Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pressel poised to end drought


Pressel poised to end drought










The Sports Xchange June 8, 2013 9:10 PMThe SportsXchange



PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Morgan Pressel has teed it up 106 times in tournament play since her last victory at the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic.

She's positioned herself well to end that drought on Sunday in the Wegmans LPGA Championship, but there's a lot of work left to do on what will be a marathon day at Locust Hill Country Club.

There are 20 players within six shots of the lead, which sits at 6 under par after Pressel carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday in the second round. Rain washed out the first round on Thursday, meaning players will play 36 holes Sunday to complete the third and fourth rounds.

"The question will be just how committed I can be to every shot, because when you get tired your mind starts to wonder," Pressel said. "So that'll be the biggest test, truly staying focused on every shot. At the end of the day I probably won't want to think another second, but that will mean that I gave it my all."

Starting on the 10th hole in the afternoon wave and dealing with an occasional downpour on her front nine, Pressel birdied three of her first five holes to move to 7 under. She dropped shots at the par-4 16th and 18th holes but steadied herself coming in by playing her final nine holes in 1 under, thanks to a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole.

There are several players giving chase, most notably world No. 1 Inbee Park. She tied for the day's low round with a 4-under 68 and is 4 under for the tournament, tied for second place with first-round leader Chella Choi. Those two will join Pressel for the final two rounds.

Park and Pressel played junior golf together in Florida, but lately their careers have gone in opposite directions. Pressel has just one top-10 this season, and Park has won three times, including the season's first major in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

"I've experienced a lot of golf," she said. "That really helps going into major championships like this.

"You feel a lot more comfortable."

Asian-born players have won the last eight majors on the LPGA Tour, and if Pressel falters Sunday, they're in position to continue that streak. Including Park and Choi, six of the top 11 players on the leader board come from South Korea, with Amy Yang and Jiyai Shin in a tie for fourth at 3 under and Sun Young Yoo and Na Yeon Choi part of a tie for seventh at 2 under.

The last time an LPGA major went to 36 holes in the 2012 Women's British Open, Shin romped to a nine-shot victory.

Yoo had an incredible stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie from holes nine through 12, but faltered with a pair of bogeys down the stretch to finish at 3-under-par 69 for her round.

Just 13 players are under par after another cold, wet day. Overnight rain left the already-waterlogged course downright sloppy in areas.

"I've heard a lot of people talk about the rough and you just gotta not hit it in it, basically. It's easier said than done, but just stay away from it," said Australian Sarah Jane Smith, who did that by hitting 11 of 14 fairways on her way to a round of 3-under 69.

Park hit 12 of 14 fairways in the second round.

"If you hit the ball straighter, it makes the golf course play a lot easier," she said. "I've been doing that the last two days here."

NOTES: Tying Park for low round of the day with a 68 was Michelle Wie. She's at par for the championship and moved up 57 spots on the leaderboard, from a tie for 71st to a tie for 14th. ... World No. 2 Stacy Lewis, the top-ranked American, is in a tie for 31st at 2 over for the tournament after shooting par 72. ... South Korean Mi Jung Hur has hit only 25 percent of the fairways this week, an astonishingly low number because of the heavy rough, but made the cut thanks to taking just 51 putts, second in the field to Pressel's 50 through two rounds.

Woods paired with McIlroy and Scott at Merion

Woods paired with McIlroy and Scott at Merion
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Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will play together for the first time ever in a major.(Getty Images)
PGA.com 
ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) -- Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy andAdam Scott will play together the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open next week at Merion.
For the third straight year, U.S. Open officials have put the top three players in the world ranking in the same group. The feature group will start at 1:14 p.m. Thursday off the first tee, and then 7:44 a.m. starting on the 11th tee Friday.
The U.S. Open disclosed the Nos. 1-2-3 group in a tweet, and McIlroy immediately responded on Twitter.
"Decent group for the first 2 rounds at Merion I see ..." he tweeted.
Woods is trying to end five years without a major title. McIlroy, who has yet to win this year, will be trying to capture a major for the third straight year. Scott is the Masters champion, the only player capable of the Grand Slam this year.
This will be the first time Woods and McIlroy have played together in any round of a major. They have played in the opening two rounds together at five previous tournaments -- twice in Abu Dhabi, the Cadillac Championship at Doral this year (won by Woods), the BMW Championship last year (won by McIlroy) andThe Barclays last year.
The USGA first went to the 1-2-3 grouping in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines -- Woods, San Diego native Phil Mickelson and Scott.
Playing in front of that threesome will be former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell, and former Masters champion Zach Johnson.
Mickelson is on the other side of the draw -- starting Thursday morning on the 11th hole, Friday afternoon on the first hole. Mickelson, with a record five runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open, is joined by Steve Strickerand Keegan Bradley, his partner from the last Ryder Cup.
In front of that group will be the power trio of Bubba WatsonDustin Johnson and Nicolas Colsaerts.
For those wanting to see Woods and Sergio Garcia mix it up again, that won't happen, at least for the weekday rounds. Garcia might not be thrilled with his tee, however, because he's playing with Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink. Garcia and Harrington, despite being Ryder Cup teammates, are not terribly close. Harrington beat the Spaniard in a playoff at Carnoustie to win his first major in the 2007 British Open, and the Irishman beat him again a year later in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
Luke DonaldLee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are in another group, just as they were two years ago at Congressional.
Here are the pairings and tee times for Thursday's first round. The numbers 1 or 11 in front of each group indicate wich hole the group will tee off on -- at Merion, the players will begin on on No. 11 instead of No. 10 for logistical reasons:
1 6:45 a.m.: KRESGE, C. TAMBELLINI, R. TBD 11 7:00 a.m.: WATSON, B. JOHNSON, D. COLSAERTS, N. 1 6:56 a.m.: TBD UEDA, Y. PARRY, J. 11 7:11 a.m.: MICKELSON, P. STRICKER, S. BRADLEY, K. 1 7:07 a.m.: WATNEY, N. HANSON, P. MAHAN, H. 11 7:22 a.m.: KUCHAR, M. ROSE, J. SNEDEKER, B. 1 7:18 a.m.: GLOVER, L. CASEY, P. HAAS, B. 11 7:33 a.m.: OOSTHUIZEN, L. SCHWARTZEL, C. CLARK, T. 1 7:29 a.m.: BADDELEY, A. SABBATINI, R. LINGMERTH, D. 11 7:44 a.m.: GARCIA, S. CINK, S. HARRINGTON, P. 1 7:40 a.m.: COETZEE, G. LAIRD, M. SIEM, M. 11 7:55 a.m.: POULTER, I. DUFNER, J. WEEKLEY, B. 1 7:51 a.m.: KELLY, J. HOFFMAN, C. HUH, J. 11 8:06 a.m.: FOWLER, R. MANASSERO, M. DAY, J. 1 8:02 a.m.: STENSON, H. MOORE, R. GARRIGUS, R. 11 8:17 a.m.: YANG, Y. JACOBSON, F. FUJITA, H. 1 8:13 a.m.: TBD KHAN, S. POTTER JR., T. 11 8:28 a.m.: STALLINGS, S. PETERSON, J. KARLSSON, R. 1 8:24 a.m.: STEFANI, S. KIM, M. (a) THOMPSON, N. 11 8:39 a.m.: BLAKE, J. JOBE, B. CAMPBELL, M. 1 8:35 a.m.: DOAK, C. SVOBODA, A. LABELLE II, D. 11 8:50 a.m.: HEARN, D. TBD VAN ZYL, J. 1 8:46 a.m.: SUTHERLAND, K. WEIBRING, M. HUTCHISON, R. 11 9:01 a.m.: PHELAN, K. (a) COLLINS, W. TBD 1 8:57 a.m.: MCELYEA, C. (a) NELSON, R. HAHN, J. 11 9:12 a.m.: PAN, C. (a) HUGHES, M. SISK, G. 1 12:30 p.m.: TOMS, D. CLARKE, D. OLAZABAL, J. 11 12:45 p.m.: HICKS, J. HOWELL, D. STUARD, B. 1 12:41 p.m.: OGILVY, G. CABRERA, A. LAWRIE, P. 11 12:56 p.m.: STEELE, B. GOYA, E. HEDBLOM, P. 1 12:52 p.m.: DONALD, L. WESTWOOD, L. KAYMER, M. 11 1:07 p.m.: LEISHMAN, M. SENDEN, J. FRASER, M. 1 1:03 p.m.: FURYK, J. MCDOWELL, G. JOHNSON, Z. 11 1:18 p.m.: LANGLEY, S. WILLIAMS, C. (a) HOFFMANN, M. 1 1:14 p.m.: WOODS, T. MCILROY, R. SCOTT, A. 11 1:29 p.m.: THOMPSON, M. WEAVER, M. (a) WITTENBERG, C. 1 1:25 p.m.: JAIDEE, T. FDEZ-CASTANO, G. OLESEN, T. 11 1:40 p.m.: CHOI, K. MOLINARI, F. PETTERSSON, C. 1 1:36 p.m.: SIMPSON, W. FOX, S. (a) ELS, E. 11 1:51 p.m.: PIERCY, S. CHAPPELL, K. DONALDSON, J. 1 1:47 p.m.: TBD OGILVIE, J. GUTHRIE, L. 11 2:02 p.m.: VAN PELT, B. STREELMAN, K. POINTS, D. 1 1:58 p.m.: TEATER, J. TSUKADA, Y. PEPPERELL, E. 11 2:13 p.m.: GRACE, B. BAE, S. HENLEY, R. 1 2:09 p.m.: LOAR, E. MADSEN, M. HWANG, J. 11 2:24 p.m.: MATSUYAMA, H. HORSCHEL, B. SPIETH, J. 1 2:20 p.m.: HOMA, M. (a) KNOX, R. BETTENCOURT, M. 11 2:35 p.m.: GOGGIN, M. ALKER, S. PRESNELL, A. 1 2:31 p.m.: HADWIN, A. NIEPORTE, J. HERMAN, J. 11 2:46 p.m.: HARMON, M. HALL, G. (a) KIM, B. 1 2:42 p.m.: BROWN, B. MURRAY, G. (a) SMITH, J. 11 2:57 p.m.: FISCHER, Z. SULLIVAN, R. CRICK, B.

Park shows why she's No. 1, wins LPGA title


Park shows why she's No. 1, wins LPGA title










The Sports Xchange June 9, 2013 8:40 PMThe SportsXchange



PITTSFORD, N.Y. --- No one can ever say Inbee Park isn't a fighter.

The No. 1 player in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings captured her second straight major championship Sunday, defeating Catriona Matthew of Scotland with an 18-foot a birdie on the third playoff hole in the Wegmans LPGA Championshipat Locust Hill Country Club.

Park, a 25-year-old from South Korea, became the third player in the last 40 years to win the first two majors of the women's season, joining Annika Sorenstam in 2005 and Pat Bradley in 1986.

In winning for the sixth time in her last 22 LPGA Tour starts, including the Kraft Nabisco Championship to start the major season, she was the last player standing after a 36-hole marathon was required on Sunday because the first round was rained out on Thursday.

In the end, Park needed 39 holes before claiming her seventh LPGA victory, including three majors, the first coming in the 2009 U.S. Women's Open.

Park did it by coming from five strokes behind Morgan Pressel after nine holes of the third round on Sunday morning on a course where birdies are hard to come by.

With four birdies on the back nine of that morning round, she turned the deficit into one-shot lead when the final round began.

Park extended her lead to three shots by the time she reached the 14th tee in the final round, but her swing began to get away from her. She dropped shots at holes 14, 16 and 18 to shoot 3-over-par 75 in the final round and allow Matthew into a playoff.

The 43-year-old Matthew, who 2009 Ricoh Women's British Open among her four titles on the LPGA Tour, closed with a bogey-free 68 and got into the playoff when Park made a bogey on the 72nd hole.

After both players made par on the opening two playoff holes, Park made a birdie on the par-4 18th to secure the win after Matthew hit into the rough and was scrambling simply to save par.

Pressel, trying to win for the first time since the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Championship, was tied for the lead in the final round, but carded three bogeys in the last nine holes and shot 75 to tie for third with Suzann Pettersen of Norway, who closed with a 65.

Pettersen and Pressel finished one stroke out of the playoff.

NOTES: The best round of the tournament was turned in by Suzann Pettersen, who carded a 7-under 65 in the final round. That moved her all the way up from a tie for 31st at the start of the day to her tie for third. ... Amateur Lydia Ko, the 16-year-old from New Zealand who last year became the youngest-ever winner on the LPGA Tour, continued her strong play with a tie for 17th. Ko's 3-under-par 69 in the final round was her best of the tournament. ... Defending champion Shanshan Feng, the first player from Mainland China to win a major, closed with a 70 to finish in a tie for ninth that included and Michelle Wie, who finished with a 71.