KUALA LUMPUR: She may have flown under the radar this year but professional Jean Chua will be the sole Malaysian among 157 hopefuls in the field for the final stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament, which tees off December 2 at the LPGA International in Florida, USA.
The 26-year-old secured her place in the gruelling 90-holes strokeplay shoot-out after finishing tied 22nd in second stage of the qualifier in late October.
Chua, who plies her trade on the development Symetra Tour, totalled eight-over 296 on the back of rounds of 72, 75, 75 and 74 at the Plantation Golf & Country Club to continue her quest for playing rights on the main LPGA Tour.
The Kuala Lumpur-born lass shared her thoughts with The ClubHouse ahead of the gruelling test awaiting her.
You must have felt relieved after negotiating your way through second stage. What have you been doing since?
I was so happy!!! I have never made it to final through Second Stage. Once, it was a direct entry through the Symetra Tour money list and on another occasion, I made it as an alternate after I had finished a shot shy during Second Stage.
But to make it through this year by seven shots was just awesome. Didn’t have long to celebrate as it was immediately back to work. I left for China the following week and straight to Bangkok to work on my game even more.
You have spent a bit of time in Bangkok working on your game this year. What did you work on and how did that stint turn out?
In December last year, I went back to my very first coach (Shane Wilding). We went through an entire rebuilt of my golf swing and he advised me to stay but I wanted to play and compete.
Long story short – my decision did not turn out too well, so I took a gamble by skipping the second half of the Symetra Tour season and just focused on rebuilding my game. We worked on everything – swing, short game and also quite a bit on mental game.
I stroked the ball great at the Sime Darby Qualifier but was a little rusty from the lack of competitive golf. Since I did not qualify for the event, I headed back a week earlier, worked on my short game and got adjusted to the time difference ahead of the Second Stage.
Working on my game in Bangkok has not only make me a better ball striker but also a better player.
Your goal for this week would be obvious (earning your LPGA stripes) but really, what are you trying to achieve?
Haha! Top-20, of course! My main goal for the week is just to shoot one-under for every nine holes. Doesn’t sound too hard, does it?
But really, no sixes on the card, even on par-fives and avoid the double bogeys. I want to keep the big numbers away, so that I don’t have to push too hard for birdies and just take my chances as they come. It’s a tough field but I’ve made it this far.
Are you familiar with the LPGA International layout? What do you think will be crucial there?
Funny you should ask! I haven’t played the Hills Course at LPGA International in three years. And just a couple of days ago, I was lying in bed and couldn’t fall asleep – it was almost 1:30 am and I decided to try and play through that course in my mind.
I remembered every single hole and I was so proud of myself that I texted my mom right there and then and told her about it!
I have played the Jones Course annually as our Symetra Tour Championship is held there. I think the most crucial thing out there is to be able to get it up and down and make your par when you miss the green.
The rough around the greens are extremely fluffy and thick. I had Greg Sheridan, whose one of the most experienced bagman out there during Second Stage and he was such a great help! I will be having him for Final Stage as well as and I think that’s going to be crucial because he really helps in keeping me calm.
