By: Max Bechtoldt
Last week at the Seri Pak Championship, Alison Lee and Gabi Ruffels were in the final group, each looking for their first wins. Sunday didn’t quite go to plan, as they finished both tied for third. Thursday at the Ford Championship showed their sustained hunger for victory.
Ruffels, a rookie on tour, finished the highest she ever did in the Los Angeles area. Though she’s new to playing as an LPGA Tour card holder, she is no new name. Her amateur career was elite, a star at USC and the first Australian winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She currently sits atop the leaderboard in Ariz., tied with Isi Gabsa and Azahara Muñoz.
Ruffels shot a -8 64 that was as blazing as the sun in the Phoenix area. Ruffels had seven birdies and an eagle with only one bogey going out in the early wave. She hit 12/14 fairways, showed off her power with an average of 270 per drive and flashed the flat stick prowess with only 21 putts. She only hit 11 greens, but when you can get up-and-down like she did, that isn’t much of a concern.
Right on her tails, with a -6 66 was Alison Lee. Though she is yet to win an event, nobody outside of maybe Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko, has had better recent results. The No. 17 player in the world has to have her sites set not only on the Solheim Cup team, but the Olympics as well. Lee’s ballstriking was nearly perfect in her bogey-free round. 13/14 fairways and 17/18 greens. Hard to have a bad score with those stats.
