Ryu wins U.S Women’s Open in 3-hole playoff

So Yeon Ryu carded birdies on two of the three playoff holes to defeat fellow South Korean Hee Kyung Seo and win the U.S Women’s Open.

After a birdie on the 18th hole in regulation to join Seo at 3-under par, the pair set off down 16, 17 and 18. After both players made par at the par-3 16th hole, Ryu took a two-shot lead at the 17th with an 8-foot birdie putt as Seo could only manage a bogey.

It was all over as a contest before the players even reached the 18th green after Seo drove under the lip of a bunker and she needed four shots just to reach the putting surface before making another bogey to Ryu’s second birdie of the playoff.

The win was Ryu’s first on the LPGA Tour and it capped a remarkable fightback which had saw her come from eight strokes back with one-and-a-half rounds left to play.

2007 champion Cristie Kerr was the only other player to finish under par after her closing even-par 71 saw her close on 1-under par 283, 2 behind the South Korean duo.

Angela Stanford claimed fourth spot on level-par, while Mika Miyazato finished in fifth.

The tournament was forced to spill over to Monday after five weather delays over the previous four days halted action for some 17 hours, with the third round being finished on Sunday, and around half the field managing to complete their final rounds before darkness fell.

Defending champion Paula Creamer carded a final round 75 to finish 6-over par for the tournament and a share of 15th place.

Kerr, Anderson lead rain-delayed U.S Women’s Open

Heavy rain and lightning forced an early halt to the first round of the U.S Women’s Open on Thursday with Cristie Kerr and amateur Amy Anderson sharing the lead at 2-under par when play was suspended.

Kerr had played through 15 holes and carded three birdies and one bogey after starting from the 10th hole, while Anderson was bogey-free through 12 holes having started from the first hole.

Only 25 players in the 156-strong field had managed to finish the first round, and 72 players hadn’t begun their rounds when officials called a halt to play. Of those who had completed their first rounds, Kristy McPherson was clubhouse leader on 2-over par following a 73.

South Korea’s Inbee Park, Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Italian Silvia Cavalleri share third on 1-under par. Park had one hole to play before the day’s play was abandoned, while Miyazato had played through 15 holes. Cavalleri had just begun her round, and birdied her opening hole.

Defending champion Paula Creamer is amongst the players yet to begin their first rounds. Other notable names include Yani Tseng, Morgan Pressel , Katherine Hull and England’s Laura Davis.

However, Michelle Wie might be wishing the abandonment of play had come earlier. The Hawaiian-born star of the 2009 Solheim Cup was 7-over par through 16 holes and could struggle to make the cut.

Tseng takes command in LPGA Championship

Taiwanese Yani Tseng stretched her advantage at the top of the leaderboard in the LPGA Championship to five shots after carding a five-under par 67 in the third round.

Tseng, who had led by one shot overnight, is bidding to go wire-to-wire in the event carded birdies at the 2nd, 9th, 12th and 13th holes before dropping a shot at the 14th. She quickly regathered her momentum with further birdies at the 15th and 17th holes to close on 13-under par 203.

It might have been 202 had Tseng’s birdie putt on the last dropped, but she left it tap-in short to miss equalling the 54-hole tournament record set by Swedish player Annika Sorenstam.

Trailing in Tseng’s wake are American duo Morgan Pressel and Cindy Lacrosse, who share second place on 208, two shots ahead of Korean Hee Young Park.
Defending champion Cristie Kerr equalled Tseng’s round to take a share of fifth alongside Paula Creamer – who carded 18 successive pars – as well as Meena Lee of South Korea.

Tseng led the season’s first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship after 54 holes before losing to Stacy Lewis following a final round 74 and will be keen to avoid a repeat.

“I learned from that. I won’t grab the trophy on the first hole,” Tseng said. “I’m excited. I will just go out there with a big smile tomorrow and enjoy it.”

Tseng is a past winner of this event and she could complete the Ladies’ Grand Slam by winning next month’s US Women’s Open.

Tseng takes first round lead in LPGA Championship

The rain-hit Travelers Championship wasn’t the only event to be interrupted by the elements on Thursday. The LPGA Championship – the second of the major tournaments on the Ladie’s PGA Tour – saw play delayed for over two hours due to a thunderstorm.

Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was among those who managed to complete her round posted a six-under par 66 to take a one shot lead over Paula Creamer, who was in second place following a round of 67.

Tseng is hoping to go one better than in the Kraft Nabisco Championship back in March where she finished runner-up to American Stacy Lewis.

Six players will have to finish their first rounds early on Friday after severe thunderstorms rolled across New York and 58 players were still on the course when play was suspended. Play was finally halted later due to fading light.

South Korea’s Meena Lee and Angela Stanford were part of a group of four after they carded rounds of 4-under par 68, while Finland’s Minea Blomqvist, Taiwan’s Amy Hung, American Morgan Pressel and Park Hee-young of South Korea all shot 69 to close on 3-under par.

Defending champion Cristie Kerr opened the defence of her title with a level-par 72 despite battling the effects of ‘flu. Last year, Kerr won the event at a canter putting a full 12 shots between her and the rest of the field in shooting a 19-under par 269 to win her second major title.

Girl Power rules at The Celtic Manor

It was girl power that proved most effective at the inaugural PowerPlay golf event at The Celtic Manor, as the girls – Paula Creamer, Helen Alfredsson and Caroline Hedwall – filled the first three places in the modified Stableford competition at the Wales venue.

For the first time ever, the event dubbed golf’s equivalent of Twenty20 cricket and Rugby sevens hit Europe and the spectacle was enjoyed by some 5,000 spectators – an impressive turnout given the appearance of nearby Swansea City in the afternoon’s Championship Playoff final.

The event was played over the 2010 Ryder Cup venue’s back nine, and featured the likes of US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, John Daly and Gary Player amongst the first dozen players to try their hand at the format.

United States’ Paula Creamer, playing with McDowell and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson set the early target of 26 points, thrashing her playing partners’ scores. But her lead was shortlived as first Helen Alfredsson posted 29 points before Caroline Hedwall bettered that total with an impressive 32 points.

Ian Poulter finished as top male player with 27 points to finish alongside Creamer, while Paul Casey might have won with a hole-in-one at the last, but twice found water. He finished well back on 20 points.

Welshman Ian Woosnam, playing the 2010 course for the first time, finished with 25 points, one behind French amateur Dubuisson; while golf legend Gary Player scored 18 points.

It was a disappointing day for US Open champion McDowell, however, and the Irishman brought up the rear alongside the injured Jon Daly – who did well to finish the nine holes – on 15 points.

Hedwall’s victory came a day after she celebrated her maiden win on the Ladies European Tour at the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open. She birdied each of the final three holes, and covered her 9 holes in 5-under par.

The PowerPlay Golf concept is the brainchild of former British amateur champion Peter McEvoy, and further events are scheduled for later in the year in the United States and Asia, with a further seven events next year.

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