Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. Chella Choi Trumps Anna Nordqvist.

Chella Choi has the third round lead at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, at the RTJ Golf Trail, Magnolia Grove Crossings Course in Alabama.

Chella Choi / AP

Chella shot a second consecutive round of -6 under par 66, to take the lead in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic by just one shot at -17 under par for the tournament.

Anna Nordqvist had an amazing third round of -11 under par 61, which catapulted her up the leaderboard, sharing second place with Jessica Korda at -16 under par.

Jessica had a more modest third round of -3 under par, 69.

Karrie Webb is in fourth spot, she also had a -3 under par 69 in the third round, for her total of -15 under par.

Stacy Lewis, the defending Champion had a wonderful third round of -9 under par 63, which has put her well and truly into contention for this tournament, and retain her title as Mobile Bay Champion. Stacy is now in fifth place at -13 under par, four shots back of the leader.

Volvik RACV Ladies Masters, Its Wonderful Webb Again.

Karrie Webb / Scott Powick SMP Images

Wonderful Karrie Webb won the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters again, this is the eighth time Karrie has lifted this trophy, which equals Sam Snead’s record of winning the same event eight times. Sam won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times.

Karrie said the record was on her mind and it inspired her as she completed the tournament with a last round of -5 under par 67, and a two shot win at the Royal Pines golf course.

Karrie spoke about the win being a springboard for the LPGA season in America, and her round;

” I am very happy, it never gets old when you get a win, what a way to start the year! I’m very happy. The key to my round was that up and down on 10. I had a long bunker shot there, played a really good shot. If I didn’t get up and down there, there would have been no momentum going forward and I would have really struggled to keep up. I put a bit too much pressure on myself but I’m now able to dismiss negative thoughts or nervy thoughts pretty easily and just commit to the shot which is a very good feeling. I’ve had seven other times that I’ve won and I think some years it’s helped and some it hasn’t. I don’t want to raise my expectations too high, I think it tends to backfire on me a little bit.”

Talented teenagers, Australian amateur Su-Hyun Oh and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn were co-leaders heading into the last day’s play, they eventually had to settle for joint second along with Korean Chelle Choi.

LPGA Malaysia, Sime Darby, Inbee Park Wins

Inbee Park

Inbee Park, of South Korea, became the winner of the Sime Darby in Kuala Lumpur, at  the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club on Sunday.  The former 2008  US Open Champion beat defending Sime Darby Champion Na Yeon Choi by two strokes after a blistering last round of -4 under par, 67, enabled her to lift the Trophy.

Inbee knew the defending Champion liked the KLGCC course;

“I knew that Na Yeon was really strong on this golf course and I knew she really liked this golf course. So I knew I had to go really low today to win. Coming in I knew No. 15 through 18 are tough coming in holes, I knew I had to make a lot of birdies before that. I love coming here, eating good food. I love the people here. The people are so kind here. Maybe not so much the weather because it’s too hot for me, but I think I’m going to try to like it because I won here. I’m currently No. 1 on the LPGA Money List. I want to finish right there. I’ve got to finish strong these last few events because a lot of girls are very good.”

It was good to see the 38-year-old Aussie Karrie Webb enjoying her best finish on the Tour lately, after coming in third at -12 under par. A member of the Hall of Fame, Karrie has won 38 times on Tour in her career, the most for an active player on the LPGA Tour. It is nice to see that she can still contest against the younger brigade, at her age it gives you an insight into her character and determination.

 

Ricoh British Womens Open at Royal Liverpool, Round 1

Haeji Kang and So Yeon Ryu of  South Korea sit at the top of the Ricoh British Womens Open at Royal Liverpool, with opening rounds of -2 under par 70.

In a packed leaderboard there are nine players at -1 under par, among those are  Jiyai Shin, last weeks winner of the LPGA Kingsmill Championship, Karrie Webb, Stacy Keating and Vicky Hurst.

The Worlds number one Amateur 15 year-old Lydia Ko finished with a round of even par, and is very handily placed, there are 17 players on even par at the conclusion of play on day one. Another teenager up with the leaders is sixteen year-old Charley Hull, of England, with a  1-under 71 in the opening round of the $2.5 million Ricoh Women’s Open. Charley has Ian Poulter as one of her mentors, they are members of the Woburn Golf Club. Charley has never met Lydia but has certainly heard of her. She is impressed by what the Kiwi has done, but she reminded everyone not to focus solely on her younger peer.

” There’s a lot more to come from me.”

Charley Hull/getty images

Lydia will fave a big test in the second round, She tees off at 11.40am, and with winds expected to approach 50 miles per hour, the young Kiwi could well face the toughest of the conditions. Her daunting task will be to limit the damage tomorrow and give herself a chance to make the cut and contest the trophy at the weekend.