Defending champ Grant returns to Dana Open

SYLVANIA – Linn Grant came to last year's Dana Open never having seen Highland Meadows Golf Club.She left with her first LPGA Tour championship and an additional $262,500 in her bank account."I think sometimes it's good to come to a tournament as a new player," the 25-year-old Swede said two days before teeing off today in her title defense. "You have fewer expectations and, also, you put your own plan to it and that's not based on your results."But having won here last year has benefits beyond tangible rewards that include having a road leading to the golf course named for her."It feels fun, for sure," she said. "Being the defending champion is a different kind of feeling, you know -- having good memories from playing last year and knowing that I can play well here kind of helps a little bit going into the week."Grant takes a No. 26 Rolex World Ranking into the 40th annual Toledo-area tournament only about a month after her 25th birthday. A purse of $1.75 million is on the line.Though she now knows what the par-71, 6,666-yard course looks like, as all players do, she prepared in the days leading up to the tournament by playing practice rounds and pro-ams.Grant took an extra tour of the grounds on Tuesday. "Sometimes I just like to walk the course without clubs, just to not put any feeling into how to play – seeing it for what it is, and sometimes that's easier without any golf clubs," she said. "We walked it this morning, coming in from France. We had a long trip and then some jet lag. It's just been nice to have a nice, kind of chill day."After the Dana Open, she'll take time off before returning to France to play in her first Olympics. The women's golf competition in Paris will begin Aug. 7. Grant and 23rd-ranked Maja Stark will represent Sweden."It will be fun," Grant said. "It's my first time playing, so I'm not really sure what to expect, but I think I'll have a good experience." More information about this week's tournament is available at www.danaopen.com.