WEBVTT - Fried Egg Stories: The Qualifier 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:03.040 This episode of Frida Egg Stories is brought to you 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:05.520 by the US Women's Open for the first time in 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.000 its history. The US Women's Open will be held at 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:12.080 the Iconic Olympic Club in San Francisco. Tune in June 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.640 third through the sixth to watch history unfold and find 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:17.959 out who we'll get to call themselves the greatest in 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.479 the game. You can find scores and all sorts of 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:25.720 fun content on US Women's Open dot com. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.520 The fried Egg requires a different technique. What you need 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:32.680 to do is actually square the face so they'll dig 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.360 down underneath that bad lie and propel that ball right 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:37.080 out onto the green. 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:38.559 Here's the thing. 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.159 Playing out of a buried lion of bunker is completely 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.720 different than playing out of a nice clean lion of 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:44.600 green side bunker. 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.800 You need to be aggressive on any show weather it's 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.000 sitting cleanly for its Friday Egg. 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.000 Well, we've all faith that the dreaded Frida Egg not 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.200 to be feared, though it's actually a pretty easy shot 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:56.560 to hit. 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:10.160 Where at half Moon Bay Golf Links it is about 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.880 seven thirty in the morning. Half Moon Bay is a 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:18.040 little town on the coast of California between San Francisco 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.160 and Santa Cruz. It's known as the home of this 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:25.440 terrifying surf spot called Mavericks, where earlier this year a 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.680 guy named Peter Mel caught maybe the greatest big wave 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:33.080 of all time, just this massive, perfectly formed tube that 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.360 Mel rode in the most daring way possible. And what 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:40.640 made it even more incredible is that Peter Mel is 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.120 fifty one years old, way past his supposed prime, but 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.040 for about twenty seconds on that monster near half Moon Bay, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:57.960 he was ageless. Golf is obviously a less dangerous sport, 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.320 but like surfing, it can feel like a battle against nature, 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:05.800 whether that's Earth in the elements or your own unreliable 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.880 aging body. It's late April and the reason I'm att 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.680 half Moon Bay Golf Links is for a qualifying tournament. 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.240 Seventy three players have registered and the top three after 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.440 thirty six holes will get to play in the twenty 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.680 twenty one US Women's Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco. 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.160 Halfombay doesn't have a driving range, so everyone's doing what 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.280 they can with a little practice area, putting green, couple 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.280 of chipping greens. It's very much a mixed crowd. You've 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.160 got some juniors, some college players, got a few tour pros. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:42.359 But suddenly a very familiar face appears. You know, I'm 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.480 just curious what you were hoping from the day. Were 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.240 what you were thinking about just in that moment, right 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.520 before you started your first round of the day. 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.720 Just stairways and greens. Try to as many stairways and 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.320 greens as I could. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.919 That's Julie Inkster, California native Hall of Famer, seven times 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.200 major champion. The last of her two US Women's Open 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.639 titles came nineteen years ago at Prairie Dunes. And here 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.600 she is at half Moon Bay, trying to qualify at 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.280 the age of sixty and here playing partners. They're a 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.720 little younger. One is sixteen years old and the other 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:28.400 is fifteen. I'm Garrett Morrison, and this is Friday Stories 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.720 on today's episode. A story of generations coming together at 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.080 a US Women's Open qualifier, but also a story of 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.480 USGA qualifying as an institution and an idea what it 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:51.440 means to the players and to American golf. So the 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.640 qualifying process, whether it's for the Open Championship or the 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.440 US Open, it's one of those things that bubbles up 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.000 into the golf fans consciousness. Maybe a couple of times 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.920 a year, you know, when somebody famous gets through, or 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.200 somebody really young or really old. But championship qualifiers are 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.800 sneakily some of the most dramatic tournaments in all of golf. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.560 The stakes are very high and very clear. Place in 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.000 the top three or the top five or whatever it is, 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.279 and you'll suddenly be in the field for one of 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.680 the biggest tournaments in the world. So going to this 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.320 US Women's Open qualifier at half Moon Bay was about 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.800 seeing that kind of drama, seeing how Julie Inkster fared, 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.080 how her teenage playing partners dealt with it all. But 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.440 it was also about finding out why the qualifier is 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.400 important in the world of golf, what its meaning is, 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.000 what its value is. So first I talk to the 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:44.000 person who kind of oversees the whole system, Grett. How's 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.440 it gone, John? It's been a mad dash of a day, 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:49.680 that's John Bodenhammer. 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.360 I have the privilege of serving as Senior Managing Director 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.520 of Championships for the USJA. 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.279 And John has his own history as a qualifying hopeful. 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:00.960 As a young boy growing up, it was always my 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:02.400 dream to play in the USO. 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.400 After picking the range and cleaning the carts the club 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.960 I grew up at, I would always play the first 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.360 three holes home, you know, whether it was a thirty 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.680 footer or fifteen footer or a three footer that putt 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:14.440 as the sun. 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:16.520 Was going down. It was always for one thing for 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.440 me was to win the US Open. 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.719 And I think for about ten or twelve years, I 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.159 always tried to qualify for the USO local sectional. I 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:30.200 got sexual qualifying in those days it's now final qualifying twice, 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:32.359 and I got within one stroke of a playoff in 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.200 nineteen eighty two to play at Pebble Beach and a 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.960 teammate of mine, Dick Zochel, and a gentleman, a good 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.080 player in the Pacific Northwest in the Seattle aera at 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.279 that time, Elwen Fanning qualified and I missed that playoff 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:47.160 by one stroke. But it always was an inspiration to 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.839 me to play in the US Open qualifying because the 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:51.839 Open always meant the most to me. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.440 So for John US Open qualifying, US Women's Open qualifying 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:58.520 is about that childhood dream. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:03.480 It doesn't matter what your background is, what your address 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.000 was growing up, what type of clubs in your bag, 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.480 the type of clothes on your back, or the shape 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.120 of your swing, or the color of your skin, or 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:12.760 or your religious background or not. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.800 It just really matters. If you can get your. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.560 Ball in the hole in the fewest number of strokes 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.440 in qualifying, you earn your right to play. 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:23.719 And I think it really embodies the values. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:27.160 Of our country, the meritocracy that that represents the democracy, 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.680 the openness, the inclusivity. 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.600 And we're very proud to represent all of those values. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:37.919 So the qualifier is doing a lot of work for 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.400 the USGA, because golf at the elite level, at the 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.760 major championship level, is an exclusive club in a lot 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.520 of ways, very hard to break into even if you're 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.480 really good. But the Qualifier is supposed to be different. 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.640 It's supposed to be a truly level playing field, a 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.279 kind of symbolic version of the American dream. It is 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.400 precisely what's supposed to be open about the US Open, 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:03.920 and there's plenty of history to support that idea. You 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:07.520 have Jack Fleck advancing through qualifying in nineteen fifty five 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.200 and beating Ben Hogan in a playoff at Olympic Club, 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.640 and you have Lee Trevino, who basically used the US 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.720 Open qualifying system as a launching pad for his career. 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.960 He's among the most inspirational stories of you know, really 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.280 earning your way into the US Open. 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.360 Trevino was a club pro from El Paso when he 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:30.040 qualified in nineteen sixty six. He made the cut, qualified 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.360 again in sixty seven, placed fifth, earned his exemption for 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.600 the sixty eight US Open, which he won at Oak Hill. 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.480 There as your United stikes when the Champion. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.160 And similar things have happened at the US Women's Open, 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.560 where sectional qualifying has been around since nineteen seventy six. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.200 Think of two thousand and five. A qualifier named Bertie 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.320 Kim holds out from a bunker to win at Cherry Hills. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:57.280 History might be kid. 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.800 And tied for second behind her are two amateur qualifiers, 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.640 Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel, both of whom go on 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.800 to become major champions themselves. But beyond the obvious spectacular results, 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.400 there are many more stories of players who simply qualify, 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.880 get solid finishes, and use it as a jumping off point. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.360 That's in b Park at the two thousand and seven 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.200 US Women's Open, where she finished fourth. It's Lexi Thompson 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:31.160 in twenty ten and Brooke Henderson in twenty fourteen. These 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:35.840 were career establishing moments enabled by the institution of the qualifier. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.120 So last year, when the USDA canceled qualifying in the 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.120 face of the COVID nineteen pandemic, there was a noticeable 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:44.560 void in the golf world. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:46.760 Boy, we missed. We missed it terribly. 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.720 We as the USJA had to develop from scratch a process. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.520 That identified a field. But let me tell you, Garret, 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.640 it was heartbreaking to make that decision. 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.080 Qualifying is part of our DNA. It's part of what 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:07.000 makes our championships so special, the ability to follow your dream. 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.559 And now USDA qualifying is back. It's one of those 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.160 small glimmers of hope that twenty twenty one has brought. 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:15.480 And that's really what drew me out to Half Moon 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.280 Bay on April twenty sixth. It had been a hard year. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:26.199 I just wanted to see some dreams come true. 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.360 I'm Julie, I'm Harper, Harper, Nice to meet you. Hey, Matt, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:32.959 nice to meet you. I want to meet you. 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.680 It's a little after eight o'clock and there's a group 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.400 around the first t You've got some officials from the 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.040 Northern California Golf Association, which is running the qualifier. You've 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.880 got players and caddies, friends and family, and for the 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.080 group that's about to tee off a few media. 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:49.080 I'll take the Harper argue. 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.520 I mean, at first, I just thought they were going 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.720 to call out everybody's names, just kind of like how 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:55.480 they always do. 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.000 That's Harper Clements, sixteen years old, and she's paired with 0:09:59.120 --> 0:09:59.760 Julie Inkster. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.280 And when they announced her, they called out all her 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.400 titles that she's won, and that was a little shocking. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:08.720 You look around at all the people and you're going, oh, 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.000 I'm playing with the player that has actually won this 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.600 tournament before, the winner of the nineteen ninety nine in 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.760 two thousand and two US Women's Open, Julie Inkster. 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.640 But this actually wasn't the first time Harper had met Julie. 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:25.319 Yeah. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.439 So I used to every year go to the a 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.920 Anda Inspiration Tournament, or we used to be the Dinah 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.200 Shore because my family had a house down there, and 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.240 I would go and watch the players and I would 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.720 a lot of times wait for them to come off 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.440 at the eighteenth pole, hoping to get a signed ball 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.839 or something. And when I went there, she took off 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.840 the glove that she had come out of scoring wearing 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.080 and she signed it and she handed it to me. 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.400 I was about ten, I think at the time, and 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.800 that was really cool. It was something that I didn't 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.200 expect that she was going to give it to me. 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:56.360 I was just thinking I was going to be like 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.120 one of the other kids and just get a signature 0:10:58.160 --> 0:10:58.760 on a flag. 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.840 So that was really cool, really special. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.960 And at half Boon Bay in Harper's red golf bag, 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.719 is that signed glove from Julie Inkster. She kept it 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.120 all these years and she's playing to show it to Julie, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.000 but first they have to play from. 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:16.600 San Jose, California. 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.200 Please welcome Kara Romero. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.079 On the tea box. I was actually really nervous. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.760 That's Kiara Romero, fifteen years old and the third member 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:28.840 of Inkster's group. 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.280 When I was hitting, there were like ten people watching 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:37.440 filming and everybody was there, and I think that's like 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.920 the most people that were watching me on the first 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.520 tea So it was a little overwhelming and stuff. 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.439 She told me after it was the most nervous she's 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:47.520 ever been in her life. 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.520 That's Rick, Kiara's dad. I asked him to join us 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:51.120 for the interview. 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.240 She went immediately after Julie's, so I was like, and 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:55.679 now on the tea box. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.800 After Julie Easter just hit her t shots. 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.240 I think at fifteen, I'd be pretty darn nervous too. 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.960 I keep having to remind myself that Kiara is fifteen 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.040 because she carries herself like an LPGA pro, you know, 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:14.360 study demeanor, sharp Nike outfit, strict pre shot routine, and 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:15.360 she's a heck of a player. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:19.559 I think last year, my whole year was really good 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.080 for my local tournaments. I was Player of the Year 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:23.920 for JT and C. 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:25.720 What does that stand for? 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.920 Junior Tour of Northern California. Gotcha? 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.280 She was like one of the youngest actually win player 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:31.720 of the year. 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.079 Golf is at the center of Kiara's life. She's been 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.360 going to online school since eighth grade pre pandemic, basically 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.280 in order to accommodate her travel and practice schedule. 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.880 I usually wake up at like seven, workout for an hour, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.040 and then eat breakfast and do score work for as 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:51.120 as much as I can, and then we go to 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:55.760 the golf course around twelve, practice for two to three hours, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.040 and then play eighteen holes and then come home and 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:00.559 just finish the rest of my schoolwork. 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.360 So Kiera is no ordinary junior. She's a contender in 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.080 this qualifier. If she has two good rounds, she could 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.480 get one of those three spots at the US Women's Open, San. 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:11.880 Francisco, California. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:13.319 Please welcome Harper. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:13.800 Clement. 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:18.959 Harper has a different mindset going in. 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.280 So my goal was to break eighty five both times, 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.240 because one it's like the hardest golf for us I've 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:26.560 ever played in a tournament. 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.000 Now, make no mistake, Harper can play hard course as well. 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.400 She's literally a junior merit member at Olympic Club. But 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.360 she also goes to a high school that doesn't have 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:37.640 a girls golf team, and she could have played on 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:39.960 the boys team this year, but she decided to do 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:41.040 field hockey instead. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.080 I'm goalie and I just did it to make friends 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.840 and to kind of play another sport in high school. 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.199 So Harper's really in Half Moon Bay for the experience 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.480 to play as well as she can, but she has 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:57.560 no real expectation of advancing against highly ranked juniors, LPGA 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.920 pros and Julie Inkster. Now, as for Julie, she's here 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:03.360 for one very specific reason. 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.520 Well, the only reason why I did it was because 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.160 it was an Olympic Club. I've grown up, you know, 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.760 in the Bay Area and my whole life, and Olympic 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.640 Club has always been a great venue for open for. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.720 The men, for the men, But this is the first 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.960 time Olympic Club has hosted the US Women's Open, And 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:22.640 Julie see's real significance in that. 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.840 Oh yeah, definitely, it's It's huge. I mean, whenever you 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:30.280 could play iconic venues, I think it really ups the 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:35.000 status of the competition and women's golf. You know, everybody 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.800 knows the holes and how it's played, and the fog 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.600 and the history. It just helps tells the story. But 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.240 I didn't want to ask for an intention because I 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.640 just didn't feel like I deserved it, you know, I 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:48.240 wanted I wanted to qualify. 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:48.320 On my own. 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:57.280 Yes, have a good day, Lady, prey good. 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:02.120 So the Inkster group sets off, and Kiara, who says 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.720 she normally doesn't get nervous, is a little shaky in 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:05.560 Julie's presence. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.120 I guess it affected my game for a little bit, 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.720 for the first few holes putting. I guess it affected 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.480 the most. And I three putt in the first hole. 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.360 Kiara drops another shot on the second hole, but she 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.360 isn't the only one who's struggling on the greens. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.280 My putting was horrible. You know, when you haven't played 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.560 in anything, no tournament draining, it's hard to get the 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:28.720 competitive juicus. 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.880 Julie Bogie's the second and suddenly Harper Clements is beating 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:34.160 Julie Inkster with pars. 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.080 I thought she was going to blow me out of 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.320 the water, if I'm being honest, I was going to 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.520 be flour back after four holes. 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:42.920 But by the end of the front nine, Harper falls 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:45.800 back to Julie and Kiara, and everyone's battling a bit 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:47.880 because frankly, the course is tough. 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.760 Half Inmbay's really windy. Those greens, a lot of them 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.520 can be really narrow, especially on some of the longer holes, 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.800 So if you're not hitting an eight on into the greens, 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.720 you can't hold the green. You just don't have the shot. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.200 And the green corner exactly smooth. They have a full 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:05.560 location corner, exactly easy. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.440 I think my game was okay, but my putting was 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:10.360 really struggling. 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.720 She's typically a really outstanding hutter and I think she 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.160 was just the speed was off a little bit, and 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:17.360 the greens were difficult. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.800 They were really fast, like three peters. I would be 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.560 hitting way too hard. I lipped out so many. 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.320 Yeah, and it seemed like the pins were in some 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.160 interesting spots too. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.600 Yeah, behind bunkers, like in the corners and stuff. It 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:32.480 was hard to get too. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.520 I mean, they don't want you to be able to 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.200 get a bunch of birdies. I mean, the goal of 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.120 the US Open is to shoot even They want the 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.720 leader to shoot even so, they don't want the pins 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:43.520 to be accessible, they want them to be hard. 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.640 At the end of the morning round, Harper has actually 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.840 achieved her goal of breaking eighty five. She shoots eighty two. 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.720 Julie and Kiara not as happy with the rounds. They're 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.160 tied for seventeenth after shooting seventy seven six over. The 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.120 leader is at one under, but only seven players have 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.720 broken seventy four in the morning, So going into the 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.640 afternoon round, Julian and Kiara, well they're not exactly in it. 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:15.000 They're definitely not out of it all right. So this 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.239 special episode of Friday Stories is brought to you by 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.240 the US Women's Open athletes from all over the world 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.880 vide for their spots at Olympic Club, and this week 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.399 we'll see one hundred and fifty six players from twenty 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.560 six different countries compete to prove themselves on golf's greatest stage. 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.280 So TV schedule Thursday and Friday, we've got primetime action 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.200 from Olympic Club on Golf Channel and on the weekend, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.960 NBC will be covering it in the afternoon, with Golf 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.560 Channel taking over in the evening on Saturday. Throughout the 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.600 week there will be featured groups and other streaming coverage 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.960 on Peacock and for results, in additional coverage and all 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:52.760 sorts of other cool stuff, go to Uswomen'sopen dot com. 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.840 This is the US Women's Open, the greatest in the game. 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.320 So in the half Moon Bay Clubhouse, there's a bar 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.239 grill area with a big TV that they've set up 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.960 to be a leader board. And among the leaders I 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.320 see a name I recognize. If you've heard about Lucy Lee, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.200 it's probably for a couple of different reasons. The first 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.040 is that in twenty fourteen, when she was just eleven 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.760 years old, she got through a qualifier for the US 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.800 Women's Open at half Moon Bay. And when I say 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.360 she got through it. I mean she won it by 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.240 seven strokes, pretty crazy. 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.720 So in the morning I started off, I was three 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.040 over through like six holes, and I was like pretty 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:36.800 upset about that. 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:40.000 Lucy is eighteen now, but she still remembers that day 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:40.879 very well. 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.719 And then I ended up playing the rest of the 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.159 whole whatever, twenty eight holes in like three under par. 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:50.919 She was the youngest player ever to qualify for the 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.600 US Women's Open, and when she showed up at Pinehurst 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:57.360 and pigtails and her American flag themed outfit, Lucy became 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.119 a bit of a media sensation. What was that like 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:02.200 as an eleven year old? Was it one of those 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.840 things that was kind of intimidating or were you young 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:06.960 enough so that you were just kind of enjoying yourself. 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:09.879 Yeah, I definitely was pretty young, so I was just 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.040 kind of like, I took it as it came, and 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.719 I probably didn't fully comprehend what was going on. 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.160 For example, she remembers being in the Pinehurst clubhouse after 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:19.959 one of her rounds. 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.920 I was watching like the NBA playoffs, and they were 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.800 like showing my highlights during the game, and I remember 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.240 being like, oh that, I was like, dude, kept showing 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:29.679 it like every like ten minutes. I was like, Oh, 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:31.480 that's so funny, but it's kind of annoying someone to 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:33.560 watch the game. Yeah, And so like looking back then 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.880 now like like, that's so crazy to me that I 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.880 had been on such a big platform, and I think 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.919 at the time I had, I didn't really fully comprehend it. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.800 Lucy went on to have an incredible junior career. But 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:48.760 the other reason you might know about her is that 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:50.720 a couple of years ago she ran a foul of 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.119 the USGA. Basically, she appeared in an ad for the 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:59.960 Apple Watch, and while our family says she didn't get paid, 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:02.639 the USGA found that she had breached a rule of 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.840 amateur status and gave her a one time warning. Some 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.439 people thought that wasn't enough, and Lucy, as well as 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.359 the USGA, took a lot of criticism, which say what 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:13.919 you want about it. Being self inflicted couldn't have been 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.359 easy for Lucy as a sixteen year old. So that 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.760 was early twenty nineteen. End of that year, Lucy decided 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.720 to turn pro. She was seventeen, and she joined the 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:26.720 Semetri Tour, which is the feeder tour for the LPGA. 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.399 But one tournament into the twenty twenty season. Everything got 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.760 put on hold because of COVID. It wasn't until August 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.919 that the Cemetri Tour got back underway, and Lucy did 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.680