Karrie Webb edged South Korea’s Chella Choi in a “nerve-racking” battle to win her fifth Women’s Australian Open and 40th LPGA Tour title yesterday with a 12-under total of 276.
The veteran Australian came from five behind at the start of the day to win by a shot from Choi, the overnight leader who shot a course-record 10-under 62 in the third round.
Webb, 39 and a former world No. 1, thrived in gusty conditions to take her first home Open crown since 2008, finishing with a final-round four-under 68.
Photo: AFP
She faced a tense wait as Choi missed a birdie putt on the par-five 18th which would have forced a playoff.
“It was nerve-racking. I actually thought once Chella had that putt on the last — I’ve played with her quite a bit and I was expecting that one to go in,” “very proud” Webb said. “I was happy to see that the conditions were going to be a little tougher today because I felt like that gave me a chance to make up some ground.”
World No. 8 Webb, disqualified from her title defense of the Australian Ladies Masters last week after signing an incorrect scorecard, said she “got off to a great start” with birdies on the first two holes.
“I just did a really good job mentally today,” she said.
She got her break on the par-four 11th, where she birdied a huge 45-foot downhill putt to take the lead.
“I hadn’t even got the ball to the hole on that green all week, so yeah, it was nice to see that one drop and [it] really got things going,” she said.
Choi, the world No. 28, started with a birdie, but then hit her ball out of bounds on the second hole for a double-bogey six and was unable to birdie again — crucially missing on the 18th in a strong cross-wind.
New Zealand sensation and world No. 4 Lydia Ko, 16, finished tied third at 10-under (73) with France’s Karine Icher (71) and Paula Creamer of the US (68).
Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan shot a final-round 75 to finish tied for 53rd place on one-over 289.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but