Extra Points: Stars aligning for ShopRite Classic

By DAVID WEINBERG

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - This weekend’s 37^th ShopRite LPGA Classic golf tournament will have plenty of star power.

The 144-player field for one of the LPGA’s top events will feature the world’s top-two players in Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitkul.

Four other top players – Lauren Coughlin (9^th), former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko (10^th), Mao Saigo (13^th) and Ayaka Furue (14^th) – will also be teeing it up on Seaview Hotel and Golf Club’s Bay Course Friday through Sunday.

Defending champion Linnea Strom is among six former ShopRite Classic winners in the field, along with Ashleigh Buhai (2023), Brooke Henderson (2022), Annie Park (2018), Stacy Lewis (2012, 2014) and Brittany Lincicome (2011).

Lewis will be vying to join Annika Sorenstam (1998, 2002, ’05) and Betsy King (1987, ’95, ’01) as three-time winners.

Strom will be trying to join 2015-16 winner Anna Nordqvist as the tournament’s only back-to-back champs.

Strom staged an incredible comeback victory last year. She barely made the cut on Saturday, then shot a course-record, 11-under par 60 in Sunday’s final round to earn her first career LPGA win.

“Just making the cut was big because my dad was here visiting from Sweden,” Strom said during a visit to Seaview last month. “When I woke up Sunday, I was like, ‘OK, I put myself in the position where I made the cut, so I'm just going go out and enjoy and try and put a good score out there. Just enjoy playing with my dad there.

That's kind of what I did. I remember I told myself I'm just going to try and move up the leaderboard and hopefully have a good finish. I don't think I could have ever expected to have the kind of day that I had.”

Thousands of fans are again expected to watch the tournament, which is easily the biggest sports event in the Atlantic City area.

Much of the credit belongs to original tournament organizers, Larry and Ruth Harrison, who were the driving forces behind starting the tournament – once known as the Atlantic City Classic – in 1986.

The event thrived for 11 years during stints at both Seaview and Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point until a conflict with former LPGA officials over dates caused a three-year hiatus from 2007-09 before it was revived by Tim Erensen, Bill Hansen and others.

The action actually begins on Wednesday and Thursday with the ShopRite Classic Pro-Am held on Seaview’s Bay and Pines Courses, as well as nearby Galloway National Golf Club.

It’s the largest pro-am on any professional golf tour, with approximately 300 groups of five players – four amateurs and a pro – teeing it up.

The pro-am is so popular that organizers recruit current and former Epson Tour players and various other personalities to serve as “pros” with the LPGA players. Afterward, participants are treated to an after-party at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

I’ve been lucky enough to play in the pro-am five time,s and each round was memorable for a variety of reasons.

My first pro-am experience was in 2017, when I was paired with former “The Big Break” contestant Elena Robles on Seaview’s Pines Course. Every hole had a Tito’s Vodka station, plus soft pretzels and various other snacks. By the time we made the turn, I could have been accused of drunk driving, as well as drunk putting.

The last time was a couple years ago, when I was in a group with Jennifer Neville, a former Epson Tour player who had retired to become a social media influencer and astrologer.

The stars and moons did not align during our round on the Pines Course.

Neither did our golf shots.

But though we didn’t have a lot of birdies, we more than made up for it with a lot of laughs.

And a little Tito’s.

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LaManna suffers loss in Las Vegas

Millville boxer Thomas LaManna came up short in his bid to earn a big victory last Saturday.

The 33-year-old super-middleweight (39-6-1, 18 KOs) suffered a TKO loss to former two-division world champion Jermall Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Charlo registered three knockdowns during the scheduled 10-round bout, dropping LaManna in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, respectively.

Just as the bell rang to start the sixth round, referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight on the advice of a ringside physician who had examined LaManna after the fifth round.

“I did everything I could,” LaManna told Ring Magazine after the fight. “The doctors are here for a reason, and they made their decision.

“I’m disappointed, but this is boxing. Charlo was sharper than I expected. He’s got a great, heavy jab and he did what he had to do. He’s a two-time world champion for a reason.”