76th U.S. Women's Open Championship with Aimee Cho

It's U.S. Women's Open Week and the 76th Edition of the Championship is hosted by the Olympic Club in San Francisco  This historic venue has hosted several memorable USGA championships over the years, including the 1955 US Open, where Ben Hogan lost in a playoff to an unsung player - Jack Fleck.   The ultimate irony for Mr. Hogan was Jack Fleck was one of the very first players on the PGA to play with the newly developed "Ben Hogan Signature series Golf Clubs".   

The venue was also host to the 1966 US Open, where the new King of Golf, Arnold Palmer, lost in a playoff to Billy Casper, despite having a 6-stroke lead going into the Final Round.  Palmer's inability to close the event led to a Monday 18-hole playoff, and the unofficial decline of Palmer as the King of the hill. 

This year marks the very first time that the Women's Championship will be hosted at this historic club and like its Men's counterparts, promises to be equally exciting as the best players in Women's Golf tackle the famed course.  Small, elevated and undulating greens with its sloping and cambered fairways and traditional "US Open rough" will challenge the shotmaking abilities of these talented pro's.  

Our special guest, Aimee Cho, is probably best known for her incredibly popular YouTube golf instruction channel -- Golf with Aimee, where she provides simple, fun and effective lessons and tips.   Aimee Cho is also a former professional player on  the LPGA's Symetra Tour joins us to review and analyze this year's championship.  Fresh off of her appearance on CBS LA as a guest analyst for the PGA Championship at the Ocean Course (Kiawah), Aimee is eager to talk about the most challenging event in women's golf and to share her special perspective on how the Lake Course at Olympic will play for the women.

We review favourites like Inbee Park, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Patty Tavatanakit  among a handful of other contenders.  

So listen in or download the episode today.

Transcript

Douglas Maida: 0:12

Good afternoon and welcome to our show. We're talking golf. My name is Douglas maida and I'm your host. Well, it has been another great week in golf. We had a fantastic PGA Championship wrap up last weekend with Phil Mickelson becoming the oldest player to win a major championship. This week, we watched the Charles Schwab challenge held at Colonial club in Fort Worth, Texas, where Jordan spieth had another good showing in his home state. But his final round 73 allowed Jason kolcraft to sneak by and claim the win after shooting an even par 70 for a two shot victory. We also have the first match play event on the LPGA since the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in 2018. The women gathered this past week in Las Vegas to play shadow Creek, and after three days of round robin group play, yesterday was the start of the knockout rounds, with players being eliminated until we reached today's final match. Today's final match was between Ali Ewing and Sophia pop off. valuing defeated Sophia pop off two in one to take the match play championship. With Allie Ewing's win today, another spot was opened up for this week's us Women's Open. That last spot was filled by Brittany Jada, of Hawaii, which brings the total field to 155 players for San Francisco. Now our guest today first joined us last year as one of our very first guests on the show. Amy Cho will be here to discuss the 76th us Women's Open Championship that is coming up this week from San Francisco at the Olympic club. Now before I introduce our guests, I would like to welcome our listeners and subscribers from around the world. Because without you and your support, we simply would not be able to bring you this show. Now before we get into today's show, we're going to take a short break for these commercial messages.

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Amy (Studio): 2:22

Welcome to our show. We are proud to announce that we're talking golf has been recognized as one of the top 40 podcasts to follow in 2021 for PGA and LPGA golf coverage. Today's show is being recorded from our studio in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. We are produced by the world of golf and you can find us on the worldwide web at www dot world of golf.org or on our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now on LinkedIn. For those of you in Asia and elsewhere. You can also follow us on Weibo and WeChat. Now, back to our show. Here is your host Douglas Maida.

Douglas Maida: 3:08

Welcome back to the show, and thank you for staying with us. Now let's get straight to our guest. Joining us today is Amy Jo. Amy is an LPGA Class A instructor. She's a former professional player having played on both a symmetric tour and having earned status on the LPGA. She is also a TPI, certified golf fitness instructor. With their knowledge and experience. Amy is easily one of the most popular instructors on YouTube. With over 300,000 subscribers on her golf with Amy channel. Amy has an extremely easy to understand way of teaching golf. Or as many of her followers know. It's called Amy fine. Making golf simple, fun and effective. Welcome back to the show, Amy.

Aimee Cho: 4:01

Thanks for having me. How are you Doug Douglas.

Douglas Maida: 4:04

I'm doing well. I'm doing well. And we're so, so pleased to have you join us. Thank you. So how have you been doing since we last saw you Amy? You're very busy.

Aimee Cho: 4:19

Yeah, I've been I've been very busy this year, been working a lot with the PGA Tour directly. They've been hiring me as a Korean Korean reporter. So I worked with them for the Players Championship and the at&t Byron Nelson. So I've been working really closely with the Korean guys on tour. And also I was you know, at the LPGA tournament a couple times this year. So as an influencer, so that was one as well. So yeah, I've been very busy.

Douglas Maida: 4:48

Yeah, it's terrific. It's always nice to see you. Tell us a little bit about this past week for you. Oh, yes. You were guest spot as a guest analyst with CBS LA. Yes. So what was that like? How was it experience.

Aimee Cho: 5:00

Yeah, I mean, it was my first time being on like a CBS live TV. I was on both Saturday and Sunday for the PGA Championship. And it was live and I had a lot of fun. You know, I love talking about golf. I'm very passionate about golf. So Jim Hill for CBS, LA. He's been doing it for, like 20 years or something. So he was great. He was basically just running the whole show. And I was just kind of hanging out with him. So it was it was a ton of fun. And of course, you were there covering the providing some analysis on the PGA Championship. Yes, yes. So what are your thoughts? I mean, how exciting was it to have Phil, when, you know, he made history of like the oldest person ever to be in a major, it is almost age 51. Right. It was such an exciting weekend, although other than the fact that I was on live TV.

Douglas Maida: 5:54

We think about Phil in his TPI background, because that was something that came up a fair bit, particularly after he won. And I noticed there was a few posts about that. And Phil himself put something out on social media about how he's been working very hard with his physical conditioning, that it was nice for it to pay off.

Aimee Cho: 6:11

Yeah. I mean, I mean, you look at these guys, young guys are on the PGA Tour, they're getting stronger, they're getting fitter, they're hitting it farther. And you know, so they're, they're really probably hard to keep up with, especially when, you know, Phil is 50, almost 51 years old. And so I can see how he's been working really hard to keep up and it's paid off. And it was quite amazing to really see him kind of never finish in the top 20. This any of this year, he was well outside 100 on the rankings. And then he just when we thought he was going away, fading away, Phil goes, Hey, I'm still here. Let me show you how it's done.

Douglas Maida: 6:54

So I guess the part about Phil was that kind of made the PGA Championship something like not having to worry about Tiger no Tiger Woods, no problem. It was a fantastic story to follow and get involved with and, and more history was, it was an exciting weekend really was. What did you think about Brooks Koepka the way he played with regards to his knee and managing to stay in it so much. Right till the end?

Aimee Cho: 7:19

Yeah, I mean, you know, he had his knee surgery in March. And you know, he didn't do so well at the Masters, obviously, because he didn't have enough time to recover. I was guessing. So I didn't think he was going to show up for this time, either. And I don't know how he does it, he always turns it on for the majors. And there really no other players that can do that. And I think he just gets a kick out of you know, you know, playing the majors. That's why he kind of goes, Oh, it's go time. So, you know, it was just really amazing to, you know, have them show up again and put on his a game and give Phil a really good run at the end.

Douglas Maida: 7:55

Yeah, he does seem to have that ability. doesn't he? Amazing? Crazy. Any other thoughts about the PGA Championship PGA Championship?

Aimee Cho: 8:03

Um, I, honestly, you know, with Phil winning, I think everybody were like, so excited, because, you know, he, he has the best interaction with the fans. I think I've whenever I'm at golf tournaments, I always see him stopped by juniors and he always hands over his gloves and golf balls. And you know, everybody loves him for the personality he has. So have him like set a history like this. And when was amazing. I mean, I mentioned this during the live TV, but you know how long we've waited for him to win a major right? Like they said, 12 years, we were waiting and waiting. We didn't think you're gonna do it. And in 2004 masters, you want it. And that was a super special day. And I thought this time was just as special for him to show up at 50 and just win a major. And it was it was an amazing weekend because Didn't he start leading from like, round two or something? So it was a tougher win because it's hard to win like so many rounds. Do all that so many rounds in a row. Yeah. And he was he was still near the top of the leaderboard on after round one. But yeah, by round two, three and four. He was Yeah, he was there. And the one that counts the most is after round four. Yes. I mean, I saw him up there after round two. I was like, he's probably gonna, you know, lose them and I and then kind of falter, but he was right up there. And then what was more impressive about his rounds, the last round is that so after 10 you know, the crowd started getting really loud after he made that birdie putt on 10th. So we thought Game Over kept going never came back from that 10th you know when the roar started happening, so I was in celebration mode with Phil for the back nine but you know how tough that back nine was playing right? So you could see Phil really sticking with his pre shot routine, really trying to not lose his focus and always regroup before he hits and thought that was very impressive for Phil,

Douglas Maida: 10:02

Did you find some good examples there that you could use with some of the students that you work with?

Aimee Cho: 10:06

Yes, I always emphasize pre shot routine, especially if you've kind of lost your you know, you're calm and you have to regroup. Phil always kind of takes a deep breath. And then he really makes sure he calms everything down before he walks into the shop. And I think that's something every one of us can learn from.

Douglas Maida: 10:27

I was gonna say, I noticed the PGA has a lot of those Whoop bands for I imagine that's probably a pretty good way for the players to monitor their body vitals and whatnot as well.

Aimee Cho: 10:37

Yes, I guess so. Yeah, doesn't hurt, right.

Douglas Maida: 10:42

All right, we're gonna take a short commercial break. And when we come back, we're gonna start chatting about the 76th. U.S. Women's Open.

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Amy (Studio): 11:07

Welcome to our show. We are proud to announce that we're talking golf has been recognized as one of the top 40 podcasts to follow in 2021 for PGA and LPGA golf coverage. Today's show is being recorded from our studio in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. We are produced by the world of golf. And you can find us on the world wide web at www dot world of golf.org. Or on our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now on LinkedIn. For those of you in Asia and elsewhere, you can also follow us on Weibo and WeChat. Now, back to our show. Here is your host, Douglas maida.

Douglas Maida: 11:53

And we're back. Thank you for staying with us. Now we're going to move into the next segment of our show, which is drug addressing the 76th us Women's Open, which will be held at Olympic club in San Francisco, the historic venue is going to be the first time host for the Women's Championship. So Amy, you I see you have had the opportunity to play Olympic club. Yes. Why don't you share what your thoughts are about the course and what you thought of it the elevated greens and something from a player's perspective that you noticed?

Aimee Cho: 12:27

Yeah, you know, I was at the Media Day, which is held about a month ago. So Media Day, just to explain briefly, they invited the USGA invites people that are involved in the media category, and they have a press conference, they usually have a player too. They're doing the press conference, and Michelle Wie was there, because she lives fairly close to the course. And that was one I went up to ask the question as well. I asked her, you know, other than being a mom, and a golfer, for what part of the game she's working on. And then she said, putting and everyone that laughed, including herself. That was fun. And then I got to play the 18 after the press conference, it was a tough, tough Of course, it was in great shape. It was absolutely beautiful out there, it was super green, super blue huge trees. The the undulation on the golf course, is a lot bigger than I thought it's it's honestly felt like uphill on every single hole. I don't know exactly how long they're playing at this year. But I think I played it close to 6700. And I was hitting rewards into just about every part for I mean, these girls on tour hit it farther than me. So you know, they're they should have shorter clubs into it. But appeal is tough. The rough was only about two or three inches long at the time. You know, it's very short for us open course they're probably have grown it out to super deep rough. And it was only two to three inches, but I couldn't get the club through it. It was very thick. So I was just like, I hope none of the girls ever get in the rough during the U.S. Open, though. So the course was really hilly kind of looked really long. But the greens were very tiny guarded by a lot of bunkers, deep bunkers. So the course looked even longer because the small greens and then the bunkers. Oh my there had so much sand in there. I couldn't get out of it. I mean, I barely got out, didn't even have chance to like put spin on it or control distance was very tough.

Douglas Maida: 14:36

I was just chatting with a player yesterday who just finished the practice round. And she was telling me that the rough is now up to about 12 inches. It's a good foot. So Exactly. And so I asked her I said Is there a Is there even an intermediate cut between the fairway cut and then you get to that one foot? She said no, I don't remember. Exactly. And she said no. It's fairway, or else you're in trouble. She said that grass is so thick that don't even. I mean, first of all, if you find your ball, you're lucky. And then don't even think about trying to advance it going forward, you're just coming out sideways, get that ball back on the fairway and get yourself back into play to try and set up the next shot.

Aimee Cho: 15:20

Yeah, for how sticky it was. If it's 12 inches, good luck getting you know your club on that ball, right? I actually I did I filmed while I was there. So my vlog about the Media Day is uploading Wednesday on my YouTube channel.

Douglas Maida: 15:35

Oh, terrific, terrific. So we can have our listeners and readers, direct them to that video of yours and your experience on the course. Well, it's a great way of showing some insight into the way Olympic's being played or is going to play and having it from a player perspective. Instead of a, as lovely as the flyovers are. It's nice to see it from the perspective that you filmed.

Aimee Cho: 15:57

I hope so it was it was really tough. But honestly, it's so hard to see the hills, you know, through a TV, and I just couldn't believe how hilly it was.

Douglas Maida: 16:08

Yeah, yeah, I understand that. I mean, I've seen photographs of it. I've read a lot about it, particularly from the 1955 us open and the 65 us opens. I've always understood it to be incredibly deceiving in its locks. Because of the slopes and things of that nature that the fairways slope, like for example on 18 slopes from left to right. So you have to know which way you're going to take your line off the tee and depending whether or not you hit your drawing or, or fade and we're going to try and land it so it doesn't roll all the way out the other end of the fairway.

Aimee Cho: 16:43

Yeah, I mean, when you're on that hill, it doesn't look very hilly either. It's very deceiving when you're on it, but then you realize you're on a really big slope when you see the ball start rolling to the side. But yeah, you know, you remember in 2012 when Webb Simpson won the men's Yes, open there. He is total was plus one. That's how topically?

Douglas Maida: 17:04

Exactly, exactly. Yeah. Do you think on nearly every shot out of the fairway? Do you think players are gonna have to play the ball below their feet or above their feet?

Aimee Cho: 17:15

I don't think there'll be that many flat lies. Yeah, I really don't think so.

Douglas Maida: 17:22

So there'll be one or the other. Yeah, a little bit below their feet or a little bit above

Aimee Cho: 17:26

Or left foot high, left foot low. Everything really.

Douglas Maida: 17:30

And the greens Now, you mentioned they're small. What did you think about their undulation? Because I, you know, I understand that. They're also very deceiving in that respect that they look generally flat, but they're far from flat.

Aimee Cho: 17:45

Yeah, I couldn't figure out a pattern. It was I took note down a where the lake is where the high point of the courses, and then it didn't go along those notes. So I felt like every square feet have different undulation. And I couldn't catch all of that. And I really struggled reading the greens under elevated too. So it's going to be at small. Yes. And it was like over a month ago. So they weren't you know, they didn't have them fast. But it was still very fast.

Douglas Maida: 18:20

Yeah. The player I spoke with yesterday said the greens were fast. But she expected them to be faster by Thursday come Thursday, because they had been looking after them and watering them and I think trying to get them in prime condition for for the four days of the

Aimee Cho: 18:36

Yeah, they usually do that. So they don't the greens don't die too early in the round. I remember whenever I played us opens I always had to work on flop shots for at least two months prior to the tournament. Because that's all you use on the greens.

Douglas Maida: 18:53

Yeah, why don't you explain that to our people at home listening? Why the flop shot. And why was that such an important shot for you to have in the bag when you were playing at a US Open.

Aimee Cho: 19:03

they usually keep the greens really firm and really fast, super slippery, the ball doesn't even roll it kind of slide skids. So it's really fast and I'm used to using 58 degree law pledge and I'm very comfortable spending that but 58 degrees do not work for us opens so I'd have to get a 60 degree and get accustomed to the new loft and plus on a lot of flop shots because the rough around the greens are very thick and also because when you're hitting out of the world you don't get much spin anyways. So you're basically using flop shots for even those very simple shots you'd never use block shots on so yeah, US opens are very tough.

Douglas Maida: 19:45

So basically you're using the flop shot and the trajectory to land at softly but is your in your ability to put spin on the ball is compromised?

Aimee Cho: 19:52

Yes. Even off like tight, nice. You You see that your balls not getting the backspin that you always get a just runs, and it will keep running until it gets off the ground.

Douglas Maida: 20:03

It's a typical US Open set up where even par is going to be a really good score on any given round.

Aimee Cho: 20:08

So if, especially if they are playing at 6700 like I've I played it a month ago 6700 on a long course with tiny greens. It's going to be tough.

Douglas Maida: 20:19

Yeah, the official yardage, just so you're aware is listed at 65? Well, a little under 6500 yards.

Aimee Cho: 20:25

Okay, good. Good. 67 was so tough.

Douglas Maida: 20:30

Well, and and for those that don't live near the, near the oceans, on either coast, just aren't familiar with how much thicker the humidity is and what it does to your golf ball and, and how it just doesn't go as far.

Aimee Cho: 20:43

Right, right. Exactly. Doesn't get the same carry in the air.

Douglas Maida: 20:48

Yeah, that's what I like about when you go to a place like say Las Vegas or, you know, in Colorado, or bras up here in Canada, closer towards the Rockies in our part of the world. And it's like, wow, that golf ball shirt goes on air.

Aimee Cho: 21:00

Yes, I love that.

Douglas Maida: 21:02

So let's chat a little bit about some of the players and storylines. Amy. A Lim Kim. And I say that right? Okay, perfect. defending champion, and kind of came out of the blue last year in Houston to win. Now, she went back to play in Korea on the K LPGA. And she's back to defend her title now. Have you heard much about her any thoughts about how she might be for this? To defend her title this month or this week?

Aimee Cho: 21:35

Um, you know, I have not heard too much about her. She, um, she did kind of come out of nowhere for us, right. But I saw that she's third in driving distance, she averages about 282. So I think that's probably why she had the advantage during the US Open, because us opens do usually play very long. And it's kind of like trends right now that when you're kind of a rookie, you tend to win majors. So I think she's right in that category. So it's pretty amazing how the young girls are just showing up turning pro and winning majors. Huh?,

Douglas Maida: 22:15

Yeah. No kidding. No kidding. Yeah, it's it's very difficult. But the US Women's Open. It's got to be one of the toughest tournaments to repeat. It's a winner. Yeah, I think the last one who did it was Karrie Webb - way back when -- was it Karrie or it might have been Annika. One of those two was the last time we had a back to back winner at the US Open. So that tells you how, how tough it is and how far back you had to go to find a back to back.

Aimee Cho: 22:42

Yeah, yes, opens are just no joke.

Douglas Maida: 22:47

And you can see that from experience. Let's talk about Inbee Park. She's a perennial favorite when it comes to majors. And I get the feeling that in a US Open course like this kind of plays into Inbee's hands. She's not long off the tee like a lot of the others. But she's consistently in the fairway and, and she's probably got the best mind I've seen on the LPGA in terms of knowing where to place her ball and how to move around the course to get herself into scoring position. What are your thoughts?

Aimee Cho: 23:18

You know, she has a lot of experience under her belt. She's won like seven majors and two years opens in 2008 and 2013. She sure knows how to keep the ball in play. And that's probably gonna keep her out of the rough. And you know, she's won the gold medal at the Olympics. And now because this year the Olympic is supposed to be on she's turned her game on to win the gold medal again, I think so she she's got some really good momentum going. So you even though she doesn't hit it too long off the tee. She still could be in the contention I think, Oh,

Douglas Maida: 23:53

I most definitely think she's going to be in contention. I mean, you know, she's not the longest off the tee as we've said, but she's long enough put it that way. And her ability to find those fairways is just incredible.

Aimee Cho: 24:05

Yeah. And she has she has like 31 little wins is a pro. That's a lot.

Douglas Maida: 24:11

While she's, she's the only active playing Hall of Fame member. Yes. I mean, that speaks for itself. The other one I'd like to chat a little bit about Patty Tavatanakit .. I think will be another fantastic storyline. technically still a rookie comes out of Thailand. She kind of steamrolled the field a little bit at the ANA championship. I mean, it got a little tight for her on that Sunday, but she was so far ahead going into Sunday that she had some room to play with and she still won. Rather comfort right? That was really what are your thoughts? She hits the ball pretty good. Yep. How do you think she'll fare here? No,

Aimee Cho: 24:46

I'm keeping a very close eye on Patty Tavatanakit. I think she's she's not that big. She's my height by five.

Douglas Maida: 24:50

She's just coming off a really good showing But she's like four things driving average. She hits at about 281 yards is her average. And that ama, I believe she averaged about 320 for the week, which is amazing, right? I mean, her hip turn was great. And she really kept the ball in play in the match play event. Now that's obviously Matchplay, but hitting that law. So I was very impressed by her play and just her style of play. It looks aggressive, but very under control. So I was I do love watching her play because of that style. So I think she can do some great things this year. she seems to have control over shots and got her mind in the game right now. And I think she used to did really well to use that event as a tune up for this week.

Aimee Cho: 25:44

Yes, I think so. I mean, you know, so far this year, she's made like three top fives plus a win. So that's, that's, you know, getting really getting your momentum going. So, yeah, look out for her.

Douglas Maida: 25:56

Do you think she has any sort of weakness in our game?

Aimee Cho: 26:00

I mean, if we had to pick one out, I would say just the inexperienced younger player, but I mean, she showed us at ANA that you know, she she really held her lead until the end and one it so I don't know if that's a weakness.

Douglas Maida: 26:16

And if it is, she's learned how to manage it, that's for sure. Let's chat a little bit about some other favorites or potential contenders. Nelly Korda seems to be a perennial contender. She's long off the tee. She's got a great swing. When her iron game is on, she's solid as can be. And she gives herself lots of great looks at birdies. I think earlier in the year she was leading the tour and birdies. She may still be I didn't get a chance to

Aimee Cho: 26:41

Yeah, I think she's

Douglas Maida: 26:44

Okay. She just hasn't seemed to manage to put it all together for a major.

Aimee Cho: 26:48

Yeah, she hasn't won on. She hasn't won a major. I think she's a great player. She's always one of my favorites to watch. I'm always pulling for her. You know, at the LA open, I got to interview her because I was out there as a media and she's she's really chill really laid back and she's got her stuff together. And a great player. She gets it far too. So she's, she's pretty good fit for the US Open as well. Oh, yeah, she's driving averages top 10 on tour, and she's right now race to see me ranking. She's first, on the roll extra anti. She's fourth. So she's playing great. But the major is right. She's finished well a couple of times, but she's never won it. I think when I see players win majors, it's usually when they're able to like stay focused, like the motivation and they really have to stay hungry. I think it's just the half a second you let that go. You kind of let it slip away. So I think with her, she is still pretty young, even though she's been on tour for quite a few years now. So I think once she gets that going, she will be winning a lot more.

Douglas Maida: 28:04

Do you think this will be her breakthrough event?

Aimee Cho: 28:07

I really hope so I really, I really want to see now even more because she definitely got the talent. So it's just a matter of starting one and then everything else will just come like all at once. I think

Douglas Maida: 28:21

Minjee Lee, she's had a very good week in Las Vegas. Except for that last round. Where the wheel kind of fell off with her a little bit there. But she really stormed through that group stage in the match play. She's somebody that's sort of been they're always in contention but never quite able to put four really good rounds together to walk off with the prize at a major

Aimee Cho: 28:48

Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, she is one of my another favorites that I'm always pulling for cause, she's she's the sweetest person but she's so serious when she's playing. I love that. She's, you know, competitor and she, I mean, she's so focused, and she played really well but I just can't believe she hasn't won majors. I remember I remember she wanted the LA open. I was really happy for her. So she's one of the players that I'm rooting for she she's not a long long hitter but she's always right in between like 260 to 70 off the tee which is still very good. So she will do great on long course. Land courses um, she's never really done well at the US Open i don't think so that's one part that I'm a little bit worried about. Oh, top finish was tied for 11th in 2017.

Douglas Maida: 29:46

Is that kind of going to be her "quote unquote" weakness for this week ... is just having that little bit of knowledge in the back of her mind knowing that she hasn't been able to bring her best to the US Opens or?

Aimee Cho: 29:58

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Are the courses to suit you really well. And if she hasn't finished in top 10 in any other years US Opens may have something to do with you know why she favors?

Douglas Maida: 30:09

Yeah, it seems it's so important to have that right mental frame of mind going into, especially something like a US Women's Open where the conditions are just downright punishing

Aimee Cho: 30:19

Yes, brutal. You make one mistake, it could be a double or triple, just like that.

Douglas Maida: 30:25

Somebody else has been playing fairly well in the last few weeks and seems to be moving in the right direction is Moriya Jutanugarn?

Aimee Cho: 30:32

Ah ha.

Douglas Maida: 30:35

I mean, she's very steady on the team. She's another one that doesn't hit it that far. But she hits it far enough. And she definitely finds those fairways. Really, really

Aimee Cho: 30:47

She's a very steady player. Yes.

Douglas Maida: 30:49

Yeah, exactly. Like, she rarely beats herself. And with that approach game of hers in that short game is spectacular. I mean, and she was also in, you know, pretty good contention last time in Houston as well, for much of the event. So what are your thoughts about Moriya have you any thoughts about how she might approach it? Or even Ariya for that matter? Um,

Aimee Cho: 31:14

I mean, you can't beat steady golf on US Open courses. But I think, you know, in my vlog that's going to upload on Wednesday, I kind of had already picked my top five, or the use open, and she wasn't a part of it. I'm sorry. I think I focus more on the driving distance and accuracy for the US Open. Just because, you know, there are so many likes of your uphills and shorter shots into the greens would really benefit on this golf course.

Douglas Maida: 31:43

Alright, well, we'll get to that a little bit later, we'll have our chance to exchange our our picks.

Aimee Cho: 31:48

Okay.

Douglas Maida: 31:49

Yeah, I just remember going back to I guess it was Yeah, I guess it was at the December. Us Women's Open because both Aryan Maria played the third round together.

Aimee Cho: 32:00

Yes, that's right. That's right.

Douglas Maida: 32:02

And I remember Ariya saying that, you know, she was her tee shot was always a good 30 yards ahead of Moriya. But when they got up to the green Moriya was always closer to the pin.

Aimee Cho: 32:13

I was wondering how the girls will play play together in one group, because sometimes they may not, you know, it may not work out as well, because they might feel like the same as like a practice round and maybe not perform as well. But yeah, I really was hoping for both of them to do well.

Douglas Maida: 32:33

Here's some other names I'm gonna throw out you throw out at you, Jin Young Ko. very steady world number one. She's been world number one now. Over a year, I believe. And, and just she very rarely beats herself as well. Another one of those players that's just so steady and phenomenal when it comes to her accuracy. And well, she had that stretch last year where she just played unbelievable,

Aimee Cho: 33:01

really great player. I'm just trying to figure out how she's been doing so far this year.

Douglas Maida: 33:06

Well, she's she's played well, she came back. She didn't play a couple of events early, she came back. She competed and was contending in one event. next event Wasn't she actually missed a cut, which was a rarity for her. And then she came back and has played pretty steady ever since. So I almost get the feeling that this is the kind of mental challenge that she likes.

Aimee Cho: 33:30

Yeah, I think COVID kind of throw her off for a little bit, don't you think? Because she stayed in Korea for a little bit? And then what

Douglas Maida: 33:37

But she played in Korea? Yeah, she played on the Korean tour a lot while she was still there, you know. And she she had her share of good play there and brought it back over. But yeah, I mean, it's it's hard when you're not back into the rhythm. I mean, it's one thing traveling in Korea, for golf tournaments. And then another one here in the States going from coast to coast to coast.

Aimee Cho: 33:58

You know, you know what, what happened? I was at the Lotte Championship. So I was interacting with a lot of the players there. But I see that she wasn't there. So that's why she was out of my radar. So I was trying to figure out how she was doing this year. But I mean, I see that she finished top 10 at least four times so far. So she's been doing great, but I can't believe how little media attention she gets. And she's like the number one player like you said for the longest stretch ever, right?

Douglas Maida: 34:26

Yeah. No, without a doubt with her. I think a little bit of that is because she did take that time off to stay in Korea

Aimee Cho: 34:33

That's probably right,

Douglas Maida: 34:34

and rightfully so. and rightfully so. I mean, you know, she's at that age where you don't want to take chances. And I think that's kind of what contributed to it a little bit. She came back for CME and did really well there but she did play she finished. Runner Up to Brooke Henderson in LA. She was in the final group with Brooke. Yeah, I don't know if I can't recall if she finished second or not. She was in the final group with Brooke.

Aimee Cho: 35:01

Tied for third.

Douglas Maida: 35:03

Okay.

Aimee Cho: 35:04

But she was in contention. Yeah, I remember seeing her.

Douglas Maida: 35:06

Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure. She was playing really, really well there too. So I think that's going to be something that is a player to watch for sure. Now, one of the other ones I wanted to throw out there was Lydia Ko, because she's been on fire. She was on fire at the ANA when she posted that Sunday. I think it was 62 or 63. Yeah. just phenomenal. And then she had another round like that in Hawaii. You know, just shooting the lights out. The new Lydia? Yes. And she's made a point of saying, Don't ever think it's the old Lydia. I'm back. She's in some of her current media conference. She says it's not. I'm the new Lydia. And this is where I'm at today in time, and this is going to be the best that I can do today.

Aimee Cho: 35:55

She's, she's awesome. Yeah. I love her. I love watching her and she's actually on top of my favorite pics for this week.

Douglas Maida: 36:06

I won't ask you to give away too much.

Aimee Cho: 36:09

But I mean, I was really happy to see Lydia play well starting in ANA like you've mentioned and then I saw her at the Lotte Championship. I actually know her pretty well. She's the nicest girl but she's very focused. And she mentioned that her new coach Sean Foley would say, you know, just, you know, you've got it you all you have to do is just trust yourself. And then she couldn't quite bring herself to do that. But because Sean believed in her so much it helped her to bring ourselves to believe in herself. And then things started clicking. I saw her at Hawaii, she looked very relaxed, and she was just shooting everything at the flag. And every single hole was almost a birdie chance. And she was playing really solid. I noticed a slight difference than the Lydia I saw last year, a year before it was that her, her legs got really strong, like really a lot muscular even though she's slim. Her legs was really strong, and her swing look really different. And her shots were a lot more accurate because of that. Because if the legs don't hold up, then the shots can be going left and right. You know, so many shots here and there. She didn't have any of that her legs look great. She was hitting it further because of that, probably. And I have a lot of hopes for her. She's Yeah, she gets it about 260 off the tee. But I know she's she's got the total total game going right now. So yeah,

Douglas Maida: 37:38

Yeah, no, I think you're absolutely right. You picked up on a lot of the key things that I've been noticing about Lydia too. I mean, you know, if you see her on Instagram, a little bit like that, you see, she's, she's always documenting her workouts and her mobility sessions and whatnot. And she's, you know, I mean, she's not the 14 year old kid, we remember on tour, I mean, she's all fully grown up, and she's really, really strengthened herself to you know, and yeah, I noticed that to her leg strength seems to be just immensely improved over where she was just a few years ago. And, and you caught it to 60 as her driving distance. Now, to the casual observer that might not sound far when we're talking about like Bianca Pagdanganan, and some of these other players who can hit it to 280 to 290 - 300. You know, talking about Patty 320 as an average it at ANA but for Lydia 260, I think, represents one of her a big improvement over her driving distance, I think. Yeah. She's about another 10 yards, 10- 12 yards, 15 yards further than where she was a few years.

Aimee Cho: 38:42

Yes. And, you know, you have to understand that when they get these driving averages, they usually have to take all these missed drive shots that ended up in the rough, so that was a lot shorter than usual, or three words off the tee, you know, you have to understand that these averages probably includes all those missed shots as well. So when it says 260 it's really a lot longer than that.

Douglas Maida: 39:05

And they only use the two holes for recording her measuring the

Aimee Cho: 39:09

so yeah, if you don't do well on those two, then your average goes down.

Douglas Maida: 39:13

I've been so impressed with her game. I was a little bit surprised at the 63 that she posted to the 62 at theANA, but I wasn't at the same time. Just you know, when I saw her take that driver out to hit off the deck to go for that par five I'm like, this is the Lydia you know, you can see the confidence in her and she just pulled it off and it was a one of the most beautiful rounds of golf i've ... i've seen in that I can remember to be honest. I can't remember the last time I saw a round that well,

Aimee Cho: 39:45

right, right. It's just plain old slash new Lydia. I love watching her do great as well.

Douglas Maida: 39:54

Yuka Saso -- she's the Japanese Filipino player. She's As you mentioned a little bit younger, I think she's 19 she was the gold medalist at the, at the Asian Games. And she won a couple of times on the Japanese LPGA last year, which got her into Houston for the US Women's Open.

Aimee Cho: 40:19

Right, right. Right.

Douglas Maida: 40:19

She finished I think 12

Aimee Cho: 40:22

Yeah, pretty high up there. I remember

Douglas Maida: 40:24

She did and she was actually in contention for the first few days near the top of the leaderboard before she had that one tough round; hits the ball a long way. She seems to have all the tools in the bag there, you know, good iron game. She putts consistently well, her short game is pretty solid. And really no real weakness to her golf game, except for maybe the the experience in terms of how to play these LPGA events.

Aimee Cho: 40:52

Yeah, you know, she does surprise me a lot for how young she is. She plays like she she knows how to handle her game, or mental doesn't seem to falter. It's really amazing to watch her.

Douglas Maida: 41:07

She's very calm and quiet. And now, I don't know if it's because her English isn't as strong as her Japanese and her Filipino Tagalog, but so that might have something to do with it. But yeah, yeah, I just, she kind of looks to me like the quiet assassin. Yes, I would agree with that one. Brooke Henderson, she's obviously a huge name up here in Canada, and are the winningest golfer professional player to ever play in Canada, world number five. And Major Champion hits the ball a long way. Probably the best iron game on tour along with Sei Young Kim, but she just doesn't seem to be able to put it together for us women's Oh, I don't mean to laugh like that. But it's just like it almost, you know, like you're you and I were chatting a little bit earlier about certain courses for certain horses, if you will, or certain tracks for certain players. I think the US Open is kind of one of those bogey courses for her, bogey events that kind of has that block for her that she really needs to get over. I think she can win. But it's going to take some work for her to, to put it together at a US Open.

Aimee Cho: 42:24

Yeah, you know, that like really surprises me to think that she's only won one Major? Because maybe because she's won so many times on tour. And with the game she has, like you mentioned, she hits it a long ways. And she's very accurate. And I mean, she's struggled with the pudding a little bit recently. But obviously at the LA Open you didn't have any problems there. So, you know, everybody says she's kind of back now. Because the putting she's doing better. I'm really surprised to see her not doing so well on us open courses, because she just sounds like she's good fit for it. Right? Her driving accuracy is pretty high too, for how far she hit.

Douglas Maida: 43:04

Yeah, without a doubt. And that's, and I think that's part of, if you will the mystery when it comes to Brooke playing US Open courses. Now, her putter I think it's reasonable to say that the putter has been her weakness or Achilles heel when it comes to that. And of course, when you play a US Open, you've got to have a good putter you can't be three putting too often. If you're going to be in contention, and one of the things I've noticed is she's still three putting a fair bit in nearly every event she's playing even though she won in Los Angeles at the Hugel Open there. She she still had quite a few three pumps. But she won. I think she had four - three putts in that event. Yes. So you take those four stroke right there. And you think if she was able to reduce those three putts, with those four strokes would have done three or four strokes right there would have opened the gap up that much.

Aimee Cho: 43:56

Yeah, you know, I was really surprised to find out that she had slipped out of like 100 ranking for putting sets for a little bit. I was very surprised because she's still been finishing pretty well not, you know, winning, winning all the times. But she's a great player. She's one of the players that I really do love watching. Like her and her sister, they're a great team. They're very, you know, motivated. They're very focused. And it's like they take their business seriously. And I love watching that and you know, she's not big, but she really goes after it. It's such a fun to watch her do well. And you know, she was going for the three peat at the low day championship when I was there. And so I got to cover her a lot. And she she's just the sweetest girl, but she turns into this competitor when she's out on the golf course. I love it. So I'm always rooting for her.

Douglas Maida: 44:51

She's the baby faced assassin. Yes, I know we're using a few of these"assassin" terms, you know with you go but I think that could really apply to you to Brooke, she's got that smile. She's got that, you know, that Angel like, face and smile,

Aimee Cho: 45:06

That sweet, like, you know, very girly, sweet voice. And then her eyes change.

Douglas Maida: 45:14

She's all, as soon as that golf ball on the tee go into the ground, it's like, all business. Yeah, I'm hoping that she's able to pull it together because she's, she's always been a contender in a lot of the majors. But she hasn't been able to close the deal as of late. And I think a large part of that is because of the depth on the LPGA now, I mean, it's not like it was 15 years ago, or 20 years ago, where you had, you know, maybe two or three dominant players. Now you've got a good 10 to 12 players who can win on any given week. And if they don't, you've got some pretty darn good players who are middle rank players that can put it together for four rounds, and they'll win.

Aimee Cho: 45:53

Yeah. I mean, yeah, so far this year, out of 11 tournaments, we've had 11 different winners. So that proves exactly what you were what you were saying.

Douglas Maida: 46:02

Well thank you for that. It was one of the few I didn't get a chance to look at but

Aimee Cho: 46:10

there's so many stats out there. It's impossible to keep up with.

Douglas Maida: 46:13

Well, isn't it isn't it? What are your storylines going into it this week? Any thing in particular that jumps out at you that we haven't mentioned, Amy?

Aimee Cho: 46:23

This week?

Douglas Maida: 46:25

Yeah,

Aimee Cho: 46:26

I think we've covered pretty much everything. I'm curious, I'm sort of curious of your picks.

Douglas Maida: 46:34

Is this a case of I'll tell you my picks and then you'll share some

Aimee Cho: 46:37

Okay, you're okay.

Douglas Maida: 46:41

This is one of the few where I it's going to be hard to pick a winner. My two picks as being the Ko's -- Jin Young or Lydia.

Aimee Cho: 46:52

So you're just picking the two Ko's?

Douglas Maida: 46:55

As my two as the two leaders. I think those one of those two, I think will be it.

Aimee Cho: 46:59

Wow. That's so cool. Really,

Douglas Maida: 47:06

I think it's gonna come down to one of the Ko's. I just have that feeling. You know? I'd love to see Brooke win it Yeah, I would love I you know, I think I'd love to see Sei Young Kim, but I just think that's it's just that I just don't know if this is the kind of setup that is really conducive to both Brooke and Sei Young Kim because I mean, they're just pedal to the metal go for it kind of players. And you know, the combination, I think of the narrow fairways tall, rough, small greens. I'm not. Well, you know what, their iron play is so superb.

Aimee Cho: 47:47

But, but you know what, we're gonna have a lot of burden. You know, what, from what you said media is, you know, on fire, obviously, so she has a great chance and with genuine coaches, mentally very tough. So I think she can really pull something off. So I think those are really good choices, actually.

Douglas Maida: 48:07

Yeah, if I was to throw a third one out there. And I don't want to say a dark horse because how do you call Inbee Park and dark horse? Right. But I think she's gonna be lurking.

Aimee Cho: 48:20

Because she's just gotten her momentum going for the Olympics. So she's her game is pretty hot right now. So you want to hear my picks?

Douglas Maida: 48:29

I do. I'm dying to hear your picks.

Aimee Cho: 48:31

So I you know, in my vlog, I picked five I told you right. And I pretty sure after like the first rounds of the five three are gonna be like eliminated, I think. Right. So, so my five will be Lydia, Patty, Nelly Brooke and Minjee. I know, I know. But I really I think, other than for Lydia, the rest four I really want them to do. I think they really love you know, so. Yeah,

Douglas Maida: 49:03

Exactly. They're sentimental favorites. You really want to see them finally?

Aimee Cho: 49:10

One of them win but I really think Lydia has a great chance.

Douglas Maida: 49:13

Yeah, I do, too. You know, she's her rankings, not back up where it is with some of the other players. But when you can pull a 62 or 63 on Sunday of a major championship and then go out the, you know, in Hawaii like she did. And she's taken a little bit of time off to get herself ready for San Francisco. So I think that that's, yeah, yeah. What can I say? You know, I just think Lydia is opening a new chapter in the Lydia Ko story.

Aimee Cho: 49:42

Yeah, you know, you know what's great about Lydia that of another thing I noticed her when she is playing in tournaments. You know, she's been doing that since she was very young. So she's very comfortable out there. She looks like she's just out here for a walk for a stroll. Seriously, she's she's cutting Like casually, chatty, very loose and to tee up and hit and every tournament round, she looks super relaxed. And that probably has to give her a huge advantage.

Douglas Maida: 50:10

Right? For sure. For sure. You know, I mean, I think we all have that image of her just walking down the fairway in her own little thoughts. So she's thinking about things. Yeah. You know, when she gets to her bag, pulls out her little, her little container of watermelon.

Aimee Cho: 50:25

Exactly, exactly. And I was actually helping LPGA Korea for their Instagram, I took over their handle, and I was doing some video stuff. And she was seeing me and she like, waves at the camera. Like, she's just, you know, like, came up for a stroll or something. So, so comfortable out there. That's great.

Douglas Maida: 50:44

So that's kind of where I'm at. I liked your pick on Patty. I'm kind of, she's one of my favourite players out there. I mean, she was a favourite, that I was following when she was on Symetra. And still at UCLA, to be honest. But I almost get the feeling that she could play the rest of this year as a freebie, if you will. She's already achieved her season goals, I think by winning the ANA and playing so darn competitively, where she's at. She's played well, in a couple of the other events. She's played pretty. I mean, she was steamrolling her competition in the match play in Las Vegas up until that last match, but I mean, she's almost she didn't quite hold on in, in Thailand. But you know, Ariya just played a phenomenal final round that day to win. I think she she's she's definitely one of the ones I'm going to watch because I will not be surprised if she's the one lifting the trophy on Sunday either.

Aimee Cho: 51:38

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't think Thailand was a fair, fair tournament to you know, judge anybody on because it looked really humid and they all looked exhausted. So I don't think it was a fair test, you know, but I mean, obviously, it was. Because, you know, the Thai girls did really well, I think because of the weather. And they had the advantage because of that. But yeah, so I thought she still did great. I mean, she just looked really exhausted.

Douglas Maida: 52:08

No, I know. And come that Sunday, you kind of thought maybe she was going to show the same form again and put her foot down and make sure she walked off with the trophy. But yeah, yeah. Oh, they were all sweltering. And even the Thai girls who play in that normally. We're having a tough go of it. So

Aimee Cho: 52:29

their their face, faces were all bright red, Lydia icepack.

Douglas Maida: 52:37

Leave it to Lydia to find a little bit of comic relief and hit and hit home the point. Are you gonna be on site at all? Are you going to be heading up to San Francisco?

Aimee Cho: 52:50

Oh, no, I've been doing a lot of traveling. So I'm kind of looking forward to a couple of weeks off. So I'll be home watching. That's probably the best spot.

Douglas Maida: 52:59

So what's up next for you, Amy. I mean, you've been so busy with lots of things. I know on your one latest video clip, you're mentioning that you're back to the grind in terms of back to teaching and doing some lessons and things like that is that . ..

Aimee Cho: 53:14

Oh yes. I'm teaching once a week now at at West Ridge Golf Club that's in La Habra, California. So I've been limiting students to 10, 10 people. So I'm trying not to go over because then my schedule will be too crazy. So that's been really fun working with students again, working on their golf swings. I've had couple of students fly in from like, out of town, out of state and out of country to work with me so far this year. So you know, that's been really fun. Oh, not too long ago. You know, I was in Texas for AT & T Byron Nelson. Right. I was there from Sunday through Wednesday. But I already had lessons booked for like Thursday and Saturday. I had students coming from like, out of state and out of country. So I you know, I've had that scheduled already. And then but I had to go to Texas. So I came back Wednesday, taught the lesson. And then I had to go to Atlanta Friday to interview Sung Jae. So it was it was a crazy schedule. When I came back Friday night after the long day of interviewing, working with Sung Jae Im Saturday morning. I had to go out on the golf course for a plane lesson. So that was the craziest week and I'm still trying to recover from that week.

Douglas Maida: 54:32

While you're definitely one of the hardest working people I know in golf, without a doubt Amy it's your energy and enthusiasm is so impressive and, and motivating.

Aimee Cho: 54:41

Thank you. Thank you.

Douglas Maida: 54:44

All right. Well, it's gonna be an interesting week to see for sure coming up in San Francisco. I'm looking forward to it and I think a lot of people are are looking forward to seeing the US Women's Open back in its traditional slot after last year's interruption so

Aimee Cho: 54:58

I'm very excited.

Douglas Maida: 55:00

Yeah, me too. We'll have to compare notes afterwards.

Aimee Cho: 55:03

All right.

Douglas Maida: 55:06

All right. Well, thank you everybody for listening in and downloading the show. It's very appreciated. And a super big thank you to our guests. Amy Cho.

Aimee Cho: 55:16

Thank you for having me. That was fun.

Douglas Maida: 55:19

Pleasure. And that Ladies and gentlemen, concludes our show for today. Thank you for listening, and we look forward to seeing you in two weeks time. Have yourself a great day. And remember, when you're out there playing golf, keep that golf ball on the short grass. Bye bye.

Amy (Studio): 55:38

You are listening to we're talking golf produced by the world of golf. The views expressed by our guests are the sole views of the guest and not of the podcast show. We're talking golf, nor of the producer, the world of golf nor any of its personnel, including the host Douglas Maida. This episode was recorded on Sunday, May 30 2021. You may find our guest Amy Cho on her YouTube channel at golf with Amy. You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter. If you have an idea for a future show, please send us an email to info at World of golf.org please include podcast show in the subject line. This show is the copyright of the world of golf. Thank you for listening