Riding Women's Open Momentum, Mina Harigae is Ready to sit in the Champion's Seat

GALLOWAY, N.J. -- Mina Harigae hasn’t yet seen the Bay Course at Seaview, A Dolce Hotel this year, even though she’s set to play in the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer. Coming off her second-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica, the LPGA Tour veteran took some well-earned time to rest and enjoy what she described as “the best moment of my career.”

 

“Sometimes it's really hard to believe that I had such an amazing week last week. I have always hoped for a week like that,” she said. “Having those lows in my career makes me appreciate where I am so much more, and I think going through a period of time like that made me a lot stronger as a person and player. I can draw from experiences, good and bad.”

 

In her 13 years on the LPGA Tour, Harigae has never won a tournament and has experienced many highs and many lows in her golf game. The 32-year-old didn’t have an ideal start to the 2022 season – making only three cuts in her first seven starts - but following the best finish of her career, Harigae is more ready than ever to achieve that ultimate goal and “propel myself to the champion’s seat.”

 

“Really believing in myself is what helped me a lot,” Harigae said. “I got off to a slow start this year and I kind of hit the panic button a little bit, but I always remind myself that I tend to play better when summer comes around. So, just being patient and believing that I will start playing better again was really key.”

 

The ShopRite LPGA Classic is the perfect location for Harigae to finally earn a spot atop the leaderboard. Seaview has been a routine stop for the 2021 Solheim Cup Team member on Tour, and in her 12 previous appearances, she’s earned career-best T6 finish in the 2020 event as well as an additional four top-20 results in Galloway.

 

“I really, really like coming to this golf course. I think it suits my game very well,” she said. “You have to hit the fairway here and I'm a pretty good driver of the golf ball I would say. Playing a shorter course helps me a lot, but even though this is a shorter course the scores aren't ridiculously low, so I think that also plays into my favor. I love that it's a Friday start too, especially after a major. It gave me the extra day to reset.”