Responsibilities of the reserve golfer at the US Women’s Open

The 76th – 2021 tournament opens on June 3 on the Lake field in the Olympic Club in San Francisco with a prize fund of 5.5 million USD. The main tournament list includes 156 golfers. All went out. Zweig, 14 years old, also went through all the professional preparations for the tournament but was not present among them.

Zweig did not enter the USGA major because he was a substitute. But under the first priority, this young golfer must be on duty on the course.

This year’s award recognizes Chloe Kovelesky as the youngest competitor. Kovelesky is the same age as Zweig but entered the main list thanks to the top 3 finish in the 36-hole selection round in Florida. And Zweig passed the same filter in Texas, at the last minute being substituted by the opponent scoring two birdies in a row.

“The fun didn’t end,” Zweig said, feeling the loss of the front door. But when she discovered herself as a reserve golfer, she immediately packed up and went to San Francisco.

With the standby mode, Zweig still has the “major benefits and experiences” – waking up early, receiving notifications of entry time, and fine-tuning the swing technique in the practice area and warm-up. She even has the right to try the course as if she was about to hit the main game and enter the golf area on the starting list.

Through rehearsals with Mel Reid, Zweig changed his tactical thinking at Lake Stadium, Olympic Club. Initially, I preferred to hit the ball straight. But the course requires the golfer to bend the trajectory to avoid obstacles and find a favorable place for the next shot. “Playing with the stars is worth it. Their experiences will definitely help me improve later on,” Zweig said after a walk with Reid. The English golfer kept the top of the table (-4) after the opening round, down to T6 (-2) when 36 holes were over.

On the opening day, the first group entered the game at 7 am. Zweig also prepares like one of them – wakes up at 5am, 30 minutes later, leaves the room, has breakfast, goes to the practice area to warm up, forge more processing steps such as chips and putts.

One group after another started. At the end of the morning turn, Zweig has not received “good news” from the Organizing Committee. The girl had to go back to the competitor’s area to rest and hope for the afternoon. And this time is no different from morning. Zweig still starts, with the hope of “good news” despite the time passing towards the end of the day. And when everyone ran out of rounds, Zweig ran out of doors to compete in the US Women’s Open 2021. In fact, the prize recorded Megan Osland giving up. However, this golfer withdrew after completing the first round with 90 strokes, of which only one birdie, four par points, remaining bogey or worse.

“The US Open is of course a great experience. But I think you don’t have to play to know how difficult it is,” Zweig said before heading home.

Quoc Huy (according to the Golf.com)