Thursday, October 11, 2012

SIME DARBY LPGA FIRST ROUND SCORES

65 Karrie Webb (Aus), Na Yeon Choi (S Kor).
66 Min Lee (Tai) (a), Mika Miyazato (Jpn), Yoo Sun Young (S Kor); 67 Park Hee Young (S Kor), Han Hee-Won (S Kor); 68 Lizette Salas (US), Catriona Matthew (Scot), Ryu So Yeon (S Kor), Jessica Korda (US), Momoko Ueda (Jpn),  Cristie Kerr (US), Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 69 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thai) (a), Sydnee Michaels (US), Brittany Lang (US), Vicky Hurst (US), Kang Haeji (S Kor), Lee Ilhee (S Kor), Parl Inbee (S Kor), Paula Creamer (US), Lexi Thompson (US).
  70 Cindy Larcose (US), Caroline Hedwell (Swe), Mo Martin (US), Amy Yang (S Kor), Kim I.K. (S Kor), Lindsey Wright (Aus), Mina Harigae (US), Candie Kung (Tai), Ji Eun-Hee (S Kor),  Gerina Piller (US), Karine Icher (Fra), Feng Shanshan (Chn), Stacy Lewis (US), Karin Sjodin (Swe), Katherine Hull (AUS).
  71 Alison Walshe (US), Bittany Lincicome (US), Sophie Gustafson (Swe), Choi Chella (S Kor), Suzann Pettersen (Nor), Shin Jiyai (S Kor), Azahara Munoz (Sp).
  72 Sandra Gal (Ger), Danielle Kang (US), Natalie Gulbis (US), Julieta Granada (Par), Beatriz Recari (Sp), Amanda Blumenherst (US), Jenny Shin (S Kor) , Anna Nordqvist (Swe).
  73 Ainil Johani (Mas), Jodi Ewart (Eng),  Aretha Pan (Mas) (a), Lee Meena (S Kor), Angela Standford (US).
  74 Pornanong Phatlum (Thai), Pak Se Ri (S Kor), Jennifer Johnson (US); 75 Cheng Ssu-Chia (Tai) (a), Jean Chua (Mas), 76 Giulia Sergas (Ita); 78 Nicole Castrale (US), Yani Tseng (Tai); 79 Morgan Pressel (US); 80 Carly Booth (Scot); 81 Sarafina Vinota (Mas) (a), Mariajo Uribe (Col).


Note: (a) denotes amateur.

Na Yeon, Webb lead with 65s...

VETERAN Karrie Webb of Australia and Sime Darby LPGA defending champion Choi Na Yeon of South Korea shared the first round leaderboard after a six-under 65 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday.
  However, Taiwanese amateur Min Lee, 17, was the surprise package in the three-hour rain-interrupted round after she returned a five-under 66 and is just a stroke adrift.
  She shared the second spot with Mika Miyazato of Japan, and Sun Young Yoo of South Korea.
  It was an amazing feat for Min, as she played her debut LPGA round yesterday and even the LPGA scoring site did not have a picture of her.
  "This is my first time playing in the LPGA and I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep well last night!," exclaimed the Taiwanese.
  She was shaking all over before the start, but her end score was a steady flow of seven birdies and two bigies.
  Starting from the 10th tee, she parred the first two holes, and never looked back with birdies on the 12th, 16th, 17th, first, third, sixth and seventh. Her bogies were on the fifth and eighth.
   "I was shaking, just very nervous as I could hardly sleep last night. My goal this week was just to enjoy myself and learn from Yani Seng (World No 3 and from Taiwan). I played a practice round with her and learned much. She taught me many things about golf and also the mental aspect.
  "So after I hit a five-under and finally got to grip with the situation, I felt, wow!, cool..." said the teenager.
  Webb, 37, was the least surprised to see a 17-year-old snapping at her heels.
  "I'm not surprised at all because with the coaching and technology available now, which I did not have back then, girls seem to mature into good players very fast.
  "But inside they are still girls, and when among themselves, they probably still talk about cartoons and things like that. It's amazing, and good for the sport," said the World No 19 Webb.
  Choi, world No 4, loved the pressure placed on her as the defending champion: "Coming in as the champion did add more pressure on me but I like it as it makes me more determined to prove myself out there.
  "Six under is a good score at any golf course, but I could have done better if not for some missed putts.
  "But still, I like this course and the feeling is good and I think it would continue in the remaining days," said Choi.
  World No 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan blew a seven-over 78 to be tied 66th, while World No 2 Stacey Lewis ended tied-24th when she could only manage a one-under 70.

Jean Chua still not used to pressure..

JEAN Chua was expected to be more composed in her hat-trick of appearances in the Sime Darby LPGA, but pressure got the better of her when she blew-up with a four-over 75 yesterday.
  "I went in thinking that I could handle the pressure of playing at home as this is my third LPGA at the KLGCC, but it did not help as I could not play my normal game and the score is the least flattering," said the US based player.
  It did not help her cause of trying to finish among the top-10 at home, and she would have a mammoth task of making ammends even though this tournamwent does not have a half-way cut.
  "Everything went wrong, from my drive to my putting as I was  not my normal self and kept hitting bad shots the whole morning.
  "The birdie on the eigtht almost strengthened my game, but immediately, I double bogies the next and that made a mess of my score," said Jean.
   She is a member on the LPGA’s developmental Symetra Tour and has only missed one cut in  her last 13 events coupled with four top-10 finishes. This is her first time playing in Malaysia this season.
  However, she will have to bring out her best in the second round as her score was even off tangen compared to Malaysian amateur Aretha Pan who scored a two-over 73.

Sarafina hits a happy 81

A GIGGLING 16-year-old Sarafina Vinota could not even remember her good and bad holes yesterday, but she was proud of her 10-over 81 first round score.
  The amateur, who finished second behind Aretha Pan in the Malaysian LPGA qualifier, was just happy to be among the best in the world.
  "Ahhh.. my good and bad holes, lets see...I really can't visualise now but I really enjoyed my game as the other two pros really kept encouraging me along the way," said Sarafina. 
 She played with I.K. Kim of South Korea who returned a one-under 70 and Mika Miyazato whose 66 was phenomenal.
  "Both my flight-mates were very understanding and it was simply great to watch their long play and how they saved par when in trouble.
  "I have played this course before and my lowest was a 73, but I could not save many holes today and hope to do much better after some rest," said the amateur.
  Her coach from the US, Shane Gillespie, caddied for her.
  The other Malaysian amateur, Aretha Pan was not too off her target as she returned a two-over 73.
  "Even though it rained overnight, the course played very well and I am happy with my score as I managed to save par on many holes. My best was the 13th where I two-putted for par, but blew it at the next hole with a double-bogey," said the best amateur in the country.
  The other Malaysian, Ainil Johani, also ended two-over 73.

MHL a big flop...

THE Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) would be remembered for all the wrong reasons this season, as not only the quality of play was bad, but also, not a single new player was spotted among the 13 teams.
  The 30 plus eight standby-players were all internationals of former players from the Premier Division, while not a single new player was spotted in Division One.
  "Actually, not only were there no new players spotted in the Premier Division to be drafted into the senior training squad, even I did not see any budding player in Division One to be included into the juniors training squad," said juniors coach K. Dharmaraj.
  Dharmaraj's revelation was damning, but accurate, as even chief coach Paul Revington had to dig up six former players to complete his training squad.
  As predicted early in the season, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) romped away with the double, and the only resistance they got was from their own players who bungled chances against Tenaga Nasional and lost 3-4 in the League.
  The TNB Cup final showed their true strength as they brushed aside Tenaga 3-0 with all the goals coming in the first half.
  "The MHL is no longer a challenge for me as I have guided my side to seven League and four Overall titles (including three consecutive doubles).
  "My mission now is to help Malaysia to their best ever finish in the Junior World Cup," said Dharmaraj whose charges sailed away with the Junior Asia Cup gold to qualify for the Junior World Cup.
   The umpiring side was equally bad as tournament director V. Rajamanickam said that only six umpires were up to the mark, and in future, there may be a need to bring in foreign umpires for the MHL.
  And it did not help matters when Nur Insafi wrote in a damning letter alleging that the umpiring, overall, was poor. The MHL technical committee not only accepted Nur Insafi's letter, but also returned their RM300 deposit as it found the team's grouses had grounds.
  The fact that the tournament director had to change an umpire because Maybank stood by the sideline and refused to play if that particular individual blew -- also said volumes about the state of umpiring in the country.
  The MHL Rules Book was a good indicator on how the league was run this season, as only the cover had the year 2012 printed on it, while its content were the same as 2011 and somebody forgot to change the year in all the pages inside.
  Copy and paste, that's how bogus the MHL felt this year, as only vice-presidents S. Shamala and K. Gobinathan watched one match each, while the Malaysian Hockey Confederation president and all his other Lieutenants did not bother to attend their own tournament, not even the TNB Cup and President's Cup finals.