01솔하임 컵의 좋은 기운을 하와이 무대로
스웨덴의 마야 스타르크가 솔하임 컵에서 보여준 활약의 기세를 이어 하와이에서 열리는 무대에서 강력한 마무리를 노린다.
스타르크는 최근 솔하임 컵에서 인상적인 경기력을 선보이며 자신감을 크게 끌어올렸다. 이러한 성공적인 경험과 상승세는 이번 하와이 대회에 임하는 그녀에게 든든한 원동력이 되고 있다.
솔하임 컵에서의 좋은 기억을 바탕으로, 스타르크는 하와이 특유의 코스 환경 속에서도 안정적인 플레이를 펼쳐 상위권으로 대회를 마감하겠다는 목표를 밝히고 있다.
02Original (English) — LPGA
Maja Stark of Sweden plays a tee shot on the 11th hole during the second round of the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei 2026 at Hoakalei Country Club on October 02, 2026 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Adam Stanley is an award-winning golf journalist. He is the golf reporter for Sportsnet, Canada’s No.1 sports media brand, as well as a frequent contributor to the LPGA’s digital coverage, PGATOUR.com, and The Globe and Mail.
Maja Stark said Friday at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei that, after the Solheim Cup, she received a “loaded” question from one of the European caddies.
“He just said, ‘why can’t you always play like this,’” Stark said. “Felt like at Solheim I was hitting shots and making putts that I haven't really made before. So that was kind of a big thing I've had to think about.”
Stark notched a 3-1-0 record in the Netherlands and was part of the winning European side. Her trip to Hawaii marked her first LPGA Tour start since the CPKC Women’s Open all the way back in the third week of August and after two missed cuts in a row prior to heading across the pond for the biennial competition, Stark was as keen as ever to try to string together some solid results as she sits on the bubble on the Race to CME Globe – she was No. 53 starting this week.
“I think it's so easy to get like we call it ‘post-Solheim depression’ because it's so much fun. I just kind of tried to not take any time off and I went straight into practicing again,” Stark said. “Especially since it was a two-week break and it was straight here to Hawaii. I just… kind of wanted to keep that mindset of like, ‘this putt is really important. This putt is for, to go 1-up’ or whatever. I kind of wanted to do that here.
“And I think it’s worked a lot better than usual when you can kind of get a little sloppy with putts sometimes.”
Through two days at the LOTTE Championship Stark finds herself in the mix for her fourth top-10 finish of the season. With the afternoon wave underway Friday, Stark was just three shots back of the lead.
She opened with a 67 and shot a 3-under 69 on Friday.
Stark made four birdies in her first six holes in the second round and added another on the par-5 1st. She gave one back on her penultimate hole of the day, the par-4 8th, but Stark has been as dialled in as anyone with her ball striking through two days. She’s missed just three greens in regulation in 36 holes.
“Been hitting a lot of greens. Felt like I rolled in quite a few putts early today and all yesterday, so, yeah, just felt like it was very steady, very stress-free,” Stark said of her round on Friday. “(Hoakalei Country Club is) very inviting, and especially with the greens being this soft, you can really go for a lot of pins, which is always fun… I think it looks scarier than it is because there is a lot of water on the course, but it's not really in play that much. So, it's very nice.
“I usually get a little bit scared and hit bad shots because of my nerves, so now I can just kind of go for it.”
Two of Stark’s three top-10 finishes so far this season have come at major championships, with a T8 at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally and a T10 at The Amundi Evian Championship. She also finished T9 at the DOW Championship alongside Linn Grant – who she, of course, went on to finish 3-0-0 together as a pair at the Solheim Cup. Stark has now been part of two winning Solheim Cup squads – in both 2024 and 2026 – while also part of the team that tied the Americans in 2023.
“Just so much fun,” Stark said of her experience being part of Team Europe. “Felt like we had the perfect team, perfect captains, perfect crowds. Obviously, it was a very tight competition, but that's kind of what we want.”
For now, Stark has pivoted from playing for a team back to playing for herself – and she knows it’ll be another tight effort as she looks to re-earn a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship season finale.
Through two days in Hawaii, she’s off to as solid a start as she could have asked for.
“I’m just… towards the bottom of the people making it into CME, so I just want to feel (more comfortable) in that (race). It’s been really nice to feel like I’m playing steady – I’ve been missing a lot of putts but still 8-under par. That’s a great feeling. Hopefully I don’t have to be too stressed going forward and heading into CME.”