Kelly Cap's confidence up

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- Kelly Cap had just finished the best tournament of her LPGA career last month and couldn't wait to get out on the course again when she realized that she couldn't play the next tournament.
Such is the case for many of the LPGA Tour's non-exempt players, who because of their tour status don't qualify to play unless the field of 144 players is not filled.
Cap, the Boardman native, is in her third season on the tour, and is playing this week in the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic at Squaw Creek Country Club.
Last month in the ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey, Cap took home her biggest paycheck as a professional when she won over $10,000 in the tournament.
Her career earnings in her first two full seasons on tour were just less than $7,000 in 26 events.
First three
The ShopRite tournament was her first on tour this year. She also played in the Corning Classic in New York and last week at the Women's Canadian Open in Niagara Falls, missing the cut in both events.
"I was so excited after the ShopRite event and I just wanted to go right out and play again, but I knew I wasn't going to get into the field at Rochester," she said.
"That's probably the toughest part of being out here, knowing that you are playing well, but you just can't get into a tournament."
The problem over the years has been a reduction of tournaments by the LPGA, which means less tournaments for the players to enter. All the exempt players have first choice of making the fields, and then the non-exempt players get a chance. Unfortunately for Cap, she finished way down on the non-exempt list, so a lot of golfers must pass on a tournament for her to get into the field.
Such was the case this week and last week which allowed her to enter.
"It's always great to come back home and play," she said. "I'm sure I put a little more pressure on myself when I'm playing here in front of family and friends," she added.
"I can remember back when I was a youngster and was a volunteer at this event and I always thought how great it would be if some day I could play in this tournament," she continued.
Playing well
Cap, who graduated from Boardman High in 1991 and led the Spartans to the 1990 state championship, says that she has been playing well this year when she gets a chance to play.
"I've been kind of jumping back and forth from the LPGA to the Futures Tour, but I feel very comfortable with my game right now," she said.
"I've been working a lot with my short game, which is pretty good and I've been hitting a new driver."
She said that her confidence level has never been higher, especially after her performance at ShopRite.
"The toughest thing right now is just to stay mentally prepared and then take advantage of that when I get to play," she said. "Last week I played OK, but I wasn't mentally prepared for that tournament and I missed the cut, but only by one shot."
Cap says that she likes the Squaw Creek Country Club layout.
"It's a course that requires a lot of different shots. You have to play a lot of finesse shots and not just step up and bang the ball off the tee," she added.
"It's just so nice to be playing two weeks in a row and then to be playing at home makes things just that much better."
mollica@vindy.com