Australia's Karrie Webb derailed Annika Sorenstam's attempt to win her sixth straight title in Shima, Japan, with a comfortable victory at the Mizuno Classic golf tournament yesterday.
The Australian, starting the day one shot behind overnight leader Momoko Ueda from Japan, sank six birdies against no bogeys for a three-round total of 14-under-par 202 and an easy four-stroke victory.
"You can't take anything away from Annika winning five years in a row at one tournament, it's an unbelievable feat. The change from Seta to here was different, although she had a good chance to win today," said Webb, referring to the course in Otsu where the tournament has in the past been played.
"I don't think you go out there trying to beat someone, but you're just going out there to win and I'm very happy about it. I just wanted to go out and try to stick to my game and make as many birdies as I could and hope that was good enough," she added.
Japan's Kaori Higo took second place with 206.
Sorenstam from Sweden, who made history here last year by winning the tournament fifth straight times, carded four birdies but also had two bogeys to finish tied third on 207.
She was bunched with South Korea's Lee Jeong-eun and compatriot Aree Song and the US' Brittany Lang.
It was Webb's fifth win of the season and 35th for her career, and she earned herself a US$180,000-dollar check for winning the USLPGA Tour tournament.
"It's obviously always really nice to do an 18 with a few shots lead and I haven't too much pressure on me. But it was very close at the turn. I wasn't playing as good as I would've liked," Webb said.
"I had a fantastic back nine and it's great to walk up the 18th fairway with a lead and be able to soak up the atmosphere. I'm very happy to have won in Japan. I haven't won here for a number of years. It's always good to win no matter where it is," she added.
Sorenstam said she was disappointed with her efforts.
"It's been all right. I'm feeling a little disappointed about the results, especially today. I couldn't get anything going and I needed to do it to have a chance to six-peat," she said.
"Especially with everyone playing so well, especially Karrie. So, I felt like I needed to do something to get it going, but I tried and that's all I could do today," she added.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS