LPGA Championship - Round 1 Wrap

Seconds after striking her fourth tee shot Thursday in Havre de Grace, Md., Lorena Ochoa yelled "Fore left!" as her ball hooked ominously toward the gallery at the 415-yard 13th hole, took a big bounce and ultimately was buried in thick, waist-high grass 25 yards from the fairway.

It was an uncharacteristic blunder by the No. 1 player in the world, and over the next 10 minutes, she pondered all manner of unsatisfying options before taking a penalty shot for an unplayable lie. She then moved back 50 yards to the parallel 11th hole and somehow managed to salvage a double bogey that might have caused less poised players to lose focus.

But Ochoa never faltered.

Instead, she birdied two of the last four holes on that side, including a 40-foot birdie putt at the 422-yard No. 18, to get back to even par. With three more birdies on her bogey-free back nine, she posted a 3-under-par 69 in the opening round of the LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock, three shots off the 18-hole lead of 6-under 66 posted by veteran Lorie Kane and Futures Tour graduate Emily Bastel earlier on a hot, muggy afternoon in northeast Maryland.

After her near-calamity at No. 13, Ochoa was soon back on a seemingly relentless path toward her publicly stated goal of becoming the first woman to win all four major championships in a season. She is already halfway to a "Lorena Slam" of four straight majors, winning the British Open at St. Andrews in July and the Kraft Nabisco in April in the first major of 2008.

"I knew I had a lot of holes left, and I still had three par 5s and I'm feeling good," Ochoa said about her thought process after the debilitating early double. "I didn't get too stressed. I just thought it would be fine to make a couple of birdies on the front and finish even, and then three more on the back. So I did that.

"Today was important just not to get away too far from the leaders, and that's why I'm so happy that I did. Three under for the first day of a major is good, even though I had the double bogey. And hopefully, tomorrow I'll have a great round."

Neither of the leaders has had a top 10 finish all year, and Kane has struggled to make cuts. But they found their way across a long and soggy golf course, which took on so much rain overnight that fairways felt like carpet in a home that had been flooded.

Bastel finished her bogey-free 66 with a birdie on the 18th hole, one of two holes where the tees were moved up some 30 yards to accommodate the wet conditions.

Lindsey Wright had a 67 and was one shot behind, followed by a group at 68 that included Nicole Castrale.

Annika Sorenstam, who shot a 70, certainly had her chances, but couldn't convert several birdie putts inside 12 feet.

"Hit the ball beautifully today," said Sorenstam, a three-time LPGA champion in her final year on tour. "Just didn't make some putts today, unfortunately. But I'm very, very happy with my game..."

Read the complete article

Annika Sorenstam announces her retirement

ONCE, she was too shy to even try to win a tournament because she was afraid she would have to give a speech. Annika Sorenstam has proven a lot to herself and everyone else since then: playing well in a men's PGA Tour event, winning 10 majors and becoming one of the most dominant players in the history of women's golf.

Now she has proved one more thing: that she has the strength to say goodbye.

Sorenstam, 37, has announced she will retire after this season to pursue other interests. Top of the list is the desire to start a family. "This is something that came from the heart," she said at the Sybase Classic in Clifton, New Jersey.

A winner of 72 women's pro tour events, including three US women's opens, a player who once shot 59 in a competitive round, Sorenstam said she intended to have one last shot at overtaking Lorena Ochoa and reclaiming the world No.1 spot.

"I have other priorities in my life. I have a lot of dreams I want to follow, that I want to live," she said.

Those dreams include spending more time on her golf academy, her charitable foundation, course design business, clothing line and tournament-hosting duties.

Her last event will be the Dubai Ladies Masters in December, after which she will marry fiance, golf agent Mike McGee, in January.

"This is obviously a very difficult decision for me to make, because I love this game very much," she said. "But I know it's the right one. I'm leaving the game on my own terms."

Read the complete article

This week in golf

LPGA TOUR

Ginn Open

Site: Reunion, Fla.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Ginn Reunion Resort (6,505 yards, par 72).

Last year: Brittany Lincicome beat Lorena Ochoa by a stroke for her second tour title, closing with an even-par 72 in windy conditions. Ochoa finished with a 77.

PGA TOUR

Verizon Heritage

Site: Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Harbour Town Golf Links (6,973 yards, par 71).

Purse: $5.5 million. Winner's share: $990,000.

FedEx Cup points: 25,000. Winner's share: 4,500.

Last year: Boo Weekley won his first PGA Tour title, chipping in on the final two holes to hold off Ernie Els by a stroke.

PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN TOUR/CHINA GOLF ASSOCIATION

Volvo China Open

Site: Beijing.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Beijing CBD International Golf Club (7,321 yards, par 72).

Purse: $2.2 million. Winner's share: $367,740.

Last year: Austria's Markus Brier won at Shanghai Silport, finishing with a 4-under 67 for a five-stroke victory.

Ochoa wins Corona Championship.

Lorena Ochoa didn't have much trouble with the course or the competition at the Corona Championship.

After entering the final round with a seven-stroke lead Ochoa carded a 4-under-par 69 for a total of 25-under-par 267 and an 11-stroke victory in the $1.3-million LPGA Tour event at Tres Marias Residential Golf Club.

Ochoa, who posted three consecutive 66s to start the tournament, easily her third consecutive victory and fourth in five events this year. Top prize was $195,000 U.S.

With the victory, Ochoa qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame, though she can't be inducted until she finishes her 10th tour season in 2012.

"It was an amazing week," Ochoa said. "I did enjoy myself a lot.... I guess I can say I'm in the Hall of Fame now."

At 26 years four months 29 days, Ochoa is the second- youngest player to gain Hall of Fame honours.

Australia's Karrie Webb became the youngest, at 25 years seven months two days, when she qualified by winning the U.S. Women's Open in 2000.

Corona Championship - Round 1 Wrap

Lorena Ochoa maintained her recent fine form with a seven-under-par 66 in the first round of the Corona Championship in Mexico.

World number one Ochoa, who won her second major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Sunday, recorded a pair of eagles in her round at the Tres Marias Residential Golf Club.

Playing on home soil, the Mexican shares the lead with South Korea's Song-Hee Kim, who recorded six birdies in an eight-hole stretch to pull into contention.

"Playing here in my country is extra special," Ochoa said.

"I like it here very much, it's much easier than Mexico City. It looks like on Friday we'll have a great group and more spectators on Friday afternoon.

"I'm ready for it. I can't wait to get the feel of the big crowd and hopefully play good for all of them."

The 2006 champion here, Ochoa started on the back nine and overcame her lone blemish - a bogey on 14 - to finish with eagles on the fifth and the eighth.

"I don't think I've ever done that before, two eagles in nine holes," Ochoa said.

"It will be something that I'll remember for a long time."

Ochoa leads Kraft Nabisco Championship

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa tightened her grip on the opening women's major of the year, moving one stroke clear in the Kraft Nabisco Championship third round yesterday.

Co-leader overnight with American playing partner Heather Young, Mexican Ochoa eked out a one-under-par 71 in strengthening winds at Mission Hills Country Club.

The 26-year-old reeled off three consecutive birdies from the par-4 10th to shake off the chasing pack before ending a gruelling day with a three-putt bogey at the last.

hat left Ochoa at 6-under 210 in pursuit of her second major title.

South Korea's Han Hee-won carded a 70 to lie second at 5 under, a stroke in front of compatriot Lee Seon-hwa (68), American Cristie Kerr (66) and Swede Maria Hjorth (72).

Three-time champion Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, battling stomach pain for the second day in a row, ground out a 73 to share ninth spot at 2 under.

Ochoa is bidding for her third victory in four starts on the 2008 LPGA Tour.

Ochoa is the Woods of the womens tour?

Lorena Ochoa has quietly put herself in position to be the Tiger Woods the women’s tour — if she could only add some more major tournaments to her already sparkling resume.

Ochoa waited until the third tournament of the year to make her 2008 debut, then won by 11 shots. In what might be the strongest field of the year on the LPGA Tour last week, she missed a half-dozen putts inside 10 feet and still won by 7.

And the former No. 1 in the world, Annika Sorenstam says: “She’s playing some spectacular golf right now.”

Still, for all her good golf, she hasn’t won the Kraft Nabisco, played on one of her favorite courses.

She began playing Mission Hills as a teenager when she dominated college golf at Arizona. The support she feels in the Coachella Valley is second only to what she gets in her native Mexico, with so many family and friends in the gallery, along with fans from the area who make their presence known by waving the Mexican flag.

Ochoa wins Safeway International

Lorena Ochoa retained her Safeway International crown in dominant fashion on Sunday, posting a seven-stroke victory in the 1.5 million-dollar LPGA event.

The world number one from Mexico, who led by one at the start of the round, fired a six-under-par 66 for a 22-under total of 266 - four strokes better than her winning total last year.

South Korean Jee Young Lee, who birdied 18 for a 72, finished second at 15-under 273 with Finland's Minea Blomqvist third at 14-under 274 after a 67.

Ochoa, 26, notched her 19th LPGA title and her second of 2008. She opened her season with a victory in the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore earlier this month.

Former world number one Annika Sorenstam (70) finished in a tie for ninth at 11-under in a group that also included British veteran Laura Davies.

Ochoa never lost her lead on the final day.

After two birdies and two bogeys in her first six holes, Ochoa sank back-to-back birdies of 15 feet at eight and nine.

At 13 she knocked a pitching wedge to 12 feet to ignite a run of three birdies in a row, and she finished the day with a two-putt birdie from 30 feet at the par-five 18th.

"It was a great day, especially the back nine," she said. "Front nine, a little bit up and down. I think being in the last group with the pressure and the wind, it was a little tough, but then I told myself just be patient.

"I was hitting the ball really good, and I missed few putts, just try not to really pay much attention.

"And then I made a great birdie on eight and nine, and from there just everything went a little bit easier," she said...

Read the complete article

Ochoa wins HSBC Champions Tournament

World No.1 Lorena Ochoa cruised to an 11-stroke win at the $US2 million ($A2.11 million) Women's Champions tournament on Sunday on her season debut.

Sweden's Annika Sorenstam finished second on nine under with American Paula Creamer in third place two shots further back.

Australia's Karrie Webb finished in a tie for fifth with American Stacy Prammanasudh on five under, 15 shots off the pace.

On a day when monsoon-like storms sent spectators sprinting for cover and left others cowering under umbrellas, Mexican Ochoa produced a solid 68 for a combined 20-under par at the Tanah Merah Country Club.

Play was suspended several times due to the torrential downpours that submerged greens, left puddles on the fairways and had players kicking their heels in the clubhouse. The final group took eight hours to complete their round.

The 26-year-old Ochoa, the only player to shoot four rounds under 70, takes home a cheque for $US300,000 ($A316,400) for the win.

Mock drug tests annoy golfers

LPGA players, miffed at a drug-testing procedure that took hours for some last week at the Fields Open in Hawaii, were slightly less than amused to find out the whole thing was merely a trial run and not the real thing.

Some of the players, in Singapore for the HSBC Champions, were whispering that the test had been compromised in some way, a charge flatly denied by LPGA officials.

"That's absolutely not true," Jill Pilgrim, the tour's general counsel, told Golf World. "We decided in advance to do a trial run so we could see the process in a real-time situation. The only thing we did not do was send the samples to the lab," she said, adding that the players were not told it was merely a trial.

"We learned some processes we need to tweak, such as seeing how the notification process works," Pilgrim said. "We did identify areas that did not work well."

When asked, she would not divulge what those areas were. "Every area across the board we could do better with," Pilgrim said.

The main complaint from players tested at the Fields Open was the amount of time testing took out of a competition day. Testing was done on the day of the first round, and those players who had morning tee times found there was not enough daylight left after testing to get in any practice.

"Some players took longer than others," Pilgrim said. "As soon as everyone gets up to speed on how the process works it will be more efficient," she said, stressing that as players get to understand the testing process better they will be able to assist in making it quicker.

Asked if the next test would be a real test, Pilgrim said: "We plan to move forward as soon as possible [with a real test]."...

Read the complete golf news story

Golf this week

PGA Tour - Honda Classic
PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

European Tour - Johnnie Walker Classic
DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi, India

Coming off their appearance at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Adam Scott, Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh and Soren Hansen all headed to India to try to take the crown from Haig.

LPGA Tour - HSBC Womens Champions
Tanah Merah Country Club, Singapore

Annika Sorenstam is off to a hot start with a win and a fourth-place finish. She will be joined in the field by Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa, who are both making their season debuts this week.

Karrie Webb Wins her fourth Australian Open

Australia's Karrie Webb has won the Women's Australian Open at the second hole of a sudden death playoff from Korea's Ji-Yai Shin.

The win is Webb's fourth in her national championship, and her second in as many years.

After beginning the final round locked together, the pair swapped position throughout the day before Shin took a two shot lead when she birdied the par four 15th.

Playing ahead of Webb, Shinn safely negotiated the final three holes, arriving at the clubhouse in 67 shots, six-under par.

Webb duly birdied the 16th, a straightforward par four.

But with two of the toughest holes on the course ahead of her, Webb appeared to have little chance of pegging the Korean back.

She then showed her class by holing out from three metres at the par three 17th to level the score.

Webb stepped onto the par four 18th, a hole she had bogeyed in the second and third rounds, and played it perfectly in par to force the playoff.

A near identical effort at the first playoff hole - again the 18th - was matched by Shin and both players walked off the green with pars.

The 33-year-old Australian hit her third drive from the 18th to an almost identical position to her first two to be rewarded with a the shortest of her three putts which she holed from three metres.

AAP

My Thoughts

I was just thinking about it and I don't usually blog about womens golf, but I will certainly be doing it in the future. I watched the whole final round today and the finish was just spectacular. Ji-Yai Shin was superb and really looked like she had the tournament won.