No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 980: LPGA Check-In & ANWA Preview + Jasmine Koo Interview

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

We've got a busy week ahead in women's golf as the LPGA heads to Shadow Creek for the Match Play while we'll also get the sixth rendition of the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Randy, Cody and JP ha...ve you covered on both fronts and we close the pod with Jordan's chat with USC's Jasmine Koo (56:50) who'll be in the field this week in Augusta. Support our sponsors: Titleist fanduel.com/nlu Subscribe to the No Laying Up Newsletter here: https://newsletter.nolayingup.com/ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NoLayingUpPodcast If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining The Nest: No Laying Up’s community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It’s a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at nolayingup.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most! Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome into the No Laying Up podcast. My name is Randy. We're chatting women's golf today. Excited. Big week, professional side on the LPGA tour. We have the match play event from Shadow Creek out in Las Vegas. We'll get there.
Starting point is 00:00:45 And then also we have the sixth annual Augusta National Women's Amps. Of course, we got to talk about that as well. Joining me to do that. Let me introduce my two compatriots. First off, Cody McBride. Cody, how are you today? Very good, Mr. Big. Thank you for inviting me on your program for people that are watching on video, by the way,
Starting point is 00:01:05 get a quick shout out here. This is a podcast, not just an audio only format. We also have video available over on our NoLayingUp podcast YouTube channel. So please go check it out there. Mr. Big, are you moving? What's going on? Yeah, yeah, I spent really all weekend moving.
Starting point is 00:01:22 Today's the last day we're recorded this on the 31st. So I got to be out of the house by 11.59 PM. If anybody is watching, you'll see a totally stark background behind me. I've cleared out everything except for my little desk and podcast setup. So as soon as we wrap this, I'll be tearing that down and taking it to the new location.
Starting point is 00:01:45 We're staying in Denver. It's just a pain in the ass to move as I'm sure everybody knows. But once we get settled in, it'll be good. Our third person on the show today, that is our good friend, Jordan Perez. Jordan, hi, hello, welcome. How are you? Jordan Peres I'm great. I am not only thrilled to be back on your program, but I'm feeling really old today after you said the sixth Augusta National Women's Amateur. Yeah, between having some pretty bad backaches yesterday, just another reminder that the passage of time continues. Yeah, I know. Sixth annual. We're getting up there. Well, let's thank our main sponsor. First of all, that is Cody, I believe our good friends at Titleist. That's right.
Starting point is 00:02:25 Hoi Joy Kim was in full control of her Titleist Pro V1 X Golf Ball on Sunday, closing out her seventh career LPGA title in a playoff. Fun fact, the Pro V1 and Pro V1 X players now have won five of the six events played so far on the LPGA Tour. Alem Kim, you'll leave me know, Angel Yin, and Lydia Ko, all won with the Pro V1, which gives them that penetrating ball flight, lower long game spin, high short game spin, and soft feel.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Last week's Ford Championship ended with an all-title-less golf ball playoff between Hojo and Lilia Vu, who trusted the higher-flying, higher-spinning, firmer firmer feeling Pro V1X model. Gaming the right golf ball model for your game is essential to playing your best golf. Whether that's the Pro V1, Pro V1X, Pro V1X Left Dash, even the AVX, you owe it to yourself to find out which combination
Starting point is 00:03:18 of flight, spin and feel matches up best for you and gives you more opportunities to shoot lower scores. To find out more and to get the right ball for your game. Please visit Titleist.com. Awesome. Well, thank you very much. And thank you to Titleist guys. Let's start here.
Starting point is 00:03:38 Let's start a little LPGA before we move into Anwar. Anwar. God, I'm double clutch on that already. Oh, no. Wait, that's I'm double clutch on that already. Oh no. Wait, that's a great point, Rand. Jordan, what is it? Please correct us again. I feel like we did this multiple years ago.
Starting point is 00:03:54 We already established this. It's Anwah, it's Anwah. But I mean, you know what? I've kind of, I've departed from the block a little bit because I've caught myself saying Anwah a few times. So you know what? I'm not going to give anybody grief or saying on one anymore. Say whatever you want.
Starting point is 00:04:09 Live your truth. I like that. You heard it right there, Jordan Perez, whatever you want people. I don't, I don't want to hear it. No rules. Yeah. Cody, did you catch much of the Ford championship? Nice little tournament out there in the desert this past week.
Starting point is 00:04:25 And I know the boys touched on it on the Sunday pod. So we don't have to spend a whole lot of time, but fun to see the women back Stateside. And I felt like, God, we had a great leaderboard. If that's a sign of things to come, sign me up. Yeah. You hit the nail on the head there, Randy HJ. When she's back firing on all cylinders, I don't think that there's a more like exciting player to watch really. Her final round 64 came from eight strokes back. That's where she started her final round to end up beating
Starting point is 00:04:57 Lily of boo and a playoff there. But you know, guys, hand up here. Okay. I think when we did our LPGA season preview podcast, we were doing a little buying and selling statement and we all called this out. We all sold Lilia Vu. No, Cody, don't do this. It's too premature. And guys, but the thing is, I went back and actually listened to it. We all said that this has a very high probability of happening. We just had no information
Starting point is 00:05:27 really to base it off of from last year. I know she battled a lot of injuries. We all cited that. I know we talked about kind of an interesting schedule that she put together even when she got on to be healthier. And now if we're starting the year off like this, you know, she's still top five player in the world. She made so many birdies. My fear here is that there's, you know, this was her tournament to win and she ended up losing it. And it not because of like not having a rock solid back nine and making the big putts when she needed them to. But just from, again, another example of LPGA, LPGA core setup, and then really people getting hot on these weird Sunday rounds.
Starting point is 00:06:14 I remember last year, remember when Bailey Tardy shot like 60 in the final round? She started like 12 groups back and won the tournament. You're like, what do we really even watch in here? That's kind of how I felt outside of the playoff. Linnea Strom was like that as well. I think she actually, she may have been the one that's shot 60. Yeah. But Bailey went low. I know the Lilia Vu, awesome to see her. And I think that's, we were all rooting for her. I think we just were a little skeptical and wanted to see it. There was an interesting
Starting point is 00:06:46 quote from Lilia while we're on the subject that I wanted to read to you guys. After the completion of play, she was quoted as saying, this was an article by Sarah Kellum on LPGA.com. Lilia said, quote, that I have what it takes even with or without distance said VU when asked what she's taking away from a runner-up finish at the Ford Championship. Quoting VU again, I feel like that's something that's been lingering like a chip on my shoulder. I feel like I hit it shorter than everyone and I feel like I start off the tournament handicapped. End quote. That's a very interesting quote because it made me want to go check out at least the driving distance stats on the LPGA website.
Starting point is 00:07:29 According to their stats, Lilia Vu averages this year about 250 yards off the tee. And so naturally, I started looking up some other women. She's right. I mean, she's given up 20 yards a hole to Genoticum and she's given up like 30 yards a hole to Nelly Korda if you go off the driving distance stats on LPGA.com. So I think it's just a testament for Lilia. She plays a lot like Lydia Ko, I think, in that she's never going to bomb it. But man, if she keeps herself in position and can rely on the iron play, in that she's never gonna bomb it. But man, if she keeps herself in position
Starting point is 00:08:06 and can rely on the iron play, we know she's a great putter. She rolls in a ton of putts. I mean, that's the formula for her. But I just thought it was fun. I don't know if fun's the right word. Interesting, certainly. And I love hearing Lily talk about having a chip on her shoulder.
Starting point is 00:08:22 Like, it's just a great insight, I think, into where her mind is. I think to feel that way after the women's open is interesting. Right. Are you going there too? Yeah, a little bit. Maybe she likes being the underdog, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:08:37 But I will say this is that, you know, Lily finds herself in how they form, they put up these tee sheets and definitely people, the top 10 in the world right now outside of Lydia, she's right. I would say that, Randy, did you look at driving? You mentioned her driving distance, but where does that average actually shake out
Starting point is 00:08:57 on total LPGA Tour? Because she's not a short hitter. Now she's a short hitter when you're like comparing yourself to the longest players in the game who are also who she's always playing with. So I can understand that feeling very much the same as on the men's side when you're constantly paired with a Rory or Bryson or Jake Knapp or any of these other guys who
Starting point is 00:09:21 absolutely bomb it. I'm sure I'm like, Oh, my goodness, I'm giving up so much here, but that is very interesting because that is her reality. And it doesn't really matter what the total LPGA average comes out to be. When you put yourself in that top 10, top 5% of the game, she's spot on. And my question I guess would be to her,
Starting point is 00:09:46 is she trying to do anything about it? Because that's the scary part. I know. And that's where you get into like the back and some injury stuff, because I'm looking at, if you go to 2023, which was Lillia's big year, right? Won a couple majors, I believe won four times. Her driving distance average was
Starting point is 00:10:06 259 yards, which ranked 62nd on the LPGA Tour. And so then you fast forward, 2024, she lost about three yards, give or take, but they dropped her down to 107th. So her driving distance was 255 yards, which was 107th last year. And then so far this year, she's at 250.88 yards, which is good for 120 seconds. So it is, you know, we're seeing kind of a loss of distance, which to your point, I don't know if she's working on that. I don't know if she's able to physically, but certainly something to keep an eye on because yeah, I think it's a
Starting point is 00:10:53 great point that you said, you know, when she's playing well, she finds herself with the Nellies and the Genos and Roning Yin and all these women that they do just hit it past her. Do you know what she needs to do, Jordan? She needs to hit up that stack. Okay. Use code no laying up there. Not even on this episode, but that's Lillia. If you're listening to this, come on, start stacking.
Starting point is 00:11:18 You're not going to get hurt. You'll be fine. Jordan, you mentioned some women's open. You seem shocked by these statements. I think it's just her wanting to position herself as kind of the underdog. That's fair. I think it's just like, don't get too in over your head
Starting point is 00:11:36 about it, you know? Cause once again, it's like, she's finding herself in these places on her own, sort of akin to how Lydia does it. And so, I don't know. I mean, it's just almost like, girl to how Lydia does it. And so I don't know. It's just almost like, girl, you've got it. Like, don't, you know, don't get too self-conscious about it. For sure. Do you know, if I was talking to her and this is a hundred percent just like what I would
Starting point is 00:11:58 like in my golf game, they can keep all the distance on the LPGA Tour because I don't like outside of really Nelly at certain points in time, there's not that big of an advantage yet. Now we do know and we've been saying for a long time that those players are going to come when their overall massive distance games are putting themselves in a completely different zip code than where the chunk of the women are at right now. But I would rather take Lillia's hybrids and Lydia's hybrids and their like overall accuracy that she has with her long irons any day over the week.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Because you've seen longest hitters in game. I'll go Nellie all the time. Nellie sometimes struggles with wedges because she or her ball speed is so high that she loses complete control of the spin. And if there's any really, you know, wind or adverse conditions at all, Nellie is kind of, you know, flat footed and doesn't really know what to do where it seems like Lillia doesn't really matter what the situation is, what the conditions are. She's there to game and she's ready to go.
Starting point is 00:13:10 So really cool to see her there. Big coming in third, looking Alison Corpus another name that we haven't heard that much of happy to see her there. And then of course, you know, top five from Gino Tiddle. Yeah. It's, it's becoming a routine. I think this is Gino's eighth top five in 11 LPGA in her last 11 LPGA starts. Her 10th top 10 in her last 11 starts. It's crazy.
Starting point is 00:13:38 I think Alison Corpuz, that's the one that we haven't seen her in this position really in quite some time. Of course, US Women's Open champ a couple of years ago. And I would just note on the subject of distance, Alison Corpuz actually ranks right near Lilia Vu. She's hitting at 251 off the tee. And I was just going to say, go in hand in hand with the influx of soon to be, I think we're going to see an influx of distance in the women's game over the next several years. It's going to be interesting how the LPGA, how they go about the course setup, because
Starting point is 00:14:13 I think that's the big piece that right now, I'm not sure the way the courses are set up. There's a huge advantage to just hitting the ball as far as you can. And so, it doesn't correlate like it does in the men's game. So, I think that's... If the LPGA ever really starts to set up courses in a manner that really incentivizes and rewards distance, I think we're going to see that influx come in a hurry. So anyway, that's an aside. Great to see Alison Corpuz playing well. She had talked about, I think last year, really working on things, kind of fighting some swing things. She's put in a ton of work and to see it pay off a little bit early in the year to get her
Starting point is 00:15:01 in contention. I just think that's a good thing for the women's game. Yeah, I completely agree. Just kind of scrolling down the leaderboard here for you big Lydia Coe T six rounds of 68 67, 68 67, 18 under and is only good enough for a top 10 for her. It's crazy where these women can be when you put on golf courses that, you know, are just kind of run in the mill. Now we know this is the second year of the four championship. And again, we're at a new course this time at, uh, what was it called? Wild horse pass down in Chandler last year there at Seville country club in Chandler,
Starting point is 00:15:40 where I used to work out as a carboy there. No big deal, but good to see Lydia again, continuing having really good form. If she's going to have a year at all like last year, she's starting it in a really, really good spot. Shout out to LPGA rookie Saki Baba, T6 coming in at 18 under. This is her second LPGA Tour event. She played in the Blue Bay LPGA. She finished T17 there and then got a top 10 here. So it's really looking up for her. You'll leave me know, Randy, I'm still like, you know, so fired up from the interview that we were able to get with her.
Starting point is 00:16:17 We went through kind of the highs and lows of her career so far, obviously one earlier this year, but continuing really, really good form. Really good form. She got that putter working. I know. I think we obviously you take Nellie and I think Lilia Vu, but I think Yalimi is putting herself in conversation right at this moment as maybe like the best American woman out there. this moment is maybe like the best American woman out there. Yeah, I completely agree. And, you know, we got a long, long year to go ahead of us. We do. As long as you can keep it.
Starting point is 00:16:55 It's a great start. For sure. The other person I want to give a quick shout out to is Gabby Lopez coming in here with the top 10. So she finished type for sixth here. What an incredible start so far this year for her. Last year, you know, she's very consistent player. She doesn't miss that many cuts. But so far this year, she has a T-Ford HSBC Women's Championship,
Starting point is 00:17:17 a T-8 at the Blupay LPGA, and then another T-6 here at the Ford Championship. She made the two other cuts this year, Honda LP, Thailand, and of course the Founders Cup where she finished T64, but great year for Gabby. Yeah, listen, I think it'd be cool if she can keep this form going into the tournament that she's helping to bring online this year down in Mexico. It's a fantastic stretch of golf for her. Certainly somebody I think we need to keep an eye on
Starting point is 00:17:46 as the schedule kind of heats up these next couple months. I was gonna call out just a couple here, Charlie Hall, who had fired a first round 63. Seemed like she just kind of ran out of steam. Her final round 71, she just got lapped on Sunday, but a T11 for her. And then Nelly, T22, you know, I think this is probably about as poorly as she could have played this weekend.
Starting point is 00:18:17 She obviously did not go to Asia, so she's kind of ramping back up her competitive game. So yeah, Jordan, anything that sticks out to you? Anything that's stuck out to me? No, just another, I guess a good top 20 from my girl Ayaka Furuway, which if I remember well, Cody was not on that block and I'm gonna firmly stay there. And yeah, I just, I was really impressed with that.
Starting point is 00:18:44 On the Charlie thing. Jordan hold on let me ask you this question. Saki Baba we obviously saw her win the US Women's Am I don't know what year that was was it 2022? Does this surprise you at all? Was she somebody that profiled to to have this type of game at the professional level? I think I was a bit on the fence because I was like, okay, I want to see how well her game translates over stateside. And she didn't have a lot of experience stateside when she was an am. She'd played in Atlon, she didn't play that well. But I'm very delighted to see her playing this well. I mean, I think having that experience on the Epson tour really helped her out a lot.
Starting point is 00:19:26 So, yeah, I think just getting more reps under her belt, stateside has been tremendous for her. But no, I mean, Saki Bob is awesome. I just think, again, it was kind of diversifying where she was playing and has translated into how she's played. But yeah, good T6 from her. Just 19 years old. I think she's played. But yeah, good T6 from her. Just 19 years old. I think she's younger than I,
Starting point is 00:19:47 I don't know why I was thinking she was a few years older than that. Biggie, I got one other shout out that I wanna make here for people who made the cut. Coming in at T38, that's retired professional golfer, Lexi Thompson, fired rounds at 74, 66, 68, 69. Now I say that tongue in cheek. Of course, not retired, but very much playing
Starting point is 00:20:08 a modified schedule compared. And so far, if you compare her 2025 calendar to her 2024 calendar, the only event that she has missed so far this year was the women's Saudi Invitational. She's played in the exact same amount of events, just a little less travel overseas. So we'll see. But again, I think Lexi playing good golf
Starting point is 00:20:31 and she's a huge draw when she does show up. I'm very interested to see what her schedule actually turns out to be. Because if she's going to Arizona to play in this, I think we're gonna see her in a lot more tournaments than anybody expects. Now, I think it's a lot of the travel. She's going to be on the Solheim Cup team next year. Let's just start getting ourselves prepared for that.
Starting point is 00:20:58 Ready. I asked that question to Captain Sanford and I wanted to ask the follow up question so bad because she mentioned Lexi like three other times in that interview. And I wanted to be like, hey, is there any way the Lexi is not on this team because she's either going to make it on points or she's going to get a captain's pick? Yeah, I think so, too. It's like the person who graduated high school that can't stay away from the seniors and wants to go to prom so bad. The other thing that came out of there that I was not really shocked. I wanted to ask the follow up question, but again, she made it very clear like I'm not going to announce my assistant captains yet. Paula Creamer is going to be one of your assistant captains. Like how many times do we have to mention the same name from like, oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:21:48 I'm not going to, I'm not just going to force that upon you, but there you go. There's one of them. Yeah. Lots of, lots of time between now and the Solheim cup, but it is funny to, to start thinking of it like that on the miss cut side, before we move on tough week for, uh, the young Swedes, my historic Lynn grant On the miss cut side before we move on, tough week for the young Swedes, Maya Stark, Lynn Grant both miss the cut. Jen Young-Ko surprisingly miss the cut. Yuka Sasso, I mean, kind of not surprisingly, I guess miss the cut. I think this tournament
Starting point is 00:22:16 was a little too easy for her. She only shows up when the conditions are tough. So we head to Shadow Creek this week. It's the LPGA match play. Guys, we're back to the original format. And if you remember last year, they tried a new format, which good on them for trying to actually found it pretty enjoyable where they had 36 holes of stroke play and then took the top 16 of that
Starting point is 00:22:43 and went into match play after that. Well, this year we're back to 64 women being put into 16 groups of four. You have round robin play amongst each group with the winner then, your 16 group winners going into a single elimination knockout match play on the weekend. So as of recording, we don't have those official brackets,
Starting point is 00:23:08 but it looks like all the big names have confirmed for Shadow Creek. So it should be a good event. That's gonna start Wednesday. So you'll note a Wednesday start time there. And then we'll be on Golf Channel all through Sunday, the final. Guys, do you like the format? Do you find yourself caring about the change in format?
Starting point is 00:23:33 I don't really care that much, I guess, but I did like seeing. Honestly, I thought what I liked most about the stroke play was just watching shadow Creek being a stroke play venue I thought was the most interesting thing Yes right there with you big Do I care? No, I don't think I do Jordan guys. I might care a little bit. I'm like, oh, okay. Good. Um You're mad as hell you're fired up. I'm mad as hell. I'm mad as hell, guys. Well, let me put it like this. First of all, that format last year reminds me a lot of women's ams,
Starting point is 00:24:13 juniors, whatever. So it's kind of nice to not, I wouldn't say even like revert, but like a call back to something like that where a lot of those players have played in. And those are fun. And those are obviously very absent from the professional game, but I really was thinking about the concept of single elimination a lot, watching a lot of March Madness, go Gators. And I think single elimination where and when we can and where we can in sports should be way more of a thing. Um, it doesn't make sense for every sport.
Starting point is 00:24:42 It doesn't make sense for every league, doesn't make sense for every league. But just in general, high stakes capsule play, I think is not only just more watchable, but you can create a little more virality and I don't know. I know in general in the LPGA, we've pretty consistently seen the same names on the top of leaderboards, which is awesome, truly Truly truly awesome for the LPGA as a product But I think also true authentic match play is a great way to do that as well we only get the Sulteheim Cup every other year now, um, and so yeah, I I itch for stuff like that and I
Starting point is 00:25:21 It feels kind of silly that they would revert back to that format But yeah, I don't know about a little bit press just a little bit press like that. And I, it feels kind of silly that they would revert back to that format. But yeah, I don't know. I'm a little bit pressed, just a little bit pressed. Let the record state, Jordan's just a little bit pressed on it. I don't disagree with you. Of course, our defending champion is Nelly. She won last year four and three over Leona McGuire, which was a hell of a final. I think that's one we were all eagerly anticipating with Leona's Solheim Cup heroics. Quick question. If you could draw up your dream semi-final matchups, who would you have? Jordan.
Starting point is 00:25:54 Oh, this one is a tough question. Is it that tough? I figure we'd all have like the same, you know, there's probably like six names to choose from and we'd probably have most of the same ones. Maybe Gino and Nellie, I think would be really fun. If we could get to that, I would love something like that. And even going back to the previous conversation with Lydia and Lillia. I know I was going to have, so I was thinking like if you could have Nellie versus Lillia, I think that would be a great semi-final and then yeah like a Gino versus Lydia I'm with
Starting point is 00:26:32 you there in the other one. I you know obviously sign me up there. Cody, are you going off the wall? No, I'm only going to introduce one new name here here, Randy. I want to see the Nelly-Lydian match. I think about this all the time. I think about their playoff last year at the drive on. It stays in my memory and I want to see Gino.
Starting point is 00:26:58 And I'm trying to think of somebody who's like can go round for round with Gino and might not have all the shots all the time, but will absolutely scramble their tail off and just be an absolute dog. And that's Charlie Hall. I know Charlie, that was her first event last week. I think she just needs to get her legs underneath her, which is crazy because all the girl does is work out all the time. But I mean like tournament reps. I think this is going to be a massive year for Charlie Hall. It seems like everything is kind of like lining up and in a really good spot, her golf, her personal life, everything else.
Starting point is 00:27:35 I just, I'm waiting for like, I wonder what that launching point is actually going to be. Like when is she finally just going to get up there and be like, no, I am not only top five, but like, I want to be in the top three in the world. Because you kind of felt that way after Walton Heath a couple of years ago, you kind of felt that way after Pebble Beach. And it's not that she's played poorly, but we just haven't seen her take that leap into the top five. So yeah, that's that's a good call out. I was almost thinking to like a Charlie versus Nellie Solheim Cup rematch where Charlie kind of body bagger. What was that five
Starting point is 00:28:12 and four? Yeah, that would be a good one. So yeah, LPJ match play. It's going to be a great kind of complimentary viewing, I think to on what this week. So check that out, starting Wednesday, Golf Channel all weekend. Guys, before we get to Anwar, I wanna thank our other sponsor today. That is our good friends at FanDuel.
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Starting point is 00:28:56 Plus you can stack those bets to make a parlay. I will say they already have LPGA match play odds up on the site. If you go to golf and then kind of toggle over to women's golf LPGA, you can find the match play. They don't have as of again, recording specific odds cause we're awaiting the groups, but check those out this week. And if that's not enough,
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Starting point is 00:30:26 They will be off Friday and then it will conclude on Saturday afternoon. This is going to be an NBC production from noon to 3 PM Eastern on NBC is the final round at Augusta National Jordan. Let's go to you. I asked you to kind of bring some preview thoughts to this episode. And a couple of those are your favorites to win and also some storylines. Which area would you like to start? Play my music.
Starting point is 00:30:56 I don't know. You guys feeling narratives? You guys feeling things? Let's start with storylines. I'm feeling storylines. So I think probably one of the most interesting things about this year is this the first year of Anwou that's concurrent with the LEAP, the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway standings, which there's no limit on winning such tournaments. So theoretically, not to get super ahead, if Lottie Lode was to repeat, she could earn another two points and so forth, which I'll get into.
Starting point is 00:31:29 But yeah, I think that's really fascinating considering how many opportunities winning and mom gives a player. So just as a reminder, not only do you get to go back to the next, I think, five and was you also get to play in the US Women's open the women's open the chevron and the ebion so that is a lot of Leap point potential. I also want to sidebar really quickly. It's called the LPGA elite amateur pathway Are you like allowed to have an acronym within an acronym? It's a great question.
Starting point is 00:32:05 Yeah. I don't know if I like that. They're going for it. Yeah. What else were they supposed to call it? I don't know. But I just want to call that out. Okay, good. Thank you. That's important. Let's quickly review the standings because everybody in the top five of the lead will be in ANWA this week. So Lottie Wode, I would say is the one
Starting point is 00:32:25 to watch. She currently has 16 points. You need 20 to earn LPGA status. Just as a reminder, she's still a junior in college. So she still has time theoretically to work on this. And then second is Anna Davis with eight, a sophomore in college. She got time. Rachel Heck is six. She's also in the field this week, even though she is not a collegiate. I will touch on that in a little bit. Rachel Heck and Jasmine Koo both tied at six points. Jasmine Koo, the freshman at USC, who we have an interview with at the end of this podcast. So that'll be fun. Stick around. Stick
Starting point is 00:32:59 around. And at fifth is tied a three way tie. So Hannah Darling, Rianne Malikse, and Catherine Park are tied with five points. So I guess like Lottie Wode, this is, I mean, we know Rachel Hecht's story. I'm just thinking, it's surprising me how far out ahead Lottie Wode is compared to the other women. Yeah, it's cut in half when you go to second. It jumps from 16 to 8. Like, nobody, nobody's there except for her. So she's the one to watch this week because if she is to repeat, massive, massive implications for that and her future. So I think that's really cool that we have that to think about as we're
Starting point is 00:33:45 watching the ANWA. Good Crab of Juniors this year. Gianna Clement returns for, I believe it's her third ANWA. And then a couple other names, Asterisk Talley, who we all know from Curtis Cobb runner up at the Juniorium and the Women's Am. R am and Malik see also coming back for another and law someone I really want to highlight coming out of Korea assuming oh she's been a really fascinating amateur she played at the BMW I'm not sure if you guys saw that but she was just phenomenal doesn't play a ton of stateside golf she did play in stage Valley and placed really well there believe she plays in the top five but she's someone to keep an eye on too. I'd be curious to see how she plays in Augusta this week. That's a few names to highlight. That's a
Starting point is 00:34:33 total of about, I think, what? Two, four, five juniors of note. And then Stanford, well represented as usual, six active Stanford competitors on the roster, one alumni in Rachel Heck. But USC and FSU have the best players in the world, which I thought was really interesting because I don't think we usually see such concentration at the top like that when it comes to college and the best amateurs in the world. Like usually you'll have like, you know, one player that's the best or maybe like, you know, the Roseanne and Rachel Hecht duo that that was a thing for a while. But Lottie Lowe and Mirabell
Starting point is 00:35:15 Ting and Jasmine Koo and Catherine Park are some of the best five players in the world. And I think that is a very fascinating storyline to follow. Absolutely. What do you, you said you were going to touch on Rachel. I'm so glad they invited her and I'm so glad she's playing. I'm so glad they invited her. I'm so glad she's playing. She ended her college career on a good note and she's still playing competitive amateur
Starting point is 00:35:40 golf, which is cool. I think what's interesting is we're seeing a crop of, and I don't want to call them mid-ams because they're not mid-am aged, but a crop of older players playing in this year's ANWA. So Rachel Heck would be included in that crop. But also Katerina Don, who played at Georgia, she is now an assistant coach. I forgot where she's the assistant coach, but she is an assistant coach in college golf now. And Phoebe Brinker is also back for ANWA. I found Phoebe Brinker to be really interesting, not to be a, not to super single her out,
Starting point is 00:36:13 but she's ranked pretty high in wagger in terms of like being back. I think she's like in the 130s and she's missed the cut every time at ANWA. So I was very, I found that invitation very interesting. Katerina Dawn, I can say is an assistant at Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan. Proud Mac member, yeah. I'm with you. I hope, you know, obviously this tournament
Starting point is 00:36:36 is still kind of in its infancy in a lot of ways, but I hope that we do get to the point where we can have mid-ams and we run the spectrum of women's amateur golfers. It's not just your juniors and your top college amateurs getting ready to turn pro. I think it would make for just a more compelling fun event with more inclusion from mid-am and I mean, hell, if there's a senior AM that's worthy, like I think that would be really cool as well. So something to keep an eye on.
Starting point is 00:37:11 The mid-AM champ gets invited to the Masters. If you want that smoke, you should be able to go. I know. I know. All right, Jordan, while you touched on some names, who in terms of like threats to win the tournament, who exactly are we looking at here? Who would you say are the two, three, four favorites? I think I've said at least four out of the five names I'm going to list so far. So excuse my repetition, but do we want to run back in reverse order from five to one? Yo, you know I love running back in reverse order.
Starting point is 00:37:42 Let's do it. All right, let's do it. Fifth favorite. And all complaints, all mea culpa's, these are all gonna be directed directly to Jordan at the end of the tournament. I can take it guys, I can take it. So number five, I probably picked her to win before at some point, Maria Jose Marine. She's historically made the cut both years
Starting point is 00:38:04 that she's played on the best player out of Arkansas since Maria Fossey, but I think she probably has a little bit of a higher ceiling. Her big moments are only getting bigger. She played really well at Southern Hills last year during the women's am and got out on a bad injury. I always wonder what would have happened if she didn't have to withdraw mid-match. But I think her past year and her experience here and not necessarily being like a center of attention really sets her up well to have a good run this week.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Good number five would not have been on my radar. Let's go to number four. Number four. Okay. So I would say four through one, I had a pretty tough time with. You, in theory, could jumble all these names up in any random order and I'd say, yeah, sure, sounds great. But this is what I landed on.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Number four, Jasmine Koo. The expectations are a lot higher for her. She's had incredible freshman year. I think making the cut will be easier for someone like her with her kind of game and how she could play Champions Retreat, especially with her length. But I think she can go into Augusta a little bit more of a mature, confident player. Something that she said to me, she said a couple of things in her interview that really stood out to me and I won't spoil it now. I was about to, but I won't spoil it. I caught
Starting point is 00:39:24 myself. But there are some interesting reflections she had playing after playing last year that I think set her up well to, I mean, she finished type report last year, but I really think she could make a pretty formidable run this year. Number three. I'm like, God, three, you like three better than Jasmine Koo. Okay. I like three better than Jasmine Koo. And you know why I like Jasmine Koo. Did you tell Jasmine that to her face? I didn't tell Jasmine that to her face.
Starting point is 00:39:52 Jasmine, if you're listening, I'm so sorry. Lottie Wode is why I like three better than four. Yeah. Okay. That's fair. Defending, defending champ. That's, that's a can't argue with that. It feels like I'm underrating her a lot. I would say as far as post-Anoa careers go,
Starting point is 00:40:13 I think she's got the second best one under her belt so far. Maybe that feels a little early to say given that it's only been a year that she's had the title, but she's done everything possible to maintain that best player in the world ranking. It's not, hey, I got this ranking and I got a bunch of exemptions into majors and invites and now I'm just fluffing it up a little bit. She's played some exceptional golf. I don't think she gets the fanfare she deserves, so I don't know. Maybe that's why she's not quite on the radar as much as she should be. But to kind of put that in perspective a little bit, she's not had a finish worse than third her entire collegiate season since the fall started.
Starting point is 00:40:53 Low-ammed at the women's open, if you guys remember, that was fabulous. I mean, a top 10. She finished type 10 as a low-am. And a top 10. Yeah, right there. And won a Curtis Cup with a squad who did not have the same talent level as the Americans. Just all incredible stuff. She also played probably the toughest Anjuan conditions-wise last year. So I just wouldn't be surprised to see her repeat. I mean, she's kind of seen this course, or both courses, varying lights. And I just, I don't know. I know there is the element of pressure and spotlight and the talk of being the defending
Starting point is 00:41:32 champion, but she just is so poised and handles the stuff so well that it just wouldn't shock me in the slightest to see her win again. I think I know where you're going with this. I think there's really only been one person in the world consistent enough in the women's amateur game over the last year to kind of beat Lottie pretty handedly and they just happen to be on the same team. Is that the direction we're going? That's the direction we're going Cody. Wow. That's exactly the direction we're going. All right, who's two? Number two is Miss Mirabelle Ting on another Florida State Sedimental who has not won,
Starting point is 00:42:09 not two, not three, but five collegiate wins this season. She's just stellar. Her scoring average is a 66, guys. That is insane. Seems good. Yeah. Seems good. Tied for eighth last year, so she once again has great championship
Starting point is 00:42:27 experience. Spent a lot of time early in her college career in the Augusta area. She went to Augusta University before she transferred to Florida State. She's always been an exceptional ball striker, but I was reading an article from Friendly Real Mind this morning about her putting and her head coach Amy Bond was saying that her putting has improved tremendously. So I gosh, I know another another person another Florida State Seminal who could have a lot of pressure on them. But I think Mirabelle is dangerous and I am thrilled to see what she can do this week. Finished T8 here last year as you said, So, you know, some success for sure. All right.
Starting point is 00:43:06 Now you got me like, I know, possibly be in the top spot if they've Maribel's won six times this year. Comparatively, I feel like, like, because I came in with the receipts, I came in with everything and I think you guys might be like, this is a little dark horsey. I don't know, because I think Catherine Park has been exceptional. Whoa. Okay.
Starting point is 00:43:28 Mm-hmm. Did I throw you for a loop there? A little bit. I mean, I thought you were gonna go with like US Women's Amateur Champion. She also won the Girls Amateur Championship. She's not even in your top five. Okay.
Starting point is 00:43:41 She's not even in my top five. I got you. She would be my six for sure. Yeah. Catherine Park. Very good. Catherine Park. Stud. Absolute stud. I've always thought she was an incredible player, especially seeing her up close last year at, um, at Meadow Club. And then I know she didn't have the finish that she wanted at Anwah. Anwah. Anwah. See? I see. I know. I know. It's okay. This will truly be till the end of time. Till the end of time. But after the US Women's Open last year, I'm so in on Catherine Park. I could not be more in on her game. And I think she comes into this
Starting point is 00:44:19 championship completely flying under the radar. She has her head coach Justin Silverstein on the bag again this year and I think she will just, she might eviscerate some folks. She really might. That's a bold, bold position JP and I like it. That's KVV. You stuck your neck out there for it. I mean, I don't think if people want to go look at the Wager right now, we basically just went down like the top six in the world. We might have mentioned like somebody out there in like eighth or ninth position, but I agree with you, JP. I think it's going to be an awesome event. I think the pressure to defend on Lottie is going to be intense, intense. And I just, maybe if she's had a better spring, but you hit the nail on the head with Mirabelle. I mean, she's just on fire right now.
Starting point is 00:45:15 Very, very good picks. I think what's tough, sorry. No, go ahead. What's tough is I, usually the favorite almost never wins this tournament. It's always someone that comes flying under the radar. And I like to play it safe classically in all my picks. I think you guys know that.
Starting point is 00:45:33 And so that's why I had to stick my neck out a little bit and pick Catherine. God, I want you, you could, you could have thrown out, uh, no love for Anna Davis having a heck of a year or two. I mean, not even mentioned so far. Great year. Great year. And she's probably, she's probably got a little bit of a year or two. I mean, not even mentioned so far. Great year. Great year. And she's probably got a little bit of a chip
Starting point is 00:45:49 on her shoulder now after these last few years. For sure. So Jordan, Catherine Park being like your number one power rank, is that your official pick to win? It's my official pick to win. Stamping it. Cody, are you prepared to make an official pick to win? Yeah, I Mirabelle Ting. It's very hard not to go, you know, go against the grain with the hottest player in the women's
Starting point is 00:46:12 game right now. I guess that leaves me to make an official pick. Gosh, I always like to try to go off the board. But honestly, I'm going to join the Mirabelle Ting bandwagon. Maribel, I was unfamiliar with how many wins you were stacking up this year. Hand up, that's on me. All right. Jordan, thank you for that power ranking. Before we get to the Jasmine Koo interview, I have a little bit of Anwa trivia.
Starting point is 00:46:38 All right. We have a 12 pack of Anwa trivia, but we're going to do this a little differently. I'm going to direct the questions to both Cody and Jordan. Okay. So you're each going to get six questions. We're going to see who does better. I'm guessing. This is such BS. Why are you not including, you should have had Jordan do this and ask us. That would have probably been better. Yeah. That would have probably been better, but we're going to switch it up. I think.
Starting point is 00:47:05 Yeah, we need a little, we need a little fresher. All right, Cody, you get the first question. All right. Has there been an ace at Augusta National in the history of this event? No, that's right. One for one. No, but I will say there's been an ace at champions retreat. That was 2023, the eighth hole by Bo Hyun Park. So there you go. I'm going to go out on a little,
Starting point is 00:47:34 I'm going to say there's going to be an ace this year on, on Saturday at Augusta. Jordan, no pressure, but Cody's Cody's on the board here. Who holds the record for the most birdies in one entire tournament? So across all three rounds. I got three names to mine, but I think it's Rose. It's not Rose. So who are the other names in mind? Jennifer Cupcho and Lottie Wode. No, unbelievably, none of those. She made 16 birdies in 2023 and did not win. That's Jenny Bay, if you remember the 2023 edition. Whoa.
Starting point is 00:48:15 Yes. All right, Cody, you got a 1-0 lead. Who said you weren't gonna win this? All right, Cody, here's your next question. How many majors have been won, LPGA majors have been won by ANWA participants? This is tough guys. Do you mean participants or winners? Participants. Whoa. Ooh. Three.
Starting point is 00:48:53 That's such a good guess. It's four. Thank you. Well, it's a pure guess. Of course we have Jen Cupcho, former winner. She's 1-1. Alison Corpuz is a former participant. She's 1 former winner. She's won one. Alison Corpuz is a former participant. She's won one. And then the other woman, Yuka Sasso, former participant. She's won two. Year one. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:16 All right. Good effort there. Jordan, back to you. One participant has one rookie of the year on both the L.E.T. and LPGA tours. Who is it? Cody, you're smiling like you know the answer to those. These are good questions. They're hard. These are excellent questions. I'm drawing so many blanks. Cody, would you like to steal?
Starting point is 00:49:47 I mean, I second guessing myself. It's got to be Gino. That's right. Okay. That's right. She participated and missed the cut the very first year. Right. I'm trying to think.
Starting point is 00:50:03 I don't think any of the other ones would have won L.E.T. rookie of the year. Yeah, that's exactly right. Gino Titicum. All right, Cody, back to you. How many defending ANWA champions are in the field this year? Three. That's right. Can you name them? No. Well, I know you can name two. Yeah. Yeah. Lottie and Anna Davis. Yes. Jordan, who's the third defending champion in the field this year? Tsubasa Kajitani. That's right. That's right. Very good. Jordan, Bailey Shoemaker has the low round at Augusta National when she shot a 66 last year, but she does not hold the record for low back nine at Augusta National. What is the record for the low back nine at Augusta National? And bonus points if you can tell me one of the three women who hold the record. One of three? I'm stumped.
Starting point is 00:51:10 Is this me for a steal? Sure, jump in for a steal. Well, I know. I only say Jen Kupcho. She had a back nine. That's right. She's one of three. Yep. So the low back nine at Augusta Nationals 32. Jen Kupcho did it the year she won. Saki Baba did it. And Asterix Talley. Cody's kind of whipping you Jordan. All right. I'm so glad Cody's exposing me. I think this is great. This is what the people need to know. Cody, Champions Retreat,
Starting point is 00:51:49 the home of the first two rounds of the ANWA. And the home of that guy in his fishing boat always. What hole is that on when he's on coverage? It's out there casting away. What's the low tournament round at Champions Retreat and bonus points for who has it? I don't know. She has it alone.
Starting point is 00:52:07 65. It is a 65. Yes. Come on. Guess who did it. What's got to be Rose because she usually stunk it at August. Round two. That's it.
Starting point is 00:52:21 That's it. You got it. 2023 Rose Zang 65 second round at champions retreat. All right, Jordan, we just have a few questions here left. Let's see. Okay. This is a good one. Jordan, we know that a tie a Tita come one L E T L E T rookie of the year. How many other Anwar participants have gone on to win L E T rookie of the year?
Starting point is 00:52:49 Two. That's right. Can you name either or both? No. One, I think is very gettable. The other, I would be amazed if either of you got it. No clue. Okay.
Starting point is 00:53:10 One is Lynn Grant. Correct. And the other is Chiara Tamburlini. Oh, deep cut. That is a deep cut. Cody, what's the best finish by a Korean player in the history of Anwha? I'll even give you a hint. It was in 2023. I don't know. Third of tie for fifth is only the best by a Korean player, which was somewhat surprising to me.
Starting point is 00:53:48 G.U. Lim in 2023 finished tied for fifth. Jordan, how many participants of this event have gone on to win on the LPGA tour? Is it above or below eight? How many participants have gone on to win on the LPGA tour? That's the question. Different winners. Yes. On the LPGA tour. I would say. I don't want to count these live.
Starting point is 00:54:21 Below eight. It's actually above 10 separate ANWA participants have gone on to win on the LPGA tour. Cody, similar question. How many alumni, former participants in Anwah have gone on to win on the LET tour? Is it above or below 11? Above. That's right. it above or below 11 above. That's right. 14 different women have gone on to win on the elite T tour.
Starting point is 00:54:51 All right. Last question. Convenience store today. Boys. I'm going to get some scratchers and you name it is a really good wild guesses. Last question. There are nine total countries that have never had a participant make the cut at an ANWA event. Nine countries have sent women to ANWA but have never had one make the cut.
Starting point is 00:55:16 Cody, can you name one of those countries? Canada. No, Canada is incorrect. Jordan, can you name one of those countries? Canada. No, Canada is incorrect. Jordan, can you name one of those countries? Nine total countries, right? I got nine to pick from. I've sent participants but have never had one make the cut. Let's go China. So China. China is incorrect.
Starting point is 00:55:45 We have Argentina, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, which surprises me, New Zealand, Paraguay, Singapore, Slovenia, and Switzerland are your nine countries that have sent women to represent themselves at the ANWA who have not made the cut. And that concludes, guys, everybody's favorite yearly game, the ANWA trivia. I hope you had as much fun as I did putting those. Cody, you cucked. Unbelievable. Cucked.
Starting point is 00:56:19 All right. Well, enjoy the golf this week. We have the match play going. We have ANWA. It's going to be a busy, busy week on Golf Channel. So happy viewing. Jordan, I can't wait to listen to your interview with Jasmine Koo. She could win this week very easily. She could very well win. Four-Winster freshman year so far at USC. Incredible, incredible year. Thank you for joining, guys. Enjoy the week and we will see you next time.
Starting point is 00:56:52 Jasmine, thank you so much for hopping on the podcast. I am so excited to talk to you. I've been following your career for a while now, and you are probably the most exciting person in amateur golf to me right now. I truly am just so stoked to have this conversation. I mean, you've just had a whirlwind of a last year, and I feel like your freshman year at USC, it doesn't even feel like a breakout, honestly. You've kind of been on the scene for a while. I mean, I think anyone that knows
Starting point is 00:57:19 amateur golf well knows you. Let's kick it off right here. You are at USC right now. What's life been like on campus as a freshman? Life has been pretty busy, especially in the spring. I think fall was so much fun. Like having that freedom. It's like no parents, you know, that was so new and so exciting. And then like you hit the spring and you're traveling so much and you have so much homework and you're like, all right, this is life. So a little chaotic. You look like you've been handling it well though. And let's reflect on that last year. I mean, you had ever since ANWA at 2024, it feels like everything has just gone zero to 100, so to speak. Low-am at Chevron, big run at the Girls' Junior, Curtis Cup, and now just this incredible year at USC. How have you processed all that success?
Starting point is 00:58:15 I don't think I have processed it yet, honestly. When I go to a tournament, I don't go to the tournament thinking, oh, I'm the best player in the field. I don't go to the tournament thinking, oh, I'm the best player in the field. Like I don't really think that. I still am that 16 year old girl playing AJA opens, deep down, yeah. Can you define that? Like, are you just kind of entering it more
Starting point is 00:58:38 in a chill mindset? What does that mean? That means when I go to a tournament, I'm basically there to play golf. It's almost as if somebody who wants to play a public course have a couple of beers on the course. It's kind of that mindset, I guess more intense. I just try to go out there and play the the best golf that I can. Not really thinking. I mean, it's you obviously do think about like the competition, like where you want
Starting point is 00:59:11 to win your ranking. It comes in your head, but I try not to think about it. I try to approach a tournament as it's just the golf course and it's golf and you know, it's a sport. You're just trying to have fun. You seem to gel so well on teams like we saw on the Curtis Cup and now at USC. Does that relax you? Yeah, I think having a friend there, having someone by your side is definitely something that helps you.
Starting point is 00:59:35 It just takes kind of like the rigor off of golf because it takes the individual part out. So before we dive further into the present day, I wanna learn a little bit more about your golf story. Where does it start and who got you into it? Golf is, it's so random because my parents do not play golf. I don't even think they played any sports, but when we were younger, me and my brother, I have an older brother, they kind of, they put us through a bunch of sports
Starting point is 01:00:04 and then a golf academy was one of them. And so, yeah, we just thought it was like really fun and it was like a once a week every Saturday for an hour thing. And I did competitive swimming growing up actually, took swimming very, very seriously. And once swimming kind of hit like a plateau, obviously because of like height and genetic issues, it was like, okay, maybe I'll play golf. Like golf is kind of fun, you know, like it's something I could do. And when I was like 11, 12, I've made the switch to golf and it's worked out pretty well, I would say.
Starting point is 01:00:41 Why do you still play golf? Why do I still play golf? Why do I still play golf? Because I don't want to sound cocky, but because I'm good at it. No, that's perfect. To substantiate that, you're the only other Trojan, aside from Andy Park, to win three consecutive tournaments. And then with your win at Meadow Club, you tied the program record for tournament wins. How do you continuously find ways to keep elevating your game?
Starting point is 01:01:09 There's always going to be an issue with your game and you just keep working on it. You just keep finding like problems, I guess, in a healthy way. You just keep finding problems with your game. Like right now, my wedges aren't perfect. Right now, my putting speed isn't perfect. And I'm just going to keep working on that, keep working on bettering myself. And if I succeed in those, then that means I'll eventually win tournaments. Is there a satisfaction when you find the answer or is it more of just excitement from kind of discovering the problem? You're like, okay, I know I can fix this. I don't think fix is very like, I don't know if fix is the right word to use
Starting point is 01:01:49 because I don't think you can ever fix it. I don't think you can ever master any of the problems that you're going through golf wise, skill wise, and uh, the satisfaction comes from knowing I did better, knowing I improved or even just winning a golf tournament, being like at the top of the leaderboard. It's satisfying. Totally. I think the general audience has kind of gotten to know you from some pretty viral shots, viral moments. The Chevron shot, the bounce off the platform, that one exploded. Then when you hit driver off deck at the Curtis Cup,
Starting point is 01:02:26 that also exploded. But I really wanna know how Jasmine Koo defines her golf game. I am pretty wild. And one of the reasons why I think I started playing well in college is my coaches have helped me dial my wildness down. I like to shape shots. I like to hit fades. I like to hit big hooks around trees. Kind of just be creative. Role model in golf is
Starting point is 01:02:56 Tiger Woods. He's the same way. That's how I would define myself. Just pretty freelancer, really like to go for pins when sometimes I shouldn't. Okay, I'm going to touch on that a little bit more because that is really fascinating of an approach. But in terms of your time at USC and how you've kind of tamed that wild side, if you will, I heard from your coach, Justin Silverstein, that you especially admire Kathy, Katherine Park's game. And just Kathy as a person. I would love to hear more about that and your influence on you. Oh yeah, Kathy aka Kathy Barra. She's like the sunlight of her team. She's just a person that when you enter the room, like everything just becomes not boring. Like all the boredom just gets sucked away
Starting point is 01:03:49 when she enters the room. And like, person as a person, I don't ever see a situation where someone can say anything negative about her. And as a golfer, I really respect her golf game because it's so different than mine. There's this thing we do called the line test. It's basically there's a straight line in the simulator room and you're just hitting
Starting point is 01:04:11 balls as straight as you can. And when I do it, it's like usually draw or fade when I hit a good it's a draw or fade into the straight line. But hers is like every single shot is just on the white line, on the white line. It's an arrow. I just think that's so impressive how she can do that. If I know a thing or two about USC, it's that players come out tour ready. What's your long-term plan?
Starting point is 01:04:39 My long-term plan, it's to go pro hopefully. To be number one in the world hopefully. Just to dominate. I just want to be like better and better. Did you always have a plan to go to college or was it something that you came around to? How did that decision come about? Yeah, I always plan on going to college because when I was a junior golfer, I wouldn't say I was like at the top of my class. So in junior golf, I always had college in mind because I never knew if I could go pro or not as like a skill level.
Starting point is 01:05:20 I didn't know if I was good enough or talented enough to go pro. And so college was always in my mind because I was like, oh, like I really want to do something that apart from golf that I could have a stable career in. And then I got recruited for I got recruited committed to USC. And then that's when I started playing better. And I was like, oh, wait, maybe I do have the talent to go pro. But then like, I started growing a relationship with Justin and that once it came time to enter, there was just no thought of like, I'm not going to go to college. There was just no thought
Starting point is 01:05:55 of that. So it was more so later in your junior golf career where you became fully certain, but then also certain of post-college plans. Yes. Yes, exactly. What has that relationship with Justin been like? I can't find the word for it. It's very interesting. Justin and I have expectations for each other. And I got to be careful with what I say because I know he's gonna listen to this but I think right now I'm focusing on Just meeting his expectations because I know that if I do meet his expectations
Starting point is 01:06:34 I'll be better. I'll be tour ready and I'll just be the person the golfer that I want to be So a lot of trust in that for me to So a lot of trust in that, from me to him, a lot of trust in that relationship for sure. You're coming into your second, and while you're second Augusta National Women's Amateur, and a little bit of a different place in your career, being in college, having a little more
Starting point is 01:07:00 experience under your belt. What are your expectations this time, and where's your confidence level now? Much higher than last time. Last year was kind of me just going in and being like, all right, I just want to make the cut, you know? And then this year I'm kind of, I'm going in and I'm like, all right, let's win this thing. So that's the switch. That's the difference. let's win this thing. So that's the switch, that's the difference. The difference is because last year I got fourth last year which was completely unexpected. I was like wait like I actually kind of came close to winning even though the score was off like I was kind of close to number one on the leaderboard and I was like like, oh wow, that's pretty cool. So this year I'm definitely going in with a mindset like,
Starting point is 01:07:47 all right, let's go to win. It's not gonna make the cut, let's go to win. Do you go into a tournament like ANWA with the same kind of wild side approach, like wanting to take riskier shots, et cetera, or do you feel like you've got to especially tame that? I think I need to tame it because it's a hard course, not because of the skill of the tournament. Because the course that I'm playing at is really hard and I know that I just can't hit
Starting point is 01:08:18 whatever shot I want or else I'll be punished for it. Do you feel that way about both Champions Retreat and Augusta? I feel like Champions Retreat is harder than Augusta. Hot take. But I found Champions Retreat so much harder, probably also because of the wind. It was blowing a lot more at Champions than Augusta. Yeah, I've heard that a lot in terms of like a lot of players saying like, it feels a lot more difficult. And especially last year. Yes, the conditions last year were something else. Yeah, Augusta just feels more like surreal, just like standing on the grass at Augusta. It's just like, whoa. And Champions Retreat is like, whoa, this golf course is challenging. So I maybe can guess which hole it is, but what's your favorite hole at Augusta?
Starting point is 01:09:06 What do you think it is? I want to say one of the ones you eagled on, 8 or 15. But if it's not, I'll be surprised. Okay, it is. So 50-50 chance. Which one is it? It's 15. Ah, okay.
Starting point is 01:09:20 Yeah, that one was pretty special. Probably my best golf memory I have to this day. 15. Walk me through what you like about it. I like how it's a reachable par five and I like how both shots, you have to hit a good shot to be rewarded. And I like the grandstands. I like how many people there are. Yeah. And
Starting point is 01:09:47 I like the opportunities that that whole gives you. Speaking of grandstands and just other things on the course, I listened to an interview that you did with the AJGA and you mentioned that seeing a leaderboard typically scares you during a tournament, but on that day, it didn't. I guess, do you still feel that way? I mean, like what changed for you during that round? That round was just unlike anything I've ever played. That right, you can't not look at the leaderboard at ANWA. It's kind of just right in front of your face.
Starting point is 01:10:20 Like, unless you like fully close your eyes and turn your back but looked at the leader I had the superstition that every time I look at the leaderboard I make a bogey it's not really that way anymore because in college golf I'm always on the leaderboard I'm always scrolling through who yeah like I just like to see what my team did but uh that round was just like, I don't even know. I just hit the shots and some of them went in, some of them didn't. It was just pretty cool. I kind of just went through that day just like, not really going through it, but just riding on
Starting point is 01:11:03 every bit of momentum that I had. So like, safe to say Anwalt 2024, massive confidence booster. Yes, yes. But I think more so than that, the Chevron was more of a confidence booster. Really? More than the Anwalt. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:21 Because the Chevron is like, I'm playing with the best in the world. And so this is the competition that I'm striving for. This is the end goal and like, this is where I placed in the end goal. So it kind of made more sense. Like there was more of a logic to the confidence that I got from the Chevron more so than the Anwa. Did you spend that week starstruck or were you just kind of like, hey, like, I'm here,
Starting point is 01:11:47 I'm here to do my thing? I think I was starstruck because if Nellie Korda is sitting right in front of you, there's like, yeah, it's hard not to get starstruck. Who was, I guess, aside from Nellie, who else did you see in you were just starstruck or in awe of? Nellie, Lynn Grant, Charlie Hall, Lydia. Yeah, oh, I saw Charlie Hall smoking a cigarette and I was like, oh my gosh, I saw it in real life finally.
Starting point is 01:12:17 That's so cool. Bucket list item. Yeah, I know literally. So I have to ask because I was doing some social media creeping, if you will. You have a food account. So let's go back to Anwaw for a second. The food at Anwaw between Champions and between Augusta National is just crazy. For anyone who's ever been there knows that it feels like your options for food are just limitless. So I have to ask, what is your favorite food to eat that week? That week? Probably the food trucks. There's like a food truck stand. Yeah. A variety of food trucks. And there was a steak taco salad that I had.
Starting point is 01:13:05 And it was the only taco salad that I've ever enjoyed in my life, but it was outstanding. Like I cannot describe how delicious it was. Like I think I liked it even better than the steak at the Champions Dinner. Okay, for those who aren't as familiar with the ANWA Champions Dinner Night, can you kind of explain what that is?
Starting point is 01:13:27 Cause that's pretty special too. That's the eve before the tournament starts. That night is, you just get treated like princesses. Like you feel like a Disney princess. You walk in the doors, you're all dressed up. You see everybody in their green jackets and you're going in, you're all dressed up, you see everybody in their green jackets, and you're going in, you're getting served these really exquisite meals. The best way to describe it is surreal. You can't, you don't really understand what's
Starting point is 01:13:58 going on because of how surreal it is. Well I think maybe I felt that way because it was my first year. This year, it's a goal of mine to kind of take everything in, to go to the Champions Dinner and be like, where am I sitting down right now? Like the chairman of Augusta National speak, and he's right in front of me congratulating us. What does this mean? Like, where am I sitting? It's just, I'm just trying to take it all in last year. I don't think I could have because of how many big things were going on. Who did you sit with last year at the Champions' Dinner?
Starting point is 01:14:33 I honestly don't remember. So it's just a week of maybe overwhelm is what it sounds like. And now you're feeling a little more, okay, I know the lay of the land. I know how this goes. Like I can actually stop for a second and I guess smell these alias for lack of a better word. Yes. Yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Cool. That's awesome. No, it's such a surreal experience, at least on the outside of what it looks like. I mean, you guys get to do so many cool things and it's just such a unique week, truly. But going back to the food account and for our listeners who don't know, Jasmine has
Starting point is 01:15:12 a food account she runs on the side named the 902 home cook channel on Instagram. And I want to read the bio. Welcome to room 902 where the most scrumptious meals are made in our humble kitchen. Join us on our journey to the Freshman 15. Gotta know where the inspiration for this came from, and I gotta know the udon recipe, because that looked amazing. There was no inspiration. It's run by me and a teammate, the Freshman on Team Kylie.
Starting point is 01:15:40 Me and Kylie's dynamic is really weird. Whenever we're around each other, just the two of us, we get really, we get really weird, I guess you could say. We would just start dancing out of nowhere and just laughing at each other's dance, at our dances, and then we recreate it, something like that. And one night we were just like, we cook so much at home, we should post this. And then the bio came off just out of the top of my head, just two seconds, just scrumptious,
Starting point is 01:16:11 delicious meals. Oh, freshman 15. It literally, there was no inspiration. We cook a lot, we should post it because we're funny and our meals look good. Yeah, that's it. How does your cooking arrangement work? Are you like in a proper dorm where there's no like kitchen? Do you have a communal kitchen? How does it work? We have a kitchen in our dorm.
Starting point is 01:16:35 So clenched. Oh wow. Yeah, it's very clenched. That's awesome. So a full kitchen? Mm-hmm, like an oven and everything. Wow. Okay. No, that's awesome. That's so cool. What's your favorite thing you've made so far? Probably the braised tofu. If you look in my Instagram account, you can see it,
Starting point is 01:16:52 but the braised tofu was really good and it took the longest to make. So. How long? Like an hour. Yeah. And all the side dishes. You know how all the side dishes are like, some of them are the same like every post.
Starting point is 01:17:10 Like all the side dishes are made, some of them are made that we make them. And like those take forever to make. So I think when I made the tofu, it was like, I had to make three of the side dishes on with the tofu on top of that. So that's why it took so long. Are you having like big team dinners and serving them? How does this work? Is it usually dinner for two?
Starting point is 01:17:34 No, it's just dinner for two. Oh my gosh. Leftovers for days though. No, we eat all of it. Oh yes. I love that. And I guess my final question is since we're ending up on a food note, if you won the Masters, what would your menu be? Oh my gosh. This is such a hard question. I think I would do pasta or steak just to have something universal that everybody likes.
Starting point is 01:18:07 Gosh, and then I need something that's like really special. Oh, there's this one Korean dish called kimchi jjigae, which is a stew that my mom makes. It's like a soul food. And I think I'd serve that because it's my favorite food. And I want other people to experience that. That's a, that's like honest mix. Honestly, it's like, it's a little bit of you and then it's a little bit of something for everybody. That's so cool.
Starting point is 01:18:32 I love that. Well, Jasmine, thank you so much for coming on. Thanks so much for talking about your journey and for getting into some food. Cause that was a lot of fun too. Yeah. Thanks Jordan. Thanks for having me. Fan dual disclaimer must be 21 and older and present in select
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