Stanford reigns supreme in Volunteers of America Classic

She secured her seventh career LPGA Tour victory and first since her maiden major title at the 2018 Evian Championship.

Stanford tied for the lead after three consecutive birdies on Nos. 6, 7, and 8, and pulled away from the pack after adding four more birdies on her back nine. Shooting the lowest score of the day with a fourth-round 67, Stanford may have closed with a bogey, but was over-the-moon nonetheless.

“Honestly, I never thought I would,” Stanford admitted about her odds of winning in her home state. “I think the longer you're out here, it's so hard to win on this tour. I think being at home, it took me a while to figure it out. The very first time we played in the Dallas/Fort Worth area I remember getting off the airplane and everybody from the tour kind of came with me to baggage claim. I'm like, ‘oh, that's weird.’ So I just think learning how to play in your hometown is kind of hard because obviously I haven't done it since Junior Golf, so I think I had to kind of figure it out. Big shout out to Cheyenne Knight. She proved last year you can win at home, so that inspired me and made me realize that I am making it harder than it needs to be.”
 
Stanford held a two-stroke lead while waiting for Park to finish on No. 18. Without a leaderboard and knowing where her competitors played, she kept fighting until the very end.
 
“I actually told my caddie, we were standing in 10 fairway and I said, ‘I don't want to know where I am today unless we get to 18 and we have to hit a shot to either win or hold on to a win, but I feel like I'm in a pretty good head space today. I just don't want to know,” said Stanford. “I was kind of watching Ko. I knew I was a shot off of her most of the day, so at least she was definitely beating me, so I kind of paid attention to her and it wasn't until 14 where I made that birdie and she had a tough hole that I thought, ‘okay, and you can kind of tell with how people were starting to show up,’ but even on 18 I said when we were chipping, I said ‘do I need to get this up and down?’ He said ‘no.’ I said, ‘okay, well, I'm going to bump it into the hill,” Stanford said with a chuckle.

The win gives Stanford her first home-state victory and is her first since winning the 2018 The Evian Championship. Getting to stay in the lone-star state for a week more, Stanford and friend, Brittany Altomare, head straight to Houston, Texas to compete in the U.S. Women’s Open.

“Well, so I told Brittany Altomare I'd give her a ride down to Houston to pick up her car. I wasn't going to let her drive my truck. Now I'm going to let her drive my truck,” laughed Stanford as she revealed how she would celebrate. “So I can sit in the passenger side; I'm not driving to Houston. Brittany Altomare will be driving to Houston.”

The day’s final grouping of Noh, Ryu and Park all finished in a tie for second, with Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who played the day with Stanford, finishing in solo fifth. Ko was tied for the lead after two birdies on her front nine, but a bogey on No. 14 pushed her down the leaderboard. Playing alongside the role models she idolized since she was a kid, Noh said she still remained calm until the end.

“I feel really good, and to be able to play with some of the greatest players in the world was a really good experience for me and I got to learn a lot from them. It was just a really fun learning experience,” said Noh.

STANFORD MAY BE 43 YEARS OLD, BUT SHE WON’T BE SLOWING DOWN ANYTIME SOON

If there is anything that this year’s Volunteers of America Classic champion 43-year-young Angela Stanford proved, it is that age is just a number. What really matters is how alive the heart is. Crediting her victory due to her “passion,” Stanford had a message for individuals of all ages.

“I really think it boils down to passion. I just love trying to get better. I think if you love what you're doing and you love your process and you just love getting better, then you have to keep going. I would tell anybody, you work and you try until you just don't have that desire and that passion anymore. I just turned 43. Not many people at 42 are going to say, ‘I want to learn how to chip the ball properly.’ So I just felt like if I'm getting close to the end of my career I don't want to leave any stone unturned. I want to find out, if I chip it the best I can, if I putt it the best I can, if I hit it the best I can, what am I capable of before I'm done? I think if you have the passion to get up every morning and get better, you can chase your dream as long as you want,” said Stanford.

The first player at or over the age of 40 to win on Tour since Cristie Kerr (40, 2017 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia) and Catriona Matthew (42, 2011 Lorena Ochoa Invitational), Stanford finds herself winning during her 20^th year on the LPGA Tour. It’s pretty easy, though, when the love she’s had for the sport is as grand as it has always been.

“All year I've been so grateful to get to play golf. I think LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and his team and all the staff at the LPGA, all of our sponsors and partners, I was scared to death that I wasn't going to get to play golf this year, and there are so many people that made this year happen and I don't get to sit here today without all those people. I didn't expect this in the 20th year, and I was just thinking I took a picture at Diamond Resort this year. It's my 20th year,” said Stanford. “Now looking back, you're just like, ‘wow, didn't think this year was going to go this way.’ So you just never know. I never saw this year coming. Honestly, I didn't think I would win this year. I didn't know if I'd ever win again. You know, that's the thing, it's hard to win on this tour and I'm just so grateful to everybody that stepped up and said, no, we want to play golf. The sponsors that came beside us and said we want to put you all out on a golf course. It's a big deal, and it's much appreciated.”

PARK STILL SATISFIED WITH VOA CLASSIC SHOWING

Inbee Park started the final day of the Volunteers of America Classic in a tie for the lead and in the final group with Yealimi Noh and So Yeon Ryu. It was the 21^st time Park had held the 54-hole lead/co-lead on the LPGA Tour, and had converted 12 of the last 20 times into victories. After starting off with an unfortunate bogey on No. 1, Park regained ground to sit in a tie for the top at the turn after birdies on Nos. 4 and 6. But, as Angela Stanford put the pedal to the medal two groups in front of her, Park’s bogey on No. 12 and birdie on No. 14 weren’t enough to secure her third VOA Classic victory since 2013.

“Today was a little bit tougher out there with the wind. I feel like I gave myself a couple of opportunities, but I guess Angela played really well and under really tough conditions. So I don't feel I played bad, just wasn't my day,” said Park, who would have needed an eagle on No. 18 to force a playoff with Stanford. “Yeah, still very happy with the round and having 3 under par rounds in this cold weather, tough conditions is giving me things to accomplish going into next week.”

Park will go for her third victory in another event next week – the U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club, a major championship she won in 2008 and 2013. After a tie-for-second showing at the Old American Golf Club, she’s hoping to keep the momentum going into the season’s final major title opportunity. “I think it's going to be a little bit similar conditions with a little bit of wind and probably a little bit chilly weather,” said Park. “I think good practice week this week, so yeah, looking forward to next week.”

SO YEON RYU SHINES UNDER THE COLONY, TEXAS SKIES

Despite finishing in a tie for second this week at the Volunteers of America Classic, So Yeon Ryu’s sunny disposition never seemed to fade as she recorded her second bogey-free round in a row at Old American Golf Club. Closing with a fourth-round 70, Ryu made 17 straight pars and closed with a birdie, her first since Saturday’s round at No. 13.

“I was quite nervous coming back [to the LPGA Tour], even though I played a few good events in Korea, I haven't played on the LPGA for a long time, so I was nervous I was still eligible to compete with these greatest players or not, but it was really great to be in contention,” said Ryu, who spend most of 2020 once the Tour took a hiatus due to the coronavirus. “Well, to be honest, like last 27 holes were a little disappointing, but finish second is always good, I cannot complain to that, so it's really good to be back.”

Ryu won her country’s open this past summer, the Korean Women’s Open on the KLPGA and is looking forward to add another Open title next week at U.S. Women’s Open. She won the event back in 2011, which jumpstarted her career on Tour, and earning her Membership for the 2012 season. A strong showing in her first LPGA Tour event since February only solidifies her confidence for next week.

“I think it's going very needed to have the confidence and if I can win the tournament again, that will be awesome,” said Ryu. “Having two U.S. Women's Open trophy under my belt is something really big, so looking forward to playing next week.”

CME GROUP CARES CHALLENGE—SCORE 1 FOR ST. JUDE
The CME Group Cares Challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations. Though there were no aces this week at VOA Classic, CME Group remains committed to donating from previous holes-in-one from earlier on in the year. The donated $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2019, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and life-threatening diseases.

A $200,000 donation helps provide families with grocery gift cards for two years for 20 St. Jude families: Families whose children are undergoing long-term treatment live at St. Jude Target House free of charge. Each week, Target House families receive a grocery gift card from Kroger so that they may cook their own meals and eat together in their apartment if they choose. These shared meals help families maintain a sense of togetherness during trying times. Also, the donation helps provide 16 days of inpatient care and helps cover the cost of eight major surgical procedures.

With increased donations come additional support; $100,000 more helps treat one child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and helps the St. Jude Blood Donor Center run for 20 weeks.