Mozo and Danielson Earn a Trip to U.S. Women's Open

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  PRIOR LAKE, Minn. – Sinking a birdie on the 36th and final hole Wednesday at Legends Club, professional golfer Belen Mozo carded a 3-under par 141 to earn medalist honors and punched a ticket to her second U.S. Women’s Open.

Mozo edged Osceola, Wis., native Casey Danielson by one stroke as the two claimed the only qualifying spots from a field of 48 players to this year’s championship, which will be played July 13-16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

“I was very steady; I’m not a player that hits a lot of fairways and greens. I scramble a lot and when I do I can score pretty low,” Mozo said Wednesday. “Overall I was very confident, and that’s good when you wake up and feel confident. I haven’t had those days in a long time.

“I’ve had a rough two years on the LPGA tour and was at a low stage in my professional career,” she said. “I lost motivation but I was playing really well. Golf is a very hard sport—my swing and technique have never been better and the scores were not showing. I was losing hope. Just one good week at the [U.S. Women’s Open] can turn around your whole career.”

Mozo, a 28-year-old Spaniard who now lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., paced the field from the start as she carded a 2-under par 70 to open the 36-hole qualifier Wednesday, in large part to her length off the tee as Mozo kept her driver in her bag for the duration of the qualifier despite five of her six birdies coming on par-5’s.

Starting her second round on the 10th tee, Mozo moved to 3-under for the qualifier by rolling in her short, uphill birdie putt at the 11th before giving back a shot with a bogey at the 13th. She answered with a birdie at the 16th from inside three feet, but would turn at even par for the round following a bogey at the par-3 17th.

Finding her stride amid the blustery conditions Wednesday, Mozo made eight consecutive pars on her back nine before rolling her second at the par-5 ninth to the back edge of the green. Leaving her eagle putt short of the cup, Mozo rolled in her short birdie putt to finish on top of the leaderboard.

“I chose well—I liked the course and I always play well in the north. I was playing well coming in and as soon as I played the course, I knew it would suit me well. I didn’t hit one driver in the 36 holes, but I didn’t need to.”

As an amateur, Mozo became the first player in over 40 years to win both the Women’s British Amateur Championship as well as the British Girls Amateur Championship, which she accomplished in 2006. Mozo turned professional in 2011 following her collegiate career at the University of Southern California, where she was a four-time All-American.

Since 2011, Mozo has notched four top-10 finishes and accumulated more than $815,000 in career earnings. She last qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 where she finished tied for 55th at Pinehurst before finishing tied for 29th at the Women’s British Open a few weeks later at Royal Birkdale.

“I’m not playing this week’s LPGA event and I’m going to see my coach in New Jersey. This is my seventh year on the Tour, but I haven’t learned to take some time off and work on my game. It’s not smart to play so many weeks in a row because your swing changes from day to day,” Mozo said.

In eight LPGA events this season, Mozo has made four cuts and earned more than $12,000 with her best finish coming at the Lotte Championship Presented by Hershey in April, finishing tied for 64th.

Wednesday proved to be special for multiple reasons for Danielson, a recent Stanford University graduate who competed at the NCAA women’s national championship a week ago in Illinois, earning a spot in this year’s championship in her first event as a professional—on her 22nd birthday.

“This is definitely exciting and if anything I want to see what my game can do,” she said. “I’m excited for my first summer as a professional and ready to learn a lot—it’s going to be a big learning curve. I’ve got a lot of great resources that I’m thankful for.

“I’ve learned so much over the last four years at Stanford about my game and golf in general and course management. I’m looking to work hard and stick to what I know.”

Danielson overcame a rough start to her opening round Wednesday to card a 2-over par 74 before starting her second round on the tenth tee and rolling in her short birdie putt to get to 1-over for the tournament.

Converting birdie from 10 feet at the 12th, Danielson drew even, but she would give back a shot with bogey at the 13th. Back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes put Danielson under par for the first time Wednesday before taking double-bogey at the par-4 second.

Danielson answered by sinking her birdie at the par-5 fourth and would add an eagle to her scorecard on the final hole, sinking an eight-foot putt to shoot a second-round 68 and finish at 2-under par 142.

“I started bogey-bogey-bogey and told myself to hang in there and ended up eagling my fourth hole and played pretty steady from there on out.” Danielson said Wednesday. “I missed some short putts, which was a factor most of the day, but I was able to work around that.

“I was hitting the ball well and knew if I posted [even par] it would be at least in contention.”

Danielson is no stranger to playing on a big stage as she made three appearances at the NCAA championship in her four years at Stanford, finishing tied for sixth her junior season. She qualified for seven consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur championships and advanced to the match play portion of the event four times.