Isabelle Lendl Rediscovering Game At Trump National
Playing in fifth and final U.S. Girls’ Junior 17-year-old Connecticut resident ousts 2006 champion Jenny Shin with 93-foot birdie

By David Shefter, USGA

Bedminster, N.J. – Isabelle Lendl stepped off the distance at 31 paces – 93 feet to be exact.

Not the kind of putt you normally hole or even two-putt. Two-up at the time over 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Jenny Shin, the 17-year-old Lendl could afford to make a run at it. With her ball sitting on the fringe of the par-3 16th green at Trump National Golf Club’s Old Course, Lendl sent her putt rolling toward the flagstick. It seemed to take an eternity.

Isabelle Lendl rallied from an early two-hole deficit in ousting 2006 champion Jenny Shin at the 61st U.S. Girls' Junior. (John Mummert/USGA)

But as the ball inched toward the hole, Lendl could see it had a chance. The ball struck the flagstick and disappeared for a miraculous birdie. And when Shin, a 16 year old from Torrance, Calif., missed her 15-footer, the first-round match was suddenly over.

“Yes [I’ve made a putt that long], but I don’t think it was ever to finish a match,” said Lendl after winning Wednesday at the 61st U.S. Girls’ Junior. “That was pretty awesome.”

For Lendl, moments like this have not come often over the past two years. The Goshen, Conn., resident, who spends most of her year in Bradenton, Fla., has been in a slump covering some two years. At last year’s Girls’ Junior at Hartford Golf Club, she missed the match-play cut. And in 2007, she withdrew from the championship at Tacoma Country and Golf Club just prior to the competition, citing poor play.

The daughter of eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Ivan Lendl was mired in a slump. While she continued to go through the same practice habits and routines, the results weren’t showing up at competitions.

Perhaps all she needed was time. Time to get rid of the snap-hooks, shanks and missed 6-footers.

“Time heals all wounds, maybe not all of them, but it helps a lot of wounds,” said Lendl. “Obviously it’s not completely healed because I still have three or four bad holes every now and then. There will be a couple of holes where I will hit a couple of shots that I am not fond of.”

Lendl told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Baldry earlier this week that a phone call from PGA Tour star Steve Stricker was a major confidence boost. Stricker himself endured a long slump before rediscovering his game the past few years.

The words might have worked. This summer, Lendl won the Eastern Amateur, her first tournament victory since the 2008 Doherty Championship, a match-play competition held in Florida each winter. This week at the Girls’ Junior, she opened with an even-par 72 on the Old Course and although she shot an 80 Tuesday on the New Course in dreadful conditions, the rhythm and good feelings were there.

	Jenny Shin, the 2006 champion, couldn't get any putts to fall in her 3-and-2 defeat to Isabelle Lendl. (John Mummert/USGA)

Against Shin, Lendl fell 2 down during a three-hole stretch from No. 4, but knowing there were plenty holes left, she kept her patience. Wins on nine and 10 squared the match and Lendl took the lead for good with a winning par at No. 12. She went 2 up at the par-4 13th when Shin’s par putt did a 360-degree lip-out.

That set the stage for the match-clinching birdie at 16.

Could this be a magical week for Lendl? Well, she’s the oldest player in the field – she turns 18 on July 29 – and this is her fifth and final Girls’ Junior.

“It does feel like my last one and it’s kind of sad,” said Lendl. “But you know I’m ready to move to the next level as well.”

Originally, Lendl had planned to take a year off from school and just play amateur golf. There was even talk of her turning pro. However, last summer she committed to attend the University of Central Florida, where older sister, Marika, had enrolled in the fall. Then Marika decided to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville and Isabelle de-committed from UCF. A recent visit to the UF campus changed Isabelle’s mind about college.

She was blown away by the school and its facilities and will enroll this fall on a partial golf scholarship.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

A few more wins this week would also make Lendl quite happy, although Lendl is not about to start thinking about the trophy presentation just yet.

“I’ve learned after a long time that you have no easy matches,” said Lendl, who faces stroke-play medalist Amy Anderson on the New Course in Thursday morning’s second round. “Everybody’s good in match play.”

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.