who opened with a 2-under 70, felt playing preferred lies would've been the right choice after storms rolled through early week, dumping 2.9 inches of rain and shortening the Tuesday pro-am. Officials closed the course three times in two days.
"I saw Haeran (Ryu) had a couple where the ball just went everywhere," said Grant.
Nasa Hataoka's double-bogey on the par-5 eighth came after a clump of mud caused her 3-wood to veer offline so far to the right that she had to chip out of the trees, ultimately making double-bogey. Count Hataoka in the preferred lies camp.
"It's a complete guessing game," said Ko, who wondered if the tour's standard for using preferred lies is different for majors.
Maja Stark opened with a 69 and said that she was spared from the mud.
"I thought it was going to be worse than it has been, but, yeah, not too bad," she said.
Last week's winner, Hannah Green, said she had dirt on the ball every time she hit a fairway on Thursday, though she noted it wasn't as bad as what players faced at the 2020 U.S. Women's Open in Houston. Green felt those playing in the afternoon might actually have it worse without the morning dew to help wipe it clean.
"I feel like we need to have our ruling go to a card length instead a club length," said Green, "because I feel like the reason why we never play it up is because we actually are somewhat changing the angle of the shot. With a scorecard length, you can't. Maybe one day that rule will change and help us out a little bit."
Earlier this season, the PGA Tour changed its relief area for preferred lies from a club length to a scorecard length.
The LPGA released the following statement on the topic:
"Our intent is to play the ball down when conditions support it, and we believe they do. Our Rules team monitored the course throughout the week; worked closely with Superintendent Parker Henry, who has done a tremendous job with the course conditions; took in direct feedback from players and caddies; and made the determination that the course is playable as intended."
Meanwhile, South Korea's Ina Yoon was cruising along at 4 under when she hit a spectacularly poor tee shot on the par-3 seventh hole that found the hazard and ultimately led to double.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen a shot like that on the LPGA," said Golf Channel announcer Tom Abbott on air.
Tom Abbott on this Ina Yoon tee shot:"I'm not sure if I've ever seen a shot like that on the LPGA." pic.twitter.com/t5LAt2mdLp
After the round, Yoon explained that she had mud on her shoes and slipped mid-swing, causing her to hit a wildly fat shot. She closed with a 70 to trail leaders Patty Tavatanakit and Somi Lee by three shots.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA players battle mud balls at Chevron Championship