L.E.T. Turkish Airlines Ladies Open. Two Tied At The Top

There are two players tied at the top of the L.E.T. Turkish Airlines Ladies Open at the conclusion of the third round at the National Golf Club in Antalya, Turkey. Carlota Ciganda from Spain and England’s Charley Hull sit atop the leaderboard at -4 under par.

Charley Hull / L.E.T.

English rookie Charley Hull is attempting to win her first L.E.T. event and her third round score of -4 under par 69 has catapulted her to the top of the leaderboard for the start of play in the final round tomorrow. She has had two second place finishes already this year, at the  Lalla Meryem Cup and also the South African Women’s Open.

Charley was happy with her third round apart from the three putt on the last hole today;

” It was a really good round but I’m very disappointed because I three-putted the last hole. I haven’t parred that hole yet, It was a really good day but I’m a bit annoyed. You want to be as good as you can. I didn’t expect anything but I played in quite a few events last year and did well and I felt like I was playing well so I kind of did expect. I wanted to come out with a bang, and I have.”

Carlota Ciganda / L.E.T.

Carlota had a third round of -1 under par 72, but thought she had played better than that score;

” I did one-under today, so I think it’s good to make under par on this course, I think I played better than the result. I missed a few putts out there and I’m happy because I’m at the top and there is one more day so I’m going to try my best. I hit good shots, very solid off the tee, so I’m going to try to keep it up.”

Alone in third place is defending champion  Christel Boeljon, her fabulous third round of -6 under par, 67, has put her right back into the mix.

Christel was pleased with today’s effort but rued yesterdays 78;

” A good round, I’m really happy with it and no bogeys, so my game felt really good and the stats are very good, so I’m really pleased. Yesterday, I felt like I didn’t get my rhythm. I didn’t get my tempo and I was fighting to find it all round long. Today, the swing felt really solid; I had a good rhythm and therefore I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and made some good putts.  I know you can make bogeys here and I know you can make a lot of birdies. Its not easy, so if you have a good round, it’s a really good round, but if you have a bad round, it can go fast. I’m happy to be back near the leaders. I don’t know how they are going to finish but it’s nice to be close and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. Tomorrow I’m just going to try to do the same, play one shot at a time.”

The more experienced players made a move in the wrong direction on moving day, the younger ladies showed them the way. Trish Johnson, now in a share of fourth at  -2 under and Laura Davies sharing tenth at +1 over par lost out. Carmen Alonso  ended the day back in a share of 15^th on two over par after a six-over 79.

L.E.T.Turkish Airlines Ladies Open. Trio At The Top

On the Ladies European Tour there is a trio of ladies tied at the top of the leaderboard at the half way stage of the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open.

Laura Davies, Trish Johnson and Carmen Alonso are all tied at -4 under par for the tournament at National Golf Club, at Antalya Turkey.

First round leader Carlota Ciganda watches Laura Davies tee off / LET

Laura did not think this course suited her game, but that she putted well for her -3 under par round of 69;

” It’s not a course that I generally think suits my game because it’s pure precision golf and obviously I’m not known for that, but it just shows that a bit of discipline, you can actually get it round. I putted well today which is something I haven’t done for the last 18 months. I really holed two very good par putts and they are almost more important than the birdie putts. Finishing the last with those three shots was great.”

Trish Johnson / LET

Trish was talking to reporters about her -2 under par second round of 71 when Laura made birdie on the 18th green;

” I think Laura’s just made birdie at eighteen, which is typical, always taking the limelight away. I played well, played sensibly. It was tough today, hard work. You can see from the scores no one’s really made a load of birdies. Pins were tough, tricky conditions and it just felt like a day for hanging in there really. My short game’s good, my putting is good; most of its good, so hopefully two more days and we’ll see how it goes.”

Carmen Alonso / LET

Carmen was really happy to be joint leader, especially after she struggled for a double bogey on hole eight;

” I’m really happy to be the leader and to be in the tournament, so nothing to say, no complaints!”

First round leader Carlota Ciganda is just one shot back of the leaders at -3 under par, she also fell to a double bogey, on twelve, but also threw in two bogey’s, she struggled on the par fives today;

” I’m still there in the mix. I had a good day of playing golf and from tee to green it was really good but then I had a few holes where I didn’t hit the ball that well and that was on the par fives. I made a few mistakes on those, a double and two bogeys, so that was a bit hard.

It is really tight at the top, and the par 73 lay-out is proving to be a tough test, maybe the experience of Laura Davies or Trish Johnson will be enough to overcome the talented bunch of youngsters.

World Ladies Championship. Mission Hills. Suzann Petterson Wins

Suzann Petterson of Norway won the World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills, China.

Suzann Petterson / LET

 

Suzann fired a last round of -6 under par 66, to claim the title at Mission Hills, Sandbelt Trails Course with a tournament total of -18 under par. That magnificent last round was good enough to claim the title, which had seemed destined to go to Inbee Park.

A happy Suzann felt that she could have gone lower;

” I felt like there was a 64 out there today and I got off to a good start. My goal was to get it to 20 under par. I said if I get beat at 20, I can live with it. I know Inbee is in there and if she just gets one look at a putt, it’s in, so I had to bring my best and the putter was hot today. I’m very happy with how the game is and I’m just very happy to see the work that the China Golf Association does with the kids and how they grow the game. I’ve been really enjoying myself here and I feel comfortable. I like coming back and playing on the European Tour.”

Inbee could only post a last round score of -3 under par 69, and she lost out by just one shot, finishing on -17 under par. The fireworks started on the second hole with a two shot swing.  Inbee had a bogey while Suzann sunk her birdie putt, the two were now level. The pair of them battled it out between them, but Suzann eventually won through. These two players were well clear of the rest of the field. Inbee said she really wanted to win the singles;

 “ I don’t really worry about the team competition because we had a big lead for the last three days. I think we are pretty comfortable for the team event. So I just focus on the game as an individual today because I wanted to win this tournament. I didn’t play great today but Suzann played great so she did it. I am happy that we won as a team. It was a great experience.”

Third place went to Shan Shan Feng, the defending champion from last year, she completed the tournament at -11 under par.

Inbee had to settle for the Team win, with her partner Ha-Neul Kim, the South Korean pair won by five shots from the Norwegian team of Suzann Petterson and Marianne Skarpnord.

Inbee Park and Ha-Neul Kim with the Team Trophy / LET

 

Thailand, represented by Ariya Jutanugarn and Nontaya Srisawang were third, they were  followed by England in fourth place with the pairing of Trish Johnson and Laura Davies.

Leading amateur was Simin Feng of China, with a tournament score of +3 over par.

Simin Feng / LET

World Ladies Championship.Three Tied at The Top

Gwladys Nocera, Linda Wessberg and Sophie Walker / LET

The World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills in China has three European players tied at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round. They are Gwladys Nocera, Linda Wessberg and Sophie Walker, who all posted bogey free first rounds of -5 under par 67 on the par 72  Sandbelt Trails Course.

Gwladys picked up three shots on her last two holes and was very happy with her performance;

” There are days when you finish with a bad hole the frustration gets to you but of course when you finish like that it is even better. I missed a couple of short putts on the front nine for birdies but I made some good ones to get some pars and then I finished with a good birdie on the 17th and a long putt, like a 15 meter putt on 18, to make it an eagle. I am pretty happy with the way I am hitting the ball, so it’s good.”

Sophie thought the greens were very difficult and was happy not to three putt today;

” The greens are very difficult and we don’t normally have greens like this in Europe, so they take a bit of getting used to. They are very undulating so that’s why it’s key not to have a three-putt. Today’s round was pretty impressive. If I can do that again then I’m sure I’ll be close but I’ll take every round as it comes and try and eliminate the mistakes.”

Linda said she had putted very well, and that made for an easy day;

” I was actually putting myself in very good positions off the tee, so it was pretty handy to attack the pins. I hit some really good shots that I didn’t really get rewarded for because I pitched it too close to the pin. I also putted really well, so it was a pretty easy day.”

There are five players tied for fourth in this compacted leaderboard, with scores of -4 under par; Valentine Derry, Rungthiwa Pangjan, Bo-Mi Suh, Hyo-Joo Kim and Inbee Park.

Inbee Park, the recent Honda LPGA Thailand Champion went out in three under par, with two birdies and then an eagle on the eighth hole, but played the  back nine in level par, with a bogey on her card;

” I hit the ball very good today which I was very happy with. I knew that the greens were going to be tricky this week and I had a tough time putting today but hopefully better days in the next three days. I’m just getting used the greens a little bit more and I’ll be fine. I knew after the practice round that the putting was going to be the toughest challenge this week. Obviously today I hit a lot of putts that were looking like they were going to go in but it just breaks a lot with the green. So I just learned that I have to play a little bit more break.”

Running concurrently with this singles event is a  72-hole stroke-play team competition, with the Korean pairing of Inbee Park and Ha Neul Kim  in the lead, with a combined aggregate score of 137, seven under par. They are followed by French pair Gwladys Nocera and Anne-Lise Caudal who are two strokes back and then the English duo of Laura Davies and Trish Johnson in third place on 140.

Laura Davies in Dubai Ladies Masters

Laura Davies will join other top ladies in the world to compete for the Dubai Ladies Master title and a winners check of 75,000 euros. Laura will be joined by countrywoman Melissa Reid and Americans Michelle Wie and Alexis ‘Lexi’ Thompson which should make for an interesting tournament. Laura is hoping her year long putting problems will not come back to haunt her and will be using a new putter for this competition.

“I’ve actually played better this year than I did last year tee to green,” the 48-year-old explained. “Unfortunately though, in this game, it’s all about the putting and I’ve just not been comfortable on the greens this year. My game is still very good. “It has been extraordinary how many good putts haven’t gone in this year. They’re just not going in and I cannot put my finger on it. “The only thing you can do is try and find the putter that you feel really comfortable with and practice and that’s what I have been doing.

Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice-chairman and CeO of golf in dUBai, with sophie gustafson, alexis Thompson, Michelle wie, Christina Kim, Laura davies and Melissa Reid

http://www.khaleejtimes.com