Monday, August 26, 2013
Hedwall seeks first LPGA win, leads in Canada
EDMONTON -- Caroline Hedwall of Sweden, riding the momentum of her record-setting performance in the Solheim Cup last week, shot 6-under-par 64 on Saturday at Royal Mayfair Golf Club to take a one-stroke lead in the CN Canadian Open.
The 24-year-old Hedwall, who has won eight times as a professional but never on the LPGA Tour, carded four birdies in the first six holes and added three more in a span of four holes through No. 15.
She made her only bogey at No. 8 and finished 54 holes at 10-under 200.
"I'm definitely on a roll," said Hedwall, who played college golf at Oklahoma State, winning the 2010 NCAA individual women's title. "I got a lot of confidence from last week and I'm playing really solid.
"I've won on the European (Ladies) Tour and I'm looking for my first on the LPGA Tour. I'm in great position for tomorrow and I know it will be exciting."
Hedwall, who became the first player in Solheim Cup history to record a 5-0 record as Europe routed the United States at Colorado Golf Club, finished one stroke ahead of Suzann Pettersen of Norway, who shot 65, and defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who posed a 67.
Ko, 16, the top-ranked amateur in the world who became the youngest winner in LPGA history last year by winning the Canadian Open at Vancouver Golf Club, held the lead Saturday until making bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes.
"One of the things I wanted to do coming off (Friday, when she shot 69) was grind it out and play a little better," said Ko, who captured the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour in February, her third victory in a pro event.
"I definitely did that on the front nine, but was disappointed to make two bogeys in a row on the back, and it was nice to make a birdie to get one of them back."
I.K. Kim of South Korea recorded a 65 and was tied for fourth, two strokes back, with Brittany Lincicome, who shot 66.
Inbee Park of South Korea, No. 1 player in the Rolex Women's World Rankings who was tied for the 36-hole lead with Cristie Kerr and seeking her seventh victory of the season, struggled to a 74 and slid to a tie for 15th.
Kerr posted a 75 that included a triple-bogey 7 on the 17th hole and a double-bogey 6 on the 18th, dropping her into a tie for 20th.
Woods hopes shorter Sunday works to his advantage
By Larry Fine
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Tiger Woods said he hopes a normal work day on Sunday at The Barclays will enable him to ward off the effects of a sore back and challenge for victory in the opening event of the FedExCup playoffs.
Woods complained of back and neck discomfort earlier this week which he blamed on a soft hotel bed and the world number one looked uncomfortable at times on Saturday at Liberty National.
"I just hung in there and that was a grind," Woods told reporters after the third round, in which three late birdies lifted him to a 69 that put him tied for fourth, four shots behind co-leaders Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland.
Due to weather delays on Thursday that threw the tournament schedule out of whack, Woods and 39 other players had to return to the course early Saturday morning to finish their second round before the scheduled third round of play.
Woods had to complete five holes before heading out for round three. He finished up a two-under 69 and stood five shots off the pace at the halfway mark.
After sticking his approach shot for a one-foot, tap-in birdie at the first hole of the third round, Woods struggled with bogeys at the third and fourth holes.
"I got off to a sweet start. Stuffed it at the first and gave two right back at three and four and kind of just hung around, hung around, hung around, and had a nice finish," said the American, who birdied two of his last three holes.
Despite receiving treatment, Woods still seemed bothered by the back.
"It starts off great every day, and then it progressively deteriorates as the day goes on," he explained.
"Hopefully tomorrow it will be one of those days again and (I will) fight through it and see if I can win a tournament," added Woods, who has already won five times on the PGA Tour this year.
(Reporting by Larry Fine, Editing by Gene Cherry)
Caroline Hedwall takes lead in Canada
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Solheim Cup star Caroline Hedwallshot a 6-under 64 on Saturday in the Canadian Women's Open to take a one-stroke lead over European teammate Suzann Pettersenand defending champion Lydia Ko.
Hedwall, winless on the LPGA Tour, was a record 5-0 last week in Colorado in Europe's blowout victory over the United States. The 24-year-old Swede had a 10-under 200 total at Royal Mayfair.
''I was a little tired on Monday, Tuesday and also Wednesday,'' Hedwall said. ''But when the tournament starts I think last week just gave me a lot of energy and self-confidence, so I can't feel anything.''
Pettersen shot a 65. She won the 2009 tournament at Priddis Greens in Calgary.
''I just feel like from a general standpoint usually coming off of Solheim where your mindset is such an aggressive mode that you usually feed off pretty well the following week because you kind of keep wanting to make putts,'' Pettersen said. ''You're kind of in that kind of frame of mind. This is why we work at it, this is why we train. I'm totally fine. I'm not tired at all.''
The 16-year-old Ko had a 67. Last year in British Columbia, the New Zealand amateur became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history at 15 years, 4 months.
''I was three shots back from the leader yesterday, and I'm one shot back at the moment, so I'm getting much closer to the leader,'' Ko said. ''I played pretty well out there. I made five birdies and two bogeys. I was overall really happy, and I was 8 under coming into the final round last year, so one shot better, which leaves me in a good place.''
Hedwall had seven birdies and a bogey in the third round after opening with consecutive 68s.
''To be honest, I don't really remember my round,'' Hedwall said. ''I have no idea where I make birdies. I just remember making a bogey. I hit it over the green and had a pretty good chip, I just didn't make the putt.''
Hedwall has eight professional wins worldwide on the Ladies European Tour and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour.
''I'm just looking forward to tomorrow,'' Hedwall said. ''It will be exciting playing in the last group. I won on the European Tour, now I'm just waiting for my first LPGA victory. We'll see, hopefully it comes tomorrow.''
Brittany Lincicome and I.K. Kim were two strokes back at 8 under. Kim had a 65, and Lincicome, the 2011 winner at Hillsdale in Quebec, shot 66.
Lincicome played in a group with Hedwall and Pettersen.
''I shot 66 today and got beat badly by these two,'' Lincicome said. ''Even from the first hole, from the very start of the day we were draining birdies, and I kind of was making my own little inside jokes about our group. We were 8 under after 8, 9 under after 9, and kind of playing match play with everyone else.
''I had a great time. I don't know about them, but it was just fun to kind of hang out and I think the chatter and the laughter out there kept it light out there, and we made a lot of birdies.''
Top-ranked Inbee Park, tied for the second-round lead with Cristie Kerr, had a 74 to fall six strokes back at 4 under. Park swept the first three majors of the season and has six tour victories this year.
''Just the overall day, everything seemed like it didn't go the right way,'' Park said. ''It wasn't that bad of drives, but it just ended up in the rough, and you really have no shot from the rough. I was putting, and nothing really wanted to go in. I burned a lot of edges. Just one of those kind of days.''
Kerr was another stroke back after a 75.
Charley Hull, the 17-year-old English player coming off a strong performance in the Solheim Cup, was 4 under after a 71.
Senior British winner Wiebe leads 3M Championship
Senior British winner Wiebe leads 3M Championship
BLAINE, Minn. -- Adrenaline is about the only thing keeping Mark Wiebe going.
Playing well isn't hurting, either.
Wiebe followed his Senior British Open playoff victory with an 8-under 64 on Friday in the first round of the 3M Championship to take a one-stroke lead over Kenny Perry and Corey Pavin .
"Good for him," Perry said. "Here he is with no sleep, running on fumes and shooting 8 under."
Four days after beating Bernhard Langer on the fifth extra hole in a Monday finish at Royal Birkdale, Wiebe had eight birdies in a bogey-free round at the TPC Twin Cities.
He birdied five of the last seven holes on the front nine, including a 35-foot putt on the fifth hole and a birdie from off the fringe on No. 7. After each of those putts, playing partners Nick Price and Jay Haastold Wiebe to "Keep riding that pony."
Wiebe, who has just three top-25 finishes in 15 tour starts this year, added birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and 16. He had only 25 times at a course where his previous low score in 10 rounds was 69.
"I felt like I was reading the greens better than I have," Wiebe said. "Maybe I need to be exhausted to play this golf course or to read the greens correctly."
Not only has Wiebe had to be mentally tough on the course, he's had a tough few days of travel. Scheduled to return to the United States after the Monday finish, Wiebe was delayed when his flight was rescheduled to Tuesday. More than two hours into that trip, the plane was forced to turn around. Wiebe finally arrived in Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon and didn't get much sleep that night. He didn't sleep well Thursday night, either.
"I'm hoping that I kind of get my zip back a little bit and don't have to rely on the adrenaline, although shooting 64 in this event after never really playing well here I have new adrenaline," he said. "I just want to get through Sunday. If I can just keep playing well through Sunday I can actually stop and take next week off."
Perry is making his first start since winning the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open in consecutive starts for his first major victories. He skipped the Senior British Open because of a family commitment.
Perry birdied the first three holes and five of the first six. He birdied three of four holes midway through his back nine to get to 8 under before three-putting the par-3 17th for a bogey.
"I got tired out there a little bit," he said. "I took two weeks off and I didn't do anything. I kind of ran out of gas the last few holes and kind of lost my focus mentally. ... I didn't grind it out."
Pavin had a bogey-free round that featured four birdies on the front nine and three on the back.
Bart Bryant, Peter Senior , Jeff Brehaut, John Riegger and Tom Pernice Jr . shot 66. Riegger eagled two of the par 5s.
Fifty-two of the 81 players broke par, with 28 players in the 60s. The winning score has been at least 15 under in each of past six years, including a record 25-under 191 by David Frost in 2010.
"This course is in fabulous shape and the greens are rolling really, really good," Bryant said. "If the greens don't firm up guys are going to shoot low scores all week."
Romero leads by 1 over Woodland at Reno-Tahoe Open
Romero leads by 1 over Woodland at Reno-Tahoe Open
RENO, Nev. -- Andres Romero birdied his last four holes Friday to take the second-round lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open with 22 points in the modified-Stableford scoring event on a Sierra Nevada layout that reminds him of the mountain courses in his native Argentina.
Romero, who finished third at Reno last year, had nine birdies, a bogey and a double bogey for a one-point lead over Gary Woodland .
The scoring system awards eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or worse.
Woodland, who started the day in second place with 14 points, had a chance to take the lead on his last hole Friday when his 90-yard approach to the par-4 ninth rolled and glanced off the pin, but he missed the 5-foot birdie putt coming back.
Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling and Charlie Wi, who played his freshman year at Nevada, were three off the lead with 19 points, followed by Greg Chalmers, Chris Knost and Brian Harman at 18. David Toms was in a group with 17.
"The [scoring] system is really good for me," said Romero, who birdied four of his first six holes and five of his last six.
"I feel very comfortable here. Makes me remember to home, you know?" he said with his caddie translating. "Last week I made 22 birdies and two eagles. If you made all those birdies here and eagles, it's very good for you."
Woodland overcame three bogeys with five birdies -- three in a row during the middle of his back nine beginning with his approach 183 yards to inside 2 feet on the 491-yard, par-4 fifth. He hit inside a foot for a tap-in on the 477-yard sixth and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh.
"Today was a struggle," said Woodland, one of the longer drivers in the field who was hitting middle irons into the par 5s on Thursday.
"Today I was punching out, laying up, so it was frustrating from that standpoint," he said. "But I hit some good shots coming in and I got myself into the golf tournament and I'm getting into a good position going into the weekend."
The swirling, gusty wind that had players reaching back to their bags repeatedly on Thursday eased significantly most of the day at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf Club.
But Appleby said he still was having difficulty reading putts in the mountainous terrain where optical illusions sometimes make the ball appear to roll uphill.
"It's definitely tricky when you have a massive contour coming off a mountain that sometimes shows up more than other holes," said Appleby, who had four birdies and a bogey. His tie for 16th at Reno last year was the best of his four top-25 finishes.
"If you started not making many, it seems to be like you second-guess: `Am I seeing too much or not enough break and is the mountain pushing it more than the last hole.' So you've really got to be committed," Appleby said.
It wasn't a problem for Romero, who made birdie putts from 27, 33 and 39 feet. After dropping the shortest of those on the 477-yard, par-4 sixth, he hit his approach on the next three holes within 8 feet of the pin and made them all to finish the string of four closing birdies.
He credits a change in putters after the HP Byron Nelson in May. He hasn't missed a cut since and had his best finish this season last week with a tie for 21st at the Canadian Open.
"It gave me a lot of confidence. I played the last five or six tournaments very well," Romero said.
Playing together, Wi and Knost both eagled the 518-yard, par-5 13th. Wi hit his second shot 233 yards to the green and sank the 20-foot putt, while Knost chipped in from the fairway about 40 feet away.
Pampling started the day with just two points but posted a second-round best 17 points to get into the tie for third on the strength of nine birdies and a bogey.
Josh Teater , who led the first round with 15 points, bogeyed two of his first five holes Friday. He regained the lead with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, but his approach to the 15th missed left and he failed to make a 5-foot par putt.
On the 616-yard 18th, he drove the ball 340 yards and hit his next shot 283 yards in the rough left of the green with about 45 feet to the pin. But his third shot got caught up in the rough again and his fourth held up in the fringe where he two-putted from 20 feet for a double-bogey 7 that cost him three points in the Stableford format.
RENO, Nev. -- Andres Romero birdied his last four holes Friday to take the second-round lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open with 22 points in the modified-Stableford scoring event on a Sierra Nevada layout that reminds him of the mountain courses in his native Argentina.
Romero, who finished third at Reno last year, had nine birdies, a bogey and a double bogey for a one-point lead over Gary Woodland .
The scoring system awards eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or worse.
Woodland, who started the day in second place with 14 points, had a chance to take the lead on his last hole Friday when his 90-yard approach to the par-4 ninth rolled and glanced off the pin, but he missed the 5-foot birdie putt coming back.
Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling and Charlie Wi, who played his freshman year at Nevada, were three off the lead with 19 points, followed by Greg Chalmers, Chris Knost and Brian Harman at 18. David Toms was in a group with 17.
"The [scoring] system is really good for me," said Romero, who birdied four of his first six holes and five of his last six.
"I feel very comfortable here. Makes me remember to home, you know?" he said with his caddie translating. "Last week I made 22 birdies and two eagles. If you made all those birdies here and eagles, it's very good for you."
Woodland overcame three bogeys with five birdies -- three in a row during the middle of his back nine beginning with his approach 183 yards to inside 2 feet on the 491-yard, par-4 fifth. He hit inside a foot for a tap-in on the 477-yard sixth and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh.
"Today was a struggle," said Woodland, one of the longer drivers in the field who was hitting middle irons into the par 5s on Thursday.
"Today I was punching out, laying up, so it was frustrating from that standpoint," he said. "But I hit some good shots coming in and I got myself into the golf tournament and I'm getting into a good position going into the weekend."
The swirling, gusty wind that had players reaching back to their bags repeatedly on Thursday eased significantly most of the day at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf Club.
But Appleby said he still was having difficulty reading putts in the mountainous terrain where optical illusions sometimes make the ball appear to roll uphill.
"It's definitely tricky when you have a massive contour coming off a mountain that sometimes shows up more than other holes," said Appleby, who had four birdies and a bogey. His tie for 16th at Reno last year was the best of his four top-25 finishes.
"If you started not making many, it seems to be like you second-guess: `Am I seeing too much or not enough break and is the mountain pushing it more than the last hole.' So you've really got to be committed," Appleby said.
It wasn't a problem for Romero, who made birdie putts from 27, 33 and 39 feet. After dropping the shortest of those on the 477-yard, par-4 sixth, he hit his approach on the next three holes within 8 feet of the pin and made them all to finish the string of four closing birdies.
He credits a change in putters after the HP Byron Nelson in May. He hasn't missed a cut since and had his best finish this season last week with a tie for 21st at the Canadian Open.
"It gave me a lot of confidence. I played the last five or six tournaments very well," Romero said.
Playing together, Wi and Knost both eagled the 518-yard, par-5 13th. Wi hit his second shot 233 yards to the green and sank the 20-foot putt, while Knost chipped in from the fairway about 40 feet away.
Pampling started the day with just two points but posted a second-round best 17 points to get into the tie for third on the strength of nine birdies and a bogey.
On the 616-yard 18th, he drove the ball 340 yards and hit his next shot 283 yards in the rough left of the green with about 45 feet to the pin. But his third shot got caught up in the rough again and his fourth held up in the fringe where he two-putted from 20 feet for a double-bogey 7 that cost him three points in the Stableford format.
Wind pushes third round of Women's British to Sunday
Wind pushes third round of Women's British to Sunday
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Inbee Park wanted tough conditions at St. Andrews to try to make up an eight-shot deficit in her pursuit of a fourth straight major.
It turned out to be too tough for anyone.
The third round of the Women's British Open was suspended Saturday by gusts that topped 40 mph and kept golf balls from staying put on the greens. After waiting six hours for the wind to calm, players were told to return Sunday morning for a marathon finish.
Whether that becomes a huge break for the leaders - Na Yeon Choi at 10-under 134 was an hour away from teeing off - won't be known until Sunday.
"It's still going to be windy tomorrow -- not, hopefully, as windy as it's been today, but there's no letup in it," said Susan Simpson, head of operations for the Ladies Golf Union. "It's still going to be very breezy and equally difficult conditions."
How difficult?
Nine players who completed the third round had an average score of 78.2. Cristie Kerr andLydia Ko each had a 75, the best of those who finished. Rikako Morita shot 86. The cumulative nine-hole scores for the 20 players who at least made the turn was 54-over par.
There were 508 holes played, and only 26 birdies.
Park is trying to become the first golfer, male or female, to win four straight professional majors in the same season. Her hope was for a steady round in raging wind and for the leading players to lose ground. Park was 1 under through four holes, making a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 3.
But it was her par on the fourth hole that helped make officials realize it was time to stop. The ball moved from its position from a gust, and Park called for a ruling to make sure she could replace it as long as she didn't address the ball.
Simpson said it wasn't Park's ruling alone.
"The time frame for the balls actually moving was very short," Simpson said. "We got five calls, all in the space of a few minutes. ... So I can't actually say which one was the last one that made the difference because it all happened so quickly. There was a gust of almost 40 mph, and with that singular gust, all the balls started to move on the five calls that we had. And we suspended play immediately."
The most impressive round belonged to Anna Nordqvist , who was 1 under through 15 holes.Danielle Kang was even through 11 holes.
Everyone was to return at 6:15 a.m. Sunday to resume the third round. That means the last group of Choi and Miki Saiki is expected to tee off about 7:30 a.m. The draw will not change for the final round -- players will head right back out, and if everything goes according to plan, the Women's British Open should finish around 6 p.m.
Choi had a one-shot lead over Saiki. Morgan Pressel was another shot behind.
Most of the trouble was around the loop -- Nos. 7-11 on the far end of the Old Course that is exposed to the elements. Simpson said the wind reached a sustained speed of 30 mph, and during the suspensions, one gust was recorded at 50 mph.
Because more than half of the 69-player field did not finish, there is an option to scrap the third round and start over. Eighteen players had not even started the third round. Simpson said starting over was considered, but not for long.
"We had five groups complete the round, and while we took that into account and it was part of the discussions, it was quite quickly ruled out," she said. "Because we don't feel that's fair to the players who have also competed and already played their rounds. We want to try to continue. Tomorrow, the conditions are meant to be difficult in the morning, as well."
She said she spoke to all the players and their response was mixed.
"Some are delighted and some are not delighted," she said. "And I think that's the way it works."
Wind is the main defense of links courses, and St. Andrews is among the toughest of the British links in these elements because the Old Course is exposed. Simpson said officials prepared for a big blow Saturday by not cutting the green on the par-3 11th hole and being mindful of hole locations, making sure they were not on ridges. The greens were 9.4 on the Stimpmeter, compared with 10 the previous two days.
They just weren't prepared for this much wind.
Simpson said the tournament could be extended to Monday, if necessary, which would lead to chaos for the Solheim Cup captains, Meg Mallon and Liselotte Neumann . This is the final qualifying event for the Cup, which starts Aug. 16 at the Colorado Golf Club. They were to announce their captain's picks two hours after the Women's British Open is over, and Mallon said her 12-player team was to fly to Denver on Monday for a practice round.
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