In Bee Park wins the U.S. Womens Open
July 2nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
The youngest U.S. Women’s Open winner in history introduced herself to the record books and a largely unknowing public as the tournament’s 63rd champion Sunday, when Inbee Park walked softly over Interlachen Country Club to claim her first victory and her first major title.
Only 19, and inspired to take up golf by fellow South Korean Se Ri Pak’s landmark U.S. Open victory in 1998. Her closing round of two-under 71 was worth a four-shot victory over Helen Alfredsson.
Park earned $585,000 and put up four consistent rounds of 72-69-71-71, but her nine-under total of 283 wasn’t as much about a number as a quiet expression of expert course management. And it was definitely not a show of brute force on the long and difficult Interlachen layout.
“This is very, very special for me, and I will never forget this moment,” Park said. “I really can’t believe I did this. This is great.”
No one had fewer than Park’s total 115 putts, and even though her driving average of 268.2 yards was only average, her steadiness was her greatest asset.
“I tried to stay focused and try to stay calm all day.”
Alfredsson, who began the day tied for third with Park behind Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer, finished with a 75 and moved up. So did Angela Park, whose 73 tied for third with Lewis and In-Kyung Kim, five shots behind the winner.
“She played fantastic,” Alfredsson said of the winner. “She was very calm, never changed anything. And really, that’s very impressive for a 19-year-old.
“That really is what is the key in a tournament like this, just to keep plugging along . . . whoever can do that, my hat’s off. But I was more impressed with her game. She’s going to win a lot more.”
On a blustery day, the final-round scoring average of 76.16 was nearly two shots higher than Saturday’s third round.
Paula Creamer remains in search of her first major title, her five-over 78 adding up to disappointment instead of a victory that was within her reach.
Creamer started the day only one shot from the lead and ended it six shots back and in a tie for sixth place.
Two double bogeys on the front nine, including a chunked chip at the second and an exasperating experience at the diabolically tilted ninth green, ensured that Creamer would remain the top player in the women’s game without a major title.
“But you learn from these,” Creamer said. “Just honestly, it was not my day. Inbee played awesome. She really did, two under par today, that’s a heck of a round out there.
“It’s probably like I’ve said a couple times, it’s probably the most disappointed I’ve been in a very long time.
Giulia Sergas and Nicole Castrale of Palm Desert were not disturbed by the swirling conditions and wound up tied for sixth with Creamer and Mi Hyun Kim.
Lewis, playing her first tournament as a professional, made just about everything she looked at Saturday and missed just about the same number Sunday.
The 23-year-old would have made history as the first to win a major in a pro debut, but the record-setting on Sunday was left to Park.
Park’s first name was previously In-Bee, but she dropped the hyphen so she would be more easily recognized. As a U.S. Open champion, that goal is certainly accomplished.
Park was a star as a junior player winning two U.S. Girls Championship as well as the American Junior Golf Association Junior Girls Championship. She requested an exemption to play the LPGA Tour at 16 but was turned down, then turned pro in 2007 after she graduated from high school, joining the Futures Tour.
Park, who lives in a golf course community in the Las Vegas area and attended Nevada Las Vegas, turns 20 on July 12, but the distinction of being the youngest Open champion is hers.
The youngest prior champion was her role model, Pak.
She remembers being awakened in the middle of the night in her home in Seoul by her parents’ cheers for Pak as they watched the television coverage of the 1998 Open. Two days after Pak’s victory in a playoff at Blackwolf Run, 9-year-old In Bee touched a golf club for the first time.
She dedicated her victory Sunday to Pak.
“Watching Se Ri, it was very inspirational for a little girl.”
A forgettable week became something to remember for Annika Sorenstam, or at least the ending did.
Sorenstam, who is retiring at the end of the year, said goodbye to the U.S. Open for the 15th and final time when she holed out for eagle from the fairway at the 18th, a six-iron from 199 yards.
The ball took two big hops, a couple of little ones, and then rolled straight into the hole.
Sorenstam finished with a 78 and in a tie for 24th.
“Living with another great memory, that’s for sure,” she said.
“This is definitely a signature shot. To break 80, you know.”
Final Top 10 Results:-
1 In Bee Park -9 (283)
2 Helen Alfredsson -5 (287)
3 Angela Park, In-Kyung Kim, Stacy Lewis -4 (288)
6 Giulia Sergas, Nicole Castrale, Mi Huyn Kim, Paula Creamer -3 (289)
10 Teresa Lu, Maria Jose Uribe -2 (290)
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Ji Eun-Hee wins the Wegmans LPGA
June 23rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
“I thought if I chase her like this, Suzann would feel pressure,” the South Korean said after shooting a 5-under 67 to beat Pettersen by two strokes at the tricky Locust Hill course with a 16-under 272 total.
A 22-year-old in her second year on the tour, Ji won her first LPGA Tour title. Her previous best was a second-place finish behind Pettersen in South Korea in October in the Kolon Championship.
“I’m like a fly in the sky,” Ji said through a translator. “I cannot describe what I feel right now. Last year, Suzann beat me and today I beat Suzann, so now I have a confidence. … If all the tournaments are like today, I could probably win more.”
Pettersen’s three-shot lead over Ji at the start of the final round dissolved over the first three holes. Pettersen restored her cushion on No. 12, but Ji bolted in front for the first time with a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 15, where Pettersen missed a 5-footer for par. Pettersen finished with a bogey for a 72.
“I just got out-raced,” said the 28-year-old Pettersen, who won five times in 2007 and has finishes of second, third and ninth this year. “There’s so many good young players. They just stay in there. … You just got to keep knocking on that door. Hopefully it will open.”
Jeong Jang (69), who won in Rochester in 2006, tied for third at 12 under with fellow South Korean Hee-Won Han (69).
Cristie Kerr (69), preparing for her title defense in the U.S. Women’s Open, finished fifth at 11 under, two ahead of top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (69), Christina Kim (68), Japan’s Ai Miyazato (72) and South Korean Inbee Park (74).
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Rebecca Hudson wins the Tenerife Ladies Open
June 23rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
29 year old Rebecca Hudson of Doncaster, England birdied the third extra hole of a sudden-death playoff against Anne-Lise Caudal of France to win the Tenerife Ladies Open at Golf Costa Adeje and a cheque for 45,000 euros today.
Hudson began the final round one shot behind Caudal and posted a final round 69 in regulation play to tie at 10-under-par 278.
Caudal, who won the previous week’s tournament in Portugal, had a chance to win in 72 hole regulation time but bogeyed the par-five 18th after hitting her second shot into a greenside bunker, from where astonishingly she took four shots to get down for a final round 70.
Hudson sank her three foot birdie putt at the 3rd extra play-off hole claiming her second individual Ladies European Tour title and a first prize of €45,000. It was her third victory of the year having already won in South Africa and the European Team Cup, but it was her first LET victory since the 2006 OTP Bank Ladies European Open in Hungary.
“I didn’t expect Anne-Lise to bogey the last in regulation play so to actually get into the play-off and then win it, I’m thrilled,” said Hudson, who is playing in her sixth season on the LET.
“I did not expect her to make any mistakes. Making a five on that hole is a bit like a dropped shot because it is quite a short par five but it was playing into the wind today. It was difficult so I didn’t expect her to make a six. When she did it was a bit of a shock but I managed to hole that 12 footer on the first way round and that was crucial. Pressure or however the situation is took its toll and what happened, happened. I’ll definitely have a nice bottle of something tonight.” Hudson said she would celebrate her victory with fellow Tour player Kirsty Fisher, who was caddying for her over the weekend after missing the cut herself.LET European number one Gwladys Nocera shot a final round 68 to finish on a total of seven-under-par and shared third with European number 1 amateur Carlota Ciganda from Spain, who led at the halfway stage of the tournament and had a final round of 71.
Top Ten Result
1 Rebecca Hudson -10 (278)
2 Anne-Lise Cadual -10 (278)
T3 Gwladys Nocera -7 (281), Carlota Ciginda (Am)
T5 Maria Verchenova -6 (282), Marta Silva (Am), Malissa Reid,
T8 Paula Marti -5 (283), Lisa Holm Sorensen
T10 Lotta Wahlin -4 (284), Anja Monke, Louise Stahle, Ursula Wilkstrom
Source: LET
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Anne-Lise Caudal wins The Portugese Ladies Open
June 16th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Anne-Lise Caudal from France shot a final round 70 to claim her first Ladies European Tour title at the Portugal Ladies Open in the Algarve region.
The 24-year old second year tour player mixed five birdies and two bogeys for a 16-under-par 203 total and a one stroke victory over compatriot Gwladys Nocera (66) and England’s Georgina Simpson (68) at Quinta de Cima Golf Club.
Caudal led after all three round of the tournament. She set a course record nine-under-par 64 in the first round and added a four-under-par 69 on the second day. She began the final round with a one stroke lead over Sweden’s Louise Stahle but was delighted that her room-mate for the week, current European number one Gwladys Nocera, came second because it meant that the duo’s plan for the day came off perfectly.
Caudal said: “When we arrived at the golf course today, she said to me, “Okay, one and two; first and second.” I said, “Okay, why not.”
“When I saw her on the leader board I thought “Unbelievable”. She is unbelievable. She is a great player.”
Caudal was tied for the lead with Stahle after the Swede birdied the first hole in the final round. Caudal birdied the sixth hole but Stahle took a one stroke advantage into the back nine after three more birdies at the second, third and sixth holes.
After Stahle bogeyed the 12th and 13th holes and Caudal birdied the 13th, the Frenchwoman took a two stoke lead but then dropped a shot at the 14th hole. She then birdied the 15th but three putted the par-three 17th for bogey. She shared the lead with Nocera and Simpson at 15-under standing on the 18th tee.
“I said, “Okay, if you make a birdie you win so just put the ball on the green and two putt.” When I putted my ball and I saw the second was very short, I said, “Okay now you can do it! Okay, just watch the hole and no more.”
Caudal’s victory saw the trophy remain in French hands for the third consecutive year after Sophie Giquel and Stephanie Arricau won in 2007 and 2006 respectively. It was also the third tournament this year to be won by a French player after Nocera won both the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open and the ABN AMRO Ladies Open.
Nocera revealed how pleased she was to see her friend clinch the victory. “Anne-Lise is like a little sister on Tour and I’m really happy for her,” she said. “She is going to be in Evian and I think that’s great. She lost her card last year and now she wins a tournament. I think it’s good. It’s good for us because it’s good motivation to have the new ones kicking our butts.”
Caudal became the third first time winner in nine events on the 2008 LET schedule after Sweden’s Lotta Wahlin won the Garanti American Express Ladies Turkish Open and her compatriot Emma Zackrisson won the Ladies Spanish Open earlier this year.
It wasn’t only a French affair however. Simpson’s efforts at securing a first professional title meant that she was tied for the lead on 15-under after 15 holes, but a bogey at the par three 17th-hole did not help her chances.
“Unfortunately I just had a little stumble on the way in,” said Simpson. “We didn’t drop a shot until 13, we three-putted 13 which I think was a little stumble. We had plenty of birdies and then unfortunately we missed the shot on 17 and put it in the bunker trying to go too much for the flag and the wind took it. I managed to birdie 18 and I played as well as I probably could on the day.
“It’s another second to add to my seconds and thirds. As long as I keep coming second and third, I’ll try and try and try and never give up on searching for that win.
“I’ve just been stressing over what should be where swing wise and putting. This week we’ve tried to take a step back and everything’s come together. We’ve almost had to take that step back to see it come together. It’s a weird way round but that’s golf. I’ve got to not overdo the thinking, stay positive and let it happen. “
Top 10 Results
1 Anne-Lise Caudal (203) -16
T2 Georgina Simpson, Gwladys Nocera (204) -15
T4 Louise Stahle, Martina Eberl (205) -14
6 Martina Gillen (206) -13
T7 Lisa Hall, Lotta Whalin (207) -12
9 Diana Luna (208) -11
10 Titiya Plucksataporn (209) -10
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