Gemma Dryburgh feeling 'confident' for LPGA Tour restart

Gemma Dryburgh, pictured after the second of her Rose Ladies Series wins at Royal St George's, is looking forward to playing in the LPGA Tour's double-header in Ohio as it restarts following the coronavirus lockdown. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

In-form Gemma Dryburgh is ready and raring to go in today's eagerly-anticipated LPGA Tour restart in Ohio.

The Scottish No 1 is among a handful of British and Irish players teeing up in the LPGA Drive On Championship, which is being played at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo.

Dryburgh found herself at the top of the new Rose Ladies Series Order of Merit after recording brilliant back-to-back wins at The Buckinghamshire and Royal St George's.

She was tempted to stay at home to play in the remainder of the events on that circuit, which was set up by Justin Rose and his wife Kate to providing playing opportunities for women professionals this summer.

But, in the end, she decided to stick to an initial plan to head to the US to quarantine for both this event and also next week's Marathon Classic, the second leg of a double-header in Ohio to get the circuit back up and running.

"Everything has gone well so far," Dryburgh told The Scotsma. "I got to Toledo earlier in the week and it was just an hour and a half drive from where I have been staying, so it wasn’t too bad.

"The last few weeks have been good. I managed to get some good practice in over the two weeks in some nice weather, so it’s been nice to have some time to work on my game before these LPGA events.

"I'm feeling confident for the next couple of weeks and I’ll definitely use my confidence I built from the Rose Series events coming into these events. It’s been so valuable having some competitive reps under the belt before we start here on Friday.

"My caddie has been able to join me last minute due to the lift in the need for quarantine that was announced last Friday, so that is going to be a big plus as I was just planning to push a trolley before."

The LPGA Tour conducted 233 pre-travel tests of players and caddies prior to them departing for this week’s 54-hole event.

One player, Marina Alex, and one caddie tested positive during this phase of testing. Alex, who is asymptomatic, was withdrawn from the tournament and the caddie did not travel.

Following a 10-day quarantine period, Alex is expected to play in next week’s event.

During pre-tournament on-site testing this week, a total of 233 players and caddies were tested.

One player, Gaby Lopez, tested positive and two tests are still pending after initial testing was inconclusive.

Lopez has withdrawn from the event, has self-isolated and has been working with Tour and local health officials on contact tracing.

This week's event is being played on the course where Catriona Matthew will lead Europe's Solheim Cup defence next September.

“To be able to have this as like a tune up to be on this great of a golf course, it's pretty unbelievable,” said US star Lexi Thompson.

“And also to have Solheim Cup on it next year, it gives us a little insight and get to know the golf course to hopefully be on that team next year.

"I was very excited just to hear that we were playing golf again, and even more excited that we're playing a golf course like Inverness.”

English quartet Charlotte Thomas, Bronte Law, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Mel Reid are also in the field along with Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow.

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