Taking aim at LPGA’s second stage

More than half the golfers in this week’s Stage II LPGA Qualifying Tournament in Florida come from foreign countries. Of the 92 Americans, three are from Hawaii and they are far from home.

Stephanie Kono, who played on the LPGA tour in 2012 and Symetra the past two years, shot 73 the first two days at Plantation Golf and Country Club. The Punahou graduate is tied for 52nd going into Thursday’s third round.

Waiakea alum Britney Yada and Kristina Merkle, who won two state high school championships for Moanalua, reached this week with top 70 finishes at Stage I in August. The top 80 Friday reach the final stage Dec. 3-7 in Florida. Golfers who finish top 20 there earn priority status on the 2015 LPGA tour, with the next 25 getting conditional status.

Yada was tied for fourth after a first-round 70. A 74 on Wednesday leaves her 23rd.

"This week, my focus is to stay patient," Yada wrote in an email. "The golf course is still pretty damp from all the rain the past few days. And because of that, my drives are not getting any extra roll, and this is making the course play really long. I’m hitting a lot of long irons and hybrids into the greens on par-3s and 4s. So, I may miss some greens, but I just need to trust my short game and stay patient for the birdies."

Merkle is near the bottom after rounds of 81-76. The four-time Jennie K. winner was a three-time all-conference player at Tulsa and the Conference USA Player of the Year in 2012.

There is no cut this week. Any golfer who completes 72 holes gets status on Symetra — the "Road to the LPGA" — next year.

Kono earned nearly $16,000 there this year, with one top 10, and was 44th on the money list. The top 10 after the tour championship earned LPGA cards. Their average age was 23.3.

Kono will be 25 next month. Her golf resume was packed by the time she qualified for the LPGA the first time three years ago, by mistake.

She won all three Hawaii women’s majors, capturing state match play at 11, and played on winning Junior Solheim Cup and Curtis Cup teams. At UCLA, she was a three-time All-American with four collegiate wins.

She went to LPGA qualifying after the Bruins won the 2011 NCAA championship her junior year, intending only to go as far as earning Symetra status for her post-college career, which she did by advancing early.

But misinformation from the LPGA forced her to play the final stage and she tied for ninth to qualify for the tour. Kono had the worst year of her golf life, missing every cut.

"It seemed like it got harder with every tournament and not easier … for the first time I was uncomfortable a little bit," she said back then.

She has three top 10s on the Symetra Tour since, and has happily settled into the nomadic lifestyle, playing 19 events this year.

In August, Kono earned the Volvik Drive Further Performance Award — an iPad — after three top-20 finishes in a five-event time frame.

Yada got to Stage II last year as well, but her finish gave her low Symetra priority. She chose to stay with relatives in Arizona and play the Cactus Tour after getting her economics degree from Portland State. She also works at Bear Creek Golf Course.

At PSU, she followed up three BIIF championships (2007-2009) with four Big Sky all-conference selections and was Big Sky champion in 2011. She won twice in 19 starts on the Cactus Tour this year, and has 11 top 10s since April.

Kimberly Kim, also from Hilo, won a Cactus Tour event this year, to go with six other top 10s. She, Mari Chun and Shayna Miyajima did not finish high enough in Stage I to advance to this week.

Yada’s game might be the best it has been. She is 6-feet tall — many on the mainland have mistaken her for Michelle Wie — and is working to use that more to her advantage. Her putting has been better this week than Stage I, which was another priority.

But much of her focus is between the ears.

"Professional golf is substantially different from college golf," Yada says. "It’s a different ball game when money is involved. Since turning pro, I’ve had to work really hard on my mental game. I used to doubt myself a lot, but it’s all about believing that I belong and knowing that I’m good enough to try and make this my career.

"I think the only way to know where I need to be mentally, is to just get out there and play. That’s the best way to learn what it takes to compete at a higher level. Putting myself in that competitive situation as often as I can will only help me."