Tseng holds onto LPGA Championship lead

A double-bogey briefly cost Yani Tseng the lead at the LPGA Championship, but the Taiwanese world number one battled back to cling onto her one-shot lead – the same margin she enjoyed after day one.

Tseng’s two-under par was a far cry from her opening 66, but was still enough to take the halfway advantage over veteran Pat Hurst, who shot 67.

Tseng had started out well from the 10th hole, making three consecutive birdies from the 13th to open up a lead over the field. But after finding trouble off the tee on the 18th she missed a 3-foot putt for bogey to halt her charge. She battled back, however, with a birdie on the next hole and after another dropped shot on the fifth, she carded another birdie at the par-5 8th hole.

Tseng closed at 8-under par 136, one ahead of Hurst.

Hurst’s 67 included seven birdies and two bogeys as she took sole possession of second place, one ahead of Finn Minea Blomqvist, South Korea’s Hee Young Park and American Morgan Pressel. Pressel would have shared second with Hurst, but bogeyed the 18th hole.

Paula Creamer had started the day in second place but dropped into a share of sixth a further shot behind on 5-under par. Creamer shares the spot with fellow American Cindy Lacrosse and South Korean Amy Yang.

Defending champion Cristie Kerr carded a second successive round of 72 to stay on level-par. She was joined by Juli Inkster, Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis and Suzann Pettersen amongst others in a group of 12 players.

Scot Catriona Matthew led the British challenge, finishing with a second round 69 to close at 2-under par 142.

MBE for Catriona Matthew

Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew has been awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours List to cap a fantastic year for the Edinburgh-born player.

40-year old Catriona is responsible for one of the great golf stories of 2009 when she won the Ricoh British Open at Royal Lytham and St. Annes just 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. Her win in the tournament was all the more remarkable after she cheated death just a week before after being forced to flee to escape from a hotel fire.

Matthew as also a major player for the European Solheim Cup team which lost out to the United States and the Ladies European Tour has recognised her contribution to the sport throughout the year and also her career. Matthew is highly regarded on the tour and the LET released a statement following the announcement of Matthew’s award.

”Catriona has always been a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf but she shot to prominence in 2009 as one of the UK’s finest sporting talents with her sensational victory at the Ricoh British Open.

”In recognition of her achievements the Ladies European Tour membership recently voted her as the Players’ Player of the Year and clearly she thoroughly deserves this honour.

”Her conduct on and off the course is exemplary and in sport there can be no greater role model.”

Congratulations, Catriona!

Westwood collects another award!

Lee Westwood’s season continues to go from strength to strength and the awards keep coming for the Worksop golfer as he wraps up his 2009 exploits.

Westwood has enjoyed a fantastic season, culminating in being crowned European Tour Golfer of the Year for the third time and topping the Race to Dubai rankings. Now, he can also add the Golf Writers’ Trophy to his haul of awards, beating off competition from Catriona Matthew and Rory McIlroy; joining Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros as the only three-time winner of the award.

It is the third time Westwood has won the award, having previously done so in 1998 and 2000 and he topped the annual poll ahead of Scotland’s Solheim Cup player, Catriona Matthew who won the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes, just eleven weeks after giving birth to her second daughter, Sophie; and McIlroy, who enjoyed a successful season which saw him reach the world’s top ten.

Westwood will receive the trophy at the Association’s annual dinner prior to the Open Championship at St Andrews in July.

‘I am delighted to receive the award once again. It is a particular honour to have been chosen for the third time and to become one of only two players, alongside Seve, to have won it three times. That means an awful lot to me, especially when I consider the great players we have had on the European Tour.’

Westwood will now turn his attention to capturing a maiden major title after narrowly missing out on the Open Championship at Turnberry in July, and a Ryder Cup appearance against the United States at The Celtic Manor, Wales.