LPGA: Rose Zhang not alone; multiple players withdraw from Liberty National event

Rose Zhang, the Mizuho Americas Open defending champ, withdrew on Thursday, but many others have joined her in doing so.

Six other players pulled out of the tournament on Friday morning.

Then, on Thursday, Maja Stark, Lindsey Weaver-Wright, and Caroline Masson joined Zhang in pulling out early, bringing the total to 10 withdrawals.

Most of these departures were due to an illness. However, Weaver-Wright, Ruoning Yin, and A Lim Kim all cited injuries.

Golf reporter Ryan French, aka Monday Q Info on Twitter, told Playing Through exclusively it is not just the players.

“There are at least four caddies, a couple of reporters, and one dad that I know of,” he said.

He also suggested a couple of possibilities on Twitter.

“Either food poisoning or a mean stomach virus. Either way feel terrible for the event. Awesome event, great venue, first-class everything,” he wrote.

French hinted that it could be the smoothies but could not confirm to Playing Through that the drinks were the actual cause.

The withdrawals did allow many alternates, like So Mi Lee and Mao Saigo, to get into the field on Thursday. It gives them a chance at an LPGA title they would not usually get.

Both ladies took advantage of the opportunity. Lee leads the tournament, and Saigo is right behind her, tied for second with Ashleigh Buhai.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.