Yabi Tseng wins the MacDonalds LPGA Championship in Rookie Year
June 10th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (AP) — In her rookie year on the LPGA Tour, playing in only her third major championship, 19-year-old Yani Tseng felt lucky to become the youngest winner of the LPGA Championship on Sunday.
After the day she had at Bulle Rock, that was hardly the case.
First, she went 18 holes with Lorena Ochoa and closed with a 4-under 68 in searing heat, denying the No. 1 player in women’s golf a chance to win a third straight major. Then came a sudden-death playoff with Maria Hjorth that lasted four holes.
Tseng finished it off by choking down on a 6-iron out of the first cut of rough and hitting the perfect shot, the ball stopping 5 feet behind the hole for a birdie that made her the first rookie to win an LPGA major in 10 years.
“I can’t believe I just won a major,'’ Tseng said. “Everything is coming so fast.'’
It felt like slow motion for Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, both desperate for their own brand of history.
Ochoa, who only two days ago appeared to be sailing toward a third straight major, went 14 holes without a birdie. The drought ended on the 16th hole when a 20-yard pitch for eagle banged off the pin, and a birdie on the final hole only made it look close. She closed with a 71 and wound up one shot behind.
“It wasn’t my time,'’ Ochoa said, showing more emotion than she had all week. “I am not ashamed. I’m proud of my finish. Now I move on and try to win the next few tournaments.'’
Sorenstam, trying to join Mickey Wright as the only four-time winner of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, also closed with a 71 and could count more than a dozen putts on the weekend that she could have made. She twice missed inside 5 feet on par 5s in the final round, and she had a 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th to get into the playoff.
It was weak and well short.
“It’s a tough time,'’ Sorenstam said. “I was determined today, really this whole week. I felt like I could do it.'’
Hjorth appeared to have fate on her side when a fairway metal headed for the hazard instead ricocheted off the rocks in a creek and bounded across the green, turning bogey into birdie. Then she chipped in on the next hole for birdie and the lead.
She closed with a 71, and had 18-foot and 12-foot birdie putts to win in the playoff, both narrowly missing.
“I don’t think it’s really hit me, but I’m sure I’m going to be very, very tired pretty soon,'’ Hjorth said. “But I’m very happy with the day. I played solid golf all day, and just very proud of myself for hanging in there.'’
Despite her age and inexperience, Tseng felt right at home in the playoff, which is all about match play. She won 19 times as an amateur, first gaining recognition in 2004 when she rallied to beat Michelle Wie - at a time when Wie was on top of her game - at the U.S. Women’s Public Links Amateur. A year later, Tseng beat Morgan Pressel in the North & South Amateur.
With power and poise, and a 6-iron she won’t soon forget, Tseng became the second-youngest winner of an LPGA major behind Pressel, who was 18 when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year.
Tseng became the first rookie to win a major since Se Ri Pak, who won the LPGA Championship 10 years ago at age 20.
Playing the 18th hole for the third time in an hour, Tseng took her hand off the driver when it sailed to the right, taking a good hop out of the deep grass and into the first cut. Then came a 6-iron, drawing toward the flag.
“I wasn’t that nervous when I teed off,'’ she said. “I just tell myself, ‘Make this putt and win a major.”’
That was something T.C. Chen, her countryman and part-time mentor, failed to do in the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, where he became infamous for a double-hit on a chip out of deep rough and wound up one shot behind Andy North.
Tseng and Hjorth finished at 12-under 276.
Top Ten Results
1 Yani Tseng -12 (276)
2 Maria Hjorth -12 (276)
T3 Annika Sorenstam -11 (277), Lorena Ochoa
5 Laura Diaz -10 (278)
T6 Morgan Pressell -8 (280), Shi Hyun Ahn, Kelli Kuehne, Irene Cho
10 Seon Hwa Lee -7 (281), Mi Hyun Kim, Candie Kung, Paula Creamer, Christie Kerr,
Giulia Sergas, Nichole Castrale, Jimin Jong
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Nocera wins the ABN AMRO Dutch Ladies Open
June 10th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera fired a seven-under-par 65 at the ABN AMRO Ladies Open in Holland to take a four stroke lead heading into the final round.Nocera, who won the tournament by seven shots last year began the day in Eindhoven tied for the lead on five under par with compatriot Jade Schaeffer.
But Nocera finished the day with the outright lead on a 12-under-par two-round total as Schaeffer slipped down the leaderboard into a share of 15th on three under after a 74.
Defending champion Nocera pulled ahead with seven birdies and no bogeys on an overcast day at Eindhovensche Golf.
“Regarding the way I am playing I think I can win this tournament. Now I have to play tomorrow and see what happens,” said Nocera, who is aiming for her seventh LET victory after securing the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open five weeks ago.
English rookie Melissa Reid is Nocera’s closest challenger on eight under after two rounds of 68.
“It’s four shots which is nothing,” said the Derbyshire 20-year-old.
“I know Gwladys and I have great respect for the girl. She knows how to win and it’s just going to be a really good experience for me tomorrow. I would love to get one on her but if she shoots low I’ve got to shoot four lower so it’s me to catch her.”
Reid is currently ranked 14th in Europe, whereas Nocera is second, but she is the LET’s leading first year player and is highly motivated.
“Basically I wake up every morning and train because I want to be the best that I can be,” said Reid.
“I do want to win majors and I do want to be the best player in the world. That’s really what motivates me.”
Denmark’s Lisa Holm Sorensen was alone in third position on seven under after a 65, five shots behind the leader.
England’s Kirsty S Taylor (67) and France’s Anne-Lise Caudal (70) shared fourth on six under.
Taylor was playing with a strapped up left knee after falling over on concrete four weeks ago.
“I’ve got to get a scan at some point. There’s a bit of a hole in my kneecap and the plates might be splitting but we’re not too sure at the moment so I’m just trying to get through the next three weeks,” said Taylor.
England’s Sophie Walker, Spain’s Paula Marti and Italy’s Veronica Zorzi were one shot back in a share of sixth place.
Top Ten Result
1 Gwladys Nocera -13 (203)
2 Malissa Reid -12 (204)
3 Anna-Lise Caudal -11 (205)
4 Paula Marti -8 (208), Kirsty S. Taylor, Lisa-Holm Sorensen
7 Maria Boden -7 (209)
8 Becky Brewerton -6 (210), Marianne Skarpnord
10 Leah Hart -5 (211), Christel Boeljon, Dana Lacey, Veronica Zorzi, Sophie Walker
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Seon Hwa Lee wins the Ginn Tribute
June 5th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Seon Hwa Lee didn’t expect she’d be accepting the Ginn Tribute trophy from tournament host Annika Sorenstam on Sunday.Few others did, either.
Lee, though, took advantage of a stunning collapse from Sophie Gustafson, and watched Hall of Famer Karrie Webb miss a short par putt in the playoff. The result was Lee’s third LPGA Tour title and one of the richest paydays, $390,000, in women’s golf.
“There’s lots of luck,” said Lee, nine strokes behind when her round began.
The comeback was the second-largest in LPGA Tour history, surpassed only by 10-stroke rallies from all-time greats Mickey Wright in 1964 and Sorenstam in 2001.
Lee shot a 67 to finish at 14-under 274. In the playoff at No.
18, Lee two-putted for par from about 45 feet before Webb’s crucial error.
The 22-year-old South Korean was in the next-to-last group, but had no plans at a dramatic charge. She figured a solid performance would move her up the leaderboard a few notches, and she’d gain confidence for next week’s major, the LPGA Championship.
Instead, Gustafson’s fall and Webb’s slip allowed Lee the chance at victory.
Lee chipped in for birdie from about 40 yards on the 13th to move within a stroke of the lead, still held by Gustafson.
That’s when she began thinking maybe she had a chance. Turns out, she did.
The chip in “was really, really big for me,” Lee said.
A bogey on the 16th hole dropped Lee into a three-way tie for first. She took the lead when she sank a curling, 20-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole.
Moments later, Webb matched Lee, rolling in a 12-foot birdie to set up a playoff for the second straight year at RiverTowne Country Club.
Lee looked stunned when Webb’s short putt stayed left of the cup.
“She has a lot of experience and she is a Hall of Famer,” Lee said. “So I didn’t expect she was going to miss it.”
Neither did Webb, attempting to win her 36th LPGA Tour event.
“There is no excuse for missing that putt,” she said.
Song-Hee Kim (69) was third at 13-under, followed by Gustafson and Jane Park (72) another two shots behind.
Gustafson had few explanations for what went wrong.
“I just wanted to do what I had the last three days,” said Gustafson, who shot 66, 65, 67 her first three rounds. “But then obviously that didn’t work.”
Webb was much more sympathetic about Gustafson’s struggles.
Holding a six-shot lead when the day began, Gustafson had five bogeys and two double bogeys in her last 15 holes for a 7-over 79.
“Definitely I feel bad for her,” said Webb, who played with Gustafson the past two rounds. “You could probably tee it up nine times out of 10 with a six-shot lead and win.
“I’m sure she’s very disappointed.”
Shellshocked may be a better description.
Gustafson was trying for her first LPGA Tour win since 2003 and raced to the top the first three rounds with long, accurate drives and dead-on putting. She opened Sunday rock solid as ever with a first-hole birdie.
Gustafson made birdie on the third hole to reach 20-under, and was still ahead by five when her troubles began.
She hit her tee shot on the par-3 eighth into a bunker behind the green for a bogey, then three-putted the next green to drop another shot.
Gustafson followed on the 10th with a double bogey, her lead shrinking to one stroke over Na-Yeon Choi.
Gustafson gave up the lead on the par-3 14th, her tee shot going dead left into a greenside lake. She walked back behind her bag with little emotion, staring straight ahead.
When she tapped in for another double bogey a short time later, Gustafson had given up the lead she’d held or shared since Friday.
And the problems didn’t stop. Gustafson drove into thick rough for a bogey on the 15th. She put her tee shot into the marsh on the final hole for her last bogey.
It was the second recent disappointment for Gustafson. Two weeks ago, she missed a 12-foot putt on the final hole of the Sybase Classic that would’ve tied world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa.
Ochoa withdrew from the Ginn Tribute earlier this week because of the death of her uncle.
With the threat of severe weather, organizers moved up tee times and started players off both nines to squeeze in the round before storms arrived. Sorenstam was among those starting off the back nine.
She finished tied for 32nd after a final-round 71 left her at 4-under.
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Ami Yang wins the HypoVereinsbank Ladies German Open
June 5th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
1st June
South Korea’s Amy Yang claimed the HypoVereinsbank Ladies German Open, presented by Audi, by four shots at Golfpark Gut Häusern on Sunday and announced that she would donate the €37,500 first prize money to the victims of the Chinese earthquake.
Yang, 18, began the final round with a five shot lead and shot a five-under 67 for a 21-under-par total. Sweden’s Louise Stahle, the 2007 Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year, finished in second on 17-under with Gwladys Nocera in third one stroke back. Spain’s Marta Prieto and France’s Anne-Lise Caudal shared fourth on 15-under-par.
The richly deserved victory was the first in Yang’s professional career, but her second on the Ladies European Tour. The 18-year-old made worldwide news two years ago when she won the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia as a 16-year-old amateur. At that time she was the youngest ever winner on the LET. She turned professional in October 2006 and was granted a three year exemption to play on the tour but was unable to commit to full time golf until she finished her school exams in Australia at the end of 2007.
“I’m so happy now,” said Yang, who shot rounds of 71, 66, 63 and 67. “I practised really hard to get this but I need to work harder. I just found last week after playing with Suzann (Pettersen) that I needed to practise more to be like her.”
The teenaged Yang was paired with Pettersen, ranked third in the world, in every round of last week’s Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, where Yang finished second behind the Norwegian.
Victory was the Korean’s sixth top-ten finish in seven starts on the LET this year and increased her lead of the New Star Money List. It also cemented her place in the high prize money Evian Masters in France and the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Yang said she couldn’t even compare her first pro victory with her win in Australia, because she couldn’t recall the feeling. “I don’t remember! It was a long time ago, like two years,” she said.
Yang, who used experienced caddie Steve Walsh en route to victory in Munich, now lives in Orlando, Florida, as she holds a conditional card on the LPGA Tour in the United States, but she lived in Australia for three years in order to develop her game.
Another teenager, American Michelle Wie, 18, came sixth on 14-under-par, which marked her first sub-par tournament total in 14 appearances since she tied for second at the 2006 Evian Masters in France.
Wie chipped in for eagle at the first and then birdied the third to be three-under-par after her first three holes but couldn’t keep the momentum going.
Her final round of 67 was her best score in three tournaments this year. “I’m glad that I shot under par; it feels good,” said Wie, whose presence helped to attract almost 17,000 spectators to the remote course over the tournament week.
“I feel that I left a lot of shots out there; a lot of putts; on the par fives a couple. It feels like it’s coming along. It feels like I’m recovering, getting back on track and getting back to where I used to be.”
“I feel a lot more confident about my game. I think a person’s greed means that you always want something more. If you look at my score, 14-under-par, I’m very happy with it but at the same time I could have done better.
“I definitely won’t go back to the States frustrated. I feel like I wish I made a putt here or there. That’s golf. I’ll go back with a lot of confidence. I know what I need to work on. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the summer.”
Like Yang, Wie will now head to America to compete in US Women’s Open Qualifying on 9th June.
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