Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. Lexi Thompson & Eun-Hee Ji Share 1st Round Lead.

Lexi Thompson and Eun-Hee Ji share the lead after the conclusion of the first round in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, played on the RJT Golf Trail Magnolia Grove, Crossings Course, in Alabama.

Lexi Thompson / LPGA

Lexi Thompson and Eun-Hee Ji both shot first rounds of -7 under par, 65, to share the lead at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. They lead by just one shot from Jessica Korda, who had a -6 under par, 66 and is in third place alone.

Lexi said she was working on her momentum;

” I love the par fives here, I get to hit pretty much driver on every hole out here so it’s definitely an advantage for me. I definitely had some momentum, I made a few birdies at the end of my first nine. I was hitting it pretty close and I drained a few putts. So I was just taking one shot at a time, not trying to get ahead of myself because it’s golf, anything can happen, and I was lucky enough to make a few more birdies on the second nine.”

Lexi finished her round on the ninth hole, with a birdie. She was happy to regain the shot she dropped on the 1st;

“ Yeah, that was a good shot to end on, I just had a three‑quarter pitching wedge and just committed to it. I actually came out of a shot on the first, and the last hole and just scratched that.”

Eun-Hee, the 2009 U.S. Womens Open Champion, said she had a good day putting;

” I felt really good with my putting today, if I had 5- or 10-foot putts, I felt like I could make it. So I was really focused on it and I was really positive with my putter. I just like a really fast green, this is really fast and in really good shape on the course. I just like it.”

Defending Champion Stacy Lewis was upset that nothing seemed to go her way today;

” I didn’t really have anything go right today. I had one ball hit the sprinkler and go in the trees and one hit the cart path and go in the trees.”

I know that feeling well, amazing how it all goes wrong, all day.

 

LPGA. Kingsmill Championship. Sexy Cristie Wins.

Sexy Cristie Kerr won the Kingsmill Championship, in a two hole sudden death play-off against Suzann Petterson, on the River Course in Williamsburg Virginia.

 

Cristie Kerr / Hunter Martin / Getty Images

Cristie and Suzann both finished tied on -12 under par for the tournament. Cristie with a final round of -2 under par, 69 and Suzann with a sterling effort of -4 under 67. Cristie sealed the deal with two foot putt for par on the 18th hole, Suzann had missed her twelve-foot attempt for her par.

Cristie has now won the Kingsmill Championship three times, and was thrilled with the outcome;

” I’m just so thrilled.  Honestly, the way I hit it today to even have a chance to win. I just made so many putts out there to save par and kind of save any momentum, and I started hitting it a little bit better late in the round just in time to make a; catch up a couple shots.  Yeah, really hard fought, really hard fought.  I’m very happy.”

She had missed a good birdie chance on the first play-off hole to win, but said the miss did not dent her confidence one little bit;

“My confidence?  It didn’t shake my confidence, I probably made 12 15‑footers today.  Missing one is probably law of averages.  It didn’t really shake my confidence.  I was kind of disappointed that I wasn’t able to just close it outright there because it was getting really cold and the monumental nine‑hole playoff between Paula and Jiyai last year, I didn’t want that to happen,  So it was good to get another chance.  I absolutely roasted my tee shot the second playoff hole and hit a fairly good iron in there, maybe just blocked it a little bit, but she kind of stumbled a little bit and that’s what you need to win a playoff. It definitely makes it really sweet because I definitely didn’t have the swing today until the end of the round. Just couldn’t stay centered, just moving a little quick, a little quick with my transition, maybe a little extra adrenaline been in the final round.  That’s happened before.  When you’re hitting it really well and like Suzann was, it’s getting a lot of birdie opportunities, so when you have to make a lot of those par‑saving putts, it’s do or die, whatever it takes. I’ve won all sorts of different ways and this is definitely one of the sweeter ones because I didn’t have the A game today and my mental game, you know, kept me in there and kept the momentum kind of going in the right direction and I just hung around until, you know, I could find a better swing and start hitting it a little better coming in.”

Seventeen year old Ariya Jutanugarn bounced back, carding one of the low rounds of the day, -5 under par 66. She finished in a tie for third place with Ilhee Lee, both at -10 under par.

Stacy Lewis shot 1-under par 70 and finished at 9-under par in a tie for fifth along with her playing partner for the final round, Angela Stanford, who carded a -2 under par round. Inbee Park at -8 under for the tournament finished in seventh place after her nice -4 under 67 in the final round.

LPGA. Kingsmill Championship. Sexy Cristie Kerr Claims Lead.

Sexy Cristie Kerr has claimed the third round lead at -10 under par at the Kingsmill Championship after her stunning round of -5 under par, 66, to lead the tournament by two shots.

Cristie Kerr / LPGA

Fifteen time LPGA Tour winner Cristie has already won twice here at the River Course, and she now has a two shot lead heading into the final round. She is pretty confident of victory here;

” You have to really play a good round tomorrow either whether you’re two ahead or two behind, like I said. I think just going to try to stay lose, I’m going to try and stay focused and, you know, in those pressure situations, pressure moments tomorrow that I’m going to face, I think I’ve just got to keep doing what I’ve done, you know, the last three days and that’s really focus on the process of the shot.  I know it sounds kind of boring, but that’s when I do my best.  If I do that and I start rolling the rock, I’m going to be hard to beat.”

Tied in second place are Stacy Lewis ans Suzann Petterson, both at -8 under par, they are no strangers themselves when it comes to victories.

Suzann thinks it is all up for grabs tomorrow;

” Yeah, I mean, I think there’s a lot of great players out there right there in the mix. Cristie’s two ahead, I don’t really think that that’s a massive advantage right now.  I mean, we’re all going to go out tomorrow trying to shoot as low as we can.  It would take more than 10‑under to win, so I guess, I don’t know, we’ll see after four rounds who’s on top. I just think this golf course produces a winner with a good ball striker, it’s a ball striker’s course.  It has produced probably the best ball strikers champions in the past.  There will never be a surprise around this track of who’s going to win it.”

Stacy agreed, saying the tournament had a Solhiem Cup feeling to it;

” You look at the past champions, we’ve talked about it all week, but I think it’s great for the fans, you know. They know our names, they’ve seen us win, and it’s good for the tournament to have players up there like that.  We kind of had a little Solheim Cup feel today going.”

Ariya Jutanugarn, the overnight leader, had a poor round today, really dropping out of contention at -5 under par for the tournament. She had a bogey on her first hole and never seemed to recover, she said it was not nerves but really bad putting;

” You know, I never nervous with my game today, just have bad for putting and just miss my driver on 1st hole, that’s it. First hole I had bogey, I hit my driver so I tried to hit my low ball but it went to the left to the water and I have bogey, and second I have bogey again and, you know, like after that my putting’s like so bad like it make me feel like not confident with my game today because I made like yesterday, I made like short putt three feet two or three time today and I still feel; I tried to track the line, tried to trust my putting but I still miss it a lot.”

 

 

 

LPGA. Kingsmill Championship. Ayria Asserts Her Position at the Top

Seventeen year-old Ariya Jutanugarn asserted her top spot in the Kingsmill Championship with a second round of par, teeing off on number ten she sadly collected three bogey’s on the back nine, but recovered with three birdies on the front nine.  It was enough though to maintain her position at the top of the leaderboard, at -7 under par.

Ayria Jutanugarn / LPGA

Ayria reported that all three bogeys were due to missing short putts;

” So it just like have to keep like my putting, you know, everything’s like I hit my irons like very good, my driver is like perfect, so I just want to try to fix my putting. So after the front nine, my putting’s get better but I still miss a lot of short putt. You know, when I first start on the front nine, I saw the leader, so it’s okay, I just want to keep my game. And right now for me everybody still have chance to win, so I just do my best my last two day.”

Tied in second place, at -6 under par, are Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis, the girls are really close together, with both of them shooting first and second rounds of  68, also carding four birdies and one bogey each in Friday’s second round.

Stacy said she had given herself lots of chances in the early windy conditions;

” You know, I played pretty much the same, I think I hit it a little better today, which you needed to do because it was so windy, but I gave myself a lot of birdie chances, which was nice.  Definitely would have liked to have made a few more putts, but I think I’m in a really good spot going into the weekend.  The wind’s not dying down out there so it’s going to be tough this afternoon.”

Angela referred to Ground-Hog Day;

” Overall it seems like it was Ground-Hog Day, I hit 14 greens again and had 29 putts again and got up and down every time again, so kind of interesting that they seem like carbon copies of each other.  One was a 3‑putt, yesterday I had one 3‑putt, so it’s really weird.”

There are three players are in a tie for fourth place after the two rounds, all at 5-under par, including two former Kingsmill Championship winners “Sexy” Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen. They are joined by the 2011 Kia Classic Champ Sandra Gal.

 

LPGA North Texas Shoot-Out. Park Prevails.

Inbee Park prevailed over the competition to win the LPGA North Texas Shoot-Out at the Las Colinas Country Club.

Inbee Park / LPGA

Inbee sank a four foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to fire in a 4-under par round of 67, for her total score of  -13 under par. In doing so she defeated Spaniard Carlota Ciganda by one stroke. Carlota finished at -12 under par.

Inbee spoke about coming from two shots back at the start of play, to win;

” Today coming into the final round, I was two shots back, and I didn’t really think about winning so much. The front nine I was given a lot of birdie chances out there, and nothing seemed to be going in, so I was a little bit frustrated. But on the other hand, Carlota was putting really good and she was playing really almost perfect.  She wasn’t making any mistakes until number fourteen, and she played very good today, except for a couple of holes.  And until Number thirteen I thought I wouldn’t have a chance because Carlota was really playing solid. So yeah, I was just trying to be really patient out there, and finally a couple dropped for me at the end. It’s always good to see my name on the top of the leaderboard almost every week, I mean not every week, but close to every week.  Yeah, it always feels good, my game is;  it’s really good to see my game is improving every week, every year, and just trying to take it step by step.”

Carlota had a few problems with the wind, her big down-fall was number fifteen, when she hit into the water. It cost her a double bogey.

” I saw the ball bouncing on the green, so I thought that maybe it was there long. But when I was approaching the green, I could see that the wind was hard and the ball was in the water. So I mean I just tried to make up on that, and I missed my putt, so then it was a 6, and that was it.  I think that was the key hole because until that time I think I was winning by two and then by one. I was trying to play my game, just trying to stay in the present all the time, and I was telling my caddy just focus on our game, just go shot by shot and just don’t think about the other, don’t think about Inbee or other players because you can’t really control what they are doing. I was just trying to focus on my game, and it showed and I think we did really good. I mean it’s always nice to win, but I think when you finish second or even worse, I think you learn more from it, so I think it’s a great experience, and I’m happy with my week.”

Third place went to last weeks winner Suzann Petterson, she rounded off her tournament with a last round of -5 under par, 66 for her total score of -10 under par.

Suzann liked this course;

” It’s a great track, I mean it just plays a lot different than what I expected it to.  It plays like a links course, the fairways, hard and bouncy. Early on this week I didn’t feel that great with my game to be honest, just coming off Hawaii, being in windy conditions, your kind of fundamentals and the swing changes a little bit, so it was a lot of work early on, and I got better.  I finally figured out the speed of the greens on the weekend.”

Stacy Lewis recovered from her poor start to this tournament, shooting a final round -5 under par 66, to finish tied in 7th place.

Stacy spoke about the support she got from the Texas crowd;

” We have so many good players from Texas and just look at the crowds this week, I signed autographs for people probably four or five deep for 100 yards. It’s hard, I have to get my game back on track and certainly today I hit it a lot better. I have to get my head right and not worry about the No. 1 ranking.”

LPGA. North Texas Shoot-out. Carlota is the Cream of the Crop.

Carlota Ciganda had one of the best rounds of the day during the third round of the LPGA North Texas Shoot-Out at the Las Colinas Country Club, shooting a -5 under par round, to give her a tournament total of -11 under par and top spot on the leaderboard.

Carlota Ciganda / LPGA

Tied in second place are Inbee Park and Caroline Masson, they are both at -9 under par, with a third round effort of -4 under par for Inbee and -2 for Caroline.

Fourth place is occupied by Na Yeon Choi, she had a third round of -5 under par to elevate her up the leaderboard with a total of -8 under par.

Stacy Lewis has had a quiet tournament, currently residing in tied 26th place, but still made the final cut which was made at +1 over par, the top fifty players went through to the final round. Still time for Stacy to improve her position, but not time enough to consider vying for the top of the leaderboard.

LPGA. LOTTE Championship. Petterson Pips Salas in Play-Off

Suzann Petterson pipped Lizette Salas in a play-off for the LPGA LOTTE Championship tile at the Ko Olina Golf Club in Hawaii.

Suzann Petterson / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Suzann had a steady last round of -5 under par 67, to finish the tournament tied with Lizette, both of them at -19 under par, so they were taken back up the fairway to play number eighteen again in a sudden death play-off. Their tee shots on the first play-off hole were very similar, straight down the middle. Suzann was then first to hit her approach shot to the green, it landed just about twenty feet  to the left of the pin, a birdie chance.

After playing immaculately for 18 holes, shooting a -10 under par round of 62, Lizette then amazingly chunked her approach shot to the green, dumping it into the water that guards the left side of the green. It was really all over right then, she took the penalty drop and replayed the shot, executing a lovely approach to the right of the pin. But she was there for four, and then just missed her putt for a bogey five. That left Suzann two putts to win, which she duly took, to clinch her first win of the 2013 season. Suzann said she thought she would need a score of -20 to win;

“I thought 20 was going to do it, hat would take a fantastic round from anyone behind me, and it would take some good golf from me, but that was kind of the number I was shooting for. My game has been feeling great, it’s nice that I have kept the kind of the progress that I had from Kraft. I’ve kind of figured out how I play well, and I play well when I stay aggressive. I hate to play defensive and I hate to play away from the pins, and obviously at times you have to. That’s when the experience comes in. But for me to shy away and not step on the pedal, that’s not me. If I make an error being too aggressive, I can live with it. But if I make an error playing defensive trying to protect something, I mean, I wouldn’t shoot myself, but it’s hard for me to accept it.”

Suzann receiving Hula dancing instruction./ Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Lizette shrugged off her Chunk, and was pleased with her recovery after the disastrous 79 at the Kraft, and also getting used to using a short putter;

” Chunk is not bad, but if you have water it’s really bad, but I still had a chance, and that putt didn’t go in. Not everything is going to fall, but I played my butt off today. From shooting a 79 at Kraft to shooting a 62 here in Hawaii, just like that.  I can’t really describe the feeling, just I feel so proud of myself to put that 79 in the back of my mind and just to go out and play some golf. I took a big risk in using the short putter, but I felt extremely comfortable. I felt like me again.”

In third place was Ariya Jutanugarn, with her tournament score of -15 under par. Stacy Lewis who was hoping to win and regain the number one spot in the Rolex Ranking , along with World Amateur number one Lydia Ko both finished at -10 under par. A satisfying result for Lydia, but not so good for Stacy struggling with a -1 under par last round, compared to Lydia who finished with -6 under par 66. How Stacy would have loved to have had that score today.

LPGA. LOTTE Championship. Suzann Petterson Pulls Ahead

Suzann Petterson pulled ahead of the pack at the LPGA, Suzann Petterson at Ko Olina Golf Club, Ohau Hawaii, with a third round of -4 under par, 68 and a -14 under par total.

Suzann Petterson /  Eugene Tanner/The Associated Press

Suzann had a lovely third round of  -4 under par, one shot clear of  Hee Kyung Seo, who fired in an even better round of -6 under par 66, to trail Suzann by just one shot at -13 under par.

 Suzann said she made a couple of adjustments and played the back nine pretty good;

” I found a few little keys yesterday on the range, just to tighten up the swing a fraction after two days in the wind, and I came up the back pretty good. Birdied the first three and just really tried to keep feeding the ball to the hole and trying to stay aggressive.  I had one three‑putt, and other than that I played pretty solid.  It’s definitely on the challenging side out here. There’s too many good players to start stepping on the brake, but I really hope that they will set up the course in a fun way tomorrow, make the par fives reachable.  I love seeing us being able to reach the par fives and tuck the pins.  It makes it exciting, it could be for the good and for the bad.  But let us have some risk‑reward. I hope they’ll make it a little bit more playful tomorrow, just mix it up, and yeah, just let us go low.”

Hee Kyung Seo said she was trying out a new shorter address routine, something she had watch Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera do at the Masters;

” My caddie Dean Herden always said to me that the shorter routine helps a lot to make more good shots or good putts, but I always struggled when I got to the ball, it was hard to make a shot. But from last week Masters I could see Angel and Adam just didn’t think about anything on the ball, just hit and waited for the result.  So I just tried to do that, not think about the bad things or the results and other things but just swing it and feel it, and it helped a lot, I think.”

In third place on her own is Ai Miyazato, three shots back at -11 under par, she won this event last year at -12 under par, so the scoring this year is lower.

Ai reported that the greens are softer this year;

” I think the greens are definitely softer than last year, I think that makes a big difference.  I remember it was really tough to make an adjustment with the iron shots last year.  Definitely the greens are softer, so you can be a little bit more aggressive than last year, so I think that makes them a little bit more lower this year.”

Stacy Lewis  has put herself within reach of taking back the top Rolex Rankings spot and even perhaps winning the tournament as well, Stacy currently sits in a tie for fifth at 9-under-par for the tournament.

Good luck to everyone for tomorrow, I am sure it is going to be an exciting last round of golf.

 

LPGA. LOTTE Championship. Suzann Petterson Lead after Round 2.

Suzann Petterson leads after the second round of the LPGA, LOTTE Championship, with her total score of -10 under par.

Suzann Petterson / LPGA

Suzann battled hard against the elements at Ko Olina Golf Club in Hawaii, wind and rain being the main opponents against great golf. Suzann shot a second round of -3 under par 69, to lead by one shot from defending Champion, Ai Miyazato.

” You’re just really trying to play the course, and what it gives us.” There are certain holes you can take advantage of, and then others that are more; where par is a good score. But I think today even on the holes where I felt like I should have made a birdie and I made a par, I said, Par is not going to hurt me today.  So a decent day.  It was tough to play solid golf. Once you pick your shot, pick your club, it’s go time, I mean, playing away from the pin not so much, but playing smart. So when I had a short enough club in my hand I felt like I was aggressive enough.  Just accepting that a game of perfect, it is not the day for that. So got up and down quite a few times, feeling good with my putter.  Yeah, just hanging in there today and just really trying not to get too comfortable. Just really tried to keep pushing and pressing.  I’m pretty happy with a 69 today. It’s one of my strengths, I usually don’t shy away when I get to the back nine.  Feeling good, feeling sharp.  I mean, par fives, I think it’s tough throughout.  Doesn’t really matter what kind of shot you have.  If you have a ninety yard shot straight into the wind, into the grain, you’re trying not spin it; you’re trying to kind of flight it. You’re going through the repertoire.  It’s like my caddie said before we teed up.  It’s going to be a war out there.  And it was.  We had sunshine, rainbow, rain.  It was a great day.”

Ai was not sure if the conditions suited her;

” I’m not sure if it suits me.  I feel really tough out there, I’m pretty tired now. But, you know, like I said, I grew up in the wind and I like to play in this wind. This morning when I get to the golf course I’m like, now I’m in Hawaii.  Hawaii is always windy place, and always fun to play this weather conditions. It was definitely windier than yesterday so it was pretty tough out there, but the first couple holes it was kind of up and down because I made birdie and bogey and birdie and bogey.  It was kind of roller coaster.  After that I felt like more used with this wind. Then the back nine I just made great putts out there.  It was great feeling.”

At five feet five inches, Stacy Lewis was the tallest player in her group, playing alongside Ai Myazato and the rookie Moriya Jutanugarn, both of them at five foot two inches. Stacy joked about talking to her caddie, Travis Wilson, who stands at six feet tall;

” I told my caddie, Travis Wilson yesterday, you must feel really tall.I think it’s he’s almost six feet tall. It’s definitely different.  I’m used to being the short one. I think what Michelle Wie was saying about her putting stance and trying to get lower to the ground, so maybe it is.  I don’t know. To play well on this golf course you got to hit it straight.  I think that’s the biggest thing this week.”

Of the terrific teenagers, Hyo Joo Kim is tied in third place at -7 under par, Lydia Ko is at -2 under par and Ayria Jutanugarn fell back following her magnificent opening round to finish the second day at -5 under par.

 

LPGA. LOTTE Championship. 17 Year-Old Ayria Leads.

 

17 Year-old Ayria Jutanugarn leads the LPGA, LOTTE Championship at  Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Hawaii.

 

Ayria Jutanugarn / LPGA

Ayria shot an amazing -8 under par, 64, to lead the LPGA LOTTE Championship after the first round, by one shot. Tied in second place behind the Thailand teenager are Suzann Petterson and  Hee Kyung Seo, who are both at -7 under par after their opening rounds of 65.

Ayria said it is all about confidence;

” I have like really good front nine, but I just want to like make more birdies because my record is -8 under, so I want to be lower. When I have bogey on number ten I feel not very confident with my putting.  So when I have eagle on the fourteenth, it make me like more confidence.”

Suzann was concerned about the winds here;

” A bit unusual wind for here, I mean, it’s very playable.  The wind kind of changed a little bit on the back, on our front nine, which was the back nine, which actually makes the two par fives on the back reachable.”

Newly crowned number one in the Rolex Rankings, Inbee Park, had a modest first round of -2 under par, 70. Stacy Lewis, who was knocked off the top spot by Inbee, is happy that the rivalry between the players, creates a lot of interest in the Tour.

Stacy will go back to number one this week if she wins this title, she is currently at -5 under par;

” I think it’s good for the Tour when players are going back and forth and creating scenarios of if so‑and‑so wins they could be number one.  I like that, I don’t want to say it’s easier, but it’s fun now.  You’re checking what Yani is doing, you’re checking what Inbee is doing.  I think it’s a good thing for the Tour.”

The trio of teenagers playing together on the course, 15 year-old Lydia Ko, with two seventeen year-olds,  Ariya Jutanugarn and Hyo Joo Kim were collectively -16 under par. Ayria at -8, Hyo at -6, and Lydia at -2 under par.

Ayria really enjoyed playing with her teenage friends today;

” I feel like it’s very fun today because everybody are young and they so good, it’s very fun because we are friends.  I play with them before.”

Good Luck to the youngsters for tomorrow’s second round.